Q2 Marketing Blog – Technology Marketing, Public Relations, Brand Consulting

Lead Generation Category

Should You Network?

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

To network or not to network? You may expect me to tell you, unequivocally, if you’re serious about your business, get out and network! Kind of in the same way that dentist you don’t go to anymore used to tell you how important it was for you to floss.

But honesty is a better policy. Not everyone should be out there networking. Some should be doing more. And some who are networking today may be doing it all wrong.

Where do you fall? To find out, take the quiz:

http://designerscouch.org/show_article/182/should-you-network.html

Tags: network, Networking
Posted in Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Lead Generation, Networking, Referral marketing, Sales and Marketing | No Comments »

SEO, PPC, Social Media & More–Find the Top Online Marketing Firms

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Here is a TopTenREVIEWS review of the top internet marketing companies. Various service areas are evaluated, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), link building, social media optimization and more.

Read the online marketing services firms review.

Tags: link building, online marketing services firms, pay per click, ppc, review, search engine optimization, SEO, top internet marketing companies
Posted in Business to Business Marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Marketing Research, Online Marketing, Research and studies, SEO, Sales and Marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media, Web site development | No Comments »

Web marketing: Customer Acquisition Vs Cheap Sales Tactics

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

We all know how important customer acquisition is these days—for our clients and for ourselves. But some companies are getting carried away and making a big online marketing mistake.

Many are getting caught up in optimizing their websites for lead generation and sales conversion. And they’re forgetting there’s much more to a website strategy. Effective websites must also serve existing customers and create a brand perception of trust and credibility.

Tags: customer acquisition, effective websites, Lead Generation, sales conversion, web marketing, website strategy
Posted in Brand Consulting, Business to Business Marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, Sales and Marketing, Web site development | No Comments »

Goverment Contractors, Is Your Brand Unique?

Thursday, July 30th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

We’ve been focusing on a favorite topic of mine—branding for government contractors. I’ll be the first to tell you that revenue generating initiatives are of greater value in a down economy than branding efforts. But federal contractors are different. Generally speaking, they tend to lack the strong brand identity and recognition of their commercial sector counterparts. Only, unlike their commercial counterparts, successful government contractors, with a greater immunity to the recession, can afford to make the investment in brand building now.

But why should contractors turn their attention to branding now? Because the industry—which is already awash in tech firms, professional services firms and goods and service providers—is getting more and more competitive every day. New players are entering the fray by the minute. The contractors that have been there and done that need to raise their profile and build their brand if their long term goals include growing their business.

Let’s revisit our first of four principles from Branding in the federal sector: For a brand to be effective, it has to be unique.

This means the brand must be distinctive from the others in your playing field, which, unless you’ve carved out a very distinct niche, is probably pretty crowded. Occasionally we have clients approach Q2 Marketing to say they want to create in impression on the market that “we aren’t like all the other beltway bandits.” Bravo. We love those people because they get it and because it’s job security for us. And because it’s sound marketing strategy.

If, by contrast, your branding strategy is to find out what the best-known and most successful competitors say and look like, and emulate them, expect muted results. Yes, federal buyers are notoriously risk averse and make the safe choice. But you can communicate to your audience that you’re safe, while making a distinct and lasting impression.

So ask yourself, what’s unique and superior about my company? Hint: the answer is not your disadvantaged status. Trust me, you’re not the only 8a or woman-owned small business in town.

When you determine what those differentiators are, you are on your way to a value proposition. Now ask yourself how you’re communicating that to the marketplace at every step along the way in the sales cycle.

Join us soon for more on this hot topic and feel free to share your comments if you disagree. I know there are dissenters out there. I talk to them all the time….

Posted in Brand Consulting, Business to Government Marketing, Economy, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Messaging & Positioning, Recession marketing, Sales and Marketing, Technology Marketing | No Comments »

5 steps to successful and measurable white paper marketing

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

In technology marketing, the virtues of white papers are well known. But the deployment strategy too often goes off course. When this falls short, measurable results are sure to follow.

A successful white paper distribution strategy really only requires five steps:

1. A marketable topic that provides important content to potential buyers.

Just because your engineers are excited about a technology doesn’t mean this topic will generate enthusiastic readers. Research your topic and make sure you’re really filling a market niche and supplying needed content. If this step is not dead on, how can the program be successful?

2. Structure and content that delivers on the promise of valuable information.

This step can do one of two things. It can build on the credibility of the company that develops the white paper. Or it can damage your company’s credibility if the reader goes to the trouble to download your data, only to find the information is poorly organized, badly written, and/or hopefully week on good content. There’s a middle ground in there too, but that falls short of motivating the prospect to do business with you.

3. Visual appeal that contributes to the positive perception the reader has of the company.

White papers are marketing pieces and should fit with the overall corporate brand. Charts, graphs, screen captures and other visual depictions should be handled by an experienced graphic designer, as should all parts of the white paper. Not everyone who can design a white paper should design a white paper. After all, you want this document to be read by your audience. Visuals are important.

4. A distribution strategy of reaching potential buyers, customers, etc.

Writing the white paper is the easy part. Really. As difficult as it can be to extract important information out of your subject matter experts and convince your C-suite and peers that you’re not giving away trade secrets at every turn, the most difficult part of any white paper strategy is distribution. Take the time and allocate the budget to do this step properly. Before you embark on developing the white papers, research white paper search and syndication services like bnet, techtarget, knowledgestorm and more, as well as more niche-focused services. Also consider the white paper as a pull to an advertising or direct mail campaign.

Also, determine how you will continue to nurture those leads once they are in your pipeline.

5. Benchmarking and measurement methods to determine and define success.

Before you begin, determine what success looks like. Realistically. Is it the number of qualified downloads, qualified additions to your marketing database, inbound leads, search engine optimization, synergy with a PR program, etc.?

Posted in Advertising, Brand Consulting, Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Direct marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, Public Relations, SEO, Sales and Marketing, Search Marketing, Technology Marketing, White paper marketing | No Comments »

Keyword Optimization—Low-Cost, Qualified Leads

Thursday, June 18th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

There’s a low-cost, recession-proof way to drive qualified leads to your web site.

“[In this economy] there is a greater focus on customer acquisition. Search is the best tool for that.”

–David Hallerman, senior analyst, eMarketer

Q2 Marketing is offering a proven recession-proof keyword optimization program you can implement immediately to begin driving measurably increased qualified traffic to your web site.

You’ll receive a full listing of keywords, prioritized by daily searches, predicted daily searches and Google KEI (keyword effectiveness index). And you’ll know at a glance, based on the straight-forward, easy-to interpret numbers, which are the most effective for your web site and which ones to be sure and include.

The Q2 Keyword optimization program. It’s fast, affordable and will boost qualified leads to your web site. That’s good news in any economy. Contact sales@q2marketing.com for more.

Posted in Lead Generation, SEO, Technology Marketing, Web site development | No Comments »

Last things you need before you begin to blog

Monday, June 15th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

This series grew out of my heartfelt conclusion that B2B and B2G blogging isn’t for everyone. Sometimes I get the sense that non-bloggers feel guilty about not yet joining the fray. Conversely, a hearty helping of business-to-business bloggers that, it turns out, have very little to say, have jumped in. The series began by highting the four attributes a would-be blogger absolutely must have:

Strategy
Discipline
Desire
Content

But, from there it grew. Because in addition to these, skill and content targeted to audience are essential, as we explored in part two. But wait, there’s more. Here are our final two attributes you need if you’re going to blog. At least for now.

7. Patience. You aren’t going to experience a groundswell of traffic to your site overnight. You probably won’t experience much traffic for the first number of months. Patience is a prerequisite. This ties into the discipline mentioned earlier. Know that this requires a big picture, long term perspective. We all want thousands of unique visitors each day. But remember one qualified inbound lead as a direct result of your blog has greater value than one thousand passive readers.

On readership, promoting the blog is an entirely different story. A story for another time.

8. Metrics. All good marketing is about metrics and blogs are no exception. One of the single greatest assets of web marketing is measurement. Google Analytics, which is free, will give you great data on traffic to your blog, most popular pages, time on site, referring sites and more. Use this information to understand the types of topics of most value and interest to your readers. When quantifying the value of your blog, refer back to your strategic objectives and make sure your goals are in alignment with your initiatives. And the most important metric of all: are you getting qualifed leads?

Posted in Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Economy, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, Public Relations, SEO, Sales and Marketing, Social Media, Technology Marketing, Web site development | No Comments »

Two More of the Most Important Things You Need to Blog

Thursday, June 11th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Earlier this week we examined the four most important things you need before you blog. To recap, they are:

Strategy
Discipline
Desire
Content

Those are the absolutely essential ingredients if your blog is going to make any impact on your business. Most don’t, according to Technorati’s State of the Blogsphere. According to this September 2008 survey, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs they track had been updated during the previous three months. This means 95% of blogs have been abandoned.

So to avoid an abandoned blog, or spinning your wheels to no avail, here are two more of the most important things you need before you blog.

5. Desire. Blogs aren’t high prose, but you have to like to write. You must have at least a modicum of aptitude for conveying the written word. And you have to want to push out to the world information, trends and issues that are hot in your industry. Being naturally inquisitive and generally excited by your industry and its goings-on will go a long way. And having a finger on the pulse of trends and developments is an absolute necessity if you’re going to attract initial and repeat visitors.

Think of it like going to the gym. If you hate it, or you’re just ambivalent, you won’t keep doing it. It’s better to dedicate your time to other efforts.

6. Content targeted to audience. Part one identified content as critical, but an effective blog extends beyond that. If your blog is going to help you drive business and reach other strategic objectives, your copy must be aligned to your objectives. I talk with bloggers who are disappointed that their consistent and well-conceived efforts are not driving traffic to their blog, sales leads, or even significant traffic to their corporate web site.

Often the culprit is less the quality of the blog and more the relevance of the content to the business. There is no shortage of things I’m passionate about and could blog about, from politics and religion to martial arts, fitness and a variety of business topics. But my Examiner column and Q2 Marketing’s Technology Marketing Blog are focused on strategic marketing for one of our most significant market sectors: B2B and B2G tech firms. If you’re going to get results, ensure your blog is equally targeted.

Check back soon for two more things you need before you blog.

Posted in Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, SEO, Sales and Marketing, Social Media, Technology Marketing | No Comments »

Blogging? Do you have the 4 most important ingredients?

Monday, June 8th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Business-to-business blogs are everywhere these days. But that doesn’t mean that blogging is really for everyone. Maybe it’s a fit for your and your business. Maybe it’s not. This article highlights the four most essential attributes needed before blogging. We’ll review even more in part two. If you’re missing any one of the four below, regroup and consider if blogging makes sense for you.

1. Strategy. We hear all the time that executives are told they need to blog. They feel this overwhelming urge to keep up with the Joneses and their blogs. But what is too often missing from these recommendations is the strategy behind the blog.

This is true with any marketing activity. It’s not enough to produce a brochure for its own sake or build a web site for the sake of having a web site. How will the blog help you close sales, boost your credibility, fuel search engine optimization, or create awareness for your products? Start here because the next three attributes are irrelevant without a sound strategy.

2. Discipline. Be honest. Are you the type of person who bounces from one thing to the next? Or are you the type who can stick things out and stay the course? Blogging must be consistent, as we all know. Some advise for a daily posting. I think that makes sense if you’re a social media professional or professional blogger. For the rest of us, two to three times a week is a better and more realistic goal.

If yours is going to be a multi-author blog, you’ll need an accountable project manager to build the schedule and keep contributors on track. Contributions should reflect the strategy you’ve carefully planned.

3. Desire. You have to like to write. You have to want to push out to the world information, trends and issues that are hot in your industry. It’s like going to the gym. If you hate it, or you’re ambivalent, you won’t keep doing it.

4. Content. Not all industries lend themselves to B2B blogs. That’s not to say you have to be Guy Kawasaki to create and nurture a blog that people will read. But generally speaking, determine the theme of your blog. Will you cover specific industry verticals? Will your approach be skeptical? Will you provide actionable tips readers can use to help build their own businesses? And importantly–what’s stand-out about the way you will provide information to your world?

Come back later this week for other essential ingredients for a blog that drives revenue for your business.

Posted in Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Technology Marketing, Web site development | 1 Comment »

The 5 Fastest Ways to Generate Leads in a Recession–part 3

Friday, June 5th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-Runkle

Leads. Leads. Leads. They’re worth their weight in gold in any economy. But in a recession, qualified lead volume is as essential as it gets. This is the final of our three part series on the five fastest ways to generate leads. Read part one and part two of the fastest ways to generate leads.

To recap, the first four of the quickest ways to generate lead–and sales:

Webinars
Seminars
Speaking Engagements
White Papers

One quick note on the tactics mentioned in these two recent articles: A lot of companies are still spending significantly on lead generating marketing activities. Word on the B2B and B2G tech marketing street is that these activities continue to work, but a greater volume of leads are needed to close sales.

We’ve saved our most non-traditional marketing activity for last as we explore the fastest ways to generate leads. The last program is telesales. We consider this to be non-traditional from a marketing standpoint, because it falls much more under the banner of sales than marketing. But, like in much of the sales and marketing world, this should be a shared responsibility.

The business model of firms that provide telesales is only growing in this economy. There is no shortage or companies that provide this service. Here’s how it works: they make the cold or slightly warm calls to schedule meetings for your sales people and/or technical experts. These can be very helpful in any economy, but especially now when leads volume is so desired. But just because this is a tactical sales exercise doesn’t mean marketing should sit on the bench.

One of the biggest frustrations executives have with outsourced telesales is the script. The telesales people use the elevator and subsequent messaging the company provides. If the message is off target, the value proposition unclear or the message otherwise misaligned, the calls will have limited success.

Marketing should be engaged at day one to craft the call script and ensure it’s aligned with the corporate messaging, product messaging, etc. Marketing should also be involved in the strategic selling process for each movement within the funnel.

Examples: What is the next step that should occur from a marketing standpoint? Should the lead be added to the marketing database, deleted from the database, scheduled to receive a follow up communication such as a white paper, webinar invitation, enewsletter, etc? This is all part of the sales and marketing process. The best case scenario is that the calls close in the short term. But that won’t happen all the time, so the plan for nurturing the leads through the pipeline has to be considered carefully—and early—in this process.

Additionally, marketing should be involved in testing the message. How well are the calls going? Do prospects understand the value of the product or service? What are their push backs? Marketing must evaluate this feedback and hone the script until it’s fully optimized. Again, it’s a process. The days of throwing random messages against a wall to see what sticks are over in today’s ROI-focuses marketing paradigm.

Generally speaking, the programs highlighted in this three-part piece are the five fastest ways to generate leads. If there are any that you’re not currently exploring, now’s the time to take a closer look.

Posted in Brand Consulting, Business to Business Marketing, Business to Government Marketing, Direct marketing, Economy, Industry Trends, Lead Generation, Messaging & Positioning, Sales and Marketing, Technology Marketing | 3 Comments »

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