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Look for more IT companies to invest in social media marketing in 2010. According to a new study by MarketingSherpa, which tracks the space, 55 percent of computer hardware and software companies will be increasing their social media marketing budgets. Only 5 percent are planning reductions.

What does this mean for channel partners?

1. You need to get social – fast: your IT manufacturing partners are clearly headed in this direction. For you to take advantage of some of their brand value, you’ll need to be engaged in social media and in sync with your suppliers.

2. MDF takes on a new meaning: think about new ways in which marketing dollars can be invested. If you’re making a case to a manufacturer, it helps if you’re aligned with its priorities.

3. It’s time to get a plan together: just setting up a Twitter account and a blog won’t get you far. Social media marketing is only effective when the pieces are part of a greater whole … which is designed to maximize impact.

[Via MarketingSherpa]

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If you think all it takes to keep a client happy is a straightforward implementation that tracks directly back to your proposal, you could be in for a surprise. The latest Enterprise IT Services Survey from Forrester Research shows that clients in North America and Europe are looking for more of … well … everything. In addition to not realizing all the advantages they’d hoped for, many would like to see more innovation from their IT services vendors.

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Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the nation’s workforce became a lot more productive in the third quarter. People have learned to the live the cliché “do more with less,” as productivity surged 8.1 percent. Yet, unemployment remains at 10 percent, and companies are looking for more ways to bolster results without having to hire.

The economic situation remains tricky. There are signs of a recovery, but businesses are remaining cautious, especially when it comes to assuming the ongoing expenses associated with new employees.

The notion of using technology to increase employee productivity isn’t new. Over the past several decades, we’ve seen the impact of prudently purchased and deployed systems on the efficiency of a workforce and a company’s ability to manage its costs. Today, the situation is more of a priority than ever.

There are three factors converging to make businesses refocus on IT investing: unemployment, productivity per employee and increased competition. When you put all three together, you can see how IT spending is increasing – and should continue to do so – even when executives are approaching economic conditions cautiously.

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All the buzz has been focused on online and social media marketing, but it would be unwise to forget about direct mail. According to the Direct Marketing Association, direct mail marketing is set to increase by more than $1 billion in 2010. In 2009, $44.4 billion was spend on direct mail, with the 2010 total expected to reach $45.5 billion.

The DMA has also found that non-catalog direct mail is still delivering a solid ROI. For every dollar spent on non-catalog direct, the DMA found that it returned $15.22 this year. E-mail, on the other hand, isn’t as effective as the marketing community once believed. Commercial e-mail led to $26 billion in sales in 2009 — compared to $445.8 billion for non-catalog direct mail.

[Via deliver magazine]

I hear the following from clients a lot:

• I want leads
• I need appointments
• I have to have an event
• My company has to be on LinkedIn (or Facebook or a blog or anything else)

Unfortunately, these are tactics in search of an objective. When these requests are delivered in full, those who requested it tend not to be happy with the effect it has on there bottom line. Why? They didn’t really want what the asked for. The need they don’t state – but which is most important – is almost universally, “I want sales growth.”

Start the demand generation and cultivation process with sales and marketing planning. First, determine your sales and marketing objectives at as granular a level as possible then, build and execute a plan that maximizes the value of your marketing investment for short-term opportunities and long-term growth. This may include events, social media and other tactics, but these activities aren’t the goals. Rather, success is measured by high-quality opportunities and top-line growth.

Ask for what you want is the first step to getting what you want. Demand “a marketing and business development plan that has immediate and long term sales strategy at its core and that can be 100 percent transparently tracked and managed so we can build our business in the direction we desire” from your marketing partner, department or from yourself. That’s a much better request than “I want a lead.”

Alert: Five reasons to watch Google in 2010 >>

Google is trying to replace — not enter — the market >>

Small and medium-sized businesses, especially, are becoming comfortable with nebulous apps and services >>

 Google needs to grow into new areas >>

IT buyers are looking for more bang for their IT bucks >>

Google doesn’t need to charge >>

Five reasons to watch Google in 2010: Google is to replace — not enter — the market: It’s easy not to see Google as a competitor. First, the company’s major operations – search and ads – don’t really interfere with what VARs are doing, namely selling and implementing IT solutions. Also, Google isn’t entering the VAR space, so again, it doesn’t look like a competitor. The problem is more difficult to detect: Google is slowly trying to replace certain parts of the IT market. Enterprise use of its Gmail service, for example, replaces the opportunity to sell mailserver solutions. The problem isn’t widespread yet, but now is the time to watch Google’s moves and determine the impact to your business.

Read the article >>

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Four reasons to market on LinkedIn: There are plenty of social media tools out there, and each has features that make it unique. The sheer volume of alternatives, though, means you need to cut the field down to the few with the greatest potential. For IT manufacturers and VARs, LinkedIn should be at the top of the social media list. This environment has more than 50 million reasons to use it for marketing your company, but in the interest of time, let’s look at the top five.

Read the article >>

Lead cultivation: Give your prospects what they really want: Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes for a moment. You are an IT decision-maker. Thousands of manufacturers and thousands of resellers want a piece of your time and a chunk of your budget. The noise is deafening, but the pressure to support revenue initiatives and cut costs remains. Tough choices are made tougher by the array of voices around you.

Read the article >>

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Since everything Google does can be used to enhance the delivery of ads against search results (and in other ad venues), it doesn’t need to charge much – or anything, in some cases – for the technology it offers. Unsurprisingly, businesses become pretty interested in low-cost and no-cost solutions. Though the trend is still in its infancy, many IT buyers are opening themselves to the idea of using Google-supplied software-as-a-service solutions in place of their existing systems.

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IT buyers are under pressure to show that their investments are performing. So, if they can keep TCO down and spread their budgets across more projects (with ROI potential), the result is an expanded ROI impact, with low investments yielding substantial returns. This means spending less – and compromising – can pay off in the long term … or at least it would appear that way. Google is making it easier for them to do this — or it’s at least creating the appearance of easier TCO and ROI.

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Search and online advertising offer limited upside for Google at this point. Sure, they can still contribute significantly to Wall Street’s expectations, but they won’t be sufficient to fuel the sort of growth Google needs to maintain the reputation it’s developed over the past decade. The company’s expansion into personal and enterprise applications shows that there’s a need for new revenue streams. This is the impetus for Google products that could wind up replacing some segments of the market where IT VARs operate.

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