Many small and Mid market technology companies are in need of an integrated marketing effort.
If your business started like many other small to mid sized technology companies, most likely the head of your business came from the technology side. It is very common that this person may not understand or even distrust the full value of an integrated marketing effort. Spending against a fully integrated marketing effort can accomplish a variety of business goals. Brand awareness, credibility of your technology solution and company, leadership positions, channel partner support and even ROI can all be baked into a smart integrated marketing plan.
Here are five tips to help you develop your company’s integrated marketing effort:
1. Assess Your Audience
Take a moment and evaluate your current client base. Do you see a pattern of industry verticals or particular applications that drive the purchase of your technology solution? Some simple data analytics may uncover one or two industry verticals that dominate your sales volume.
Profile he target at these industry verticals. Who is buying the technical person, the line of business influencer or both? By focusing on one or two verticals you can become an expert in these industries and begin to build a reputation. Down the road you can continue to add verticals for growth, but to prove marketing‘s effectiveness start with focused effort.
2. Develop The Message
Once you have the identified your chosen vertical you should align your message towards their industry jargon and their industry business issues. The more relevant your message to the industry the more likely your technology solution will be considered. In every marketing communications tactic you should focus your message against how your technology solutions solves their industry issue. You need to know these industries very well and ensure you’re speaking to the targets business concerns.
Make sure you can deliver. Proving you know their industry and understanding their pain points will get you noticed, but if your technology cannot deliver you can seriously damage your reputation.
3. Communicate The Message
There are many forms of communicating your message like direct mail, social media, internet activities, trade shows and many others. Technology is purchased on a longer term cycle and requires an integrated approach using a variety of communication devices to reach and educate your audience.
Create a flight plan that details which marketing communication vehicles you plan to use and are most appropriate for your chosen industry vertical. Time them out on a calendar to ensure you are communicating to the target audience on a consistent basis. You will also use your marketing spend much more efficiently by planning these activities out in advance.
4. Encourage and Prepare The Sales Team
Encourage the sales team to participate by following up all of the outbound marketing activities with well timed phone calls. Script the phone calls to ensure they are focused on the industry vertical business issues and how your technology can solve specific issues.
Arm the sales team with talking points and perhaps white papers that demonstrate you industry knowledge and company expertise. This will build further credibility for the sales person as well as the technology solution.
5. Follow The Plan
My last tip would be, if you have put in the effort to establish the plan then you should put the same effort towards following it. It is very easy to get distracted by other daily business activities, but stay focused.
