Back to Basics: 3 Questions Your Copywriter Should Be Asking You

I was sitting with a new client the other day and we were discussing her copywriting needs. I asked her what she liked and didn't like about working with her other copywriters. One of her concerns was that she would get copy back that wasn't quite what she wanted. Either it didn't have the right tone or angle or it simply didn't fit into the space or design where it was to be placed. My response was straightforward. Before I write anything, I will always ask these three questions:

1. What is the piece?

Writing a blog is very different from crafting web copy which is different from doing a white paper. This is also where I define the length of the piece. Writing 500 words for a web site blurb that only has room for 40 words is a problem.

2. Who is the target audience?

Every piece I write has a specific person in mind. Is it a consumer or a business executive? Am I directing it to a student or a parent? Am I trying to reach the purchasing manager, the CEO, or a technology expert? If I don't know where the target is the chances are pretty good that I'll miss it.

3. What is the goal or desired outcome of the piece?

I need to know what each piece I write is trying to accomplish. Is it a blog post meant to educate or inform or am I trying to encourage someone to buy something? Am I establishing credibility as an authority in a particular field or am I trying to get someone to sign up for a free whitepaper?

Pretty obvious right? However it's amazing how many times those basic questions don't get asked. The inevitable result is 1) an unhappy customer who either has to rework the copy or send it back for revisions and 2) a frustrated writer who wonders why he or she didn't have the right information in the first place. Neither party is happy with the outcome.

Usually the second time around those three questions get answered and the piece is written appropriately and to the client's satisfaction. You can make the process a good deal more productive by getting it right the first time around.

How do you work with your writers? Are you getting the copy you need the first time?

Photo Credit: Stéfan via Compfight cc

How Marketing Automation Can Help You NOW

If you're responsible for marketing in almost any organization, your head is likely ready to spin off your shoulders. You're being called on to do everything from research to strategy to advertising and promotion to social media. And oh by the way, measure it all to see what's working.

It doesn't look like the added bricks of responsibility will lighten up anytime soon so what's a harried marketer to do?

Take a serious look at Marketing Automation for one thing.

Marketo defines Marketing Automation (MA) as "the technology that allows companies to streamline, automate, and measure marketing tasks and workflows so they can increase operational efficiency and grow revenue faster." That's a mouthful but stated simply it means that there's software available that can help you automate and handle many of your mounting tasks.

In its eBook The Right Content at the Right Time, Yesler states that 18% of B2B marketers have adopted MA and that's expected to rise to 40% by 2016. Marketo points out in its Definitive Guide to Marketing Automation that not just large companies are employing the technology. The fastest growing segment of MA adopters are small to medium sized businesses (SMB's).

There are a myriad of reasons why MA is being so aggressively implemented. Here are five key areas where an effective Marketing Automation program can yield significant results.

1. Lead Generation

The days when a breathing, warm body was considered a good prospect are long gone. Companies have come to realize how resources can be squandered pursuing the wrong target audience. Effective lead generation requires that you find the customers that fit your target profile. According to Marketo, MA helps to identify "the hot ones displaying buying behaviors that indicate that they are ready to engage with you and make a purchase."

2. Persona Development

Designing your target profile customer is not enough. Yesler points out that you have to build your buyer personas as well. "Today’s purchasing decisions most often include multiple people who play different roles in the buying process, sometimes at different stages." Identifying users, influencers and the appropriate budget authority is as crucial to the selling process as targeting the buyer. Once you've established all the players, MA helps organize and drive the appropriate content to each at the appropriate time.

3. Lead Nurturing

I discussed the importance of lead nurturing in an earlier post but it's clear that obtaining the lead is just the beginning of the process. It's estimated that only 20% of leads are sales ready when they are first uncovered. Your MA program includes the integration of Sales operation software and CRM applications to ensure that you are doing everything possible to nurture each lead into a sale. According to the Marketo Benchmark on Revenue Performance, companies that implement this kind of lead scoring enjoy 28% better sales productivity and 33% higher revenue growth than companies without lead scoring.

4. Relationship Management

We all know it's far more profitable to grow sales with existing customers than by acquiring new ones. That's why retaining and strengthening the bonds with existing customers is so important. An effective MA program helps with up-selling, cross-selling, managing feedback and maintaining an ongoing conversation with your current customers. Marketo stresses that "you need multiple tracks for each buyer persona and buying stage that 'listen' to how the customer behaves, and adjusts accordingly – just like a real-world relationship."

5. Marketing ROI

Back to the numbers. Not only do you have to manage all these various programs, but you also need to measure and justify their existence through a detailed ROI (return on investment) analysis. According to Marketo, Marketing Automation "goes beyond process automation to help marketing executives get much-needed insight into which marketing programs are working and which aren’t. It gives CMOs the metrics they need to speak confidently to the C-suite about Marketing’s revenue impact."

Marketing Automation is catching on fast and will quickly evolve from a luxury into a necessity. As John McTigue, co-owner of Kuno Creative has said, “without marketing automation, you are just guessing– just hoping that people will take the bait and be ready to buy your products. Statistics show that buyers don’t do that. They want to learn at their own pace and be reached when they need more information or are ready to buy. A well-constructed marketing automation strategy makes that a reality.”

Are you using Marketing Automation? Could it help your marketing program?

Always Remember, Benefits Not Features

Benefits not features. Working with several clients this week, I found myself bringing up this same topic more than once. Though a basic building block for all effective content creation, it's a concept that too often gets overlooked.

Why?

Several reasons actually.

First, we are all by nature self centered. We care about us. What's in it for me? Unfortunately this spills over when we create content and we tend to want to talk about us. On a resume, we want to talk about all the great things we've done. On a product description, we want to highlight all the wonderful things it can do. On a business web site, we want to shout about how long we've been around, how many locations we have or how many awards we've won.

There's just one problem.

The prospective employer, consumer or customer you're trying to reach doesn't care about any of that. They want to know what you are going to do for them. They care about the benefits for them not about your features.

In football terms, flameout quarterback Ryan Leaf, selected second overall in the 1998 NFL draft, had the size, great arm, and all the physical tools (Features) to be a top QB. Tom Brady, a skinny kid out of Michigan who was a backup for most of his college career, was taken 199th overall in the sixth round of the 2000 draft, 199th overall. Brady's gone on to throw 334 touchdowns and counting. That's 320 more than Leaf so far. (Benefits)

A second reason you tend to see features instead of benefits is that it's difficult to write about how something affects the other person. Our first inclination is inward. To step out of our own skin and look at things from the other person's point of view takes discipline and imagination. It's hard but essential if we hope to get our message across to our target audience.

In my earlier post on Chevrolet's new tag line I wrote about how how Chevy shifted from a features slogan (Chevy Runs Deep) to one highlighting benefits (Find New Roads). The shift was from "we've been around a long time" to "we can help you discover new things."

There are other examples over the years of companies changing from a feature based slogan to one based on benefits. Budweiser shifted from "The King of Beers" (we're the best!) to "This Bud's for you!" (we brewed it for you). Coca Cola went from "Coke is it!" (we're great!) to "Enjoy a Coke" (you'll like it). Delta Airlines has morphed from "Fly the Best with Delta" (Us, us, us!) to "You'll love the way we fly" (you, you you!).

It's a simple concept but one which good content creators should never forget.

What does your marketing material look like? Are you highlighting Benefits or talking about Features?

Creating Content for the Technology Market: 5 Key Points

As we all know by now, content continues to be a crucial element in all marketing programs. But according to a recent survey, there are some key differences when reaching out to B2C and B2B customers. Technology Marketers need to consider these differences when formulating their content marketing plans. An overriding conclusion of Eccolo Media's 2012 B2B Technology Collateral Survey Report is that technology customers "require vast amounts of compelling and useful content in order to engage with a vendor." The report goes on to say that "content marketing is now a recognized and adopted strategy to engage buyers and build trust within one's market segment. Consumers are driving the demand for high quality, relevant, and useful content."

Here are five takeaways from the survey of C-level executives, vice presidents, directors, managers, developers/programmers, and technicians at US-based companies

1. Match the right content to the right market

The report points out that technology marketers need to consider two very different markets when developing their content marketing plan - the large enterprise customers and the small/mid market (SMB) businesses. It's especially important to differentiate between those markets for two specific reasons. First , according to an IDC Customer Engagement Study, the SMB market is a $460 billion business growing at 7% per year. Second, and more importantly, the content that drives decision-making in the two markets is very different.

The survey discovered that SMB customers consume far less of each type of content than large Enterprise customers. For example, 72% of Enterprise customers read a white paper while only 31% of SMB customers consulted one. Thirty-one percent of SMB clients reported that they consumed no collateral material at all compared to only 9% of Enterprise customers.

The report suggests this is caused by marketers not developing content - white papers, case studies, eBooks - specifically for the SMB customer. Instead they are "reskinning" content written for Enterprise customers and the SMB prospect finds that irrelevant to his or her very different requirements. The survey concluded that marketers need to stop such repurposing and ensure that "content and collateral assets deployed to small businesses are written with this unique audience in mind."

2. Use mix of traditional and new content vehicles

While it's important for technology marketers to take advantage of the newer marketing channels, the survey showed that technology buyers still gravitate toward the more traditional content. Product brochures/data sheets (61%) and white papers (55%) topped the list of most consumed content followed by technology guides (47%). Newer vehicles like webinars (41%), blogs/social content (38%), ebooks (36%) and infographics (31%) were used much less.

When it comes to influencing the buying decision, white papers were picked as the clear number one choice with 46% calling them the most influential. Case studies (29%) and podcasts/audio files (25%) came in second and third followed by webinars (20%), and blogs and video( 18%). Ebooks and infographics trailed behind.

3. Maintain a strong website

When asked on what channel they receive their content, 37% of the respondents cited personal contact, the highest of any method. Second most was downloading information from a web site, named by 34%. Those two topped the list again when it came to influencing the buying decision, but the gap was much closer. Thirty percent ranked personal contact as most influential, while 29% said they were most influenced by information from a company's web site.

The report concluded that, "frequently used and perceived as very influential, a corporate Web site that is carefully planned, refreshed regularly, and leveraged as a channel to engage with prospects remains a vital strategy to build customer loyalty and increase revenues."

4. Ramp up social media

Although traditional content vehicles still lead the way, the report shows that social media will continue to be an influencer in technology buyers' decision making process. Facebook was named by 43% of respondents as having assisted them in a technology purchasing process. LinkedIn (29%) and YouTube (28%) also ranked highly. Overall, 77% of respondents said that simply having social media buttons increased the influence of written content.

"While the novelty of social sharing is less pronounced than last year," the report concluded, "it is clear that social media channels are becoming an important way to engage customers."

5. Focus on desktop vs mobile

This startling revelation seems to fly in the face of all current trends, but the survey clearly shows that technology customers gather most of their content on their desktops as opposed to their mobile devices. Sixty-two percent of respondents reported that they frequently consume vendor content on a desktop. Printed materials (10%) and tablet devices (9%) were a distant second and third. Only 6% reported reviewing content on a smart phone.

So while some enterprise customers do use mobile and tablet to gather information, the report concluded that technology marketers should "consider the type of content that you can deliver via this method and who your audience is before allocating valuable budget to custom applications."

What type of content are you using to attract technology buyers? What vehicle is most effective in driving leads and sales?

3 Reasons Businesses are Flocking to Inbound Marketing

I was recently talking to a small business owner about how to drive more prospects to her site. "Are you doing any Inbound Marketing?" I asked.

(Sound of crickets accompanied by deer-in-headlights look.)

"What exactly is that?" she finally responded.

Those of us in the marketing world know by now the difference between Inbound and Outbound Marketing, but there are still many business leaders who do not.

Hubspot defines Inbound Marketing as a "set of marketing strategies and techniques focusing on pulling relevant prospects and customers toward a business and its products." Think blogs, white papers, case studies, SEO and social media. These are tools used to "pull" customers to your business.

Outbound Marketing - or Traditional Marketing - focuses on sending company messages and advertising at consumers. Think trade shows, direct mail and telemarketing. These techniques are designed to "push" the business at your customers.

In the battle for marketing budget dollars, Inbound Marketing is clearly "pulling" away. Businesses that know the difference are flocking in droves to the Inbound Marketing side.

There are three main reasons why according to Hubspot's 2012 State of Inbound Marketing report.

1. Inbound Marketing is more cost effective.

According to the report, which surveyed 972 professional marketers, the average cost of an Inbound Marketing lead was $135 - almost a third of the cost of an Outbound Marketing lead which was $346.

2. Inbound Marketing generates better leads

Leads from Inbound Marketing  - blogs, whitepapers, SEO - are five times more likely to close than leads garnered through traditional marketing tools. Only about 2% of Outbound Marketing collected leads actually close.

3. Inbound Marketing lands customers

62% of the survey respondents reported they acquired a new customer through LinkedIn. 57% credited their blog. 52% said Facebook and 44% said Twitter.

In the last six months, more than a third of the respondents rated Inbound Marketing as "more important" while a third ranked Outbound Marketing as "less important." That is blatantly reflected in their spending as 89% of respondents say they increased their Inbound Marketing budget last year.

What are you doing with your marketing strategy? Are you "pushing" or "pulling?

Content: The Key to Lead Nurturing

We've all heard the phrase, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." How about "You can lead prospects to your web site, but can you make them buy?"

We all know that the goal of  any Content Marketing strategy is to drive traffic to your site. That increased traffic needs to generate new leads which should ultimately propel converted sales.

How do you ensure that this happens?

One way is to establish a focused Lead Nurturing program.

In a white paper titled "The Importance of Lead Nurturing and Scoring," produced by The Association of Strategic Marketing, Lead Nurturing is defined as "building a relationship with eligible prospects regardless  of their timing with the aim to boost their business when they are prepared."

According to ASM, nurtured leads can increase sales by as much as 20%. Click through rates from Lead Nurturing emails are 8% compared to only 3% from general emails. Despite this increased sales potential, 69% of B2B marketers fail to use a Lead Nurturing system.

A Lead Nurturing program involves several components including Prospect Targeting, Lead Scoring and Ongoing Contact. But not surprisingly at the heart of it all is our familiar friend: content.

Here's why.

1. Content Establishes Credibility

As the ASM report points out, from the buyer's perspective, there is always fear and risk involved with any purchase. "The most important features a B2B vendor must have are trust and credibility," the paper states. "They have to build credibility and reputation by sharing relevant and valuable information."

2. Content Keeps You in Contact

According to ASM, the new generation of buyers tend not to commit to a sale until the last third of the buying process. Therefore, sales and marketing need to be involved throughout the sales process delivering "high quality content and information for prospects that is responsive, timely and relevant."

"The only way that they can maintain ongoing conversation with prospects" is with a comprehensive Content Strategy, the report asserts.

3. Content Helps Drive the Buying Decision

ASM states that 95% of prospects visit a web site for research purposes, but 70% will eventually buy from that company or from a competitor. Not using a content driven Lead Nurturing program is the #1 reason for poor lead conversion. Overall, 79% of marking leads are not converted to sales. However nurtured leads drive 47% more purchases than non-nurtured leads.

The ASM white paper concludes that Lead Nurturing is not about hard selling. Instead, the program involves establishing your credibility in the marketplace, presenting your solution as the most viable and ultimately convincing your prospect that you are the correct choice for them.

As always, the key to accomplishing that is through informative, well crafted and compelling content.

Are you nurturing your leads? Are you drawing traffic but not converting sales?