B2B Messaging – sequences – Part II

differentiation, messaging, Positioning, Product Management, segmentation

In my last post on this topic, I had written why its important to follow a multi sequence strategy in B2B messaging because of the inertia that people have because of the organizational structures they work in.

I had also spoken about how to put a wedge of dissonance and work on that.

In the technology area which I specialize in, the other reasons for inertia are because people don’t know if the technology is just a passing fad or is it going to stay. So people want to see evidence that the technology you are talking about is getting adopted.

In addition to the above the next item is related to things on the “infrastructure ” a term popularized by Regis Mckenna in his book relationship marketing. This is quite an old book, so some of the technologies listed would seem obsolete, but if you are involved in technology marketing then the concepts listed are very worthwhile.

The “infrastructure ” would relate to things like do we have the skills and capabilities, will we be able to adapt it in our environment.

None of these things will change in a few messages that you send. You will need to keep driving the wedge deeper and deeper, you will need to share success stories to help reduce the fear and figure out ways to be in front of them when either something goes wrong or there’s a new boss who arrives and wants change to take place.

However because you are relentless in reaching out, you also become a fixture in their mind. I remember a customer who gave us a managed services order after more than a year of follow-up, telling me that she had got so used to seeing my letters on her table every month that she had to call me when they thought of outsourcing.

That’s when you take your opportunity and strike and do a fabulous job. As I mentioned in my last post also, it could take you sometimes more than a year to make things happen.

Needless to say, you can’t do this if you’re broad based in the beginning, because the economics and bandwidth both will be an issue. If you have identified a niche and then you do this, then its feasible otherwise its not viable.

Till next time.

Carpe Diem!!!

B2B Messaging – sequences

Marketing, messaging, Positioning, Product Management, Sales, segmentation

The job of a cold email is to get a response to validate the quality of the database. That’s it. As I have been ranting, over the last few posts, therefore these mails have to be extremely short and to the point.

Once someone responds, you can start a sequence of mails. Dean Jackson has a very interesting term called “offering cookies” to educate and motivate propsects.

However one key thing I have noticed in B2B marketing is whenever you are launching or marketing a new product, there is a lot of resistance/inertia in the mind of the prospects to change.

The reason for this is the amount of sanctions and approvals, people have to take, from multiple stake holders to get a new thing in place. So people don’t like to bother about software or solutions or technologies which will, at best, offer some incremental change. This is even more true if its for an internal process. So one basic thing to keep in mind is to see how your product or service can dot he job differently and therefore give a dramatic improvement of an internal process.

If its for a customer facing item they may still be open to things which are incremental, if they think, that it will help in better customer acquisition of customer retention. Therefore in these situations, more than the technology part, you should look at the impact on business in your communication.

To work through this inertia or resistance you will need to keep sending a sequence of mails to increase the awareness of the product/service, to drive in a wedge of dissonance with the existing setup that they have and to share case studies on how other adopters have used your product or service.

I have seen cases where we have targeted prospects for more than year – which means at least 18-20 touches, before they even thought of talking to us.

There was a time when people would offer whitepapers as magnets to pull prospects to see their level of interest. Today in the technology/IT arena everyone is offering so much content via YouTube and other social media channels that putting “gates” to see the level of interest can be worthless. This is however my opinion.

As I tell my team, I am also telling you – the market is the final judge. Pls test and see what works in your market. If offering whitepapers via “gates” helps gauge the level of interest of a prospect in your market, by all means go ahead and do it.

However doing a sequence of touch points /messaging is absolutely imperative in B2B marketing. So don’t get disheartened if even after sending out 4-5 mails you don’t get a response.

Till next time.

Carpe Diem!!!

In marketing Less is More – quite often

differentiation, Marketing, messaging, Positioning, Product Management, Sales, segmentation

If you have been observing the posts I have been writing, in the last few weeks, you would have noticed one common traits.

I have been asking you to continuously reduce and sharpen your focus.

In the marketing focus I spoke about identifying a single niche which is small enough for the big players but large enough for you to focus. So we eliminated all the remaining markets/segments and isolated a minimum viable market to start. Once you become successful in one, then you can move to the next segment and so on.

In the B2B messaging that I have been speaking about in the last few days , again, I have insisted on you sending a message which cannot be made shorter for conveying the information or problem. Once you can start the conversation with the recipient, you then have enough time for discussing about the various services that you offer. But there are so many distractions and complexities in our lifes, that if your message will look even slightly complex people will ignore you.

Its very tempting to try and grab as much as possible in the market, to write as much as possible in your message, but that is the sure shot way to not get anywhere in marketing .

Like the master piece sculpture in the picture, if the artist had not chiseled away the unwanted stone, you would notice this sculpture. Similarly for your market remove all the things which reduce your focus.

In marketing , most of the times , Less is actually More.

Till next time.

Carpe Diem!!!

B2B Messaging -Part IV

differentiation, Marketing, messaging, Positioning, Product Management, Sales, segmentation

Today’s post is just to reiterate one single fact.

If you see the picture above, all those apps on the phone screen are to help you. But all those apps are also sending out push notifications to interrupt what you are doing.

Then there are the actual phone calls that come on the phone which interrupt the person reading her emails and after that she gets called into a meeting. Your email which had just reached before she got interrupted by one of the above, now becomes one of the 20 emails which she has to look at when she against starts looking at her mail.

Now look at the challenge for the email in the job that it has to do. The job of the email is to only to get a response from the recipient for you to start a conversation

But to that job,

It has to avoid all the Spam filters, which can quarantine it.
It has to stop itself from being labeled a Marketing Mail and
It has to attract the attention of the recipient among all the distractions listed above and more

A lot of sales books I have read tell about the time of day and days when you should write a cold email. My team has tried a lot of these ideas in various permutations and combinations. I have not been able to figure out statistically if I can confirm or contradict these theories.

What I have however found is that the shorter the cold email is and the more focused it is, the higher is the possibility of getting a response.

If the job of the email is to only get a response for you to be able to start a conversation and your product/ service is clearly identified for a single target market then crafting the message will become a little easier.

Till next time.

Carpe Diem!!!