We learn some lessons again and again

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Mac Logue

Over the past several years, we’ve invested an enormous amount of time and energy understanding both the technology and the implications of the social media revolution. It’s not a static subject, and each new change, each new piece of technology that emerges requires constant attention. The implications seem to grow exponentially as well. But the more we learn, the more we adapt new tools into marketing plans we create, the more a few simple truths become self-evident.

What you are is infinitely more important than what you say. This truth has never been more important than it is today. The market free market has always been a noisy place. Social media has only turned up the volume. Never have people been more distracted, more put-upon. And the natural reaction is to tune out everything but that which is most essential to do our jobs and live our lives. Skepticism is also at an all-time high. People simply won’t believe what you say without proof. And the proof of who you are and what you can do for me is in your actions. The most stunning social media plan conceivable will fail utterly if there is no substance to your product, your service, your company. That’s not to say that social media and new technology aren’t important tools, tools that can help you effectively connect with both prospects and customers. Clearly they are. We just have to remember not to confuse the tools with what matters most.

Everyone’s favorite subject is me. I’ve said this around our office so many times, I’m sure my coworkers see it as a sign of early onset dementia. When you call on a prospect, they measure every word out of your mouth, every promise you make, every claim put down against one question—so why does that matter to me? If your entire presentation (in person, in media or online) doesn’t address this question, you cannot hope to win your prospects’ hearts and minds.

This is the least and most profound idea you’ll hear today. We all know these thoughts to be true. Like all the great verities, these simple truths don’t change with the passing of a few years or the invention of a few new tools and technology.

But then we all take this life for granted until a tragedy or a sudden illness reminds us exactly how precious and fragile each day is. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that, in the words of Goethe, one must be something before one can do anything.

Lead the Way

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Brittany Moore

Lead generation at the top of everyone’s mind. How do you generate leads? Does content marketing through social media really work? How do you effectively use a CRM system? How is the bottom line affected? I recently read an article, “Content drives sales enablement,” discussing how businesses are combining CRM technology with content marketing to capture leads.

Brian Chertok, marketing director at Kronos Inc. (specializes in workforce management technology solutions) said “The question is, how to reach prospects by function and vertical, and also find the business issues that bring them to my salespeople.” Chertok relies on marketing technology tools such as Eloqua to study prospects online behaviors and to deliver the Web visitors with the business issues they’re interested in, either through white paper downloads or connecting with sales. Find out more on Eloqua here.

I think a lot of us can agree that you might as well be in the Stone Age carving messages in a cave if your business is ignoring the marketing opportunities social media holds. However, I’ve found that a lot of people don’t agree on the relevance of certain social media networks. Twitter and Facebook seem to be readily accepted by most companies but I’ve noticed a cloud of uncertainty around LinkedIn. Questions like: Isn’t it just for job seekers? Does anyone really check it? Is my target audience really there? While some companies are hesitating, others are tapping into the potential and seeing results.

Ferris Stith, PR and social media manager at a direct mail and fulfillment company PostcardMania successfully used implemented LinkedIn to reach her target audience. Stith shifted her tactics on LinkedIn from simply listening and responding to instead using it as an educational outreach tool. Now PostcardMania offers free articles, case studies and white papers to specifically targeted LinkedIn members. Leads jumped tenfold, Stith said. “Last week, I brought in 33 leads; the week before that, 21,” Stith said. Three or four leads a week previously was the norm from this channel, she said. “It seems to be increasing every week as I’m finding new ways to connect and engage prospects, and turn them into leads.”

Companies are always looking for new ways to connect and engage prospects. We are seeing that the driver is content and the vehicles are social media and the web. Today, sales enablement has gone far beyond CRM solutions that merely help sales personnel be more efficient. The key sales enablement solution is marketing and its main driver is content. For example, Fifth Third Bank has developed its own content portal for prospects (www.53.com), targeting business customers, with activities carefully tracked to inform the company’s CRM database. Dianne Hardin reported: “From that first program, we directly attributed $3 million in closed revenue and $18 million in new pipeline in the first nine months. Our marketing automation investment was less than $100,000.”

As you can see, it’s working. Through relevant content placed on the right media channel and in front of the right people. More leads are being generated, pipelines are growing, and more sales are closing. Companies are using, to borrow the term, “lead bait.” This could include white papers, videos, podcasts, webinars, etc. They serve as conversation starters around solutions that actutally drill down to the product. It gives something for prospects to experience and a reason to be online, on your company’s website or Facebook.

If you don’t watch anything else today– watch this video of Marc Benioff, CEO of salesforce.com, discussing the impact of social media. He boldly states that “Facebook is becoming a vision, and certainly an execution, of what the next consumer operating system is.” He points out that Facebook is eating web time, more people spend time on Facebook than other internet sites. He believes companies must build presence on social networking sites because that’s where our customers are. Not only is it where our customers are going, it’s how employees are being trained on collaboration, how we’re learning to communicate and share. This is just accelerating and with that comes mounds of data. Questions circulate about what to do with it, how to access it, manipulate it, and make it actionable. In the last 2 minutes of the video, Marc Benioff is asked to respond to one word: Data. His response– “We are on the threshold of a new industry with data.” I’m anxious to see how salesforce and social media will lead the way.

With all of that being said… follow us on Twitter to download our white papers! Or check out our Facebook and LinkedIn!

The Mobile Web and SEO

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Jessica Phillips

I recently came across an interesting Forbes article about the growth in mobile internet usage and the change it’s causing in the marketing landscape. According to the Forbes article, mobile internet usage is set to overtake desktop Internet usage by 2014, and the way people use their mobile devices to browse is now very different.

Here are just a handful of ways Internet (and search) usage is likely to change:

Using mobile phones to type-search. Using a traditional keyboard to enter a search query into Google is usually easier and quicker than doing the same on a mobile device. It is highly likely therefore that users will search for shorter keyword strings, or rely more heavily on tools such as predictive text. This will influence the way sites optimize their content and carry out their link building.
Voice search. In contrast to the point above, there has been a rise in popularity of using voice search on mobile devices via Google or Yahoo search apps, or Apple iPhone’s Siri for example. This may make searching quicker and easier, but it should be noted that people tend to search differently when speaking, using more of a conversional sentence structure. For example, you may type-search “best netbooks”, but voice-search “what are the best netbooks available.” This is likely to influence a site’s keyword targeting.
Search by image. Tools such as Google Goggles allow users to very quickly search the Web using images on their phone or photos taken on the fly. Applications of this technology include taking a picture of a book in a store to find the best price, or using the picture of a restaurant front to find customer reviews. Ensuring your content and imagery are optimized for this form of search is likely to become increasingly important.
Industry trends. As mobile Internet data shows, uptake levels are not necessarily equal across all industries. Travel, for example, is one area where growth in mobile Internet (and search) is increasing at pace, and is therefore likely to be a strong focus for this market moving forwards.
Sociability. 91% of mobile Internet access is to socialize, compared to 79% on desktops. If Internet marketers haven’t been listening to the “search turning social” talk of recent years, then they certainly should be now. If they still cannot engage with individuals and groups on a social level they will be missing out on a massive proportion of mobile Internet usage.
Geo-targeting. As well as a number of apps utilizing a user’s geo-location to enhance their functionality, Google uses it to show localized search results. Mobile devices tend to be used in multiple locations, therefore search results are highly likely to fluctuate more on mobile devices. Making sure your website’s “local” offering is up to speed should be towards the top of your priority list.
Immediacy. At the recent World Travel Market in London, a Google spokesperson revealed stats from ebooker.com saying that 70% of mobile hotel bookings were same-day check in. They also showed stats from easyJet stating 38% of mobile bookings were for flights departing within 10 days, compared to only 13% from desktops. This clearly shows a more immediate-requirement trend in mobile usage, for travel market at least, and this certainly might influence the kinds of content/offers that sites show to their mobile visitors. This is a good example of how users, whether using their mobile phone for personal or business purposes, want immediate, easy-to-find information.

New Dynamic Ads

Posted on January 17, 2012 by mekelle

Even though I’m not a technology expert, I was recently entertained by an article tweeted by a friend of mine…“Adweek.com’s Top 10 Technology Stories of 2011.” The #3 spot was awarded to Google AdWords and their redesign.

Back in September, Google took a new approach to search engine advertising, the leading foundation to their massive amounts of revenue. The AdWords program has always been all about “keywords” and even though that isn’t completely changing, Google announced something fresh and maybe even better– something they call Dynamic Search Ads.

Usually an advertiser will pay to run ads alongside certain keyword searches, but with the new product they will just point AdWords to the pages they want to promote, and then Google will match the ad with the best searches and generate corresponding headlines. Even though it’s only recently launched, the idea has been in the works for almost 3 years!

“Flipping the search engine on its head,” as product management director Baris Gultekin likes to call it, allows the company to take a page and match it to the best keyword, rather than the other way around. Advertisers have already seen a 5–10% increase in conversions and it’s predicted that this could in fact be the “future” of AdWords.

So there’s a new idea for your 2012 Google AdWords campaign. It will be interesting to see where Google takes technology the rest of this year. Only time will tell.

2011 Wrap Up

Posted on December 23, 2011 by mekelle

I cannot believe it’s the end of December and the close of another year. And a new year means one thing: new year resolutions. About two weeks ago the FitzMartin gang took a day away from the office to sit together as a group and talk about 2011, our successes, our failures, and our goals for 2012. A lot got accomplished, and we are excited about implementing our new ideas for our clients starting…NOW!

Did your company do a year end evaluation? What are your goals for the new year?

In thinking about business-to-business sales and the upcoming year, here are some things to keep in mind.
1) To keep your customers informed and educated about your industry, products, and services, as they are growing and changing constantly
2) Determine new products, changes in products, and stay engaged in new marketing strategies through webinars, conferences, etc.
3) Practice what you preach. Enough said there.

FitzMartin will be hosting a sales conference in 2012 as well, so be on the lookout! We are excited about a new year and seeing what we can do together with you, our clients.

What Not To Do on a Sales Call

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Brittany Moore

Last week I was on the phone with a salesperson and it most instructive, though I’m sure that was not the salesperson’s intention. As I hung up the phone, I was thinking: Wow, I hope I never sound like this!

You should know that before the sales call I was already enthused about the product and ready to buy. I literally had the credit card at hand. I even told the salesperson in the first minute of the call– I’m ready to buy..today. I came away from the call wiser, but without the product. Instead, I had some reflections that I’d like to share with you.

What not to do on a sales call:

1. Type very loudly the entire time we’re on the phone. Most sales people have to take notes, type them into their CRM system and then discuss them with their manager during a later sales meeting. While typing the notes when we’re actually on the phone may save you a couple minutes after the call, it is very distracting to your prospect. Some prospects find this annoying or impersonal and immediately you have distanced yourself from them. This means they’re less likely to build rapport with you, share information to you, and most importantly…buy from you.

2. Incessantly answer ALL of my questions with a question. When I ask, “What is the main difference between Option A and Option B?” Don’t answer, “Well, why do you ask that question?” or “What in particular stands out to you about those two options?” We don’t need to over think this when I’ve already stated I’m ready to buy! Give me a straight answer and then your advice or recommendation.

3. Ask questions that I’ve already answered. As a sales person, there are the 4 key questions that we all rely on: 1) Need? 2) Timeframe? 3) Decision Makers? 4) Budget? The truth is that everyone has different buying patterns and some prospects are going to be at different stages in the buying process when you first talk to them. Before I picked up the phone with this sales person I was already sold on the product and ready to buy that day. However, the salesperson incessantly and blatantly fished for that Need and made it more complicated than it should have been.

Also, don’t ask “What is your timeframe?” toward the end of the call when I stated it at the beginning. A lot of salespeople are programmed to go through those 4 key questions and they loose sight of what the prospect is actually saying. You should identify where your prospect is in the buying cycle and adjust your process to them. In short, when the potential buyers says “Yes,” quit selling.

4. Do not say: “who is the decision maker?” There is a more tactful way of saying this that does not immediately ostracize the one contact you have within the company. (i.e. instead of saying the term “decision makers” try: Should we include anyone else on our conversation?) This makes me feel like we’re on the same team, trying to accomplish the same goal. However, after I mentioned someone of higher rank was involved, the salesperson so blatantly lost interest in me, started fishing around for contact info and aggressively pushed to schedule a time with the other person.

5. Overlook the details. Okay, maybe this is nit-picky or just a pet peeve of mine but my first name is in my email address (Brittany@fitzmartin.com) so there shouldn’t be any reason to misspell my name as Britney. Something this simple can deter someone from buying from you. It is important to pay attention to the details when you are trying to gain a customer or client.

By Word of Mouth

Posted on November 15, 2011 by mekelle

I was reading an article in the Small Business section of Fox News online entitled, “It’s Your Reputation, So Handle With Care.” I have to admit, the name drew me to this article. Mary Rosenbaum, a master certified personal branding strategist and career coach (when did they invent that title?), talks about not getting too caught up in all the hype about social media and forgetting what really can drive your business and increase sales: your reputation and your brand. Continue reading →

Communication is Key

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Sean Doyle

We all know the phrase, “communication is key.” In our field some communicate best through art, some copy, but everyone uses speech. This video immediately caught our attention and now its your turn! We invite you to watch the first three minutes and become inspired.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter.html