Build a Bridge Between Marketing and Sales Activities
Mike DrohanOne way that the marketing team can better support the sales team is by adding the skill to call and qualify the needs of prospects and clients. This goes against the grain, because marketing typically doesn't follow up on leads. But the key message here is recognizing that it's not a good investment of the sales reps' time to follow up with prospects who have not been qualified. Many companies, Fortune 500 included, are looking at leveraging the time of the sales team as an area of great opportunity.
Here are several examples of how using lead qualification specialists—whether developed in-house or outsourced—can further process leads, leverage the time of the sales team and open opportunities for sales leads:
Event Marketing—Prospecting work needs to be done in a short window around webinar and seminar dates. A large number of calls must be made to generate interest and registrations before the event, and then more calls need to be made to follow-up immediately after the event. Often, even though marketing did a great job on the event, the follow-up calls after the event can be poor to non-existent. Two issues that can cause poor follow-up are 1) too many prospects that are not qualified and 2) the short window after the event. There is still work to be done before giving these leads to the sales team.
At trade shows, many companies stop by the booth just for the giveaway. Second, often the right company stops by the booth but not the right decisionmaker. Third is that the window of opportunity closes quickly right after the show. It's no wonder that 80 percent of trade show leads are never followed up on. The marketing team should call to follow up on the leads to beat slow-moving competition, make sure that no sales leads fall through the cracks and qualify needs to keep the sales team from spending any time with unqualified prospects.
Traditional Direct Marketing—Not every person who downloads a whitepaper is a qualified prospect. Many are doing research, writing a term paper or looking for competitive information. Before handing the inquiries over to the sales team, the marketing team should call each prospect to learn why he downloaded the whitepaper, identify if he's a decision-maker or influencer, qualify his need and motivate those who have a need to meet with a sales rep.
Product-Focused Campaigns—The marketing team can call to qualify each prospect's need to prioritize the best opportunities for the sales team. In addition, it can develop the rest of the prospect universe by capturing decisionmaker names and e-mail addresses, and identifying where there are opportunities down the road.
Industry-Focused Campaigns—The marketing team should call to identify the right decisionmakers, introduce the company and its vast offerings, and generate appointments with the leads that meet its company's criteria. Then the sales reps can focus their efforts on meeting with qualified prospects.
Dormant Clients—Marketing follow-up with this group is important to open the communication lines, learn why the companies stopped buying and rekindle the relationship to stimulate future sales opportunity. When the marketing team identifies a client who is interested in reengaging and wants to make a purchase, an appointment is made for the sales team.
Nurturing Open Territories—The marketing team should make calls to provide touchpoints to let prospects and clients know that its company cares about their business. The team can identify the needs within the territory and prioritize them for the covering sales rep.
Hopefully, these examples provide a better view of how the marketing team can have a tremendous impact by qualifying leads to leverage the time of the sales team. Separating the sales opportunities from the non-prospects will produce better results and energize the sales team.
Mike Drohan is the president of Lead Generation Solutions, a King of Prussia, Pa. company that specializes in lead generation and lead qualification services. He can be reached at mdrohan@LeadGenerationSolutions.com.
Consumer Engagement Creates Opportunities for Credit Card Marketers
Heather FletcherGlobal economic slowdown. Double-dip recession fears. Cash hoarding. Whatever catchphrase those who aren't spending money are using to justify their miserly behavior, consumers who actually are spending money would prefer hearing different words coming from credit card companies: "Thank you, and here's your reward."
So finds a study announced on July 20 by Irving, Texas-based marketing services firm Epsilon. Recharging Credit Card Marketing to Meet Evolving Consumer Expectations evaluates a March 2010 online survey of more than 180 consumers who recently opened up a new credit card. The survey questioned respondents about their experiences throughout the card selection process.
The respondents were part of a larger Epsilon survey of 1,500 U.S. consumers conducted in conjunction with eRewards and exploring the concept of "customer experience marketing."
"Cardholders see loyalty as a way to reduce their cost of spending or to reward themselves based on spending—an economic value that's perhaps more important during challenging economic times," according to the study. "Even in recessionary times, marketers need to focus on loyalty."
Here are the study's key findings:
- About 34 percent of consumers surveyed definitely knew which company they were going to use when they opened up a new credit card;
- More than four in 10 consumers chose a company with which they already had accounts;
- The most influential sources of information were friends and family, followed by a financial advisor, brand websites and product review websites;
- The primary reason consumers selected the credit card company was the rewards program. Interest rates and recommendations from friends and family were also driving forces;
- The preferred channel for receiving information about credit cards was e-mail. Postal mail and the company website were also preferred by consumers; and
- Consumers are most interested in receiving rate changes and sales/discount offers from credit card companies. Nearly one-third also chose information tailored to their interests as one of their top two selections.
- Provide information that's personalized and relevant, the announcement attributes to Michael Penney, executive vice president, Epsilon Strategic & Analytic Consulting Group. "Marketers need to focus on asking questions and understanding what consumers want and how to engage with them."
- Loyalty programs are more important during tough economic times, according to the study. The study cites the 2009 COLLOQUY Segment Talk study, which shows that 77.6 percent of its respondents participating in a financial services loyalty program "stated that reward programs are as or more important during the recession than ever before."
- Make the rewards personal and relevant, too. According to the study: "[Financial services marketers] need to create a blend of financial and recognition benefits and generate an ongoing dialogue with members to drive the most results."
- Engage prospects earlier in the decision process and where it counts. Only 34 percent of consumers who opened a credit card in the study knew which company they were going to choose. Top sources for information included product websites, review sites and friends and family. Figure out how to be there when the decision is made.
- Differentiate your loyalty program. Regardless of whether the consumer knew which company he/she would choose, nearly 50 percent cited the loyalty program as a deciding factor. "We believe the strongest loyalty value propositions are targeted, and contain both economic and emotional appeal," according to Epsilon. "Take a look at your current program and make sure it’s strong."
- Integrate marketing communications. The Web, e-mail and direct mail work best in concert and for specific purposes. Cardholders want to hear about changes to terms, special offers and information tailored to their interests. Use the best medium given the complexity and importance of the information and your expected return. Credit card marketers need to create detailed multichannel marketing playbooks for key segments across lifecycle stages.
3 Pros and 3 Cons About Toll Free Numbers
Heather FletcherIn all the world, there's probably only one telemarketer who wouldn't have to work hard to get incoming calls. Her number is 867-5309. So, unless marketers have the mythical Jenny from the hit 1982 song by Tommy Tutone working in the call center, they have to figure out what digits consumers will want to dial.
That's where the debate about toll free phone numbers comes in. Some say they're passé. But many marketers still use them.
To weigh in on the pros and cons of toll free numbers that don't have mythical musical goddesses to answer them are: Todd Beam, business analyst, Westwood, Kan.-based marketing services firm DATACORE Marketing; Gregg Stewart, president of New York-based search marketing agency 15miles; Matthew Valleskey, senior marketing manager of mobile services for Sterling, Va.-based telecommunications services provider NeuStar; and Jeff Werlwas, channel sales manager, Beverly Hills, Calif.-based online customer acquisition platform provider MerchEngines.
The pros of using toll free phone numbers are:
1. Tracking. Beam explains how a Fortune 100 account he works on places print advertisements and tracks calls from thousands of 1-800 numbers: "They'll assign toll free numbers to a specific publication—or market vertical type of publication—where they have a range they've assigned to, say, music magazines … So when the media team will begin the planning for the next quarter, they'll start planning on all of their print placements and … they'll enter those temporary records into a system and what that system does is it identifies the publication and the campaign and the timing. And we will exchange that data with the client and they will assign us back an 800 number, based on the criteria on that record. so they already have the logic on their side that says that, 'This is a Q3 publication in this type of magazine, for this specific publication, assign[ed] this 800 number.'"
2. Location anonymity. If a business sells nationwide but doesn't have offices across the country, a toll free number may be the way to go, Werlwas says.
"If [you're] selling car parts … or tires to a car … if I see that your area code is 212, I'm going to think that you're in New York," he says. "If I'm in Dallas, I might not call, because it's like, 'Ugh. I don't want to call New York. It's way out of the way.' … But if I see an 800 number, I don't know where you're at, so I'm more likely to call you."
3. Human interaction. "I think if you've got a complex issue that you want to talk to somebody about—such as customer service, or when you need to report a problem, or it's a complex sale—you still might want to talk to somebody," Valleskey says. "But the problem is, I think 800 numbers have gotten kind of a stigma attached to them now, because so many people now get caught up in these IVR … phone trees to where they now think, 'If I call an 800 number, I'm just probably going to caught in one of these.'"
And the cons of using toll free numbers are:
1. Expense. Valleskey says: "An 800 number might be much cheaper to acquire than, say, a short code, as far as getting the number itself. But the cost, I think, to staff and to manage your 800 number is expensive. And is probably more expensive now than a lot of the other opportunities, such as using a common short code or 2D barcodes as a direct response mechanism."
2. Performance. Stewart says: "It is important to understand where in the shopping process the consumer might be when seeing your ad or referencing your business data. Years and years of call-tracking tests have shown that when consumers are near the bottom of the purchase funnel, local phone numbers generally outperform toll-free numbers by a margin of over 2:1."
Stewart cites the TMP Directional Marketing & comScore Local Search Usage Study, Q2 2009: "When conducting a search for local business information, 65 percent of consumers expected business results to be within 15 miles of their home or stated location. As a result, when advertising in media that are more local in nature (i.e., print or online Yellow Pages, local search engines—such as Google Maps, etc.), never use toll-free numbers in place of local numbers. Always opt to use local numbers alone, or in combination with a toll-free number."
Even with the exact same message, the local number converts better than the toll-free number, Werlwas says. So he buys local numbers to track, for instance, a direct mail-to-phone campaign. "We get a local 310 number for L.A., we get a 212 number for New York and a 312 number for Chicago and a 214 number for Dallas," he says.
3. Competition from mobile phones. "If you look at the overall spend of marketing and advertising, mobile is still probably only 1 [percent] to 2 percent of the overall spend," Valleskey says.
But, the owner of an iPhone and a BlackBerry says, nearly one in four U.S. households got rid of their landlines in favor of wireless devices. About 15 percent of U.S. households are landline-only. Valleskey says while landlines are viewed as a luxury, cell phones have become a necessity.
6 Questions to Ask Your SEO Copywriter
Heather Lloyd-MartinHave you decided that outsourcing your SEO copywriting and content development strategy is the best bet for your business? (If you're not sure, see last month's blog post on how and when to outsource your SEO.) Now here comes the hard part: Finding the right SEO copywriter for your needs.
SEO copywriting professionals can have a wide variety of skill sets, from the newbie who is just getting her virtual feet wet to the uber-experienced direct response professional who is also a whiz at SEO. If you're ready to take the plunge, here are six questions to ask any prospective SEO copywriter.
1. What kind of experience do you have?
SEO copywriting is different. Someone may be a fantastic direct response copywriter. But if he doesn't have SEO copywriting experience, he may not be your best choice. Why? Because SEO copywriting is part geeky knowledge, part creative brilliance. Not only will your new hire have to have "normal" copywriting skills, but he'll also need to know how to choose keyphrases, set a strategy and weave keyphrases into your copy the right way. Some folks are self-taught, but the best SEO copywriters have had some hands-on training. A combination of solid experience plus additional training (for instance, being Certified in SEO copywriting) ensures that you have a quality candidate.
2. What do you charge, and what's included in the price?
You may think that a writer's price is incredibly inexpensive, but make sure that you know what's included in the rate. Just like when you buy a plane ticket, some writers charge a low per-page rate, but then add on "extras" like keyphrase research, a per-page keyphrase strategy, and creating titles and meta descriptions. That's great for some clients. But if you need lots of extras (such as when you don't have a per-page keyphrase strategy in place), know that you'll be paying more per page.
3. How has your writing boosted your clients' revenues?
Yes, we all want top-10 search engine rankings, and your SEO copywriter plays a huge part in making that happen. However, there's a bigger question to ask: Will your copywriter make you money? Ask your copywriter how her writing has helped to increase conversion rates. She may tell a story about how one landing page generated $25,000 in almost instant revenue. Or how SEO copywriting training helped to increase revenues by 27 percent. If a copywriter can't give you specifics, dig deeper. Sometimes, the copywriter doesn't have access to analytics, so his non-specific answer isn't his fault. At the same time, he should have one heck of a testimonial portfolio and other street-cred to make up for it.
4. Do you outsource to other copywriters?
You may have felt an instant connection when you chatted with the copywriting agency. But will the outgoing and whip-smart woman you spoke with on the phone be the same person writing your copy? Maybe. Ask your copywriter if she outsources. If she says "yes," ask for a writing sample from the person who will be doing the writing. Outsourcing isn't a bad thing. But as the client, you have a right to know the players and the process. (Side note: If you don't hear the "main" copywriter discuss how she evaluates every piece of copy before a client sees it, run away fast.)
5. What kind of ongoing education do you receive?
SEO copywriting is not a "set it and forget it" kind of skill set. The search engines are ever-changing and what worked six months ago may not work today. Plus, new neuromarketing, eye-tracking and information-processing research is changing the way copywriters write content. Ask what kind of sites, conferences and research your copywriter is tracking. If she says, "I don't keep up with techie stuff," she still may be an awesome copywriter … but she may not have the necessary SEO skills to really do the job (depending on the skill level you need).
6. What other skills do you bring to the table?
Some SEO copywriters can take on a full-scale SEO campaign and thrive, replacing your need for another SEO company (this is especially true for small businesses.) Other SEO copywriters can train your team, build links and even write that e-book that's been on your "to-do" list for years. Once you love and trust your new writer, explore how else she can help you. You may find that your SEO copywriter can help you grow your business in many additional ways—and you'll have a trusted marketing partner who can create killer, high-converting (and positioning) copy.