Top Stories: February 27 – March 5, 2010
March 5th, 2010 - Posted by Tom Johansmeyer
Five tips for marketing and selling disaster recovery and business continuity solutions: Disaster recovery and business continuity solutions should be easy to sell. Everybody needs them, and some businesses are required by regulatory bodies to meet specific and demanding standards. They also represent a place where IT solution providers and manufacturers can distinguish themselves because DR/BC is not only a cost, but one that will show a benefit only rarely. So, a company that can shorten backup and recovery times, consume less storage space and lessen demand on datacenter staff is likely to find a willing audience.
Social media marketing processes emerging: Social media marketing may have trouble shedding its “Wild West” image – which is a shame, given how it’s being used. Even though it feels unstructured and wide open, the reality for most companies is that the use of social media is carefully managed. According to a new study by MarketingSherpa, 68 percent of the businesses surveyed have either a formal or informal process for monitoring target audience dialogue about brands and the competition. Sixty-six percent have informal processes regarding defining objectives for social media space.
What makes a social media user “friend” a company?: As you begin to enter the social media marketing space, you’ll start to hear about “fans,” “friends” and “followers” – variations on the connections that people make in these environments. These relationships provide a first layer of measurement for social media marketing success, as they define your primary high-value audience.
You need more than IT expertise to help your clients: If all you’re selling and implementing is technology, you’re going to have a tough time in today’s market. Your clients don’t need technology – well, they don’t need technology without an attendant business driver. This means that you need to have more than a passing knowledge of your clients’ business, and any solution you are selling should correspond directly to a business need. Of course, the more you know about your clients’ business, the better you’ll be able to make the connection between problem and solution.
Corporate blogging insight: The content funnel: One of the biggest social media marketing mistakes I’ve seen companies make is to emulate the wrong blogs. Whether it’s The VAR Guy or Engadget, corporate bloggers look to popular independent blogs for ideas. To a certain extent, this is smart: the top blogs can have some great features and styles that are worth adopting. But, much of what they do can be unwise (or simply impossible) for you to implement. The reason for this is that different blog types carry their own objectives and constraints.
Most Popular Keyword: Technology Trends
And, you may have missed …
The difference between leads and demand: The terms “leads” and “demand” are often used interchangeably – but they are two very different concepts. Most IT solution providers say they’re looking for leads. What they really want, though, is demand.
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