New Report: 2011 B2B Content Marketing Trends

SlideShare views for the new report "2011 B2B Content Marketing Trends" are off the charts - looks like we have a topic that is really resonating with B2B marketers.

This new report is the result of a survey I conducted with the 20,000 member B2B Technology Marketing Community on LinkedIn to better understand the current state of content marketing, and to identify key challenges as well as best practices.

Survey Results

Here is a quick snapshot of the survey findings:

• Content marketing is growing dramatically in popularity with over 71 percent of respondents doing more of it than a year ago (in contrast, only 2 percent are doing less).
• The biggest motivator for content marketing is its ability to drive awareness, leads, and engagement with prospects to compensate where where traditional tactics are falling short.
• The most popular content formats: case studies, presentations at live events, white papers, online articles and videos.
• The biggest challenge: producing truly engaging content.
• Companies spend an average of 20 percent of their budgets on content marketing.
• The most popular channels to deliver content: website, live events, email.
• The top performance metric for content marketers is leads.

Follow this link to read the complete 2011 B2B Content Marketing Trends report with lots of charts and data that will help you benchmark your own content marketing initiative (and don't forget to share the report with your friends and colleagues): http://www.slideshare.net/hschulze/b2b-content-marketing-report

Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey. Please share your content marketing ideas and questions with our readers in the comments section below.

What is a Marketing Asset Management Solution?

Marketing automation is a hot topic in the B2B marketing community.  According to most reports, the number of companies using marketing automation solutions is growing rapidly, and the growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

The term B2B marketing automation usually refers to technologies that automate activities like lead capture, lead nurturing, lead scoring, and lead distribution.  These technologies can greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of B2B marketing efforts, particularly when it comes to lead management.

There is, however, another type of B2B marketing automation that should also be on your radar.  These solutions are usually called marketing asset management solutions.  A marketing asset management solution is a suite of technologies, production capabilities, and fulfillment services that automate many of the processes relating to the procurement, management, and distribution of marketing materials such as marketing collateral documents, promotional items, and point-of-sale materials. A marketing asset management solution is essentially an outsourcing arrangement in which the solution provider assumes responsibility for several components of a company's marketing materials supply chain.

Here's how a marketing asset management solution works.

• The core component is a central repository that contains digital versions of the marketing materials that a company uses.  The solution will also include an online catalog that contains images of the company's materials.
• When an authorized user needs to order marketing materials, he or she logs into a secure website, selects the desired materials from the catalog, and places the order.
• A marketing asset management solution also provides powerful customization capabilities.  If an item is designed to be customized, the online catalog will contain a template of that item.  The template identifies the content elements that can be modified and allows a user to customize the item in allowable ways.
• The marketing asset management solution provider uses production technologies that allow most marketing materials to be manufactured on an order-by-order basis.  The solution provider also handles packaging and fulfillment.  In those cases where production economics don't allow for materials to be produced on an as-ordered basis, the solution provider will provide warehousing and real-time (or near real-time) inventory tracking and reporting.

A marketing asset management solution will significantly reduce the indirect costs of marketing materials and provide several other important financial and operational benefits.  In upcoming posts, I'll describe some of these benefits.

If you'd like to learn more about marketing asset management solutions, take a look at our white papers titled, Is a Marketing Asset Management Solution Right for My Company? and Four Reasons to Use a Marketing Asset Management Solution.  To obtain a copy of one or both of these papers, just put your request in a comment to this post or send an e-mail request to ddodd(at)pointbalance(dot)com.

"No really, my market is different!"

Speak to enough brand managers of a global brand in countries around the world and you’ll soon come to expect the all too common refrain: “...but my market is different.”






Ask them to elaborate, and you’ll get the low down on how consumer habits in their market are different, their consumers' purchase behavior is different, preferences and tastes are different, how the media and the retail

Reduce the Hidden Costs of Marketing Materials

B2B marketers are understandably concerned about the performance of their campaigns and programs.  After all, the primary job of B2B marketing is to generate a sufficient number of qualified leads so that company sales will grow.  Plus, all of the recent emphasis on marketing ROI has increased the pressures on marketers to justify the investments they make in marketing efforts.

Obviously, marketers need to monitor and improve the performance of marketing campaigns.  But it's equally important to focus on the efficiency of marketing operations.  One area of marketing operations that offers huge opportunities for improvement in most companies relates to the management of marketing materials (marketing collateral, promotional items, and point-of-sale materials).

The issue here isn't the direct production costs of marketing materials, although that's obviously important.  What I'm talking about in this post is the cost of procuring, managing, and distributing marketing materials.  Research shows that over half of the real total spending on marketing materials can be attributed to obsolescence waste and to activities like procurement, storage, inventory management, and distribution.

This aspect of marketing is now receiving much more attention for a very simple reason.  The dollars saved by reducing these indirect, and often "invisible," materials costs can be redeployed to fund revenue-generating campaigns and programs.

The good news is that we now have the tools to reduce these costs and dramatically increase the efficiency of the supply chain for marketing materials.  These tools are usually called marketing asset management solutions, and if they're not yet on your radar, they should be.

In an upcoming post, I'll describe how marketing asset management solutions work and how they can improve the productivity of your marketing operations.

Prepare for a Zombie Apocalypse

From the "Damn I Wish I Thought of That" file.

Last week the CDC ... yes, the U.S. Government's Center for Disease Control launched a campaign so successful that the generated traffic crashed their servers. I would LOVE to have a server-crashing campaign!!!! Wouldn't you?

Anyway, if you've watched the news at all lately, Mother Nature's been pretty testy. As a reaction to all of the flooding, tornadoes, and other unexpected nasties, the CDC wanted to educate the community about how to prepare.

Their answer? The Zombie Apocalypse blog. Here, anyone can learn how to prepare for and possibly survive a zombie apocalypse. You know, stuff like, have clean water on hand, keep a radio and spare batteries, non-perishable foods - stuff like that. The beauty is that there is nothing revolutionary here (kinda like the concept of checking and loans, huh?) They simply found a way to communicate information that most people simply don't care about (again, kinda like checking and loans, huh?)

This is a wonderful case study in taking a normal strategy and turning it on it's head to see things differently. It stands out, it differentiates, it clearly communicates and it has been darn successful.

I, for one, am inspired. I hope you are too!

Take care,

Eric

Expect the unexpected

You’re either pregnant or you’re not.

And the market for pregnancy testing kits would appear to be similarly dichotomous: you either need a pregnancy test kit, or you don’t. If you do, you buy one and it helps you answer the first question in the affirmative or in the negative.

So you’d think there’s not much to the market – not much market segmentation potential. 

And yet...

The first level

What if...We Cast Off our Non-Profit Status?

In honor of Theater Communications Group's 50th Anniversary, the performing arts service organization solicited "what if" manifestos for their upcoming annual conference. In that spirit, I decided to point the "what if" in the direction of the the non-profit business model by asking what would happen if resident theaters abandoned up their non-profit status.

I am by no means the first to address this topic. On Tuesday, May 17, Thomas Cott featured the three great articles addressing this issue in his "You've Cott Mail" that day:

L3C Cha, Cha, Cha by Diane Ragsdale
Questioning Old Dogmas by Colin Tweedy
Revenue Means More Than Business Models by James Undercofler

The Assumed Argument: Mitigating Financial Risk by Relying Less Upon Volatile Funding Sources
I assume that the proponents of reexamining the reliance upon the non-profit business model by our resident theaters comes from those who feel that theaters could mitigate their operating risk by relying less upon volatile funding sources. In a previous post entitled The Funding Conundrum: A Marketer's Response, I discussed tactics an arts marketer could take in light of major government funding cuts. Coming from an advocacy background, my first instinct was to look at ways marketers could become better advocates. In doing so, I was trying to find ways to maintain status quo in a time of dwindling support. However, I now find myself asking what would happen if we found a way to develop an artistically valid and sustainable model that didn't rely upon any government funding? Would that allow us to create our own destiny? Would it eliminate our reliance upon a funding source that at best is dubious these days. We wouldn't have to consult the tea leaves to see if we were going to get our rationing of government funds or face the devastation that comes when those funds are cut at the eleventh hour. I hear many organizations discuss risk management these days. I wonder if eliminating a volatile revenue source and replacing it with revenue that is more dependable could become a very attractive option to companies that want to mitigate financial risk.

The idea of leaving behind the only thing most resident theater administrators have known their entire lives is daunting. In briefly contemplating this issue, a few questions immediately came to mind:

Would we jeopardize the artistic product?
As Ms. Ragsdale pointed out in her well written article on this topic, Arena Stage covered all of its expenses for its first fifteen years from box office revenue. In reading Zelda Fichandler's personal speeches to the original investors of Arena Stage, they don't reveal a particular concern about needing to sacrifice artistic integrity due to the financial pressures of having to meet expenses solely from the box office. However, I do not believe that resident theaters can depend solely on box office revenue if they eliminated their non-profit status, and doing so, would in my belief, inevitably lead to artistic sacrifices. That being said, as contributed revenue sources have declined, many organizations have had to look for new revenue streams so that the box office didn't become the sole method of revenue generation. New sources of revenue are popping up everywhere from real estate ventures, event rentals, restaurants, parking, corporate visibility opportunities, summer camps, bars, consulting services and partnerships with for-profit ventures. As long as there are other substantial revenue streams that prevent the box office from becoming an organization's sole source of revenue, the artistic product should be protected. Check out these articles about popular sources of new earned revenue:

Arts Centers and Real Estate: Sustainable Business Model? Createquity
New Jersey Arts Center Sets Real Estate Venture The New York Times
Lincoln Center to Consult on New Arts Center in China Forbes
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Purchases Telemarketing Firm Artful Manager

Would we have to sacrifice the revenue currently generated by contributed sources?
Most annual fund campaigns track revenue from individuals, board giving, corporations, special events, foundations and government support. This isn't my particular area of expertise so my thoughts might be naive or worse yet, impossible, however below are my guesses at what might happen to these sources if theaters were to drop their non-profit status:

• Individuals: Perhaps the largest loss of contributed revenue could be from major donors, who benefit significantly from the tax breaks received from philanthropic giving, although politicians are debating reducing the tax deductibility of charitable gifts. However, I don't believe that revenue from lower level donors would be significantly impacted. Research indicates that lower level donors primarily give to receive benefits designed to improve their experience while attending the theater, and not due to a value-based philanthropic reason. If theaters were to continue to offer experiential benefits in exchange for an additional fee, regardless if they were a non-profit or not, I believe they could maintain the revenue they receive currently from lower level donors.



• Board Giving: I wonder if non-profit board members could be transitioned into investors in a for-profit model, serving in a similar capacity to a limited partner. That could allow an organization to maintain partial revenues from board members, while offering them an opportunity for investment returns.



• Corporations: Corporate giving via truly philanthropic avenues has steadily decreased in the past decade. Most corporations now have moved their sponsorship dollars out from under philanthropic officers and into the hands of their marketing departments. Corporate sponsorships are primarily about visibility and client entertainment. I would guess that marketing officers aren't going to care if a theater is a non-profit institution or not when deciding where to spend their sponsorship dollars. They care about the value of the opportunities the theater can provide.



• Special Events: Why not look at special events as one night, for-profit productions? By programming in-demand talent, pricing tickets at fair market value and controlling expenses, special events should be able to still generate significant revenue.



• Foundations: Many foundations only give to non-profits because the IRS provides certain tax benefits to those that give 5% of their assets each year to organizations with 501(c)3 tax exempt status. For several theaters, this would be a substantial loss in revenue. I wonder if this could be resolved if the IRS offered to count grants given to LC3s in the same manner as those given to 501(c)3s.



• Government Support: For many organizations, government funding is either non-existent or so volatile that it cannot be included in operating budgets by prudent organizations. Arts organizations close regularly because they lose municipal or federal support. Many well-governed organizations have already learned to treat government support as icing on the cake, and nothing more. Those that haven't, risk total insolvency if the political climate shifts.

So, What's Next?
For now, it seems there is a lot of talk. These days, there is very little certainty in or agreement on anything, including the best business model for a resident theater. I am mindful though that Arena Stage was founded in 1950 as a for-profit entity, and thrived as such for several years. Could it be that to go forward, the field [5/31: replaced the word "we" with "the field"] must go back? It seems fitting to end with a quote featured from Zelda Fichandler in Ms. Ragdale's article: "I bring this up simply to point out that, while we are gathered here in the name of the nonprofit corporation (and, indeed, without the nonprofit income tax code, our American theater would simply not exist), being nonprofit does not really define us—our goals, our aims, our aesthetic, our achievements. What defines us, measures us, is our capacity to produce art.”

Shared vision...is better than 20/20

Do your palms start to sweat when you are at the eye doctor's office and they ask you to read the eye chart? Or how about when you are renewing your driver's license and you have to read the eye chart? All the sudden I feel like I'm blind and I'm going to miss something even though I have 20/20 vision.

Do you think your staff ever gets that sweaty palm feeling when they are handed a new project, new initiative or faced with a new dilemma? There are probably times when your staff feels blind even though they have the power to complete the project, set a new initiative or conquer a dilemma, they just need a little guidance to get started.

Shared vision...is better than 20/20

Here are some ideas that might help you show your employees the light..

• Tell them your story
• Get your staff involved in living the vision
• Make resources easily available
• Set interim goals and celebrate success
• Momentum is contagious

Drive your staff to achieve a higher purpose, together, by sharing your vision. When you share information they will feel more involved in the overall picture, which will empower them to work towards the common goal. Striving for a common goal will produce results you never thought possible. Give it a try, you will be surprised!

Make it a great Friday!

Debbi

A Marketer’s dream: connecting the real and online worlds

A few days ago this WSJ article on QR barcodes caught my eye and I included it in the “On the Net” rubric on the blog. Having lived in Asia in ‘05-’06, I was familiar with marketing uses of QR codes, but the article spurred me to learn more. So I went to the source. Mark Binns is CMO of Mobio, the fastest growing company in this fast growing space. I asked Mark to describe the QR code revolution

Standing out in a crowd..

Ok... we have all seen it...the crazy guy with the rainbow hair holding the sign.  It got our attention, right?  For a second, yes.

In the crowded world of banking... we all have options (and so do our customers!) we can---

1. Be the crazy guy in the rainbow wig
2. Be the non-descript woman dressed in casual clothes
3. The young man with the #7 jersey (along with 4,753 others wearing the same!)
4. Or we can be the stylish person that turns head when they walk past...because they just look confident and well put together!

We say #4 all the way!

In recent months, we have been doing a tremendous amount of product evaluation and realignment.  Some because it has been done in a long time and other looking to stay ahead of the curve!

When done right, you become the stylish person that does not need the fancy rate, gaudy hair, or best gift with purchase...peoples will bank with you because you offer the best value for their time, effort and life. 

This is an enduring value proposition...but one that takes strength to offer and stand-by...while others flash their rate, lower their fee or offer a cool new Corningware set!

Hang tough...it WILL be worth it in the end!

Call us...we can help you be strong!

Cheers!

Bruce

Why Marketers get no respect

Put on your thick skin, your Kevlar vest -- this blog post is not for the faint of heart. 

The problem is not just that consumers find marketers unsavory, it is also that even within the company marketers get no respect. 

The CEO wonders how you spend your time, the CFO wonders how you spend the company’s money, the sales folks think you’re too conceptual, too abstract, and not sufficiently

No One Woke Up This Morning Needing YOUR Checking Account!

I know ... it hurts ... I'm sorry.

What's worse ... no one wants your mortgage ... or your auto loans ... or your CD.

What consumers WANT is:

• Fewer miles to drive
• A teller who wants to be there
• A new home
• A new car
• An expert to recommend a way to save money
• To feel good

So, what are we to do as banks and credit unions? Let's face it, our products aren't cool. No one's going to camp outside your front door for the launch of your new CD rate!

You Have to Differentiate

We may not be the next evolution of the iPad, but we are a necessity. That said, we need to give consumers a reason to consider us over the 6 banks they're going to pass to get to our branch.

What makes you stand out? Is it your convenience? Your personality? Your technology?

• Scrutinize the competition: Identify their strengths and weaknesses in pricing, convenience, service, products and image. Where do your strengths align with their weaknesses?
• What does your market NEED: They don't NEED price. If all you have to hang your hat on is a rate, your neighbor can beat it tomorrow (and you'll price yourself out of profitability). But, if lower fees truly are a differentiator, see how this credit union "pulled it off" (literally!!!). The bottom line is, talk to your customer's real needs ... and your product's real benefits.
• Be different: When my first CEO asked me why he should hire me with ad agency experience and no banking experience, I told him it's because consumers don't understand banking and it's my job to "talk" with these folks. I believe that it's the banks and credit unions who think like retailers that are truly differentiating themselves and gaining market share. Try to appeal to an emotion. After all, we're dealing with our customer's money ... what's more emotional than that!

As you're reviewing your past and future campaigns, keep in mind that the market doesn't want your product ... they want what the product will get them!

Take care,

Eric

It's Time to Pay Your Age

The predominant method of pricing to attract young audiences involves the last minute discounting of available inventory, usually resulting in what is commonly referred to as a "student rush." At Arena Stage, we had a similar system called our "30 and Under Program," which allowed patrons 30 years old and younger to access $15 tickets beginning at 10:00am on Monday for that week's performances. The $15 ticket price represented a 75% off discount from our typical average ticket price, so these tickets were in high demand. With such a popular program, you might be asking why are we trying to fix something that is "working" by launching a "Pay Your Age" program specifically designed to replace the previously popular "30 and Under" program?

Well, if you dig a little deeper, you'd find that it wasn't working because...

We were losing them at 31. Imagine if you had spent ten years paying $15 for a good seat to the theater, and on the day you turned 31, you received a birthday card saying "congratulations, in order to attend your favorite theater from now on, you must now pay 75% more than you have been." As an organization, in some cases, we had spent more than a decade teaching young adults that a ticket to the theater was only worth $15, when in fact we should have been reminding them that they were receiving a $60 ticket on a substantial discount because we recognized they were in school or were just starting their careers. The jump from $15 to $60 overnight was just too steep, and after paying such a substantial discount for so long, the value proposition was completely distorted.

We were encouraging late buying behavior. I have been to countless conferences where experts have blamed decreases in subscriber bases on younger patrons who are not willing to commit in advance. Well why should they? For years, we have been giving them great seats at the best prices at the absolute last minute. If you eventually would like younger patrons to become subscribers, you must develop pricing systems which encourage earlier buying behaviors. They need to be taught early on that in order to get the best deal on the best seats, they need to commit early. I always found it funny that the same theaters that forced younger patrons to purchase via last minute rush systems where the ones that complained they couldn't attract younger subscribers to offset the attrition of their older subscriber base.

We could not fulfill demand. In many ways, our inaugural season at the Mead Center for American Theater has been a banner year for Arena Stage. Performances sold out weeks and months in advance, and when that happened, requests for access to any held inventory and house seats for sold out performances flooded into our Artistic Director's office. By requiring 30 and under patrons to wait until Monday to purchase tickets for that week's performances, we found that in many cases, we had very limited, if any, inventory available for such an important program. That being said, I know how hard it is to tell a major donor or VIP that we can't sell them a seat because the seat in question was being held for our 30 and Under Program. Imagine--"I'm sorry Mr. Ambassador, the performance you would like to attend has been sold out for weeks, except for the tickets we have held for the 30 and Under Program. You aren't by any chance under 30 are you?"

The Fix
So we developed a new system called "Pay Your Age (PYA)." The premise: for our patrons who are 30 years old and younger, they can purchase PYA tickets starting two months in advance of the first public performance by calling the box office and simply paying their age for their ticket. Tickets will be held at will call for pickup, and box office associates will verify age upon check-in. We have guaranteed that 3% of the inventory for each performance will be held specifically for this program. In the case of our upcoming summer revival of Oklahoma!, this means that on Monday, May 9, 1,800 PYA tickets will go on sale in a first come, first served format.

I anticipate that demand for these tickets will be very high, and they will sell out quickly. This in turn will underscore the importance of buying in advance if a 30 and under patron wants to get the available discount. Wait too long, and we'll be sold out. In addition, by paying just $1 more per ticket per year, we hope to gradually adjust each patron year by year, so that when the time comes, there isn't tremendous sticker shock.

The social media genie is out of the bottle

If your brand hasn't yet got the hang of social media, you’re out of the loop, and you're in good company. Few brands have figured it out.
You've tried your hand at Facebook and Youtube and Twitter,  where your consumers are spending their time and getting their information, and where you have accounts.
So you’ve seen your online media budget balloon, and the newly recruited twenty-something “

Getting Micro Can Yield Mega Results

Segmentation is everywhere. It's why we have 300 TV channels (and nothing on) and the reason for hundreds of magazines on the shelves.

As qualified marketing professionals, I don't need to sell you on the benefits of segmentation in maximizing your marketing budget ... but what about segmenting your web efforts?

Microsites can be incredibly useful tools. These mini, highly-focused sites can target a specific product, solution or customer segment and deliver a niche message or promotion.

Why Create a Microsite?

• To better promote specific pages of your main site
• To target a specific call to action
• To deliver a narrow value message to a focused target
• To enhance a particular promotion with a more memorable URL and value message

Some critics contend that a microsite can compete with your main website for search engine attention, and if not thought through, it can. To maximize SEO with your microsite, use key words in your microsite URL. You can also use your microsite to link to targeted pages within your main site.

Is a Microsite Right For Your Strategy?

• What is the goal? If a microsite offers a better opportunity for your communication to be more memorable, targeted and/or easier to access, it's worth consideration.
• Will the content be unique and interesting to the target?
• Do you have the resources? Can you maintain and effectively promote the site? These sites are great for short-term efforts. If your intention is to use the site long term, consider how you will drive consistent traffic and keep people coming back.
• Will it compete with your existing site or enhance it?

At MarketMatch, we have had great success with client microsites.

Want some examples?

Each of these microsites focuses on value-added content. One in the form of local resource links that are specific to the target and the other with valuable articles.

• www.AreU1.com (a stand alone microsite designed for life stages)
• www.MidCountryBank.com/HomeLoan (A microsite embedded in the client's main site)

Take Care.

Eric