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What Are Some Ideas For Cheap B2b Marketing?
Posted By: bpluskowski on 2/10/2004 12:21 PM (CST) 125 Points
We are a small software company, specialising in an enterprise tool - in a small but rapidly growing market (we are currenty the leaders in this field). Our application is not industry or LoS specific and can be used across the enterprise.

Due to our size, we have always had to do our marketing at a reasonably restrictive budget - however, we've been remarkably successful at doing this. We've gone into paid search, free search optimisation, e-newsletters, blogs, video case studies, written case studies, white papers, conferences and tradeshows to name a few - but each year, our competitors catch up - and each year I need to find the one big thing that will put us ahead of the rest in terms of mindshare in this field. I'm now trying to figure out what that next big thing will be for us. What's the best way to reach the CXO type execs who are typically our sponsors? And what are the cheapest ways to do this in an effective manner? Every marketing seminar I go to is focused on the much easier consumer segment - what do we do for B2B?

Posted by: * Accepted Answer
2/10/2004 3:01 PM (CST)
If you have a strong prospect database- then try an internet radio show. They can be done cheaply yet appear high dollar. They provide for real time interactivity, will support your other dialogue initiatives like your newsletter and blog. They also allow you to establish a real coporate personality and provide a platform that is easy for your partners to particpate in and most importantly, promote. You can do this yourself with no additional bandwidth requirement and you can create a permanent URL so that people can bookmark and forward. Frequency and format are up to you, but it should probably run every two weeks for 30-60 minutes, be focused on a single benefit for each new show, have an outside guest (joining by concall). Run it as a brief series, have your listeners help you pick the topics and MOST IMPORTANTLY, DO NOT MAKE IT AN INFOMERCIAL. Be topical and timely.

Good luck!
 
Posted by: thecustomer Member Response
2/10/2004 3:52 PM (CST)
Hi

have you tried:
- seo
- keyword bidding
- marketing to online communities where you're likely to find customers
- online public relations

and, out of left field, eBay. If you can find your customers there, the sheer volume of traffic might pay off.

Since you're selling software, what's the marginal cost of producing one more copy? Probably low - the value's in installation, licencing & support. Maybe there's a way to price an eBay auction that makes sense (& profit)

hth

Will Rowan
 
Posted by: mbarber Member Response
2/10/2004 4:55 PM (CST)
Hi Bpluskowski

Given your market segment and product, I'd be inclined to do an RSS feed from your web site. You'll need someone internally to write a couple of articles each week related to your field and you may even be able to find other articles that you can use.

Then send an email out to your database contacts advising them of your latest service with a web link that allows them to gain access.

Use 'the latest, up to date information for your business in the area of...'

Ensure that the articles are relevant, not always about YOU but about your sector, ensure you remind them where they recieved this information on, and make yourself available for questions when the time comes.

You'll ensure that your company is seen as up to date and the leaders whilst everyone else is playing catch up. Plus, being the first to offer a feed via RSS in the industry sector, the need for your client base to search for other sources is reduced, thus cutting your competition out of the loop.

The caveat is that you must be willing to make the RSS feed articles relevant to the sector and not just your company.

Best of luck
 
Posted by: bpluskowski Author Response
2/10/2004 4:59 PM (CST)
Thanks for the answers so far - here are some comments:

sbalch:
Whilst the radio show concept is interesting - and we've done similar stuff in the past although using conference calls instead - our problem was in the sheer amount of content required to run a regular occurence like that. The time restrictions on our staff would prevent us from being able to pull this off for more than say, a couple of months. My personal belief is that if you start something like this - and this goes for all of you out there considering starting a newsletter - you HAVE to keep it up for a minimum of a year.

Luckily - when we started our newsletter, i was able to convince my CEO that the biweekly version he wanted was unsustainable at the level of detail that we wanted (we need to maintain thought leadership in this area- so depth of content was important too) - even at the current monthly output, we've struggled for some months. To come up with 1/2 hour of content - especially produced to reasonable professional quality, would seem pretty time consuming which would drain us of our resources too much bearing in mind our other committments already.

Finally - there's also the issue of being able to control who listens in - we want to make sure we don't unnecessarily educate competitors in how to make a system that works as successfully as ours - we can control newsletter subscribers, and we can control our other educational offerings - but radio shows would be hard to do.

having said that - it is a cheaper approach that the WebEx series we've considered in the past - and certainly one worth consideration

Will:

As i mentioned in my original posting - we have tried SEOs (not as well as I'd like - but we have technical platform difficulties that prevent us from exploring that further), as well as paid search (keyword bidding). We have also tried marketing to online communities with very little success - the CXO type person simply does not spend that much time online - let alone at a community site. We have had slightly more success with off-line communities and associations though. And finally - yup - tried online (and offline) PR efforts - am about to launch another go at this in a couple of weeks actually.

Finally - eBay - as this is an enterprise solution - ie it is bought by a company for use across the entire userbase, this is really not an applicable market - the sheer image issues of selling our stuff on eBay would devalue our relationships with our clients (mostly Fortune 100) - not to mention, although this is a contested market - it is not a commodity market - and expertise and understanding of the underlying processes that make a program such as our work are far more important to the vast majority of clients. The ones who approach us with price as their first issues, will frequently be "me too" buyers who are buying without identified need or sponsorship, and will almost all ultimately fail in their endeavours - so we would not look to compete on price alone.

Keep those ideas coming though! I hope through my reply I've given you an idea of what I'm up against here :)

 
Posted by: bpluskowski Author Response
2/10/2004 5:07 PM (CST)
mbarber:

I've considered RSS feeds - most of our content is not specific to our product - our strategy has been to lead in mindshare and thought leadership in the area - so, although our product is far superior to our competition's, we've never had to really push our product so much as our thoughts and processes - which are obviously embedded in our product.

The main issue I have with RSS feeds is again, the ease with which competitors can monitor our efforts - maybe I'm over reacting - but I don't believe in making it easy for them - our blog is very research focused - with emphasis on reviewing current news articles and other research - and we've had several requests for an RSS feed for that site - which is updated reasonably frequently - but I have yet to bite on that idea yet. It would also put pressure again on our content generation. The Blog for example - is my responsibility - and I like that if I forget to do it for a while, I can pre-date entries so as to cover the empty space much better to make it seem like it is more frequently updated than the once or twice a month I actually have time to do it.
An RSS feed would put pressure to spend more time in this activity. Thanks though - it's always interesting to see that other people have also considered this - is security an issue with you guys at all?
 
Posted by: Jett* Member Response
2/10/2004 6:03 PM (CST)
I suggest putting ads in The WallStreet Journal and USA Today. Those are probably the two most widely read publications in the C level business world.

Also, one strategy I utilize, which took years to develop, is to call and ask to speak to them! Most people just figure "ahhh, they won't take the call"...but you would be surprised how many actually do...or at least return your call.

Another strategy I use with the most success is to send an email to the highest "title" I can find and start out with "Please Forward To CEO/President" (acting as if you do not know who the CEO is).

Again, you would be surprised how many C level execs you can get on the line by simply asking.

I hope that helps! That's what I do!

Good Luck!!
 
Posted by: mbarber Accepted Answer
2/10/2004 6:10 PM (CST)
BP, thanks for some clarity on the issue regarding RSS.

For me, security is never an issue in reality as sooner or later, your competitors will know all about you. Often the time and effort required to keep things 'top secret' does not pay off in real terms. Now I am not saying that you make it easy, just that I'd be less concerned with the secrets and focus more energy into develoing the relationships.

If you become the trusted source, your client base will always look to you for guidance. That doesn't mean they'll always buy from you but the more trust you create (through delivery of 'independant content') the more difficult it will be for competitors to undermine your efforts.

If you target your RSS feeds by inviting only those you want to have access, you delay the rate at which your competitors gain access to the information. Plus, even if they sign on through other means, much of the content you are providing is of a general nature that doesn't improve their understanding of what you are doing behind the scenes.

You could of course in all of your RSS feed articles, provide a snapshot that has a link to the complete article. In order for them to gain access to that you'd get to qualify them further.

Plus an active RSS blog group could provide some exceptional opportunites for market research - you could develop a mind group who informs you of the type of products your target market is seeking or what they like about you or your comeptitors offerings.

Remember too that your target sponsors are likely to be feeling time poor but still want to be seen and to be 'up with the latest'. An RSS feed (yes I know that means some extra work during the start up phases) will help position you as a vital information source.

Its but one idea.
 
Posted by: * Member Response
2/10/2004 6:33 PM (CST)
BP -

Well, I guess it is true what they say about free advice...

You might want to talk to these guys: www.tpcnet.com. You might be surprised just how cheap, easy and compelling good internet radio can be.

Good luck!
 
Posted by: clientflow* Accepted Answer
2/10/2004 6:40 PM (CST)
bpluskowski,

a few thoughts:

1. Buyer Know-How Report
If you have the 'superior solution' in the market - then how about creating a free report that educates buyers on how to evalute and buy this type of software:

"What every CXO needs to know about buying XYZ type of software."

In this report you educate the buyer on how to assess value. Ideally, the reader would see concrete evidence that demonstrates how your software provides a superior value proposition. And by value prop - I mean the tangible financial benefits of using your software.

2. Create a multi-channel marketing campaign that gets this report on the desk of as many prospects as possible.
- Direct Email
- Newsletter Sponsorships
- Whitepaper distribution channesl (Bitpipe)
- Direct Mail
- etc.

3. Public Relations
The biggest bang for your mindshare-building buck is PR. I suggest hiring a PR firm that specializes in software / high tech that can get you featured in well-read industry publications, analyst reports, etc.

All the best.
 
Posted by: Leaky Funnel Member Response
2/10/2004 6:58 PM (CST)
The three issues with trying to out-tactic your competition are:

1 - you never will (they'll keep catching you as you have already found)
2 - you compromise momentum
3 - you'll confuse the very market you're trying to woo

We counsel clients to set aside their tactics - all of them, then do the following to accelerate generate demand generation:

1 - identify the buyer's journey (what do buyers think first, then next, next, next, finally?)
2 - work out how many will make each stage of this progression, allowing for leakage, and how long each progression will take (lag)
3 - select tactics good enough to achieve each progression
4 - measure actual progression (stage by stage, not just overall) and benchmark your success.

Using such an approach, you should only find yourself changing tactics if they are proving to be insufficiently effective for the specific stage of buyer progression that they were chosen for. I hope this helps.

Good luck, Hugh
 
Posted by: Jim Deveau/Catalyst* Accepted Answer
2/10/2004 9:40 PM (CST)
Hi "b":

All great advice above. CXO's are incredibly difficult to target - and you are right - much traditional media is lost on them.

Suggestion - think from your target's perspective. Based on your success to date, you have all the necessary marketing elements (management/enterprise/CXO needs, product differentiation, positioning, messaging, etc) . It sounds like you want to reach prospects in a unique forum and get in front of the competition.

I agree with the recommendation on PR, and I would add a twist. Can your software benefit non-profits or other socially important entities? If so - why not start a campaign to donate the software to deserving causes and have your major clients partner with you and volunteer resources/time to implement at the charities? Perhaps you could have a nomination/sponsor process whereby client firms can petition you to assist charities that their corporation is aligned with? This will go over really big in PR circles, and the references to your participating clients will impress CXO level prospects who read of your joint efforts.

I would work hard to get articles in mass media. Does your product help address a larger enterprise issue that is currently getting a lot of press? CXO's would love to get favorable press about enterprise initiatives that are improving efficiency, etc. This is invaluable exposure for your clients as well, and you could probably partner with their MARCOM and/or Investor Relations groups. Work these angles hard and get the press mentions in the Busines Papers and Magazines.

Don't forget little specialty media types like in-flight magazines if your product can be part of a general interest story.

Another suggestion would be to help form the first User Group for your software (run by clients) and provide the seed money for your first User Group Forum. This would be a great way for you to showcase your product to prospects. Nothing replaces a keynote from a CXO of a major corporation speaking on an enterprise issue.

I know you are highly focused on this challenge - I hope these ideas from a different perspective might help.
 
Posted by: DavidatHaley Accepted Answer
2/10/2004 9:42 PM (CST)
Hugh raises a great point. You can never stay ahead of the competition with any tactic they can copy.

So how about one they can't...building a sense of community with your existing clients and even prospects. If you're already seen as a "go to" source for information in your field, why not leverage that into becoming a destination for clients and prospects to learn more (hey, kind of like this site!). If you offer a forum for open discussion, shared knowledge, and possibly access to a variety of experts (you may need to invite others who provide complimentary services to join you in your effort), you may be able to develop stronger relationships with existing clients, improved positioning with prospects, and a resource that will be exceedingly difficult for the competition to replicate.

One of the challenges for CXO types is they have few peers within their organizations with whom to share open discussion. While I don't know about the success of this type of effort with larger organizations, you can check out HR Powerhouse (www.hrpowerhouse.com)from Administaff for an example of how they are reaching small business owners to sell their HR expertise.

Good luck!

David
 
Posted by: Holy City Rollers* Member Response
2/11/2004 4:02 AM (CST)
If you haven't already readit it, I sugMy advice is to read "Selling to VITO" by Anthony Parinello. Great tactics on reaching the CxO, whom I would hope is not sitting and listening to internet radio.
 
Posted by: AndrewS Accepted Answer
2/11/2004 3:12 PM (CST)
I offer the following in case it triggers off ideas from anyone!

EXTERNAL MEDIA:
Aerial advertising
Audio/Visual material
Books
Business Gifts
Case Studies
CD-Rom
Cinema
Competitions
Corporate Hospitality
Customer Training
Customer user panels
Dealer panels
Direct marketing
Directories and yearbooks
Editorial publicity
Email
Events
Helplines
House Magazine
Internet
Letters
Literature
Magazine ads
Mailings – ads and press releases
Newsletters
Newspaper ads
Outdoor posters
Packaging
Private exhibitions and receptions
Point of purchase
Public Exhibitions and Tradeshows
Radio
Roadshows
Sales aids
Samples
Seminars and Conferences
Social events
Sponsorship
Telephone
Television
Video Conferencing

PEOPLE AS MEDIA:
Academics
Agents
Business partners
Consultants
Customers
Employees
Journalists
Other outside influences
Retailers
Trade associations

INTERNAL MEDIA:
Annual reports
Attitude surveys
Award ceremonies
Campaign presentations
Company magazines
Information on PCs
Intranet
Literature
Local newspaper articles
Manager/employee team talks
Mass meetings
Notice boards
Pat packet inserts
Posters
Senior management presentations
Special competitions
Sports and social events
Static displays
Training sessions
Videos
 
Posted by: smetko* Accepted Answer
2/13/2004 11:10 PM (CST)
I don't know how much phone traffic you're generating, but don't forget that asset of air time that's right underneath your nose: the time your callers are waiting in your phone system. Could be traditional 'hold time' or transfer time of any type. People don't realize that most phone systems can be programmed so the caller will not hear the ringing of a transferring call, but educational/informative and /or marketing information. Four rings=24 seconds. From your auto attendant, in or out of voice mail, to another department...it all adds up. Plus there's the 'let me put you on hold while I get the answer to your question' scenario.
Don't kid yourself, this air time is present. Five callers put on hold/day for 30 seconds=over 30 minutes every month. Best of all, this is air time you already own.
 
Posted by: bpluskowski Author Response
2/20/2004 10:48 AM (CST)
Thanks a lot for those answers! Although we're already doing a lot of what you suggested, it's great validation that I'm not missing much. There were also some interesting new opportunities here I hadn't considered, which, although I'm not totally convinced will work in my field - will certainly be worthwhile putting a biz case around to see if it's feasible. Thanks again!

Boris
 


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