Man can’t live on inbound marketing alone…

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Frank

I’ve been thinking a great deal about the balance between inbound and outbound marketing.  I’m not a big fan of the term “inbound marketing” as it is largely a rehash of things that most online marketers discovered over the last 8-10 years.  Accountable and analytic marketers understand that:

  • Most of the mass media and “push” techniques just aren’t as effective as they used to be a decade or two ago.
  • People don’t like to be harassed by telemarketers.
  • Shoppers are increasingly using the Web (including blogs and social media) to learn about your product or service.
  • Prospects who engage with your business online are typically further along the purchasing process and are more likely to buy.

These are all things that most of us have discovered empirically.

In my opinion, the real challenge is figuring out if you can get enough from your online channels to fill the funnel and support your sales goals.  In many markets, a large percentage of people still use “old media” to learn about things.  For example, while over 10 million people still watch the nightly network news shows in the US, the more popular online TV shows have at best thousands of viewers.  I know, I know we can talk about audience targeting and specificity but differential is meaningful.

While all trends are toward online media, most of us will exhaust our productive online opportunities and will need some “old media”push in our marketing mix.  To use an expression popular in the state of Maine, “you can’t get there from here.” We have businesses to run and sometimes we still need the sheer mass of eyeballs you can only get from “old media”.

I know that change is upon us as print media and radio suffer through their painful corrections but they still have big, relevant audiences that we need to keep that in mind.  These channels are also not going away anytime soon.  My suggestion is to watch the numbers and be ruthless as you make media decisions understanding that most businesses need more than just online marketing (even if the customer acquisition costs are much higher offline).  At the end of the day, results matter more than channels.

How much are you moving to online media?  Can you reach your goals this year with online alone?

Posted in Accountable Marketing, Internet Marketing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

What’s old is new

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Frank

Last week I blogged about fresh alternatives to the B2B marketing lead generation trinity (webinars, whitepapers and tradeshows).  While few parts of your marketing mix can help you tell your story, share a demo or answer questions like a live web event, I feel like the medium has become tired.  How many sessions about “Best practices in…” or “X Ways to improve…” can your prospects bear?

The format has become as predictable as a “Friends” rerun. You begin with a short intro, followed by a customer or analyst testimonial, then a demo, shameless plug and finally an interactive Q&A.  Your prospects may or may not listen to the audio in the background as they get caught up on email or checkout Perez Hilton.

So, what can a software marketer do? Sales is still going to breath down your neck for leads.  My suggestions is to take another look at streaming radio.  I know this is technologically similar to webinar audio but has a few advantages.

Costs:  Unless you are using one of the low-cost, higher-risk webinar providers (ie Gotowebinar or Dim Dim), streaming radio can be significantly less expensive.

Sound quality: A 128K audio stream typically sounds better than the overburdened VOIP or conference call connections from the major webinar services.

Scalability: Webinar providers also often have a different pricing schedule for bigger events (ie over 1,000 people).  Streaming radio on the other hand can use a CDN which typically scales to much great levels without arbitrary limits imposed to maximize revenue yield.

Freshness:  Who wants to be a webinar attendee?  An Internet radio show just sounds cooler.

Podcasts: It is pretty easy to create podcasts from most streaming radio software.

Here are a couple things I have learned:

  • You need an alternative plan for chat.  I’ve dabbled with Twitter and a custom hashtags. You could also consider Skype or some other chat platform for less social media savvy crowds.
  • You need to find a registration system.  I’ve used Eventbrite.  It is free and easy to configure.
  • Live demos are a challenge. You would need to find a screensharing solution.
  • You’ll want to build a custom page for radio show URL.
  • People can access the show without registering, costing you some leads.

Anyone else have experiences with streaming radio they would like to share?

Posted in Innovative Marketing Management, Internet Marketing | Leave a comment

Video: What it means to be a skeptical CMO and accountable marketer

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Frank

Here is the link to an interview I did on June 25th with Matthew Mamet of PermissionTV.

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They have an interesting approach to using video as a B2B lead generation tool.

Posted in Accountable Marketing, Innovative Marketing Management | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Ten signs you are a skeptical marketer

Posted on May 14, 2009 by Frank
  1. You ask for goals and metrics before a project startslolcmo
  2. You search for analogous historical programs to give you sense of potential results
  3. You ask too many questions when a vendor uses jargon or overly technical terms
  4. You talk with others who have tried this type of marketing before
  5. You push vendors for CPA or pay for performance deals
  6. You make vendors give you the full volume price until a medium is proven
  7. You don’t believe the hype about anything that is hot
  8. You start with a low cost test whenever possible
  9. You believe in results over rate cards
  10. Your colleagues ask you to critique their programs to help improve results.

Did I mention I am hosting a new webinar and podcast series for the Skeptical CMO
?

Did I miss any others?

Posted in Accountable Marketing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Can I have a witness from the congregation?

Posted on May 5, 2009 by Frank

Why is it that someone who is an expert in social media is often referred to as an evangelist or guru?

Do we really need to resort to faith-based arguments to convince people that these new media are important to businesses and nonprofits? Well, I guess if we made stronger arguments based on “the numbers” then we wouldn’t need to ask people to blindly believe.  In the B2B world, more case studies from prominent companies would help.  Until pragmatic managers get a taste of higher customer retention rates, improved SEO, or increased online sales, then social media will be something that is optional (even if everyone is talking about them online).

Try this next time you explain Twitter or LinkedIn to a friend – share a couple of stories about organizations who turbocharged their sales or customer service levels using social media.  Then you won’t have to ask them for their blind faith.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments