› Sales materials
› Shipping
› Sales follow-up
› Set-up
› Measurement
› Exhibit booth design and materials
When executed properly, a great event could produce a large percentage of the leads that a company needs to generate over an entire year. With a halfhearted strategy, companies usually get lackluster results.
Do you see your company in any of these scenarios?
Best Case
Neutral Case
Worst Case
You use trade shows, special
You regularly attend trade shows
You exhibit at trade shows and you’re
events and/or webinars to
and you’ve tried a few webinars
never satisfied with your results. It’s
generate new prospects and reach
with mixed results—there’s a lot
hard to stand around for days and you
out to existing prospects and
of competition for your prospects’
know that leads fall through the cracks
customers.
attention.
in the weeks afterward.
You stand out from your
At shows, your team does a
Your competitors are always doing
competitors, deliver compelling
decent job of qualifying leads and
something big at the shows but you
information and create meaningful
following up; you know that you
haven’t been able to afford anything
dialog with your market.
generate new business but you
but your booth.
don’t know how much.
You set goals and measure
You haven’t tried any other events
them, and you know your ROI
It seems like you could be
because they’re an enormous effort for
validates the investment. You also
generating a lot more business
very little payoff. You’ve never really
implement marketing programs
from these programs, but you’re
been able to measure the results from
and continue dialog after the event
not sure how to do it.
the shows that you attend—you get a
so that leads don’t fall through the
handful of leads and that seems to be it.
cracks.
With a solid strategy, plan, investment and measurement, events can be an exciting marketing medium for B2B or
B2C marketers.
How Trade Shows and Events Align with Strategy
Your events and presence at trade shows should support your positioning and brand strategy. For events, your location,
theme, visuals, host or MC, refreshments, and entertainment or giveaways all work together to create an impression
of your brand. For trade shows, it’s your booth, materials, giveaways, and people that create the impression.
Key Concepts & Steps
Choose an event that matches your need
› Define your marketing objectives: generate leads, nurture existing leads, build relationships, train and educate, or
raise visibility/brand awareness.
› Focus on the types of events that will help you meet your goals: industry events and shows, networking events,
seminars and conferences, sponsored events, charity events, webinars and more.
› Brainstorm to create a list of events and themes that will fit with your goals.
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Outline your event strategy
Understand what your prospects need and how you can deliver it during the event. For example, think about the content
that your prospects want and how you should structure the event.
Create your event plan
› Once you have a strategy, start the planning process: time, date, location, theme, event flow, materials, script, responsibilities and more.
› Plan for sales-related activities: what happens with new leads, how you’ll prioritize leads, follow-up timing, materials
they should receive, etc.
Promote your event
› To drive attendance or participation, develop a thorough promotional campaign with a strong call-to-action.
› Use multiple media to touch your market frequently and consistently.
› If you’re sponsoring another company’s event, be sure to promote your participation—don’t leave it up to someone
else to drive your traffic.
Script your event and execute
A good event script and plan will help you execute without problems. Create a detailed timeline; rehearse appropriate
activities with your team; make sure everyone clearly understands their responsibilities.
Measure your event’s success
› Review your goals-to-actual measurements and share the results with your team.
› Document everything you learned so you can use that information next time.
Next Steps
Trade shows and events typically generate new relationships or foster existing ones. It’s important to set solid follow-up procedures with your team so that valuable leads don’t fall through the cracks.
As you design and manage events and attend trade shows, evaluate the effectiveness of your strategy and focus on
continually improving your tactical execution.
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SEO and SEM
Strategy
ComPetitiVe PoSitioning
BranD Strategy
PriCing
DiStriBution CHannelS
toolS
naming
meSSaging
iDentity
WeBSiteS
literature
DeSign & CoPy
VenDorS
reCruiting
Crm
ClV
roi
CuStomer aCquiSition
Planning
SaleS ProCeSS
CamPaign Planning
marKeting Plan
traditional
Digital
management
traDitional meDia
SEO & SEM
CuStomer retention
DireCt mail
online aDVertiSing
BuSineSS DeVeloPment
PuBliCity
SoCial meDia
SaleS management
telemarKeting
email marKeting
eVentS
Search marketing is about gaining visibility on search engines when users search for terms that relate to your business.
For most companies, ranking high in the search results isn’t luck—it’s a result of solid effort in one or both categories
of search marketing:
Organic search (SEO): When you enter a keyword or phrase into a search engine like Google or Bing, the organic
results are displayed in the main body of the page.
When your market searches for information about your products and services, you want to rank highly in search engine
results. By optimizing your site, you can improve your ranking for important search terms and phrases (keywords).
You can also improve your rank by getting other important sites to link to yours.
Paid search (SEM): Paid search enables you to buy listings in the “sponsored” area of a search engine. There are
a variety of paid search programs, but the most common is called pay-per-click (PPC), meaning you only pay for a
listing when a prospect clicks your ad.
In search marketing, companies focus on driving more traffic to targeted areas of their website. They use search to:
› Generate new leads
› Sell products
› Build their brand
› Divert traffic from their competitors
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Studies show that most people—both business people and consumers considering large purchases—research their
problems, potential purchases and vendors online and use a search engine in the process. And the higher the price of
the product/service, the earlier in the research process they use a search engine.
For many B2B companies, generating only a handful of additional serious prospects can make a substantial difference
in revenue. Using search marketing may efficiently produce these additional prospects.
Best Case
Neutral Case
Worst Case
You’re generating very targeted
You’ve built a new website and
Your website isn’t optimized for
prospects through your search
it’s been optimized for search,
search and you’re nowhere to be
marketing programs. Your site is
but you don’t rank in the top 10
found on search engines, even for
optimized and you’ve built a lot
for any keywords other than your
very targeted terms.
of important incoming links, so
company name.
you rank well in organic results for
In fact, you may not even rank for
targeted keywords.
You’ve tried some paid search with
searches on your company name.
good success; your conversion
Unfortunately, your competitors show
You use paid search to supplement
rates on the traffic are okay but
up on the first and second pages for
that traffic and you create custom
could be better.
the terms your prospects use.
landing pages for your campaigns
to convert visitors into prospects or
You know that search marketing
As a result, your competitors are
sales.
is a solid opportunity—you’re just
winning new business and furthering
figuring out how to improve your
their lead in the market.
results.
How Search Engine Marketing Aligns with Strategy
Campaigns using search engines should support your positioning and brand strategy, contributing to the experience
that you wish to deliver and the mindshare that you wish to own. This includes your ad copy, landing pages, and page
descriptions that appear in organic results.
Key Concepts & Steps
Create your search strategy
Review your short- and long-term goals to help determine whether to focus on organic or paid search (or both). It takes
time to improve your organic search rankings, but you can launch a paid search campaign today. However, there are
other considerations: the amount of traffic that you need, your budget, and your marketing objectives. Once you’ve
reviewed the pros and cons of each, you can select the search strategy that’s right for you.
Generate a list of keywords
Before you can optimize your site or launch a paid campaign, generate a list of keywords—terms your prospects use
when looking for information that you can deliver. You can brainstorm, copy keywords from competitors, or use online
tools (such as Google’s Keyword Tool) to generate a list and estimate traffic.
Optimize your website
› Rewrite your content and code your pages so that they’re optimized for search engines.
› Make sure the content is organized in the best possible manner.
› Eliminate any technologies that prevent search engines from reading your content (for example, search engines
can’t read graphics or Flash content).
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› Register your site in important directories that play a vital role in search engine results.
› If you don’t have anyone on staff that is an SEO expert, hire an outside specialist.
Generate inbound links
Search engines reward you when sites link to yours—they assume that your site must be valuable and you’ll rank higher
in search results. The higher the “page rank” of the sites that link to you, the more they help to raise your own ranking.
You want links from popular industry authorities, recognized directories, and reputable companies and organizations.
Implement additional Internet campaigns
These programs can improve your search results:
› Using social media, online advertising and online PR to generate traffic and links
› Including a blog on your site
› Distributing search-optimized press releases on the web
› Creating RSS feeds to distribute updated content from your site to other websites
Start testing paid search
To begin using paid search, you’ll:
› Develop targeted landing pages for each campaign
› Write your ad(s)
› Create an account with a search network
› Set up your campaign with the network
› Set a daily or monthly budget
› Start tracking your results
Next Steps
As you design and manage campaigns using search engines, evaluate the effectiveness of the tools used in the campaign, and focus on continually improving your tactical execution.
Pay close attention to click-through rates and conversion rates; for most paid search campaigns, the difference between
positive and negative ROI is thorough testing and detailed management.
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Online Advertising
Strategy
ComPetitiVe PoSitioning
BranD Strategy
PriCing
DiStriBution CHannelS
toolS
naming
meSSaging
iDentity
WeBSiteS
literature
DeSign & CoPy
VenDorS
reCruiting
Crm
ClV
roi
CuStomer aCquiSition
Planning
SaleS ProCeSS
CamPaign Planning
marKeting Plan
traditional
Digital
management
traDitional meDia
Seo & Sem
CuStomer retention
DireCt mail
ONLINE ADVERTISING
BuSineSS DeVeloPment
PuBliCity
SoCial meDia
SaleS management
telemarKeting
email marKeting
eVentS
Internet marketing isn’t just for consumer marketers or large B2B firms—it’s a powerful vehicle for companies of all sizes.
Online advertising offers marketers an opportunity to reach very broad or very targeted prospects to generate leads,
communicate a message and raise visibility. The term refers to three general types of campaigns:
› Banner ads placed on other websites
› Ads or sponsored content on targeted email newsletters
› Affiliate programs that enable you to put your ad on another company’s website and in return you pay a commission
on clicks or sales
While a B2B marketer has a smaller universe of prospects than a consumer marketer, the value of each prospect is
typically far greater. With a targeted campaign and a good offer, you may only need to generate a handful of highly
qualified prospects to produce substantial revenue.
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Here are three examples of online ad campaigns:
Generate New Leads
Direct Sales
Increase Your Visibility
Promote a white paper, webinar
Run ads to sell a particular product
Run a campaign to share a message,
or demo that can help prospects
or service. Drive prospects to a
promote an event or offer, or raise
who are in the early phases of their
special landing page that describes
awareness about your products.
research. Drive them to a special
your offer in detail. You create
Your goal is twofold: Drive click-landing page where you provide
supplemental pages to provide
throughs and generate awareness.
details about the offer and capture
additional information if needed.
You use landing pages designed to
key pieces of data so you can follow
You focus on converting those
convert a visitor into a prospect or
up when the prospect is ready.
prospects into sales.
customer.
What are the benefits of online advertising?
› Timing: Reach people when they’re actively looking for information and solutions.
› Immediacy: You can test and launch very quickly and generate response almost immediately.
› Targeting: You can deliver your message to very specific audiences.
› Lead generation and nurturing: You can capture prospects early, provide valuable information, and nurture them
throughout the sales process.
› Cost: You can reach a large audience quickly and at a lower cost than many other types of media.
› Scalability: You can run campaigns of any size, at any budget level.
As with any marketing program, it’s important to develop a good strategy, target your audience, test, measure and
improve—especially because it’s easy and inexpensive to test different aspects of your campaigns in order to generate
the best possible results.
Best Case
Neutral Case
Worst Case
Your online ad campaigns
You run campaigns periodically and
You’ve advertised on a few sites
are a strong element in your
they’re moderately successful. Prices are
and generated some traffic, but
marketing mix.
high, but you reach a targeted audience.
you don’t have data to indicate
whether your campaigns are
You use them to generate
You occasionally test and tweak your
successful beyond initial visits.
prospects and customers,
ads, but it isn’t a priority.
but gaining visibility is also
You don’t create special landing
important. You calculate ROI so
Since you use cost per click to measure
pages—you drive visitors to your
you can compare the return of
success, you can’t accurately calculate
home page, and you rarely test
these investments compared to
ROI, but you’re satisfied with what you’re
your ads.
your other programs.
paying for traffic.
You cringe at the prices for the
You continually test your ads
You think you can generate even more
sites you’d really like to use, and
and landing pages to maximize
traffic, but without better metrics,
you think you’re wasting money
your response rates.
you can’t divert more funds to these
since you’re paying for impressions
campaigns.
not clicks.
How Online Advertising Aligns with Strategy
Campaigns using online media should support your positioning and brand strategy, contributing to the experience that
you wish to deliver and the mindshare that you wish to own.
This includes your ad graphics, copy, as well as your landing pages and conversion process.
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Key Concepts & Steps
Before you launch an online campaign, it’s important to have a good website that can measure your traffic and convert
visitors to prospects or customers. It’s also helpful to address your online campaigns in your annual marketing plan
and budget.
Develop a tangible goal
For example, determine how many click-throughs or leads that you need to generate, and then estimate your response
rates to figure out how many impressions you’ll need. Make sure that you know how you’ll measure your campaign
as well.
Target your audience
Profile and target your audience. You can reach a large audience with your ad, but that doesn’t mean you should—narrow targeting means you can speak more directly to t