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Posts Tagged ‘Business to Business’

Triple Bottom line

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

By Carl Da-Costa-Greaves

Now that our economy’s been stripped back to basics and we’re starting to move out of recession, I’ve been wondering, what will be left in its place and also, what will move to top of agenda for the future?

Triple Bottom Line is something that I feel is worth mentioning here. There was a shift towards sustainable practices prior to the recession, this has sort of taken a back seat whilst everyone’s priority jumped to survival; but we’re moving out of that period and there’s certainly evidence of an increase in awareness for sustainability. That said, few companies’ have a strategy for sustainability, or even a stance on how they think about sustainable practices.

Image courtesy of Poppy Dots Crafts

The triple bottom line – economic, social and environment – is a very practical method that’s gaining momentum for companies who want to become more actively involved with sustainability; more so to SME organisations. Rather than just focus on environmental issues, triple bottom line (TBL) understands that businesses have a responsibility to be financially viable and to turn a profit. Therefore, TBL considers the financial bottom line which is vital to the long term growth and economic success, along with social and environment responsibilities.

I see this change (2nd order) coming as a result of the recessions and it will be driven by consumers and stakeholders. Similar to what happened in the consumer markets with Organic and Fair-trade; food producers have adjusted their sustainability policies as result of consumer pressure. My prediction is that sustainability will begin to move up the value chain into the business markets.

So, what do we need to do about this? Well, the extent of this will be first seen by your field representatives such as; marketers and sales people in customer facing roles. It’s these people who’ll be able to gauge the response of your customers, see how they’re planning their sustainable practices and then use that knowledge to inform and influence the future decision of your company.

Some business owners would argue that business is business and not their place to consider sustainability issues. However, this view will simply not stack up any longer. If steps are not taken to make all businesses more sustainable, then there won’t be a business future at all.

This week sees ASDA criticised for sustainability performance and ranked the least green of the 5 big supermarkets. It will be interesting to see how consumers react to this news.

Reference;
CIM, (2007) Shaping the Agenda. Triple Bottom Line.

Tags: Business to Business, marketing, new marketing, technological changes
Posted in General Marketing | 1 Comment »

Social media or social mediocre?

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

By Carl Da-Costa-Greaves

Ok, so we all know about social media; Facebook and MySpace are officially entrenched in society; Twitter is closing ranks, with corporate blogging on its heels. Because of this popularity many companies conclude that the time is right for them to enter this new found ‘meeting space’. However, the question shouldn’t be ‘is social media ready for you’? But more like, ‘are you ready for social media’?

We’ve put together a hit list of things that companies, in particular business to business, should run a check on prior to doing any social media campaigns;

1. Does your senior management team understand? And even more so, do they support social media? This is one of the single biggest road blocks to making social media work.

2. The Corporate website – Before you take the next step on the web, it’s important to have a good foundation. If your current site needs a new design or has usability issues and doesn’t really reflect your business, then direct users to the current site first rather than to a social media space. Social media can wait. Leveraging social media comes with a new set of customer exceptions. At the top of that list is a usable and robust web site.

3. You love the web but does the web love you? For social media to help impact organic search traffic it’s important that your organisation goes through some basic optimisation of your web pages.

4. No rest for the wicked – a lot of social media is free, but they also take time. If you currently don’t even have time to read emails let alone post regular engaging content and be available to respond, then don’t pile on social media to your workload. Get support to make it happen.

5. How do you know if all is going well? If you’re going to spend time on the web then you need to manage your analytics and report statistics, hit rates etc, in order to gauge response and traffic. Google do a free analytics tools (amongst others – good ole Google!) Without information like this your social media strategy is about as focused as a gozzy kid with a patch on his eye. (I should know, I was that kid!)

6. What was I trying to say again? Social media can work for the good and the bad. If your message isn’t clear or you haven’t work out your positioning, then these weaknesses will be highlighted. Try to work out exactly what it is you’re trying to say before saying it.

7. To be heard but not seen – like it or not, transparency is a very important part of online culture. You don’t have to Tweet every business secret, but an expectation exists. If you can’t be sufficiently transparent then wait until you can.

8. My customers aren’t always right – If customer service isn’t a priority for your business then you’re going to find out sooner rather than later that social media doesn’t help the issue. That being said your customers are talking about you. The best way to fix poor customer service is to get them involved in the process to make it better.

9. ‘I “don’t” want that one’ – If your product’s a bit rubbish then social media will only help to tell more people that it’s rubbish. The only positive thing that would come out of this is that you’ll get valuable real-time feedback. However you’re probably better off focusing on making a better product rather than spending time on social media.

10. Sales Funnel looking like a garden hose? If you’re looking at social media as a possible lead generation source then it’s important to have a sales funnel that works to back these efforts up. Organise your sales process and all contacts through an effective CRM system.

Many of these items may seem obvious, but that’s the point. Social media isn’t a magic cure-all system. It can make bad things worse and good things better. My overall recommendation is that if you’re still in the investigative stage, keep on researching. Research is good, evaluate and think critically about how your customers will perceive you. It makes sense to get rid of the bad habits before you start.

If you want to read more about social media, in particular with regards to e-marketing then take a look at a previous post here; http://www.studiowide.co.uk/blog/?p=74

Tags: Business to Business, Customer Relationship Management, e-marketing, marketing, social media
Posted in Marketing | 2 Comments »

Black sheep of e-marketing

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

By Carl Da-Costa-Greaves

Social media is the black sheep of the e-marketing family, falling behind pay-per-click and email marketing in the minds of most marketers, but we predict that this is all set to change.

black-sheep

Generally, businesses are just wakening up to what social media can do and how it should be treated. Currently used as a fun way to immerse users in brands, rather than as a tool for direct selling. Innocent drinks and Compare the Market are two companies that have got it right. Both have used Twitter to great effect, with funny and engaging feeds that are ‘on brand’ and don’t do the hard sell.

With the onset of more open source programs and widgets that do almost everything imaginable through the interface of a browser, social media is no longer the finger-in-the-air medium it used to be.

We’ve started using blogs at Studiowide (you’re reading one right now!) and our target is to raise our profile as a leading marketing company in Liverpool. The posts that we make are replicated over the web through news feeds and also on twitter. This gives our followers and customers the opportunity to publically engage with us on their terms with comments and feedback. Ultimately, this level of activity is rewarded by Google who like content publishers.

Social media is moving at speed so it’s vital that you get to grips with new developments; a word of caution though; try first before you jump, see which one’s works for you and which ones don’t.

Tags: Business to Business, Customer Relationship Management, e-marketing, marketing, new marketing, online, technological changes
Posted in General Marketing | 2 Comments »

Is inbound marketing replacing outbound?

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

By Carl Da-Costa-Greaves

We’ve been noticing more and more that Outbound Marketing is increasingly being brought to the forefront and possibly looking more likely to start replacing inbound.

What do we mean by outbound marketing? This is all of the “in your face” traditional communications that organisations and marketing companies have historically churned out to the masses. With a strong focus on getting people to buy and not much on listening to what people actually want.

Inbound marketing however sponsors the voice of the customer; listening to their needs, adapting products accordingly and engaging on their terms. It’s the total opposite to ‘interruption marketing’ and business is conducted on the basis of the customer coming looking for you – seeking you out from the crowd.

With limited time and tons of information at a finger tip, the way we present ourselves to this newly empowered customer is extremely important. Consistent messages across all online brand communications, and participating in helpful discussions and communities relevant to your sector will all gain you credibility and exposure, but you need to effectively manage the pipelines of information that are available for all to view.

Keep in mind also that purchasing departments are using the web to prequalify new business. So if something’s don’t stack up, then chances are this could go against you in the decision making process.

Tags: Business to Business, Customer Relationship Management, marketing, new marketing
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

Segmentation

Friday, October 16th, 2009

By Carl Da-Costa-Greaves

What is segmentation?
If we think about the mass population as one big blob (the market). Within this ‘blob’ there are chunks. Certain chunks look like each other, act like each other and share the same needs. If you then identify the biggest chunks based on their similar needs and wants then you’ve effectively ‘segmented’ them from the masses.

Image courtesy of Spiderling-Art

General Segmentation Methods:
•   Demographic; Stage in life, Geographic, Geo-demographic, Age
•   Psychological; Motives, Attitudes, Values, Opinions
•   Decision Making Process; Extended problem Solving, Limited Problem solving, Routine Purchase, Impulse, Involvement
•   Decision Making Unit; Individual, Family, Business,
•   Social Factors; Family, Reference groups, Culture, Sub-culture
•   Relationships; Societal impact, Close, Distant, Stakeholders

Types of segmentation;
Consumer segmentation, Socio-economic Groupings, Lifestyle, Organisational and
International Segmentation.

When to use Segmentation?
The whole purpose of segmenting a market is to allow your marcomms and sales promotions to focus on the prospects that are “most likely” to purchase your products and services. Branding and marketing campaigns can then be tailored to the segment, rather than using a one size fits all approach.

What does it achieve?
•   Focus efforts on those segments where the greatest sales, profitability or awareness can be generated.
•   Can adapt products to the customers in target segments through a greater understanding of needs.
•   More satisfied customers – communication and products are more relevant to them.
•   Create greater differentiation leading to greater standout from your competitors.

Rules:
•   Homogeneous – everyone within it is similar (but won’t be identical)
•   Distinct – groups are recognisably different from each other
•   Identifiable – can assign customers to segments
•   Accessible – communication and service delivery
•   Profitable – every customer could be a segment, but would not be profitable
•   Actionable – have the resources to exploit
•   Stable – not likely to change in the short term

Key steps:
1 Audit and analyse the organisation’s current position, capabilities, objectives and constraints.
2 Identify the segmentation variables and segment the markets.
3 Develop profiles of each segment.
4 Evaluate the potential and attractiveness of each segment.
5 Select the target segment(s).
6 Identify the positioning concept within each target segment.
7 Select and develop the appropriate positioning concepts.
8 Develop the marketing mix strategy.

Top Tips:
•   Market segments need to be evaluated and ranked for possible targeting.
•   Evaluation is typically based on:
–   Size of segment
–   Growth prospects
–   Profitability
–   Competitive pressure
–   Fit with company objectives

Tags: Business to Business, marketing, Promotion, Selling to B2B
Posted in How To Do... | 2 Comments »

B2B Marketing

Monday, October 12th, 2009

By Carl Da-Costa-Greaves

What is B2B Marketing?
B2B Marketing is where a proportion or all of your marketing efforts goes towards promoting goods or services to businesses whose main transactions are with other businesses. For example, If you consider the action of selling computers to a company, or the maintenance of networks under a services agreement, both are transactions between two companies and considered business to business or B2B for short.

B2B marketing is now one of the fastest developing fields of marketing. New technologies bring more businesses together, thereby companies start to ‘tap up’ each other far more sharply. Technology also makes the world a smaller place. So it becomes essential for sales and marketing experts to understand and apply the principles of B2B marketing.

CRM

Characteristics of the industry;
• Fewer but larger buyers
• Demand often derived from consumer demand – e.g. car industry buys steel because consumers buy cars
• Volume and value of transactions are usually higher
• Buying unit differs – more rational approach, more people involved
• Buying /selling process usually more formalised

When to use it?
Used as a management process to identify and capture the interest of potential prospects. This information is then tracked using a formal sales process and Customer Relationship Management software (CRM). Each suspect or prospect that has been identified through marketing efforts can be further escalated to the next stage of the business to business relationship via a number of focused Brand Communication and sales promotion efforts.

What do you achieve from B2B Marketing?
Converting prospects into customers is an important objective of B2B marketing. If managed correctly then a prospect should convert to a customer. At this point, the relationship management aspect and customer relationship should not end there. Instead of thinking about the sales process in a traditional way, like a funnel; where prospects pop out the end as a customer, think of it like an hour glass; the efforts are greater at first, reducing as the relationship grows, at the point until the sale is made; then the focused efforts begin again and increase with frequency, until we reach a re-buy. At this point the process repeats.

So, as a prospect reaches the sales conclusion then it’s not merely enough to service the buyer’s contract and deliver the goods. Just as much effort should be expended in after service marketing and further relationship building with CRM, in the form of service, support, updates etc.

Key steps:
1) Ensure that you have a complete and up-to-date database available
2) Devise a sales process and track through a CRM database
3) Plan effective promotions and regular contacts directly aimed at the needs of prospects
4) Create the desire and show customers how they can purchase
5) Integrate all communications, both online and offline, to ensure a coherent message

Tags: Business to Business, Customer Relationship Management, marketing, Promotion, Selling to B2B
Posted in How To Do..., Marketing | 3 Comments »