Want to Ramp Up Customer Acquisition? First, Break Down Your Campaigns
Customer Acquisition teams manage thousands of campaigns across dozens of channels. Here’s some tips from the team here at Wrike about how to optimize lead gen campaigns and refine your customer acquisition strategy for maximum impact.
Improving Productivity on Your Marketing Team (Checklist)
To say life as a marketing manager can be hectic would be putting it mildly. With so much going on and distractions popping up every five minutes, you may feel like you need to go into complete isolation in order to actually get anything done. In fact, that’s exactly what that crazy scuba-like contraption is for in the photo below: Hugo Gernsback’s 1925 invention "The Isolator" makes the wearer deaf to all outside noise, limits vision to a tiny window, and even has an oxygen hose. Before you go out and buy an Isolator for every member of your marketing team, try these simple strategies for promoting productivity, improving meetings, and encouraging creativity. Instant Productivity Boosters Block out creative time on your calendar where you unplug completely. Turn off email notifications, put your phone on Do Not Disturb, etc. Just make sure your team knows when you’re free to be interrupted so they're not stuck waiting for your input. Delegate. Assign tasks based on strengths, or skills you know your team members want to sharpen. It'll keep your top performers from being overloaded and help your whole team improve and stay engaged. Review lessons learned so you can continually improve your process and become more efficient. Save articles and inspiration in a Wrike folder via the Chrome extension instead of emailing them to your team as you find them. It'll cut down on interruptions and distractions while your team’s focused on the task at hand. Review your inspiration folder at the beginning of a new creative project to kickstart a productive brainstorming session. Give your team time to engage in “unnecessary creation” — Todd Henry’s name for exploring possibilities, picking up new skills, and working on side projects or experiments. You never know what cool ideas, skills, or side projects will benefit your daily work. Clarify goals and how each person contributes in your MRM (marketing resource management is the MRM meaning) plan. When every team member knows their importance, they are more likely to get the job done and done well. Streamline communications and simplify processes. Take a good hard look at the way your team functions and reevaluate whether every step and approval is really necessary. Prioritize based on your strategic marketing goals, and set fake deadlines for yourself for extra motivation. Better Creativity Add more color to your office. Yellow is particularly good for stimulating creativity and optimism. Encourage people to listen to music through headphones. It'll help them focus and get in the creative zone. Provide pens and paper so people can doodle, mind map, brainstorm, write by hand, or easily pick up and head outdoors. Embrace work naps. If your location permits, a quick, 15-minute snooze improves creativity, memory, learning ability, and helps prevent burnout. Meetings & Brainstorming Sessions Keep meetings short and only invite the necessary people to attend. Take it outside. Short meetings, brainstorming sessions — head to the park or go for a short walk while discussing new possibilities. Fresh air and light activity will make your brainstorming sessions more productive, and you’ll get better-quality creative ideas. Start meetings and brainstorming sessions with something fun, like a funny YouTube clip. People are more productive and creative when they’re in a good mood. End meetings by stating who will do what by when. Set at least one day a week as a "no meeting" day where nothing is scheduled. Quick Miscellaneous Tips Stock your office kitchen with healthy snacks and drinks instead of junk that will lead to a food coma or sugar crash. Automate tedious tasks, use marketing automation software, or create templates for routine tasks, documents, and email messages. Stop multitasking. Instead batch similar tasks together to quickly knock them out. Schedule a set time to deal with emails and other requests, instead of dealing with interruptions as they appear. Use an RSS reader to quickly catch up on marketing news and blogs you follow. Download our free marketing eBook Need a new tool to boost collaboration and productivity on your marketing team? Download our free eBook for a real-world guide to buying a collaboration tool that suits your exact needs. Get it now: Collaboration Software for Marketing Teams: A Buyer’s Guide What are your best marketing shortcuts and productivity tips? Share what works for your team in the comments below — we're always looking for new tips! "The Isolator" photo credit: A Great Disorder
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The Ultimate Strategic Guide For Evolving Your Digital Marketing Game
Keeping up with today’s marketing challenges is tough. There is a lot of information to process and examine before formulating a strategy, plus many startups and small businesses have limited budgets. They have to focus on the most cost-effective marketing channels to see positive results. So as a marketer or aspiring entrepreneur, where should you focus? Here are a few tips to maximize your reach through digital marketing. 1. Know your audience and competitors This is the cardinal rule of marketing. Without knowing your audience, you can't effectively speak to them or grab their attention (What are they interested in? What are they looking for, and where do they go to find it?). In-depth knowledge of your target audience allows you to pinpoint your strategy for the people who are most likely to purchase your product, and most willing to contact you directly. So how do you get to know your customers? Step 1: Start with the data that you already have (past surveys and Google Analytics) Also, hold interviews with the major stakeholders to better understand what they like about your organization. Step 2: Once you have enough data, it’s time to create an audience profile worksheet. Step 3: After you’ve created an audience profile, use it as the basis for each and every decision. This will ensure your organization remains customer-centric. Also, whether you’re a small business or an established brand, you have to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. By analyzing your competitors, you can future-proof your business and have an idea of what’s in store. Analyze at least five close competitors in your industry. Keep these points in mind when conducting competitor analysis: What potential threats do your competitors pose? What opportunities do they create for you? Which mediums do they use to market their product or service? Are they doing content marketing, and how successful are they? What topics do they cover? Which keywords do they use? Tools like SEMRush, SuggestMtrx, and SEOchat can help you determine top competitor keywords. 2. Define an engagement strategy According to a survey of marketers conducted by Econsultancy.com, most respondents want to improve customer engagement and brand building by providing a positive experience — they're just not sure how to do it. This is where you have to rely on the data you’ve collected on your customers and competitors to formulate an engagement strategy backed by data (see point 1). Identify the channels (Facebook, Google+) your customers are active on Target those channels and attract customers with relevant content and positive customer reviews (social proof) Use gamification to increase brand engagement Connect with customers by responding to comments, queries and requests Surprise customers by sending them coupons and other incentives on their birthday or holidays Develop an omni-channel user experience 3. Retain current customers 82% of companies agree that retaining customers is cheaper than acquiring new ones. The moment you see churn numbers start to rise, take steps to find out where the problem lies. Some questions to investigate: has your customer left you for a competitor? Are your communications no longer personalized? Or does your product no longer meet their needs? You need to know these answers to retain your customers. 4. Focus on search engine optimization Well executed SEO can bring in a tremendous amount of traffic to your website. According to Social Media Today, 57% of B2B marketers say SEO has the biggest impact on lead generation. But optimizing your website isn't easy, and it requires time and patience. Tips for optimizing your website: Learn how search engine spiders work Before you write content, do some research on keywords and build your material around them Perform A/B tests on your headlines and website copy Update content on a regular basis Share and promote your website address Include a targeted call-to-action on each page of your website Use Google speed insights to improve your site's user experience Have you wondered how much business you’ll be losing by not having your site optimized for mobile users? Well, the answer is A LOT. The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to grow to 4.77 billion in 2017 — and those numbers will continue to skyrocket in the coming years. So don’t forget to optimize your content, website, and apps for mobile users. SEO will also lead to improvements in your content marketing results, since you can focus on creating articles, eBooks, and infographics that potential customers are most interested in reading — and can easily find. Knowing exactly what keywords and topics customers are looking for makes it easier to provide targeted, discoverable content. 5. Start promoting your brand on social media Social networking sites are a great way to help you stay connected with existing customers, and will encourage you to seek out potential customers. For instance, let’s say you’ve recently opened a coffee shop. Using geo search, you can find people who have tweeted about coffee close to your location, and then reach out and offer them a coupon to try your coffee. Apart from the points mentioned above, here a few other areas to concentrate on: Vary your content types, including videos, Slideshares, and infographics. Enforce a multi-channel digital marketing campaign with the help of tools like Pardot, Eloqua,and Bizible Include social media buttons on each page of your website Use email campaigns to nurture leads Offering solutions, education, and entertainment matters. Providing value to customers is the best way to engage and connect. Once you have generated leads, learn to manage them efficiently with tools like Integrate, Pipedrive, and ProsperWorks If you are promoting your brand on multiple channels, be consistent across them all. Instead of trying to do everything, focus your digital marketing resources on excelling in a few key areas. Success in marketing means you never stop learning, keeping up with the latest trends, and above all, listening to your audience. You can read about digital marketing until your eyes cross, but at the end of the day, there is no better guide than dialing in to your customers. Author Bio: Sandra Christie, a writer for @IdigicNet, has several published articles about social media that talk about general improvement of your social feed, and get more brand presence using it.
Be the Next Megabrand with Growth Hacker Marketing (Book Review)
In this book review, we'll tell you why we think Ryan Holiday's 2014 book Growth Hacker Marketing is a great addition to your digital marketing library, as it details how brands like Twitter and Facebook skyrocketed to the next level and paved the way for the future of marketing and PR.
5 Steps for Making Your Marketing Team More Efficient
From the mobile boom to the rise of social media, the realm of marketing has grown far beyond just promotional emails and consistent content. It's not a one size fits all solution, but here are five surefire ways to start building a more efficient and collaborative marketing team.
The Best Funnel Marketing Techniques for B2B
Finding new leads can take a lot of time and resources without a concrete plan, which is why you need a scientific approach to funnel marketing. Read more to learn marketing funnel basics, how to set up your own lead generation machine based on tactics from leading brands, and create an impactful B2B campaign for your business.
Someone's Getting Fired: Totally Avoidable Marketing Mistakes That Will Make You Cringe
Marketers, you have a tough job to do. You have to be edgy enough to stand out in a crowded market and attract attention — but not so edgy you embarrass yourself, attracting the wrong kind of attention. And if you screw up, there is no, “Quick, take it down before someone notices!” Not only has someone noticed, they’ve likely shared the photo or screenshot on Twitter, posted it to Facebook, and submitted it to Reddit. All you can do is pray you haven’t inspired a trending hashtag, and hope customers have short memories. So, how do you push the envelope, without pushing it so far that your PR team gets called in for emergency damage control? It can feel like an impossible balance to achieve. Creativity alone doesn't cut it, you have to be smart — and you have to have the right process in place to protect yourself and your brand from any embarrassing gaffes. Is process the kiss of death for creativity? As tricky as it is to walk the line between creative genius and career suicide, it’s just as tough to strike the right balance between a thorough approvals process and one that's overwrought. That's why, for many marketers and creatives, process just means more stress. Extra hoops to jump through, complicated reviews involving too many people and opinions, and an endless cycle of revisions, until all that’s left is an overworked mess of a marketing system and a burned out team. But the right process isn’t just extra red tape — it’s a safety net. It means you can take the risks that are necessary to stand out and win the market, and rest easy knowing that all the right checks are in place and your brand is safe. Here are 3 costly process mistakes to avoid, plus tips for a streamlined marketing workflow that will set you up for success without slowing you down. 1. Vague creative briefs 70% of designers say that marketers submit unclear creative briefs for new jobs. This means designers are either forced to chase down the details they need to begin work, or guess and fill in the blanks themselves. Either way, you're looking at a lot of wasted time, and a much higher chance that mistakes will be made or key details overlooked. Workflow tip: Every efficient marketing and creative process starts with an effective creative brief. Take the time to establish standardized creative briefs and work requests, complete with fields for campaign goals, file formats and dimensions, related assets, and due dates. It will save your team valuable time (and unnecessary stress) by ensuring expectations are clear and no guesswork is required. [Download a free creative brief template here: The Creative Brief Template: Elements of an Effective Creative Brief] 2. Ambiguous approvals At one point or another, most marketing and creative professionals have heard someone in the C-suite say, “Why did you use this? I never approved this!” There’s nothing quite like the sinking feeling you get in your stomach. And yet the approvals process is often a confusing mess. If the CMO and Creative Director give conflicting feedback, whose comments do you follow? If one person gives their stamp of approval, and another asks for edits, does the first person need to look at the revised version again? And if you send something out for review and approval and don’t hear anything back, does that mean there aren’t any edits or just that everyone’s been too busy to look at it? Creative teams say their #1 collaboration challenge is too much feedback from too many people, so the last thing you want is a drawn out review process with too many voices weighing in. But you do need to bring some order and transparency to the review and approvals process. Workflow tip: Use an online proofing tool that lets people leave comments directly on digital images and documents, so that feedback is precise and all reviewers can see which revisions have already been requested. Plus, approvals can be assigned to specific people, so the author can clearly see who’s given their approval, who’s requested edits, and who hasn’t reviewed yet (and they can send friendly reminders). 3. File version mix-ups When it comes to creative collaboration, your revisions, drafts, and mockups often result in dozens of versions of the same file. When files get sent out for review and approval, consolidating documents with everyone’s feedback and updates into a single definitive version is a tricky task. And when it comes time to print, publish, or upload the final file, it’s all too easy to mistakenly choose the wrong version. After all, you’re probably navigating a mess of files with names like, “final-draft-campaign-Oct-17.jpg,” “last-complete-final-Final(V20)_copy.jpg”, and “Final-ad-USETHISONE.jpg”. Keeping everything organized so that old, unapproved versions aren’t accidentally used in final campaigns is unnecessarily stressful. Workflow tip: Gathering everyone’s feedback doesn’t mean you’re doomed to disorganized files. Simplify your digital asset management by limiting the number of revision rounds. Since every revision results in new files, streamline your current process by eliminating unnecessary steps. Then, use an online proofing and approval tool that supports file editing and versioning. Instead of being emailed, forwarded, and copied, all edits are made to a single file — and everyone on your team can clearly see which version is most up-to-date. Score your biggest marketing wins At Wrike, our marketing department uses our own app to perfect our creative process and launch winning campaigns. Start a free two-week trial of Wrike’s new solution for marketing and creative teams, with nothing to download or install.
5 Future Marketing Job Titles You Should Be Hiring For Right Now
Since buzzwords like social shares, mobile marketing, and (wait for it) Big Data are nothing new and don't really provide a competitive advantage any longer, the marketer of the future will be nothing like the marketer of the past... or present. Marketing has changed more in the past two decades than it has in the last 80 years and we are all just trying to keep up. From data to design to content to creative, customers are becoming harder and harder to impress.
Using Wrike for High Performance Marketing Teams
Wrike's flexible folder structure allows any team to quickly set up a workflow to operate more efficiently. We've seen marketing teams become particularly successful by setting up their Wrike folders to mirror the structure of their department. Our customer success team speaks with dozens of companies per week, sharing best practices and setting up workflows. New marketing teams set up shop in our enterprise project management solution every week in an effort to drive efficiency and stay organized. After chatting with so many of these customers, we know that marketing teams are notoriously understaffed and overworked. Additionally, they're inherently cross-functional, working with departments from sales and engineering to manufacturing and operations. A central work hub to manage all of the moving parts is essential to hitting deadlines. We've compiled some of the best practices and quick wins that marketing teams of all shapes and sizes have leveraged to boost productivity. Additionally, we've created a template folder structure for high-performing marketing teams that you can download and import into Wrike in order to get started ASAP. Edit our template freely to make it match your team! Here are the best practices of how to measure marketing performance from teams we've talked to: 1. Match your folder structure to the organization of your marketing team Most teams have various marketing team "buckets" which often include Lead Gen, Content Marketing, Product Marketing, and Email Marketing, just to name a few. Create a folder to capture all of these categories and create subfolders to match the various teams in your marketing org. If one of your 'buckets' has a multitude of responsibilities, add a layer of subfolders to capture these. Content teams are a perfect example. At Wrike, our content marketing team is working on blog posts, webinar scripts, infographics, and case studies, so they create subfolders to house the tasks related to each of these responsibilities. 2. Organize by week to keep the team on track Marketing teams generate a never ending stream of deliverables. Using multiple tags per task, top performing teams also organize their work by week in order to stay focused and ensure deliverables are generated by the time they're needed. If you haven't explored task tagging yet, pause your reading and take a look at this Help Center article. Wrike gives you the ability to put a task in multiple locations. This is essential for organizing your tasks by team bucket and by week. After creating the perfect folder system, all you need to do is drag the folder name and drop it on the task to add the additional tag. A quick overview can be found in this video about task and folder tagging. 3. Run weekly meetings out of Wrike (Click the header to read my blog post dedicated solely to this topic.) With the weekly folders you created to organize deliverables and tasks, you are now equipped to run weekly meetings straight out of Wrike. Instead of harassing everyone to submit slides for the weekly meeting, simply have teams go on Wrike and show the list of tasks they completed last week, then look at what will be done this week. For tracking purposes, you can either push tasks from week to week as they're rescheduled and pushed out, or leave the original week tags in order to see the history of where a task has been. This is a great way to identify bottlenecks and better understand which work is being prioritized. For better organization, consider including a Meeting Agenda and Action Items task in each week's folder. This will be the task where people can jot down notes, high level thoughts, action items, and other initiatives to ensure there is a place to capture feedback and follow up. During the meeting, make sure you designate a recorder to keep track of actions items on this task and ensure they are converted into tasks with assignees. Weekly folders can also help you understand bandwidth constraints on your team. When used in conjunction with Wrike's Workload view, weekly folders are the perfect place to jump to when a last minute request comes to the marketing team and you need to find someone to get it done. 4. Create MGMT team folder to tag top priorities Most marketing teams have a director who needs updates from her managers. In an effort to ensure managers are only relaying top priority and relevant information, build a "MGMT" team folder with a subfolder for each of the managers. Managers then tag their high priority tasks and projects in order to give their director and peers easy visibility into their most important work. 5. Add annual and quarterly goals in Wrike As you get set up in Wrike, make sure your team has clear goals and direction. Google has a great approach to planning quarterly and annual goals which centers on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). In Wrike, create high level goals (Objectives) and then specific big picture actions you want to take to achieve them (Key Results). Turn these Objectives and Key Results into folders and encourage team members to tag relevant tasks that will achieve these results into the corresponding folder. It gives clear visibility into how every task is helping complete a goal. This can be particularly powerful early in the quarter when you're planning all of the work that needs to get done. 6. Ensure commitment and ownership The key to making this work is to ensure that whole team has buy-in and is committed to the process. Compliance is not enough; 100% commitment is necessary. One way to ease the transition into Wrike and maintain your status as a high performance marketing team is to appointment a high-ranking team member as owner of the team's Wrike experience. The owner maintains folder structure, establishes team norms, and facilitates new processes introduced to Wrike. Your 3 Actions for Today Now, are you finished reading my tips, but don't know where to start? Here are the top 3 actions you should take today to get your marketing team performing at a higher level in Wrike: 1. Create weekly and categorical folders and tag all tasks by week and bucket. 2. Run your weekly meetings out of the weekly tracking folders. 3. Identify a team owner to manage the folder structure and hold the team accountable. Good luck, and let us know how your team improves with Wrike! If you want to see these 6 tips in action, check out our video on creating high-performance marketing teams with Wrike. Author Bio: Author Bio:Tim Chingos is a Customer Success Manager at Wrike. He likes to bring his dog to work and claims that she increases everyone's productivity. LinkedIn
Build Your Brand with The Marketing Blueprint (Book Review)
Thanks to Canadian entrepreneur and marketing consultant Jules Marcoux, CEOs and marketing directors can have exactly that. In what many consider to be one of the best marketing books around, Marcoux maps out exactly how to take brands to the next level and drive better results. In our continuous effort to give marketing teams an edge over the competition, we revisited this marketing agency blueprint for our own book review.
B2B vs. B2C Marketing: What is the Difference?
While B2B and B2C marketing are different, they share the same goals and objectives. There is an art to both B2B and B2C marketing, with their strategies and thinking being both separate, and in some cases, the same. This article will clear the confusion and explain the fundamental differences between B2B and B2C marketing, along with guidance and considerations for each marketing type. Keep reading to discover tools and tips to uncover the subtle yet significant differences between the two. What is the difference between B2B and B2C marketing? Business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing techniques are focused on attracting two distinct audiences. B2B refers to businesses that are focused on serving other businesses instead of themselves. Some examples include software, manufacturing equipment, and repair services for long-haul fleets. B2C refers to businesses that are focused on the needs and interests of their customers, who are often individuals. In other words, they sell to everybody but professionals. Think toothpaste, grocery stores, and mobile gaming apps. While these brands may also appeal to businesses, the bulk of their customer base comes from consumers, so their marketing reflects that. There are also cases where both B2B and B2C initiatives happen at the same time. For example, an interior design agency might design rooms for hotels as well as homeowners. On the surface level, B2B and B2C marketing campaigns share the same technical and behavioral best practices. However, there are several strategic differences that separate the B2B and B2C campaigns. Potential sales volume B2C campaigns can reach anyone interested in a product even if they aren’t the intended buyer. For example, a product intended for children might appeal to the decision-maker in the household by also targeting them to get them to purchase something. While B2C companies can cast a wide net and still expect a solid ROI on their campaigns, B2B brands don’t have that same advantage. That’s because, in B2B marketing, the products are meant for businesses, and there are typically far fewer businesses than there are people in any demographic. While specificity is key for both, B2B marketing has to niche down even further by industry, business size, approximate revenue, and much more when choosing their target audience. Average budget per customer There's a big difference in the budget that an individual has versus what a corporation has. While spending five figures on a piece of equipment might be out of reach for the Average Joe, it's likely already built into the company budget for a business. And, as you can probably guess, how you market a $5 item is quite different from how you market a $50,000 item. This distinction is important because it highlights another one of the biggest key differences between B2B vs. B2C marketing: volume. Volume of sales needed to reach goals Because B2C products are typically sold at a lower price point, they need to rely on a significant number of purchases to reach their goals. This is often reflected in the frequency and variety of their marketing. Even the B2C channels they use offer mass appeal. Podcast ads, paid social media ads, and even billboards are excellent examples of this. Conversely, B2B products are sold at a higher price point and need fewer yet more highly targeted accounts to make a profit. These types of campaigns rely more on reaching the right quality of audience rather than the right quantity of audience. In other words, more is not necessarily more in B2B marketing. Even if the B2B marketers are targeting a specific set of individual decision-makers within a company, they are still benefiting from that company's access to a greater amount of financial resources than the average individual would have. In short, B2C marketing is often aimed at individuals with smaller budgets, while B2B marketing is all about targeting corporations with larger budgets. Decision-making timeline In both B2B and B2C marketing, ads need to immediately inspire customers to take the next action. The difference here is that the next action for B2C audiences might be to make a purchase, while B2B buyers tend to have a much longer decision-making timeline. For B2C, consumers should be able to see an ad and decide whether or not they like the product enough to go in-store or online to make the purchase. While they might do additional research, the time it takes to read reviews or watch product videos on YouTube is a much quicker turnaround than in B2B buying. For B2B brands, there may be many different decision-makers from a variety of departments involved in the purchase. Often, a few different budget approvals and negotiations will take place between the business’s first initial ad viewing and the final purchase. When put together, the B2B marketing timeline can often be significantly longer than the B2C marketing timeline. Emotion vs. logic B2C marketing also relies on appealing to emotions to make quick buying decisions. This means their content is often more fun or entertaining. Think TikTok videos, YouTube reacts, and paid social media sponsorships. For B2B, marketers often aim to move their leads to the next stage of the sales funnel. That could mean anything from setting up a free demonstration to starting a subscription. B2B marketers have to consider which campaigns will target which parts of the marketing funnel. This helps them reach the right audience with the right messaging at the right time. Also, the demand for efficiency and expertise is higher among B2B audiences than among the consumer group. As a result, the purchase decision is often influenced by both logic and financial incentive more than emotion. Personal attention Unlike in a B2C environment, B2B customers expect their sales and marketing teams to be focused on them because of the higher ticket price. This means providing personalized service, getting to know their team members on an individual level, and tailoring solutions to fit their changing needs over time. Customer experience is an important factor for B2C audiences too. However, the average consumer doesn’t expect to get to know a sales representative at their favorite laundry detergent brand before buying their next bottle. Do B2B & B2C marketing intersect at all? Both B2B and B2C sales require extensive experience and knowledge about customer service. In fact, “on average across 20 industries, there is a 38% difference in likelihood to recommend between consumers rating a company’s [customer experience] as ‘good’ versus those rating a company’s [customer experience] as ‘poor’” according to Qualtrics XM Institute. In other words, good customer service really matters for most industries and can positively impact the decision-making process for both types of audiences. Another way the B2B and B2C marketing intersects is shared goals. The primary goal of both B2B and B2C sales models is to convert a prospect into a customer. The ways they go about it or the specifics of how many sales they make might look different. But at the end of the day, they are focused on the same big-picture vision. Another similarity between B2C and B2B sales is that their customers are (or have the ability to be) very well-versed in their products and services. In addition to viewing ads, customers will often research products on their own and ask their network for referrals. Both B2C and B2B marketers will have to consider how they’re appealing to their target audience outside of the physical and digital spaces they have control of because of this. B2B Vs B2C Marketing: Which approach is best for me? If you're trying to decide between B2B vs. B2C marketing, you need to consider who you're going to reach. Again, it all goes back to businesses versus individuals. If you are aiming for audiences in both sectors, you can use a combination of B2B and B2C marketing techniques in separate campaigns. Another thing to consider is budget. B2C marketing typically casts a wider net across platforms, channels, and ad types. If you can afford to reach the masses on a variety of mediums, then the B2C marketing approach is worth considering. There's also a chance that your B2B product might have mass appeal to individuals or vice versa. In that case, you can test a small campaign using the opposite approach to see which works best for your brand. If you have a smaller budget or a niche product, then the B2B marketing approach is ideal. It may take more planning, but you can easily reach high ROI leads using this methodology. B2B vs. B2C OKRs: What is the difference? OKRs help marketers align their efforts with the goals and objectives of their companies. They can also affect the people who work with them and offer actions steps for marketing operations and management. B2B and B2C objectives and key results are identical for the most part. That’s because B2B and B2C brands often have goals that fall under the same category. The details, such as the specifics of the objective and the steps they’ll take to achieve each goal, might look different. But for the most part, any marketer can use the OKR system for establishing goals and next steps. Here’s an example of OKRs in action: Objective: Become the go-to product for this pain point on the market Key Result: Provide one new product update every quarter to reflect industry trends Key Result: Reduce the number of steps it takes to make a purchase through the website from 10 to two Key Result: Increase average star meter review score from 3.5 to 4.5 stars on major industry review website Notice how this can apply to either a B2B or a B2C marketing campaign? While this example is a bit generic, there are instances where the OKRs will look different, especially when it comes to the approach. How do B2C and B2B marketing approaches differ? B2C and B2B marketing approaches differ and how and when they reach potential leads. While both B2C and B2B customers are more likely to purchase after seeing an ad, the latter is also more likely to take longer to make a purchase. People tend to make impulsive decisions when it comes to buying goods and services on their own. On the other hand, buying a business product or service can be more challenging to change once purchased. There's even evidence of this in the marketing tools B2C and B2B marketers use most often. For example, most ad platforms have shorter windows of attribution for B2C customers. For that reason, B2B businesses should also check these settings and ensure that they are being used correctly. B2C and B2B marketing management approaches also differ in how they motivate buyers. B2B and B2C customers both typically buy because they see a product or service that they can use in some way. However, B2C customers are looking for ways to improve their lives. Even though emotional appeal is important in both B2B and B2C, it needs to be tied back to the business and not just the sales pitch. Can I organize B2B & B2C marketing campaigns with Wrike? Wrike for Marketers is a robust and pre-packaged solution that enables marketers to easily create and manage their marketing plans. Marketing teams use it to streamline and keep track of their work for both B2B and B2C marketing. They’re able to clearly see all active projects, statuses, and tasks in one shared system, all while monitoring performance and improving ROI as they go. Some ways you can use Wrike to organize B2B & B2C marketing campaigns include: Create use requests, tasks and projects to streamline your intake process for both B2B and B2C marketing initiatives. Organize incoming work from clients, partners, and third-party collaborators. Create an actionable timeline for campaigns and individual assets. Easily compare and approve files and materials while also commenting on files directly in Wrike. Run reports on internal and external progress to see how your team is doing across all departments. To sum it up: Wrike can help both marketers and businesses plan and execute their marketing strategies and campaigns. Start your free trial.
Freeze! Are You Violating the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing? (Book Review)
The best thing you can be in marketing is first. 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing cites the examples of Gillette and IBM, which paved the way for their respective industries. If you're in an already-developed arena, find an undiscovered space to be innovative.
The 4 Pillars of Agile Marketing
In the last decade, Agile methodologies have been widely embraced by the software development and project management communities. Its iterative approach helps teams make direct progress toward an end goal, while allowing them the flexibility to adapt and refine their process as they go. Now, marketing teams are embracing the Agile pillars in order to thrive in a new era of customer engagement and expectations. Increasing demands on marketing departments require new approaches to marketing management and operations, and the benefits of Agile for marketers are clear: Agile marketing teams are more productive, more satisfied with how their teams manage work, and deliver better results faster. But marketers have their own unique challenges, and Agile’s principles must be adapted to suit their needs. Follow Wrike's Agile Marketing Manifesto to build a strong foundation for your marketing organization. Wrike's Agile Marketing Manifesto: The 4 Pillars of Agile Ongoing Customer Focus We anticipate changes in customer requirements and interests, and build processes that allow us to incorporate those changes even at later stages of the project. Clients and stakeholders are regularly involved throughout the project, from beginning to end. Collaboration & Communication Our team has open communication and is always aware of the status of work: what's been completed, what's in progress, and what's upcoming. Roles, responsibilities, and priorities are clear, and issues/roadblocks are quickly uncovered and addressed. Our team is self-organizing, setting its own goals and methods, without relying on upper management to dictate every step. Intentional Processes & Continuous Improvement We follow a clearly defined process, which is neither accidental nor ad hoc, and our process is sustainable and scalable within our organization. Our work processes are carefully designed to support agility, speed, and flexibility. We set aside time to reflect and improve our processes, removing any wasted steps to keep workflows efficient and proactively addressing any issues or bottlenecks. Results-Oriented Approach Instead of completing many different campaigns and initiatives, we prioritize efficiency, quality over quantity, and satisfying customer needs. We use the build-measure-learn feedback loop or similar approach, and focus on outcomes — not volume or other deceptive metrics — to ensure we're achieving strategic goals. Decisions are based on data, not opinions or habit. Quiz: What’s Your Team’s Agile Marketing Score? While the 4 pillars of Agile Marketing may sound simple, getting your team up to speed so you actually reap the benefits is tricky — and it’s tough to know whether you’re on the right track. Take our interactive self-assessment to evaluate your team’s agility and get some simple, practical tips for improvement.
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Professional Services
How do you get noticed in the professional services industry? It involves finding the right mix of content and tactics to attract and retain clients. In this guide to marketing for professional services, we’ll help you build a great team, develop a plan, and gather the right tools. Keep reading to discover trends and tips that will enhance your marketing strategy. What is marketing for professional services? Traditional marketing techniques are no longer enough to succeed in today's world. Instead, they should be designed to work seamlessly with today's clients, especially in the wake of the major changes that 2020 brought to the traditional workplace. This means finding strategies that will help you generate leads and close sales for the professional services niche. There are many ways to market a business, both offline and online. Examples include everything from social media to search engine marketing to networking events. Online and offline marketing techniques combine to allow you to reach out to clients wherever they are. For a professional services organization, you’ll need a strong roadmap for conquering both. There are two distinct and important concepts in marketing for professional services: niching down and customer-centric branding. While these aren’t unique to professional services, they should be top of mind for all marketing strategies in this sector. Niching down Instead of trying to be the best in the industry, try to hone in on a specific area. This will allow you to stand out from the crowd and ensure that your customers are happy with your work. Finding your niche market can also help you attract potential clients and partners that your competitors aren't specifically speaking to. Through niche marketing, you can expect to see more referrals and testimonials from your existing clients. Customer-centric branding Before diving into the world of selling, you should carefully consider the following: are there customers out there who you can sell to? Many professional service companies fail to develop a brand beyond simply being a service provider. Yes, it takes up a lot of resources to do. But when you shape your service around the client’s needs, you can confidently deliver it knowing that your offer is being marketed to who needs it the most. The result is a central marketing message that will be direct, clear, and memorable. It can even help further develop your offline and digital marketing strategy over time since a client-centric organization will listen to its customers and develop solutions that fit their needs as they go. Customer feedback will allow you to create new campaigns that answer specific questions, offer educational resources, and solve their problems with both free and paid solutions. This will ultimately provide a strong foundation for long-term client relationships. How to build a professional services marketing team The question of how to build the optimal marketing team comes down to a simple yet critical decision: what roles do you actually need?. Most of the time, the answer is not clear. It often comes with a series of generic titles such as social media guru, content writer, or marketing administrator. While they are useful for discussing how to accomplish each step, the following will give you the exact actions you need to take as you begin to build a professional services marketing team. Step 1: Ask questions Instead of cultivating a culture of continuous improvement, firms tend to create a hodgepodge marketing team focused on meeting the demands of fast growth. If you have any questions about the firm's strategic direction or growth priorities, start by asking your partners. Clarity is key to building or restructuring your team. It’s easier to make decisions regarding hiring when you know what you need and why you’re hiring in the first place. At a minimum, you should be able to answer the following: Where have we succeeded and failed in the past? How has marketing contributed to growth so far? Which of our services should be prioritized for marketing? What does success mean and how is it measured? Is our branding where it needs to be to reach our next set of goals? Which of our current marketing initiatives support our continued growth, and which do we need to revise, pause, or cancel? Step 2: Create a roadmap Most marketing managers don’t realize that, in order to build an effective team, they first need to create a comprehensive marketing roadmap that takes into account all their current and future needs. How do you get people to see your marketing and convert them into customers? By going beyond building a strategy that simply drives traffic to one that monetizes said traffic through a series of well-thought-out action steps and corresponding tasks. Doing so will help you map out the steps and resources needed to get it all done. This step will also provide a clear understanding of your long-term goals and how your future marketing team members will affect those goals. In fact, you may even realize that your current team has all the skills necessary to move forward with your plan. Step 3: Identify gaps There are two types of gaps in marketing teams: skill and availability. Based on the roadmap you’ve established in the next step, it should be clear where these gaps are for your current team. If you’re still unsure, look to your project management tool for help. For example, Wrike users can view individual schedules to determine where employees might have pockets of time to work on additional tasks. They can also redistribute work if the effort looks uneven. And if a particular team member has some out-of-office time coming up, managers can simply reassign tasks so that there are no bottlenecks in their absence. This feature also makes it easy to identify employee skills and where they should be putting more or less time. For example, if you have an SEO expert on social media posting but need assistance with your new website, you’ll be able to see what they’re working on and quickly follow up with a reassignment. Step 4: Make a wish list Now that you know where your marketing is, where it’s going, and what gaps you need to fill, it’s time to create your marketing team wishlist. In a fresh document, create separate sections for skills, availability, experience level, salary, and location. Fill this out based on your answer to the previous steps and use it as a hiring guide as you move forward. Now you know exactly how to build a professional services team that fits your unique needs while using critical thinking and data-backed analysis. What to include in a professional services marketing plan The fastest-growing firms are usually focused on a specific niche. Specialization is a marketing technique that helps define a certain aspect of a business or a certain industry. In fact, a firm’s competitive advantage often stems from its ability to identify and understand a specific segment of the marketplace. In professional services marketing, this means a number of different things, including: Hiring full-time and freelance team members who have experience in marketing for professional services Highlighting niche subject matter experts for your top services as part of your outbound content Narrowing down your offerings to the highest ROI ones and building a campaign around one or two Once you have your specialization strategy written down, at a minimum, you’ll need to build out each of the following to bring in more clients: 1. SEO content Creating compelling content is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and how you can solve complex problems. Blogging is useful for improving page rankings and strengthening your professional services website domain authority long-term. There are two sides to blogging: maintaining your own blog and contributing articles to other firms or industry publications. 2. Fully optimized website A lead-generating website is a key component of any marketing strategy. It serves as the central point of contact for all of your online marketing efforts. A well-designed and well-implemented website is an integral part of any marketing strategy. It can help generate leads and improve conversion rates. Make sure that any website you publish has a fast-loading speed, a back-end SEO strategy, and a plan for adding consistent weekly updates. Also, be sure to build out pages for each of the services you offer. Target keywords and publish written content that fully encompasses each specialty so that customers return to your site over and over again. 3. Event strategy Even if your professional services company operates entirely online, an event strategy will help your brand stand out. Regardless of how much time or budget you have for events, there are lots of ways to use them in your plan. Here are some examples: Sponsoring a popular event for your target industry Holding a virtual or live stream event Speaking and guest lecturing Hosting an after-party at a conference Networking with potential leads at an industry-specific event Professional services marketing trends you need to know Here are the professional service trends to look out for and how they’ll affect your marketing going forward: Virtual events In 2020, marketers had no choice but to embrace virtual events. And it turned out to be a positive change for many. Virtual events help attract new audiences and lower costs. And for professional services companies with clients and potential leads all over the world, connecting with them online in a more personal way isn’t such a bad idea. Everything from live streaming to virtual demonstrations can work. Value-based branding Consumers are increasingly demanding that their purchases align with the brands they buy from, which can be challenging for marketers. But for professional services companies, your marketing can revolve around your mission statement, ethical hiring and wage practices, and commitment to personal service. Relationship-building Professional services are focused on meeting the needs of the client. Before, many firms were able to provide these services through face-to-face client meetings. Today, clients are demanding more from their professional services firms. This means firms need to re-think their offerings and develop new ways to deliver value to their clients. This can be done through surveys, regular check-in meetings, and marketing materials focused on customer retention in addition to acquisition. Tools you need in marketing for professional services Because professional services brands focus on B2B clients, they’ll need to use B2B marketing tools to reach them. Here are the must-have tools for marketing professional services in 2021: Website traffic analytics Virtual meeting hosting service Content management and organization A/B testing tool Email sales funnel creator SEO research and reporting Keyword and search engine content analyzer Teamwide messaging tool File and media asset storage Workflow manager with status updates Automated social media posting tool CRM You can combine these tools into a marketing stack or look for solutions like Wrike that combine one or more of the above features into a single platform. How Wrike can help with your professional services marketing Most professional services firms know they need a marketing organization. But they don’t know how to build one that fits their business goals and needs. That’s where Wrike comes in. Hands-on product management and project management help marketing managers align onsite and remote teams with an organizational strategy that builds consensus across all team members. This is beneficial for all teams but is especially helpful for those working on complex projects or across different time zones. And if you offer multiple services, Wrike can help you keep track of who is working on what for which client at all times. Before any project begins, Wrike helps identify the key metrics and reporting infrastructure necessary to measure, monitor, and track marketing campaign success, even if you have more than one active project going at the same time. That way, your omnichannel marketing plan is all in one place. During projects, Wrike gives professional services companies the ability to optimize their processes. They can do so by creating and editing workflow templates for recurring projects. They can also use visual timelines and Gantt charts to eliminate potential roadblocks before they come up. And if something disrupts the plan, Wrike makes it easy to recover seamlessly with in-app communication and simplified status viewing, so managers never miss a beat. Wrike can help you align your marketing goals and processes all in one place. Wrike can also provide visibility into how those actions are impacting your success metrics through reporting and insights. Ready to master your marketing plan this year? Start your free trial.
You Won't Be Able to Put Down 'Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products' (Book Review)
Learn more about how Eyal's ideas became one of the most-read online marketing books. Keep reading for: a summary and book review of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, and key takeaways from the best-seller.
The Ultimate Guide to B2B Marketing Strategies
Did you know that 64% of B2B companies surveyed across industries have a formal marketing plan? Gone are the days of crossing your fingers and hoping your product or service sells itself. To stay competitive with the rest of the market, you need to have a B2B marketing plan in place to increase and convert as many leads as possible. We know that creating a marketing strategy and mapping out your plan can be challenging and complex. There are so many tactics to use, channels to get up and running, and ways to approach your marketing strategy when speaking to various audiences. Not to mention that, in today’s world, digital marketing is paired with offline marketing efforts, which adds more layers of complexity to your overarching strategy. That’s why we’ve broken down everything you need to know about B2B marketing, including how to organize your B2B marketing plan, top strategies to consider weaving into your plan, and how Wrike can help you execute your B2B marketing strategy with more organization and less stress. First, let’s start with the basics and define what B2B marketing is. What is B2B marketing? B2B marketing, or business-to-business marketing, refers to the marketing of products and services from one business to another. In B2B marketing, the buyer is a business, or more specifically, the decision-makers who have purchasing power within that business. For example, companies who create software products like team-wide communication tools or accounting systems market their product to other companies. Wholesalers also engage in B2B sales. They purchase products from one business in bulk and sell them to their consumers, like store owners. B2B marketing targets the needs of an entire organization and not consumers at an individual level. Simply put, the organization becomes the customer, which means the marketing strategies need to be tailored to that specific audience. Businesses might be looking for ways to help their teams become more efficient, tools to make their work easier and more manageable, or industry-specific products and services their teams simply can’t live without. How to organize a B2B marketing plan You can organize a B2B marketing plan in many ways, depending on your goals and what you want to achieve. Understanding the B2B marketing funnel is one way to create a clear and solid B2B marketing plan. The B2B marketing funnel maps the buyer’s journey from prospect to customer, using various channels and messaging along the way until the prospect converts. You can organize each function of the B2B strategy within each stage of the funnel to ensure you’re hitting every step. The typical B2B marketing funnel can vary, but we’re focusing on the following six-stage model: Awareness: At the first, widest stage of the funnel, you’re trying to pull in potential customers by bringing awareness to your products, services, and solutions offered. Within this stage, you should include all activities that enable you to reach prospects. This might consist of paid advertising, social media, and search engine rankings. Interest: At this stage of the funnel, your primary focus is to increase interest among the audience that you attracted in the awareness stage. Prospects may learn more about your business and offerings through your website. This stage creates an opportunity for your business to develop a relationship with prospective leads and start building a sense of trust. Consideration: You’re now working with prospective customers who may end up purchasing your product. Activities that fall under this stage should include utilizing email marketing to provide more information about your products and offers. Targeted content is crucial, and you can nurture the relationship with free trials, resources like guides and case studies, and more. Intent: If the prospect reaches this stage, they have demonstrated that they’re interested in purchasing the product or service. This provides an opportunity to prove why your product or service is the best one on the market. Convince the prospect that they’re making the best choice to give them that extra bump to complete a purchase. Evaluation: At this stage of the funnel, your prospective buyer is making a final decision about whether or not they want to purchase from you. This is the last chance to hook the prospect, and sales and legal often jump in to help close out the experience. Purchase: The transaction is complete! You’ve signed a new customer. With these funnel stages as a framework to organize your marketing plan, you can then set clear goals you want to achieve, determine what resources you have, and identify the marketing channels you’re going to focus on. For example, awareness and interest are often cited as the key components needed for lead generation. So if you’re looking to bring in more leads, you’ll likely want to focus on these two stages of the funnel and identify which channels you’ll start with to support them. Speaking of channels to focus on, let’s take a look at the top B2B digital marketing strategies you should consider that fall within various stages of the funnel. Top B2B digital marketing strategies B2B marketing happens both offline and online. In our increasingly connected world, digital marketing strategies are crucial when it comes to supporting your overall marketing plan. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of B2B digital marketing strategies to choose from to complement your offline efforts. Here are the top B2B digital marketing strategies we see companies lean into: Develop a company website: A company website might seem like a no-brainer, but did you know that over 80% of buyers visit a company’s website before making a purchase? Your website is an entry point for prospective buyers to learn more about your business, what you have to offer, and how to get in touch with you to complete a purchase. Your digital presence is a simple and easy way for prospective clients to share your business with the key decision-makers within their organization too. Expand your digital presence through search engine optimization (SEO): According to Hubspot’s 2020 Marketing Mix Report, 36% of sales and marketing leads result from SEO efforts. Your business needs to be discoverable. The internet is filled with websites and companies offering similar services, so it’s necessary to utilize SEO tactics that will help your website rank near the top of search results. Harness the power of social media: How many times do you check social media throughout the day? How many social media channels do you engage with regularly? If your answer is “a lot” to both of those questions, you aren’t alone. Social media isn’t just a time suck — it’s a purchasing tool. Over 80% of C-level and VP-level B2B buyers use social media to influence their purchase decisions. Even though it might seem like social media is the place to target individual consumers, you should know that businesses are utilizing this channel too. And if you aren’t sure where to start with your B2B social media strategy, LinkedIn is the most used and trusted channel, reporting an 86% usage amongst B2B professionals. Give pay-per-click (PPC) advertising a go: It’s not enough to get in front of your current audience — you’ll want to get in front of new audiences too. PPC campaigns are paid campaigns where advertisers only pay when people interact with their ads through impressions or clicks. In the 2020 B2B Content Marketing report, 61% of B2B marketers used pay-per-click advertising in the previous 12 months, making it one of the top three choices for paid distribution channels. Commit to email marketing: When executed correctly, email marketing has an unbeatable return on investment (ROI). One 2019 report suggests that the ROI for email is $42 per dollar spent. And if that’s not convincing enough, Content Marketing Institute reported that email is one of the top three free content distribution channels B2B marketers use. These are just a few of the B2B digital marketing strategies you should consider building into your larger strategy. The specific choices you make will depend on the number of resources you have to allocate, your digital maturity framework, and the priorities of your business. In addition to the strategies mentioned above, let’s talk about some more specific (and popular) strategies. We’re breaking down B2B influencer marketing, B2B content marketing, and a B2B marketing mix, as well as how you could build these efforts into your strategy. What is B2B influencer marketing? Influencer marketing is all about promoting your business and products or services by collaborating with influencers. Influencers build a level of trust and connection with their audience members, which makes consumers open to the idea of making purchases based on their recommendations. Simply put, B2B influencer marketing leans on well-known people with large followings to share marketing and brand messages with a broader market. Brands generally pay influencers to promote their products to their followers and encourage them to take action and purchase the product for themselves. In a survey of 300 B2B marketers, 96% of the ones who engage influencers feel that their influencer marketing program is successful, so it’s worth considering adding some level of influencer marketing to your strategy. What is B2B content marketing? Content marketing plays a significant role in B2B marketing. In fact, 59% of marketers believe that blogs are the most valuable marketing channel. B2B content marketing isn’t merely about generating content or posting on a blog — it’s about creating content that’s valuable, relevant, consistent, and inspires action. You can use B2B content marketing to expand your audience, emphasize your brand, and drive leads to your business. Forget the days of pumping out content for the sake of publishing and focus on creating content that’s useful and actionable for readers. With B2B marketing, it’s essential to understand who your ideal audience is. You also need to know what type of information your audience needs and how you plan to promote your content and get it in front of your audience. What is a B2B marketing mix? The origin of the marketing mix dates is attributed to Jerome McCarthy’s introduction of the 4 P’s in the 1960s. We’ve seen the original 4 P’s expanded and modified in a few different ways throughout the years, but the 4 P’s still hold to be most prevalent when thinking about a marketing mix. The B2B marketing mix allows you to create a unique selling proposition (USP) and determine how best you fit into the market. B2B marketing mix is sometimes thought of synonymously with the 4 Ps: Product: Goods or services Price: The amount the consumer pays Place: Where the marketing of the product occurs Promotion: Level of advertising involved The 4Ps don’t have to be defined in any particular order but should be defined in relation to one another as part of a holistic strategy. These elements, or pillars, should be defined to help you maximize the impact you have and satisfy your customers and your business. With the 4 P’s, you’ll be able to lay out a more effective B2B marketing strategy. Why use Wrike to create business to business marketing strategies As you can see, a lot of work and information goes into building and executing effective B2B marketing strategies, and Wrike has all of the features you need to manage this process with ease. With Wrike, you’ll be able to: Take advantage of instant insights and optimize your ROI with real-time data Plan and manage your marketing campaigns in one place Use our campaign management template to manage campaigns from start to finish Adopt a marketing campaign calendar and ditch spreadsheets Create centralized, steady streams of content with our editorial calendar template Streamline your team’s collaboration and communication so they can focus on executing the strategy Are you ready to elevate your B2B strategy and start seeing a huge ROI? Sign up for a free trial of Wrike today to help you get started.