Maximising Marketing Productivity
Tim Hazelhurst - Winner of the “Outstanding Contribution to B2B Marketing” award at the 2006 B2B Marketing Awards
In the dark old days of the sales and marketing disconnect, a favourite question of mine for sales directors was,
“How long does it take to move a prospect along the timeline, from being unaware of your company to being a customer?”
The answer was always somewhere between one and two years. Hardly surprising when you consider the complex nature of the B2B marketplace - the various stakeholders who can affect a purchasing decision and the unique purchasing processes. Which leads to the next question,
“So why do you try to sell to someone you’ve never had contact with before? And why are you disappointed when they don’t become a customer?”
Of course, sales directors under budget pressures just forgot about or ignored the Relationship Timeline. Years ago the customer relationship was primarily with the sales force, but now it’s with the brand first and foremost, and has many considerations. Significantly, you have a relationship with a prospect before they reveal themselves. As B2B specialists we provide a contact strategy to optimise the movement of your prospects and customers along the timeline. It’s this movement, which is key to increasing the productivity of your marketing budget.
The evolution of the b2b brand
Over the last few decades I’ve been lucky enough to witness a growing appreciation of the B2B company as a brand, with businesses now seeing the importance of positioning. However, the word ‘brand’ means different things to different people. A communications manager may see it as corporate design consistency, a CEO as corporate culture. Our interpretation of your brand has always been,
“The perception of the values and benefits of your company in the minds of your prospects and customers.”
Our other major belief is that,
“Your brand is the sum of your contact”
Or to put it another way, the beauty of a brand is in the eye of the beholder – wherever they come into contact with it. This compels us to think about every action of your brand at every touch point, and how it will affect market perceptions. You have to plan and control all the contact, from the functionality of your website to the way people answer the phone. And it has to be integrated strategically, emotionally, functionally and chronologically.
We call the process to deliver this Contact Strategy Planning. Download the full White Paper to see how it’s done.
