Swing for the fences: Define your risk profile
January 20th, 2010 - Posted in Solution Provider Services by Tim Freestone
An aggressive approach to marketing may not be right for your company. After all, some businesses are uncomfortable with risk, while others thrive on it. What’s important, however, is that you know what type of company yours is in regards to marketing risk and return.
Swing for the fences: Which ROI is important?
January 19th, 2010 - Posted in Solution Provider Services by Tim Freestone
The biggest mistake you can make is to evaluate success exclusively on a campaign-by-campaign basis: it costs you a view of the whole (and some ROI). Don’t misunderstand: metrics for every campaign should be scrutinized; you can learn a lot from them. Your principal measure of success, however, should be much broader.
To help clarify this point, take a look at the admittedly oversimplified case studies below. Adjust for the realities of your business, and you’ll still see how you could get more out of your marketing budget.
Swing for the fences: Are you trying hard enough?
January 18th, 2010 - Posted in Solution Provider Services by Tim Freestone
In IT marketing departments and businesses around the world, the fear of failure is endemic. Nobody wants to have to explain why something didn’t work … let alone carry the stigma of an unsuccessful attempt. This phobia, unfortunately, is costing companies ROI. As we mentioned yesterday, if you’re doing everything right, you’re really doing everything wrong. You should be stretching for bigger results. Take the risk, and you may trade a few unsuccessful for campaigns for a much higher overall marketing ROI.
The best parallel out there can be found in the venture capital industry. VCs plan for a certain degree of failure in their portfolios. The goal is for the winners to be so big that hey compensate for the losers and still deliver outsized returns overall. The risks are high – but measured. In fact, steps are taken to balance the risk in a VC portfolio to ensure (to the extent possible) a positive outcome.
The point is that VCs don’t believe that every investment has to be successful: they look at the net outcome. IT marketing departments could benefit from a similar, though less extreme, approach. Plan for a certain number of marketing programs to fall flat, and measure success by the net outcome of all your programs. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Plan thoroughly and execute well, and you’ll be surprised by the impact to your top line.
Previous articles in this series:
Swing for the fences: Introduction >>
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Swing for the fences: Introduction
January 17th, 2010 - Posted in Solution Provider Services by Tim Freestone
If every marketing effort you pursue is successful, then it’s screamingly clear that you need help. A sky-high success rate means you aren’t being aggressive enough – and you’re probably leaving ROI on the table. This week, we’ll dig into the opportunities that come from unsuccessful marketing efforts – and not the “learn from experience” kind. The concept of learning from your mistakes is old and established: we all know the drill. Instead, I’m talking about the salient and immediate efforts of a swing and a miss.
Starting Monday, we’ll look at the benefits of an imperfect success rate from several angles. Everybody wants to deliver an overwhelming success every time, but life rarely works out that way. So, enter:marketing will show you how to extract the most value from your marketing budget, balancing risk and stability to optimize your investment.
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enter:marketing announces new IT social media marketing solution
January 15th, 2010 - Posted in Social Media Marketing, Strategy by Tim Freestone
The buzz around social media marketing is palpable, but many IT resellers are rightfully skeptical. After all, how do you link tweets, fans and other nebulous concepts to sales opportunities? Through our work with you and the top IT manufacturers in the business, enter:marketing has developed a unique, results-focused social media marketing approach that is designed to extend your reach, target your message to a specific market and generate opportunities for client intelligence and new business. Enter the social media space confidently, and reap the rewards of this robust marketing venue.
Top Stories: January 9 – 15, 2009
January 15th, 2010 - Posted in Top Stories by Tim Freestone
Four reasons CIOs don’t switch (but a big reason why they do): You can run down the list of enhancements and show that your solution could beat the competition head-to-head. And, it’s cheaper – a lot cheaper. It goes on and on. You’re talking to a prospective client and keep hitting a roadblock: he doesn’t want to switch from what he has now. In the IT sales and marketing space, this could be the most difficult challenge you’ll face.
Venture capital trends give an inside look at the IT year ahead: To get a sense of what’s happening in the IT market, sometimes you have to look elsewhere. So, when the latest private equity fund-raising results were published (by Dow Jones LP Source, via VentureBeat), I checked on the venture capital data. Why? Venture capital trends hold some clues as to where the IT industry is headed.
Are you tuned in to your clients’ compliance initiatives?: The first decade of the 21st century will be remembered, at least in part, as one of the most complex regulatory periods in U.S. business history. IT departments have had to address the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and many others. As we begin to sort through the implications of the recent financial crisis, expect more to follow. Some changes to financial oversight rules are already in the works.
Why are you thinking about IT social media marketing?
January 14th, 2010 - Posted in Social Media Marketing, Strategy by Tim Freestone
Everything we’re seeing and hearing in the channel partner and IT manufacturer space is that everyone’s going “social.” Computer software and hardware companies, we published last week, are increasingly turning to this form of marketing. Fifty-five percent of them, according to a MarketingSherpa survey, are increasing their social media marketing budgets, with only 5 percent cutting back.
But, what are they hoping to accomplish?
That’s been the unanswered question for IT manufacturers and resellers. Everyone knows that social is the place to be, but few are sure of the reasons why. We’ve always maintained that social media marketing must be integrated into a company’s larger marketing plan and that clear objectives should be defined.
Are you tuned in to your clients’ compliance initiatives?
January 13th, 2010 - Posted in Manufacturer Services, Solution Provider Services, Technology Trends by Tim Freestone
The first decade of the 21st century will be remembered, at least in part, as one of the most complex regulatory periods in U.S. business history. IT departments have had to address the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and many others. As we begin to sort through the implications of the recent financial crisis, expect more to follow. Some changes to financial oversight rules are already in the works.
For your clients, this means IT changes to address new regulations may become an ongoing effort: essentially, there will always be a new reg to consider. This, of course, comes on top of managing existing compliance frameworks. As the complexity of this environment accumulates, your clients will want to know they are partnering with a solution provider that has the technology knowledge to complement their compliance programs.
Does this mean you will need to become a compliance guru: No.
Does this mean you will need to know which solutions are best-suited to your clients’ needs? Absolutely.
If you haven’t reached out to your clients on how they can use technology solutions to increase transparency, security or information and process control, contact enter:marketing. We’re ready to help you develop and implement a strategy for connecting with IT buyers on this crucial issue.
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Venture capital trends give an inside look at the IT year to come
January 12th, 2010 - Posted in Technology Trends by Tim Freestone
To get a sense of what’s happening in the IT market, sometimes you have to look elsewhere. So, when the latest private equity fund-raising results were published (by Dow Jones LP Source, via VentureBeat), I checked on the venture capital data. Why? Venture capital trends hold some clues as to where the IT industry is headed.
Four reasons CIOs don’t switch (but a big reason why they do)
January 11th, 2010 - Posted in Manufacturer Services, Solution Provider Services by Tim Freestone
You can run down the list of enhancements and show that your solution could beat the competition head-to-head. And, it’s cheaper – a lot cheaper. It goes on and on. You’re talking to a prospective client and keep hitting a roadblock: he doesn’t want to switch from what he has now. In the IT sales and marketing space, this could be the most difficult challenge you’ll face.
There are countless reasons why CIOs and IT directors tend to stick with what they know. Below, you’ll find a few, but I’m sure you’ll come up with a few more before you get to the end of this article. What’s important, though, is the one reason that CIOs and IT directors will change from one system to another. Hit this mark, and you’ll find it easier to meet your clients’ needs.
1. Not a matter of cost
It’s tempting to think that everything has a price, especially in a world of constrained IT budgets. But, merely beating the incumbent on cost isn’t enough. Remember that you may be pitching the person who chose the existing solution … which can feel like a judgment. Also, you’re trying to overcome an existing relationship, which may be quite positive. IT decision-makers invest in solutions to their problems; they don’t browse the discount racks.
