Debbie Qaqish on Blog Talk Radio
Listen to the interview with Mary Gary of Fluke Networks as she talks about Sourcing and Selecting Marketing Automation - a fabulous interview filled with details you will want to hear. Once you get to the site, it is the Featured Episode. Also be sure to join us next week when we talk to Edwin Thompson from Brainshark.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Reminder - 1st DG Essentials Series Interview Today!
Don't forget – We're holding our first interview today to kick off the Demand Generation Essentials Educational Series! If you haven't registered yet, sign up now: The DG Essentials Series - Real Live Stories. Real Life Results.
Join us today at 1:00 EDT when we talk to Mary Gary of Fluke Networks about how to Source and Select a Marketing Automation System.
Instructions: Once you click on BlogTalk Radio, click Play/Chat (this option will appear immediately before the show begins) and have your computer speakers turned on. You'll hear the live interview streaming over the internet. You can ask questions at the end of the interview.
Over the next 12 weeks, we'll interview top DG marketing practitioners and hear their real world accounts about what worked – and what didn't work – on their journey to achieving measurable demand generation success. Topics include:
* Using social media for demand generation
* Improving lead quantity and quality
* Aligning sales and marketing
It's educational, it's live, it's fun and it's fast paced. Go to our DG Essentials Series Landing Page to find out more, to register and to see what will be covered each week.
Debbie Qaqish
CRO
The Pedowitz Group, The Demand Generation Agency
Follow me on Twitter: DebbieQaqish
Today's Blog: DG RFP's don't work!
Join us today at 1:00 EDT when we talk to Mary Gary of Fluke Networks about how to Source and Select a Marketing Automation System.
Instructions: Once you click on BlogTalk Radio, click Play/Chat (this option will appear immediately before the show begins) and have your computer speakers turned on. You'll hear the live interview streaming over the internet. You can ask questions at the end of the interview.
Over the next 12 weeks, we'll interview top DG marketing practitioners and hear their real world accounts about what worked – and what didn't work – on their journey to achieving measurable demand generation success. Topics include:
* Using social media for demand generation
* Improving lead quantity and quality
* Aligning sales and marketing
It's educational, it's live, it's fun and it's fast paced. Go to our DG Essentials Series Landing Page to find out more, to register and to see what will be covered each week.
Debbie Qaqish
CRO
The Pedowitz Group, The Demand Generation Agency
Follow me on Twitter: DebbieQaqish
Today's Blog: DG RFP's don't work!
Monday, July 27, 2009
DG RFP's Don't Work
I was recently working with a client who had put out an RFP for a marketing automation solution and they were a little confused about the responses. All vendors indicated they had all the features and functions they were looking for! How were they to make a decision?
For more complex marketing and sales organizations, I don't believe that using the old tried and true software RFP approach for sourcing and selecting Marketing Automation is the key to choosing the right system for your company. Rather, it is a basic, standard part of the process and building Use Cases is what really helps a company determine what system will work best them.
Twelve months ago, we weren't seeing any RFPs in the Demand Generation space. But finally, our market is growing more sophisticated and I am seeing all kinds of RFP templates and processes. Don't get me wrong. RFPs provide a foundation for doing low level comparisons. But anyone can check off that they have a feature or function. It really comes down to how all this gets knit together to create an effective Demand Generation program. That's where building your own Custom Use Cases come into play. Areas to consider:
1. Describe your power user - If this is a part of their job, they are not too technically inclined and you need to get things done quickly and with a slim staff, you might want to look at systems that are easy to learn and use. What if that power uses leaves and no one else is trained?
2. Map out The Life of a Lead(s) in your company - This will give you a good idea of what your marketing automation system will need to do and what it will need to integrate with. This process will give you important details on your CRM integration requirements
3. Define your Lead Management System - how will leads be passed and what kind of SLA's will be put into place for sales and marketing.
4. Define the kinds of campaigns will you need to execute - Global or only US? Use of templates, dynamic content, triggers, lead nurturing etc.
5. Define the key metrics you will need to track
6. Based on the above activities, fully vet 3 - 5 Use Cases with envelope ROIs.
Feature comparisons will only get you so far in your decision cycle. To truely understand what you need in marketing automation, take the time to build and vet Use Cases. This also serves as your ROI justification to your executive committee and if you involve sales in this process (which you should), you will have early and active buy-in from your major consituent.
What have you seen?
For more complex marketing and sales organizations, I don't believe that using the old tried and true software RFP approach for sourcing and selecting Marketing Automation is the key to choosing the right system for your company. Rather, it is a basic, standard part of the process and building Use Cases is what really helps a company determine what system will work best them.
Twelve months ago, we weren't seeing any RFPs in the Demand Generation space. But finally, our market is growing more sophisticated and I am seeing all kinds of RFP templates and processes. Don't get me wrong. RFPs provide a foundation for doing low level comparisons. But anyone can check off that they have a feature or function. It really comes down to how all this gets knit together to create an effective Demand Generation program. That's where building your own Custom Use Cases come into play. Areas to consider:
1. Describe your power user - If this is a part of their job, they are not too technically inclined and you need to get things done quickly and with a slim staff, you might want to look at systems that are easy to learn and use. What if that power uses leaves and no one else is trained?
2. Map out The Life of a Lead(s) in your company - This will give you a good idea of what your marketing automation system will need to do and what it will need to integrate with. This process will give you important details on your CRM integration requirements
3. Define your Lead Management System - how will leads be passed and what kind of SLA's will be put into place for sales and marketing.
4. Define the kinds of campaigns will you need to execute - Global or only US? Use of templates, dynamic content, triggers, lead nurturing etc.
5. Define the key metrics you will need to track
6. Based on the above activities, fully vet 3 - 5 Use Cases with envelope ROIs.
Feature comparisons will only get you so far in your decision cycle. To truely understand what you need in marketing automation, take the time to build and vet Use Cases. This also serves as your ROI justification to your executive committee and if you involve sales in this process (which you should), you will have early and active buy-in from your major consituent.
What have you seen?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
But I Don't Have Enough Content to Start a DG Program!
When talking to marketers about beginning a Demand Generation initiative, "But, I don't have enough content to feed that engine!" is a common concern. My answer - maybe you do and maybe you don't. What I do know is that a new way of looking at content is required when beginning a DG program. Here are Five Best Practices:
1. Chunk, chunk, chunk your content
In an email, you are making one touch, with one idea. You don't need to throw the encyclopedia at them. Take one element from a current content piece that will provide one point of value for your subscribers.
2. Third party content
Who says you have to write it all? As long as the piece is relevant, provides a point of value for your subscribers and elicits behavior you can score and respond to, it works!
3. Micro-papers from your blogs
I often find that what I blog about can make a great mini-paper. If you add to that any comments your blog created, you have a piece of content worth using.
4. Interviews
You can interview anyone - a client, an analyst, etc. Create and send it out as a podcast. I use BlogTalk Radio - free and easy. This also helps you mix up your content types
5. Content is king
In this internet world we live in, content is king. If you don't have it, you will need to get it! Look at what your competitors are doing...
1. Chunk, chunk, chunk your content
In an email, you are making one touch, with one idea. You don't need to throw the encyclopedia at them. Take one element from a current content piece that will provide one point of value for your subscribers.
2. Third party content
Who says you have to write it all? As long as the piece is relevant, provides a point of value for your subscribers and elicits behavior you can score and respond to, it works!
3. Micro-papers from your blogs
I often find that what I blog about can make a great mini-paper. If you add to that any comments your blog created, you have a piece of content worth using.
4. Interviews
You can interview anyone - a client, an analyst, etc. Create and send it out as a podcast. I use BlogTalk Radio - free and easy. This also helps you mix up your content types
5. Content is king
In this internet world we live in, content is king. If you don't have it, you will need to get it! Look at what your competitors are doing...
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The One-Armed Basketball Player
When I was a kid, we used to play basketball all the time. Every day, after school we would be out there, playing until well after sun-down. There was a kid named Robert who was a few years younger than us. He was pretty fast and you could tell he was going to be a great athlete when he got older. Of course, us older kids beat him up pretty good under the hoop. Robert was fast, but he could only go to his right. After a while, we figured out that if we pressed him left, he couldn't do anything, thereby neutralizing his speed. One day, Robert was out goofing around with some of his friends and broke his right arm. For two weeks, we didn't see Robert at all. Then one day, his Mom dragged him down to the court and told him she was tired of him hanging around the house. "Please get out here and play with your friends." Robert was tenuous for the next week, just sitting on the sideline and moping. Finally, he couldn't resist getting in the game. Now, he only had a left hand. At first, we took it easy on him, because we knew he was right-handed. We would usually wrap up around 8:30-9, but Robert was still there, shooting. The next day we came back and he was always there first. Robert was determined to strengthen his left hand, something he never used. After about a month, Robert could move left pretty well. After another 2 weeks, he was shooting better with his left hand then he ever did with his right. Then the cast came off. Now, Robert was dangerous. He could move left or right with equal speed and power. He developed a sweet cross-over dribble that left you hanging onto your shorts. In time, Robert was starting for the school basketball team and ended up being one of the best athletes the school had ever seen.
What does this have to do with marketing? EVERYTHING. We use one channel too much. We rely too heavily on email at the expense of social media, text, RSS, direct mail, offline. As marketers, if we can develop left and right channels, we can be more effective. One channel is too predictable and ineffective. Multiple channels will help you win many times over.
Creating an Unfair Advantage
Don’t you just love that phrase? I do. For me, it represents the real opportunity before all demand generation marketers today.
As I reflect on that phrase, it is clear that we now have a whole new genre of tools at our disposal that cross both marketing and sales and that use the power of the web to help us make better pursuit decisions – from the very top of the lead funnel all the way deep into the sales funnel. For example, if I’m a demand generation marketer or a sales person, I want to know the minute my top prospects are responding to my emails, visiting key pages on my website or tweeting about my offerings. Insight to this kind of on-line behavior helps me make better decisions that result in more business for my company. AND, I can respond manually or automatically to this behavior.
I bought my first marketing automation system 5 years ago when I was looking for a way to produce high quality leads for our sales team that would have a measurable impact on revenue. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a marketing automation demo. I sat in my chair amazed at how it worked and thinking furiously how this was going to dramatically change not only how we created leads but also how we sold. This was beyond gaining a competitive advantage, this was going to give us an unfair advantage – and it did.
Yet, the market has been slow in the uptake with only about 2,000 companies currently using the more sophisticated marketing automation systems with sales extensions. But we are seeing phenomenal growth in this category in 2009.
Fast forward to 2009. “Gaining an unfair advantage” is a phrase that popped up last week while interviewing Jon Miller of Marketo for our iGNITE Demand Generation Series. We were discussing Marketo’s new Sales Insight solution and I had asked Jon how their customers were responding to it. He said one of his customers said that Sales Insight gave his team an “unfair advantage.” I got goose bumps! Who doesn’t want an unfair advantage in this challenging and hyper-competitive market?
My contention is that the current genre of marketing automation tools and sales extensions can provide a company with an unfair advantage. “Gaining an unfair advantage” needs to be the rallying cry for all demand generation marketers in 2009 and beyond. You have access to tools, processes and best practices that can create this “unfair advantage” for your company. Use them!
What have you seen?
As I reflect on that phrase, it is clear that we now have a whole new genre of tools at our disposal that cross both marketing and sales and that use the power of the web to help us make better pursuit decisions – from the very top of the lead funnel all the way deep into the sales funnel. For example, if I’m a demand generation marketer or a sales person, I want to know the minute my top prospects are responding to my emails, visiting key pages on my website or tweeting about my offerings. Insight to this kind of on-line behavior helps me make better decisions that result in more business for my company. AND, I can respond manually or automatically to this behavior.
I bought my first marketing automation system 5 years ago when I was looking for a way to produce high quality leads for our sales team that would have a measurable impact on revenue. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a marketing automation demo. I sat in my chair amazed at how it worked and thinking furiously how this was going to dramatically change not only how we created leads but also how we sold. This was beyond gaining a competitive advantage, this was going to give us an unfair advantage – and it did.
Yet, the market has been slow in the uptake with only about 2,000 companies currently using the more sophisticated marketing automation systems with sales extensions. But we are seeing phenomenal growth in this category in 2009.
Fast forward to 2009. “Gaining an unfair advantage” is a phrase that popped up last week while interviewing Jon Miller of Marketo for our iGNITE Demand Generation Series. We were discussing Marketo’s new Sales Insight solution and I had asked Jon how their customers were responding to it. He said one of his customers said that Sales Insight gave his team an “unfair advantage.” I got goose bumps! Who doesn’t want an unfair advantage in this challenging and hyper-competitive market?
My contention is that the current genre of marketing automation tools and sales extensions can provide a company with an unfair advantage. “Gaining an unfair advantage” needs to be the rallying cry for all demand generation marketers in 2009 and beyond. You have access to tools, processes and best practices that can create this “unfair advantage” for your company. Use them!
What have you seen?
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