SlideShare uma empresa Scribd logo
1 de 17
Baixar para ler offline
2014 Marketing Planning Guide
It’s that time of year again!
No, we’re not talking about presents under the tree
or hot apple cider or snowball fights.
We’re talking marketing budget, new resource
planning, strategic marketing plans and more!
We realize both end-of-year business planning as
well as holiday preparations can both be stressful.
We can’t really help you with your shopping, but we
can offer a series of best practice guides and advice
on how to plan for and hit the ground running
on some focused, strategic sales and marketing
initiatives to start the New Year right.
Enjoy!

First Things First: How To Get
Organized And Strategically
Plan For The Year Ahead	
2
Six Critical Marketing
Focus Areas To Ensure
2014 Success	
2
Five Ways To Stay Focused,
Get More Done And Be More
Successful	2
Four “New Marketing” Skills
You’d Better Learn Quick	
3
Five Stages Of Effective
Content Strategy
Implementation	4
Productivity Tips For
The End Of The Year	
5
Ten Productive Ways To Work
In The Last Days Of The Year	 5
Forecasting Your Pipeline
And Lead Management	
Building And Managing
A Bigger Sales Pipeline	
How To Organize And
Communicate With
Channel Partners	
Lead Generation Modeling
Made Simple	
Improve Sales Forecast
Accuracy With These
Seven Steps	

7
7

8
9

9

Budgeting For Success	
10
Six Marketing Focus Areas
You’ll Want To Budget
For In 2014	
10
How To Write A Marketing
Budget Your CFO Will
Enthusiastically Support	 11
Plan And Budget For
Data Hygiene In 2014	
12
Six Places To Cut Budget
(Without Impacting Results)	14
Marketing Automation	15
Get Your Marketing
Automation Initiative
Back On Track For 2014	
15
F I RST T H ING S F IRST: H OW TO G E T O R GANIZ ED
A N D S T R AT E GIC AL LY PL AN FOR TH E YEAR AHEAD

Six Critical Marketing Focus Areas To Ensure 2014 Success
Success in 2014—which includes developing the plans
and resources required to execute—means simultaneously
assessing the impact of current-year efforts while precisely
projecting what you’ll need across the organization to
accelerate success in the New Year.

What skill sets do existing staff need to increase success in
the coming year?

We highly recommend that marketing organizations take
advantage of time in late Q3 and early Q4 to get ahead
of the 2014 budgeting and planning cycles—by both
reviewing and improving the efficacy of current efforts, plus
successfully planning, budgeting for and hitting the ground
running on greater objectives next year.

Where can it be improved—depth and breadth—and how
can that be most efficiently accomplished?

Think of it as a 2014 Readiness Review: part real-time
postmortem on the year to-date, plus a functional review of
what’s needed to hit 2014’s objectives.

Which specific tools, applications and integrations are
required both now and over the next several quarters?

To do this, dedicate time with your managers and key
marketing contributors and dig into the following:

Process
What systems are in place to support and automate
execution?
Which new processes can be introduced to improve
efficiency, consistency and results with minimal cost?

People

Database Health
How efficient is the current prospect database?

Technology
What is the optimal software stack for your marketing
organization?

Sales And Marketing Collaboration
What processes, rhythms and other collaborations need to
be in place to improve lead conversion and sales success?
What specific strategies and tactics can be adopted to
improve real-time results?

Content, Social And Search Strategy
What is the optimal mix and collaboration between content,
social and search specific to your customer and market
opportunity?

Which roles are required to execute on the strategy and
objectives moving forward?

Five Ways To Stay Focused, Get More Done And Be More Successful
I recently asked several business and executive coaches what
they do for their clients. I wanted to know more about their
process, their approach, and generally how they create value
for the people and organizations they engage.
Although each had a slightly different take, it all boiled
down to one thing—focus. Each successful coach produced
results for their clients by helping them get the most out of
themselves and their teams, in every case by focusing time,
talents, resources and values. What I heard generally fell into
five distinct areas of focus:

1. Focus On What’s Important
It’s easy to feel successful in a day that’s busy. Filled with
putting out fires. Getting things done. But often, we don’t
get the right things done. By stepping back and focusing on
what’s most important (not necessarily what’s in front of us,
or what’s easiest, or what’s screaming the loudest), we make
far better forward progress (and often in less time).

2. Focus On What You’re Good At
Know your strengths, and lean into them. Compare that
to what your organization needs, and ensure that others
are doing everything else for you. Yes, there’s a cost to
2
delegating, but the results will far outweigh the investment
when you have more time for your strengths, and others are
accelerating your cause by leveraging theirs.

your values? Getting back to the basics of your business
can oftentimes be the simplest and most effective way to
accelerate growth and productivity again.

3. Focus On Fewer Things

5. Focus On What You Want

Most of us take on far too much. Even if those are all things
that are both important and speak to our strengths, there’s
not enough time in the day to get it all done. Make the
hard trade-offs for what’s going to drive the most value, and
make the hard decisions to put other projects on the back
burner.

It’s amazing to me how many people let the day and its
myriad influences direct not just day-to-day, but larger
directional decisions that affect personal and professional
success. When’s the last time you took 30 minutes to reflect
on what’s most important to you? What will make you
happiest and fulfilled? How do you map those priorities
back to your life and your business?

4. Focus On The Basics
What’s most important to your business? What’s
fundamental? What got you where you are now? What are

Four “New Marketing” Skills You’d Better Learn Quick
Of course, achieving one or many of these areas of focus
is far easier said than done. If you have the discipline to
address and stick to these on your own, you’re in the
minority. For the rest of us, finding a coach (or even just
a mentor) to keep us accountable and help unlock the
full potential of our focus can reap significant dividends
personally and professionally.
Marketing today, especially for B2B, has changed
significantly. And whether you’ve been out of it for awhile,
or want to make sure your skill set keeps up with what’s
required for success now and moving forward, here are four
skills I recommend you learn quickly.

1. Funnel Math And Revenue Perfromance
Management
The mindset you want, even as a marketer, is that your job
depends on finding and closing business. It’s not enough to
manage the trade show, send the direct mail, or even flood
more leads to the sales team. You need to understand the
economics of the full sales funnel—how many opportunities
are required to generate a closed sale, and how many leads
are required to find a qualified, short-term opportunity (for
starters).
Next, knowing that today’s sales process is completely nonlinear, you need to understand the fundamentals of lead
nurturing and two-way lead and opportunity movement,
including the metrics behind these dynamics for your
unique market and industry.
Here’s a relatively simple mathematical model for
understanding the lead-opportunity-sale math for your
company. And for revenue performance management, I

recommend reading up on best practices from Marketo,
Eloqua, Hubspot and others whose business focuses on
revenue-centric marketing.

2. Social Lead Generation And
Buying Signal Mining
If you’re worried about followers and likes, you’re doing it
wrong. Focus instead on engagement, conversations, and
driving an active, two-way discussion about the issues, needs
and pain points your target customers care about most. But
that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Your prospects are sharing their needs and buying signals
on the social web every day. Your responsibility is to listen,
look proactively for mentions of those keywords and buying
signals, and become an information concierge to drive topof-pipeline lead generation for your organization.
Technology and process drives value here, not media
buying and budget. The social web is the greatest source of
ongoing free leads ever seen. Are you taking advantage?
Here’s a best practice guide on social sales best practices, as
well as a full (and free) resource on successful social selling.

3. SEO And Inbound Marketing Fundamentals
The rules change (literally) daily, but it’s important to
understand the fundamentals of what drives natural traffic,
and how to create content that drives perpetual inbound
interest for your products and services. If you understand
(and read) nothing else, understand that the most important
drivers of successful SEO and inbound marketing are 1)
great content, and 2) inbound links that demonstrate others
are validating your great content.
3
It’s worth reading content from Hubspot, SEOMoz,
Content Marketing Institute and others who keep up on the
daily changes of the technical aspects of SEO, but educate
and enable “the rest of us” on how to cut through the
clutter and drive value, traffic and conversions.

This isn’t about buying a marketing automation system. It’s
about having a strategy that addresses how your customers
buy, and enabling processes and tactics throughout your
organization that address and empower your prospects
where they are.

4. Lead Management/Nurture
Workflow Development

No matter how tightly you manage your sales process,
your prospects will decide (independent of you) when
they’re ready to buy. So your lead management and nurture
strategy had better reflect that.

Even if you aren’t using a marketing automation solution,
your marketing strategy should reflect the reality that the
majority of your prospects don’t convert (or move forward)
right away, and that most of them need “nurturing” in
advance of being ready to buy.

This isn’t to say that the “old” marketing focus areas and
strategies aren’t relevant or don’t work. Because many are
and do. But if you don’t have a working knowledge of
the above four disciplines, it’ll be difficult to be a working
marketer moving forward.

Five Stages Of Effective Content Strategy Implementations
This installment outlines five key structural stages of
effective content marketing implementation. Like most
marketing programs, the vast majority of your time will be
spent in execution mode. But without proper planning,
your execution has far less of a chance of having the effect
you desire. What’s more, ensuring that your plan covers
each of the key elements or stages of the program is essential
to maximizing success.

and conversion? Think through these and other structural
questions before beginning to execute or even outline the
key points to be made. Different formats and structures lend
themselves to different angles and approaches to content.
The better you’re able to match your objective and audience
to the right format, the more productive the final product
will be in delivering your desired outcome.

1. Objective

With the first two steps above in place, you’re ready
to execute. Set a clear production schedule with stages
of review for key parties. Depending on the nature of
the content program and product, consider including
a customer review of the content before it’s finished as
well, to make sure it resonates and “works” not just with
internal reviewers but a potential peer of your intended end
audience. Just as in product development, it’s easy to make
adjustments, cut corners or otherwise change the original
plan to get a final product out the door. But as you execute,
ensure that you aren’t compromising the objectives and
original needs of the content and program overall.

Seems basic and obvious, but the nuances of your specific
objective or need for a particular piece of content (or
content program) may change how you execute. For
example, is your content intended to drive awareness and
discovery, or something more specific and deeper within the
sales process? Knowing what you need the content to do
(i.e. what you want the audience to think and act on after
consuming your content) will drive clarity and precision
through the rest of your program execution. Defining your
objective up front will also ensure all internal constituents
(especially between sales and marketing) are on the same
page and agree on what you’re trying to accomplish.

2. Asset Architecture
Once you have the objective established (which also
inherently directs who you are targeting and with what
purpose), you can effectively choose the format and
structure of the content itself. For example, what media
should you use? If written, is it a blog post, a white paper,
a transcript of a previous event, or something else? How
and where should it be published and accessible? Will you
require registration? How long will it be, and what will
you request of (or offer) the recipient after consuming
the content? How will you measure consumption, impact

3. Execution

4. Measurement
Because you included measurement in your inventory of
asset architecture requirements, you won’t be scrambling
during or after execution to figure out if your plan worked.
With measurement structures in place, start reviewing the
immediate and long-term impact of the content program.
Does the output or result match your expectations and
objectives? If you started with a limited test, have you seen
enough to expand deeper into the market, to more of your
opt-in list, or across the rest of your customer base?
4
5. Continuous Improvement
As you measure consumption and impact trends, look for
ways to make your results even better. What are consumers
of your content telling you explicitly and implicitly about its
value? What feedback are you getting about how to make it
more impactful? What have you learned from this particular
content program that can impact previously-launched

programs, but also make future programs more successful
right out of the gate? Plenty of content programs get
launched and quickly forgotten about. And if they continue
to drive inbound traffic and/or leads, that may be OK. But
there are often best practices discovered in later programs
that could be applied to previous, now-passive programs to
make them perform even better for you in the background.

Productivity Tips For The End Of The Year
Planning Your Holiday Vacation

4. Have An Escalation Path (Just In Case)

With the holiday season, you may be wanting to take time
off. You may want to truly go dark, no email, phone calls,
or meetings. To do that successfully takes planning, as does
doing the same for a great vacation or even a long weekend.

If something truly does catch on fire (which can happen),
make sure your staff (or at least an assistant or trusted
number two) can still get ahold of you if necessary. Again,
last resort, but important.

If you want to truly disappear, here are a few steps I recommend.

5. Keep Capturing Notes And Ideas

1. Clear Your Schedule

Even though you’re intentionally adding distance between
yourself and active work, you’ll still have ideas. Better to
capture those on paper, in Evernote or somewhere else you
can save them for processing and/or execution later.

Cancel as much as you can, and move the rest. Don’t leave
yourself with any scheduled reasons to re-engage. It’s a
slippery slope.
2. Make It Clear To Colleagues And Clients
Don’t tell people you’ll check in every once in awhile. Let
people know you’ll really be gone. Make it clear who they
can contact while you’re gone.
3. Create A Really Good And Clear Out-Of-Office
Auto-Reply For Your Email
Again, be clear that you’re not going to respond anytime
soon, and give contact information for others that can
take care of them in the meantime. If you must, leave a
cell phone number for emergencies but make it clear that
something had better be on fire.

6. Have A Re-Entry Plan
(And Give Yourself Time And Patience To Adjust Back)
Before you leave, set up your first day back. Leave plenty
of time open to catch up on email, re-orient yourself to
active work, and re-connect with your closest colleagues
to get caught up on what’s most important. I recommend
blocking an entire day to do this.
Relatively simple list, but rarely executed well. You may
not need every step for a three-day weekend, but a couple
can still give you the time away you need to come back
refreshed and productive.

Ten Ways To Be Productive In The Last Days Of The Year
It only happens once a year, that magical week between
Christmas and New Year. And for those who continue
working in between holidays, it’s definitely slower. More
colleagues, customers and partners are out of the office,
more recurring meetings are cancelled, and we consequently
have more lightly-scheduled days than normal.
How you use that time is completely up to you. It would be
easy to reactively handle email, take a long lunch, and linger

too long in your RSS reader. But we both know, if you’ve
chosen to stay in the office this week, there are better things
to do.
Here are at least ten things you can do in the quieter
days leading up to New Year’s Day to help you accelerate
through the curve and come back January 2nd ready to take
on the world.

5
1. Finish A Big Project

6. Networking

Something (or several things) on your plate have been
sitting there for longer than expected. You haven’t had time
to get them done, or haven’t taken the time to break that
project down to the individual steps it will take to get it off
your desk. Now’s the time to do just that. Pick a project (or
two, no more than that), and set an aggressive goal to get it
done in the next couple days. Shut your door, turn off email,
and focus. If you pick the right project, you’ll be far better off
with this done and producing results for you next week.

Who are the people and organizations you’ve lost touch
with over the past year? Make a list, and focus time this
week to get back in touch. You don’t need a reason—just a
quick “reflecting on the past year and thought of you” kind
of message will work great. If your contact is out this week,
they’ll still appreciate seeing your email or voicemail when
they return. And if they are in this week, you might just get
a faster response and reconnection.

2. Plan A Big Project
Every one of us has a list of projects that sound great, but
have no next steps attached to them. They’re typically
complex projects that just need a little planning, need
some immediate next steps and deadlines. Even the most
complex projects have a very simple next step to get them
rolling. Figure out what those next steps are for you—today,
tomorrow and next week even. Get the ball rolling this week
and you’re far more likely to get the whole project done
faster.

3. Get Organized
This is a great time to finally implement a more successful
organizational or productivity system for yourself. Especially
if you’re decided you like the approach of Getting Things
Done, for example, but haven’t yet had time to implement
it, block the next couple days and make it happen. This may
feel like “preparing to work” vs. getting actual work done,
but I guarantee the rest of your week (and your New Year)
will be far more productive if you invest the time to do this
now.

4. Clean
Stacks on your desk, random magazines on your bookshelves,
clutter that distracts you from what needs to get done. You
just hope there’s nothing in the middle of that stack that
needed to be completed last week. Take the time this week to
clean it all up, get it organized, and extra credit for creating
and/or implementing an organizational system or strategy
that keeps this clutter from happening again.

5. Improve Your Work Environment
Is your workspace set up in the most effective way?
Should your desk face a different direction, do you need
a whiteboard on the wall, a printer within arm’s reach, a
headset for your phone? This is a great time to consider how
you might more effectively work, and ensure you have the
set-up and tools to do it. This includes software, Web tools,
subscriptions, whatever you need.

7. Inbox Zero
Even if you don’t implement a proactive email inbox
management strategy right away, work this week to
declutter the one informational interface you likely use
more often than others throughout the day and workweek.
Take the time to sort, file or respond to as many relevant
emails as possible. Delete the rest. Don’t be afraid to declare
“email bankruptcy” and start from scratch, especially for
that backlog of email newsletters you’ve been meaning to
get to (but, let’s face it, you just won’t as they keep piling
up).

8. Spend An Afternoon (Or Day)
Alone With your Thoughts
Give yourself the gift of your own mini-retreat. Take with
you a handful of things you’ve been meaning to brainstorm
or think about. It could be your professional goals for the
new year, it could be a new project or opportunity that
simply needs your creative thinking to get started. Find a
quiet coffee shop (without wifi) where you can ensconce
yourself and just think for awhile.

9. Dream
Where do you really want to go? What would you really
rather be doing not just this time next year, but in 3–5
years? If you never have time to think that far ahead, this is
your time. This could be related to a product or brand you
help manage, it could be related to the business you own or
run, or it could be related to your career or personal life.
Think big, think beyond what you can comprehend or plan
for immediately. Worry about implementation and next
steps later, but document your ideas and thought process so
you can sort, prioritize and consider what happens next.

10. Recharge
Focus too much of the next few days on the list above
and you’ll likely get back to the office on January 2nd
without the energy you’ll need to face the onrush of
work, opportunities, fire drills and other distractions that
will inevitably come. Take an afternoon and take in two
matinee movies. Stay home and catch up on whatever’s
on your DVR. Take that long lunch. Just do these things
intentionally, and be ready for the big year ahead.
6
F O RE C AS T IN G YOU R PIPEL IN E AN D LEAD MANAGEM ENT

Building And Managing A Bigger Sales Pipeline
Why Do You Need A Pipeline In The First Place?
Most leads aren’t sales-ready: Whether you’re sending out
campaigns or fielding inbound calls, as little as 15 percent
of your leads are going to be both qualified and sales-ready.
The majority of your leads may be qualified, but they’re
not ready to be worked into an active buying cycle. You
need a pipeline that can triage and communicate with these
prospects accordingly.
You Can’t Focus On Everything
You simply cannot keep everything in your head.
Notebooks and post-its on your computer monitor aren’t
going to help either. You need a system to manage lead
volume, status, next steps, reminders, etc. for you. Your
time, right now, is best spent on the best prospects, ready to
take the next step. Let your pipeline manage the rest of the
work for you.
The Right Message At The Right Time
With every stage of the buying process, your prospects will
want (and accept) different things from you. This includes
type of information, frequency of contact, and channel(s)
used to communicate. By using a pipeline with defined
stages, most of this thinking is already done for you. You
simply execute.
Maximum Sales, Minimum Work
An effective sales pipeline strategy will help you get the
maximum sales and conversion from your prospects, while
doing as little work as possible. It’s not about being lazy or
taking shortcuts, it’s about working smarter and respecting
your buyers. And it works.
It’s A Pipeline, But Your Prospects
Shouldn’t Know That
The last thing you want to do is make your prospects feel
like they’re in some kind of sales funnel. Don’t treat them
like a number, and don’t force them to go faster than
they’re willing or ready to go. An effective sales pipeline will
nurture prospects on their time with occasional offers to
let them self-select into a more active communication and
buying cycle
DO NOT SELL
Seriously, especially in the early stages when prospects
aren’t ready to buy. Instead—add value, educate, connect
and empower. Become a trusted adviser for your prospects,
someone they can trust, someone they know won’t sell

them something they don’t need, or that won’t benefit
them. The more you build value, the more your prospects
will look forward to hearing from you.
Automate As Much As You Can
This means reminders for next steps, the next steps
themselves (based on activity triggers), content templates you
can quickly customize for individual prospects, etc. Custom
communication is important, but if you understand your
customer base, there’s plenty to templatize and automate to
save you significant time and hassle as you execute.
Differentiate From Competitors
As you build value and communicate with prospects all
along the sales pipeline, also build differentiation and
preference for you and your products/services. Don’t slam
competitors, and in most cases don’t even address them
directly. But make it clear how you’re special, how you’re
different. Differentiation and preference will lead to action
and decision in your favor.
Key Strategies For Effective Pipeline Execution
Use a lead management system: At minimum, make sure
you have a CRM system that integrates contacts, accounts
and sales opportunities in one place. Salesforce.com
does a great job of this, but may be too much for small
businesses. For smaller or early-stage organizations, I’d also
recommend PipelineDeals or Highrise.
You Clearly Define Lead And Opportunity Stages
Define not only the stages your prospects go through (from
the very beginning, nurture stages through to the sale),
but also define your communication strategy at each stag—
what do they get, how often, in what format, etc. Defining
this up front will make decisions and actions both faster and
more successful as you execute (especially if you have a team
where common definitions are critical).
Focus On Great Content
Be remarkable. Be educational. Make yourself requiredreading for your prospects. Teach them how to do their
jobs better, how to live their lives better. Great content,
especially in today’s information-overload world, can be a
powerful differentiator and attractor of new business to you.
You Make It Easy For Prospects To Move Forward
Give your prospects ample chances to “raise their hand” to
move forward more actively into the buying stages. Create
7
offers that inherently mean they’re interested in moving
forward—price estimator tools, free trials, buying guides,
etc. Integrate these offers into your other content, putting

the prospect in control of taking the next step. If you’re
done your work up front—building value, differentiation,
and preference—they’ll come to you to buy far more often.

How To Organize And Communicate With Channel Partners
Every business has partners, including a large number that
are either current or prospective channels of new business.
But not every partner is created equal.

3.	Minimal production and/or minimally successful lead 	
conversion

Some are extremely important to your business, others
aren’t as much but are nonetheless proactive referral
sources.

	 The combination of both scores then dictates the depth
and frequency with which you might want to communicate
with that partner. And these activities can be grouped
together with partners that garner the same score.

And there are multiple shades of grey in between.

4.	Dark

Most businesses we work with struggle to organize those
partners in the first place, let alone
Partner Ranking and Campaign Matrix
determine and operationalize
campaigns to keep those partners
active and productive.
1. Proactive

Importance (Quality Of
Network/Introductions)
1.	Elite channel to target prospects
2.	Good/average channel to target
prospects
3.	Occasional match with target
prospects
4.	Minimal match with target
prospects

Productivity (Quantity/
Regularity
Of Network/Introductions)
1.	Proactive, proven regular
communication and introductions
2.	Reactive, responds when asked,
handful of introductions

4. Dark
Quarterly call
Gist
Twitter

1. Elite

Importance

To help (or at least to start), consider
the partner matrix highlighted
below. It allows you to effectively
“score” current and prospective
partners along two primary factors:
Importance and Productivity. I use a
four-point scale for each factor, with
the following general definitions:

Productivity
2. Reactive
3. Minimal
Monthly meeting/call Bi-monthly call
Gist
Gist
Twitter
Twitter

Monthly meetings
Joint pipeline
Gist
Twitter

Monthly calls
Gist
Twitter

Quarterly call
Gist

Quarterly call

2. Good

Bi-monthly meetings
Joint pipeline
Gist
Twitter
Quarterly meetings
Gist

Quarterly call

Email only

Email only

Email only

Email only

Email only

Email only

3. Occasional

4. Minimal

All partners get periodic curated content email
All partners eligible for one-off, contextual emails
Manage Twitter & Linkedin updates via HootSuite
Daily "New & Notable" emails from Gist
Legend
Importance (quality of network/introductions)
1. Elite channel to target prospects
2. Good/average channel to target prospects
3. Occasional match with target prospects
4. Minimal match with target prospects
Productivity (quantity/regularity of network/introductions)
1. Proactive, proven regular communication and introductions
2. Reactive, responds when asked, handful of introductions
3. Minimal production and/or minimally successful lead conversion
4. Dark

8
How you decide to execute and act with each partner type
in the matrix is up to you, and likely dependent on your
business, industry and how you like to operate. But I bet

scoring and organizing your partners in the first place will
be a big first step, and likely help drive natural direction on
what to do next.

Lead Generation Modeling Made Simple
Too many marketers don’t model how many leads they
actually need to hit their organization’s sales goal. Those
who do model often overdo it.

•	 How many leads you need

But you’ve got to do the math. Most of the time it boils
down to answering just two questions:

•	 How much those sales will cost via a paid lead generation
campaign

•	 How many sales will result (and with what bookings 	 	
	output)

•	 How many opportunities are required to get a sale?
•	 How many leads do you need to create a new 		
	opportunity?

	

Let’s leave out sales cycle length for now, to keep things
simple. Let’s just look at leads-to-opportunities-to-sales.

And with that model, if the inputs are isolated and the
lead/opportunity/sales figures are calculated with simple
formulas, you can make adjustments to the inputs to see
what the sales and/or revenue impact would be if you:
•	 Generated more leads

To build the model, you need a handful of inputs:

•	 Increased the average sales price

•	 Average sales price of a closed deal

•	 Increased the percent of leads you can close

•	 Percent of leads that turn into a new sales opportunity

•	 Increased the percent of opportunities you can close

•	 Percent of new sales opportunities that convert into a sale

Start simple, but build this model and share it with your
team. Discuss it with sales management. Get on the same
page, and execute with more confidence that what you’re
doing is leading directly to sales success.

•	 Average cost per lead
If you don’t know these figures explicitly, come up with
a reasonable but somewhat conservative guess. With this
input, you can build a model telling you:

Improve Sales Forecast Accuracy With These Seven Steps
A consistent weak point across sales organizations is their
sales forecast.
Yes, it’s difficult to predict which sales will close. But your
forecast drives numerous decisions across the organization.
And when forecasts are wrong, the implications go well
beyond commission checks.
To improve the quality and accuracy of your sales forecasts,
starting immediately, I recommend the following seven steps.

1. Use Consistent Definitions
If your entire sales team is working from a consistent set
of definitions (i.e. what is a good lead, what is a qualified
opportunity, etc.), then it’s easier to trust the data you have.

If you look historically at your conversion rates—overall,
by industry, by geography, by rep—it’s easier to predict
conversion rates and new sales from a future pipeline of
opportunities. The entire sales and marketing team needs to
understand these definitions, and sales management needs
to enforce their usage on a regular basis.

2. Know Your Sales Cycle Length
If you get a good lead today, when will it likely close?
This week? This quarter? This year? Many inaccurate
sales forecasts get this one piece of data wrong, meaning
your conversion rates are accurate but don’t take place
in the window of time you assumed. You eventually get
the revenue, but not at the time your organization was

9
expecting it. By building in a typical (or even conservative)
sales cycle length into your model, you’re making it easier
to map expected sales to the week, month, quarter or year
in which they’re likely to land.

3. Read Market Changes
(And Their Impact On Closing Behavior)
The model you build last year might not work this year.
If market conditions are weak, sales cycle length may have
spread out. If budgets are tighter, an earlier decision maker
may need permission from the CFO to take action now.
These changes can wreak havoc on your sales forecast if
you don’t anticipate, identify and adjust both behavior and
expectations as a result.

4. Require A “Compelling Event”
To Become An Opportunity
It’s the right contact at the right company in an ideal
market. They can surely benefit from your product
or service. But do they want it? Is it a priority? Is
there something internally that is driving urgency and
prioritization of what you’re selling? Requiring a defined
“compelling event” for new opportunities may reduce the
volume of opportunities created, but it also increases the
likelihood that those deals will close, which in turn makes
your forecast far more accurate.

5. Conduct Regular Deal Reviews
Sit down with your sales reps and walk through their
pipelines. Not just names and numbers, but context. Ask for
the back story, why they’re qualified, what the compelling
event internally is that’s driving action. This isn’t about
not trusting your reps. It’s about establishing a culture of
accountability, learning and collaboration.

Make these deal reviews about helping your reps brainstorm
new ways of accelerating deals, establishing greater urgency
with latent opportunities, and creating greater income
opportunities for them personally. In the process, you’ll
have a more intimate idea of the quality and accuracy of the
pipeline.

6. Make Updating The Forecast Fast,
Easy And Mandatory For Your Reps
Opportunities change after they’ve entered the pipeline.
Close dates move out. Or up. Deals that were on a fast
track suddenly slow down, and perhaps should be moved
back to an earlier stage. Most reps don’t want to make these
changes to opportunities in their CRM system, as that may
imply weakness in their own pipelines and selling skills.
Instead, make it easy and mandatory to make these changes
in real-time. Make it clear to the sales organization that
these changes will help management improve selling
conditions, and address real-time changes with the resources
needed to close more business.

7. Reward Accuracy And Honesty
Very few sales organizations reward pipeline performance
and behavior. They compensate based on closed business,
but not based on how close reps come to their forecasts.
Create incentives for your reps to accurately forecast their
expected sales. Foster an environment where honest changes
to forecasts, even if the news isn’t good, is encouraged and
rewarded.
Would you really reward a rep for reducing their sales
forecast? Absolutely. Imagine the alternative, that they led
you to believe their output would be much higher when
they knew they couldn’t deliver.

 

B U D GE T IN G F OR SU CCESS

Six Marketing Focus Areas You’ll Want To Budget For In 2014
Last week we covered a handful of marketing budget line
items that you might consider cutting without a significant
impact to your performance and results. But if you aren’t
simultaneously looking for the means to improve your
results through new efforts, channels and strategies, you
might be caught flat-footed when what used to work starts
to decline, and you’re playing catch up without the money
to fund it.
From what we’re seeing deliver solid ROI for leading B2B
marketing organizations today, as well as the focus areas
we believe will continue to deliver high-leverage results in

2014, here are six strategies we recommend you consider
for investment in your new budget:

1. Advocate Marketing Platform And Resources
Think about the various constituent groups that could
be more proactively delivering your message, offers and
expanded word of mouth for your brand, products and
services. Your most loyal, passionate customers just need the
right nudges to help you spread the word. I’d encourage
you to check out what Influitive is doing to create Advocate
Hubs that are accelerating the mobilization of their happy
customers, partners, employees and more.

10
2. Content Strategy
Content (and the tools/technology that organize and
distribute it) has already become the most important
asset marketers will work with in 2014 (more important
than media). If you don’t have a content strategy, and the
resources to execute it, you’ll spend way too much money
replicating its replacement value to drive qualified leads to
your sales team. Think carefully about the content you need
in 2014, and budget the resources to create and capitalize
on it.

3. Marketing Automation Support
Too many companies buy their marketing automation
platform and assume that’s enough. World-class lead
management programs require four components to succeed:
1) strategy, 2) platform, 3) people and 4) content. Those
last two are sorely underfunded, and are the primary reasons
why many marketing automation efforts are less than
successful. Think carefully about the people and content
resources you need to fulfill the full ROI and pipeline
growth potential of your marketing automation platform.

4. Influencer Engagement
The funding you need here may very well be just a
single person or a percentage of someone on your PR or
marcomm team. But it’s on this list because, if you don’t
dedicate the resources for it, you’ll never get the work
done. Most companies engage the press and analysts, but

few go the extra mile to engage the bloggers, Twitter users
and other “social” influencers that, together, may have
even greater reach and sway over your target market. These
individuals are often easier to engage and build relationship
with as well vs. crusty reporters who get pitched all the time.

5. Sales Enablement Tools
Forward-thinking sales reps are already doing this for
themselves. They’re using tools such as OFunnel, Newsle
and others to filter the noise and find for themselves buying
signals from their existing networks. They’re using ToutApp
to get real-time alerts when prospects engage with their
follow-up emails. But marketing groups are increasingly
playing a proactive role in providing a set of sales
enablement tools that help their sales counterparts increase
productivity, efficiency and output.

6. Social Lead Generation
The budget required here is almost exclusively for
technology, but the output is pure lead generation. With
social, the media is free. But it’s like the best library of
buying signals in the world with all the books on the floor.
Tools such as Socedo, SocialBro, LinkedIn Sales Navigator,
GaggleAMP and Papershare can help you mine the social
web for qualified leads at a fraction of the cost of other paid
media. At minimum, budget for a series of tests of these
and other platforms in early 2014 to validate their leadproducing potential.

How To Write A Marketing Budget Your CFO Will Enthusiastically Support
Ah, the fall. Changing weather and leaves. College football.
Baseball’s postseason. And annual budget time!
If you’re on a calendar fiscal year, you know what I’m
talking about (and probably wince every time you hear that
word). For many companies, annual budgeting is a painful
process of back-and-forths, arguments about priorities and
endless spreadsheet revisions
I can’t promise these ideas will make all of that go away, but
if you want a less painful process this year, my best piece of
advice is to build a budget that your CFO will understand
and agree with from the get-go.
Here are seven specific best practices to get there.

1. Ask For Organizational Goals Up Front
I can’t tell you how many times I see marketing leaders
develop a plan and budget without any context for the
business or division’s overall goals. What are your revenue

targets next year? How about net-new sales, margin,
customer retention and other key business metrics? How
can you write a marketing plan and budget without
knowing what everything is building towards?
This step alone will help you align your priorities with those
of your CFO and others.

2. Get Sales Buy-In First
Before taking your plan and budget to the CFO, run it by
your sales counterparts. Make sure they understand how
vital your plan is to helping them hit their number next year
as well.
If you can go back to the CFO together, saying jointly
that these efforts are required to hit and exceed sales goals,
you’re in far better shape to justify and keep what you’re
asking for.

11
3. Cut Unsuccessful Line Items From Last Year
(And Explain Why)
If you keep everything from last year by default, it’s far
too easy to assume that you’re just doing a “land grab” for
more money. Even if you had a great year, I’m sure there
were initiatives that didn’t pass muster or deliver the results
you had hoped.
As a way of making your plan both more efficient and
credible, cut any items that were unsuccessful, highlight
that in your plan and clarify why. This will also serve to
demonstrate the rationale you likely used to justify any
additions to the plan for the coming year.

4. Organize By Business Objective
(Instead Of Marketing Function)
Most marketing budgets are organized in a way that lacks
clarity for the CFO. It may be easier for you and your team
to manage input and areas by sorting them by your org
chart or primary functions, but it’s far easier for the CFO
and other members of the management team to justify your
budget if its organized by business objective.
This won’t work for everything, but at minimum you
should be able to sort certain initiatives by sales, customer
retention, etc.

5. Project Results Wherever Possible
(Revenue, Not Just Spend)
Most marketing budgets focus entirely on costs. And even
if you couch everything in terms of the overall business

objectives they support, it’s far better to project precisely
what results you expect from any new budget requests.
Better yet, create a mini ROI calculator inside your budget
so that any negative impact of cuts are clear.

6. Make Future Expenditures Contingent On
Early Success
It’s tempting to ask for everything up front. But in today’s
fast moving markets, it’s also difficult to accurately predict
what you’ll really need in the second half of next year.
Rather than propose a firm budget for the full calendar
year, identify certain line items that are contingency on early
success. This can be defined as success in early marketing
objectives or success in overall business performance. But
either way, this makes your “core” budget request more
manageable and demonstrates that the bigger number
won’t come into play unless it’s justified by performance.

7. Tie Staff Bonuses To Sales Performance,
Not Marketing Tactic Completion
I’m not talking about commissions. Most marketing teams
have bonuses built into their budgets already. But in most
cases, they get paid if the marketing objectives or tasks
are completed no matter how sales performs. This year,
consider tying marketing bonuses to broader company
performance.
At minimum, tie your demand generation team’s bonus to
sales opportunity growth and/or closed business. Tie the
retention team’s bonus to churn reduction or growth of
lifetime value.

Plan And Budget For Data Hygiene In 2014
Data management and data hygiene are probably the
most overlooked components to a successful marketing
automation initiative, right after content.
I recently learned of a large enterprise with marketing
automation that was blacklisted by ISPs. The blacklist status
effectively shuts down all outbound marketing efforts right
as they are heading into Q4. This happened because of poor
data management and data hygiene. It can happen to any
organization with marketing automation. When it happens,
heads roll because it impacts customer engagement and
revenue. The audit process for getting off ISP blacklists isn’t
easy. Can you imagine being responsible and for this with
your organization?
Building a plan with a budget can prevent these nightmare
situations.

Here Are Eye-Opening Stats
On B2B Data Quality
According to Sirius Decisions:
• 25 percent of the average B2B database is inaccurate
• 60 percent of companies surveyed had an overall data 	 	
	 health scale of “unreliable”
• 80 percent of companies have “risky” phone contact records
• NetProspex reports in their 2013 State of Marketing Data
• 64 percent of companies surveyed have “unreliable” data 	
	 and 34 percent have “questionable” data
• 61 percent of companies surveyed said 35 percent of their 	
	 records were “incomplete”
How do CMOs and Demand Generation Directors avoid
getting their companies blacklisted? How do Modern
Marketers ensure over 90 percent email deliverability month
12
after month? How do companies maintain CAN-SPAM
Act compliance? What sources of data are used to build,
maintain, and append the database? How do marketing
automation teams keep out the spam traps and keep the
good contact records up to date? These are mission-critical
questions that need a plan. Operating without a plan puts
marketing operations, reputation, and revenue at risk!

Here Are Steps To Consider As The Starting
Point For Effective Management
Establish A Data Management Strategy
Do you have a data strategy? Chances are you don’t. Build
the strategy and business case that a budget will support.
A marketing automation platform needs regular health
checks and ongoing maintenance. Define the standards for
complete records and manage how the database grows and
where records come from. Define the minimum standards
for deliverability rates. Establish requirements for data
providers.
Marketing Automation and CRM platforms need regular
updates, health checks, de-dupes, and data appends. A
database will have a natural decay of contact data because
people change jobs, companies go out of business, and
mergers happen. All of these events directly impact the
effectiveness of a database. Keeping the database healthy is
strategic to maintaining a strong revenue pipeline.
Check Your Database For A Baseline Of Health
Get a database health scan before implementing the strategy
or randomly buying tools or hiring consultants. A good
health check should identify spam traps and determine
record completeness at a minimum. Don’t forget to check
phone records as well. Find a reputable organization like
Unlock The Inbox, Reachforce or NetProspex to conduct a
health scan for a baseline assessment.
Budget For Data Hygiene in 2014
Imagine the situation where in July 2014 your email
deliverability tanks to 80 percent and pipeline opportunities
decline. Not fun, right? Data hygiene is an investment
that builds marketing automation effectiveness and drives
revenue! Investments are typically needed to for tools and
services regularly clean out spam traps, update and append
data records, and perform detailed de-duplication.
CRM and marketing automation platforms have some basic
tools for de-duplication and there are often free utilities or
connectors that can serve as temporary solutions. Finding
service providers and platforms that can enhance the free
tools are a prudent step, especially when starting a clean-up
process.
Maintain Regular Maintenance And Updates
A database is like a car. Regular maintenance keeps the

machine running smoothly and efficiently with the best
performance. Here are just some of the items to monitor
and manage:
Deliverability—anything below 90 percent is a red flag.
Why are messages not delivered?
Opportunity pipeline growth—Are conversions and
opportunities decreasing? Many factors go into this but
even the best content and campaigns will fall flat without a
healthy database.
Reputable data sources and partners—We all get the spam
emails from the offshore list brokers that offer segmented
B2B contacts for pennies on the dollar. Don’t. Do. It.
Chances are cheap lists are loaded with questionable
contacts scraped from websites by offshore sweatshops.
Monitor the soft email bounces—are they increasing over
time? Why are soft bounces happening?
Monitor sender scores using services like ReturnPath.
This is especially critical for marketing organizations using
dedicated IP addresses for outbound marketing. The higher
a sender score, the better the reputation which helps ISP’s
monitor and allow emails from trusted sources.
Prevent duplicate records—Use de-duplication platforms
like RingLead whenever importing new data, or when
performing regular updates. This keeps records clean and
can merge duplicate records in the CRM or marketing
automation platform.
Append and update records—Keep records up to date with
a data provider to ensure the proper taxonomy, addresses,
phone numbers, email addresses, and syntax are correct.
Segment old records—Don’t delete old or outdated records
completely. Place old records in a quarantine or sandbox
that is kept away from marketing and sales operations. Even
after de-duplication and data append, old records may be
needed for an audit or opportunity research.
Contact cadence and governance—Who can send outbound
communications, when, how often, and who receives the
messages? Set a clear policy that the entire organization
understands.
CAN SPAM—Does your marketing operations team
understand CAN SPAM requirements for the US? What
about Canadian and EU requirements? Ignorance is not
the same as innocence when trouble arises. The US Federal
Trade Commission offers these guidelines for compliance.
Plan Wisely
Data management and hygiene is strategic and helps keep
marketing automation and demand generation running
strong. Putting off the health checks and maintenance
can directly impact revenue opportunities, customer
engagements, and reputations.
13
Six Places To Cut Budget (Without Impacting Results)
Whether your budget from this year is being challenged for
next year, you need to make room for new initiatives, or if
you’re simply (and smartly) looking for ways to cut lessefficient initiatives out of your marketing strategy in 2014
without significantly impacting results, here are six places
you might want to explore.

They maintained the focus and science behind their content
strategy and actually improved social sharing and pass-along,
all while eliminating a significant chunk of their content
marketing budget. Third-party writers are great, but only as
a supplement to the ideas and direct contributions of people
already inside and around the business.

Each of these, if executed well, can clearly still generate
material results. But I’ve found they can also be the source
of some of the most excessive waste in B2B marketing
organizations of various sizes and industries.

4. Trade Shows

1. PR
It continues to surprise me how many companies assume by
default that they need a PR agency. I know some amazing
PR professionals and agencies, but there are too many
others that will take a ton of your money and not deliver
much in return. Furthermore, there’s a difference between
having a PR strategy and hiring a PR agency. That plus PR
has changed significantly from the days when the press was
your primary conduit to get news, commentary and other
information to your prospects to build awareness, interest
and preference.
Many companies find they can put more focus on their
content and social strategies to get the same awareness,
traffic and inbound lead impact without the glut of press
releases and PR fees.

2. Paid Search
Buying clicks from Google can still help you make a ton
of money, but most companies are spending far more than
they need to. They manage their paid search programs in
aggregate, and aren’t optimizing their programs down to
individual keywords and keyword groups, plus measuring
impact of clicks through to the sale, to understand which
clicks are profitable and which are not.
You may find, for example, that some of your least expensive
keywords aren’t converting into business at all. So if you’re
managing your spend based on cost per lead, and getting
excited about that 50 percent reduction in CPL you’ve
achieved so far in 2013, you may still be losing and wasting
money.

3. Blog Contributors
The new CEO of a company in Seattle immediately shut
off all budget to third-party writers for their blog. He
challenged his marketing team to find 10 people, anywhere
in and around the business, who could commit to writing
one blog post a month. And they did it, within four days.
A couple people in marketing, a couple developers, a board
member, the CEO himself, etc.

You don’t need to be there just to be there. And your trade
show strategy isn’t the booth plan, either. You can work an
event, conference or trade show without being there. You
can also send a couple people to set up meetings or work the
hallways, get a ton of business done, and without locking
people into booth duty and tens of thousands of dollars.
Events are channels. A booth is one of many ways to
leverage that channel. If your target customer is aggregating
together somewhere, take advantage. But there are
countless ways to do it more cost effectively than the
traditional booth set-up.

5. Focus Groups
Customer, prospect and market feedback is critical. And
sometimes focus groups can help get you that feedback.
But the social Web is a daily, real-time feedback mechanism.
So are your most loyal customers. Why not invest in an
advocate marketing program, set up with a platform
such as Influitive, to not only manage and drive greater
participation from your customers but actively seek more of
their feedback?
Or, check out what ProdThink is doing. They’re offering a
real-time platform for capturing product interest, triaging
product priorities, and offering a dynamic environment
for anyone to play with and evaluate new features. Does it
replace the focus group? No. But it can deliver some of the
same results faster and at a fraction of the cost.

6. Recruiting Fees
The more narrow your criteria, the more important
recruiters can be. And lord knows finding the right person
can make a huge difference, and justify the recruiter’s fees
many times over. But if you’re not actively using LinkedIn
to find candidates, you’re missing a huge opportunity
to leverage your existing network to ferret out viable
candidates.
Job postings require applicants to respond. But in a tight
market, your best candidates may not be looking. Filter your
search based on seniority, role, skill sets and more. Then
ask your connections to make introductions where needed.
You’ll be surprised how many top candidates you’ll find in
less than 15–20 minutes.
14
 

MA R K E T IN G AUTOMATION

Get Your Marketing Automation Initiative Back On Track For 2014
Marketing automation initiatives have tremendous potential.
However many companies under perform after just a few
months of platform usage and there are many reasons for
the letdown. As we approach 2014 now is the time to plan
for getting the initiative back on track.

Here Are Common Causes For
A Marketing Automation Initiative
Falling Short Of Expectations
1.	No defined demand generation strategy.
2.	Weak leadership and missing executive sponsorship.
3.	Overselling how quickly marketing automation will
deliver results, and missing what the results will be.
4.	Failure to correctly integrate marketing automation
with CRM.
5.	Limited focus on training internal resources to build
internal operating experience.
6.	Using marketing automation as an overpowered email
blast engine with no nurturing, scoring, or inbound
marketing configuration.
7.	Failure to measure metrics that matter, and effectively
communicate results.
8.	Complete lack of a content marketing strategy for any
campaign efforts.
9.	Not holding the marketing automation vendor
accountable for successful start-up and ongoing support.

Get Your Marketing Automation Initiative
Back On Track With These Important Steps
1. Define The demand Generation Strategy
And Objectives First
	 What are the revenue goals for 2014? What is the overall
plan to meet those goals? How will demand generation
map to major events throughout the year? What
2.	 2B Marketing Involves Marketing To People
B
	 People are emotional and sometimes follow seemingly
irrational paths through the famous Buyer’s Journey. Use
marketing automation to support a process that provides
the right information, at the right time, to the right
people.
3.	Process Design
	 Marketing Automation is a process enabler that supports
a bigger strategy. Marketing automation is not a strategy

in itself. Build the strategy with the desired outcomes.
The process should support the strategy. This is where the
definitions of leads and opportunities come into play.
4.	 ocus On The Metrics That Matter
F
	 What is the required Marketing contribution for leads
for the upcoming year? How many Marketing Qualified
Leads flow into Opportunities and Closed Sales? Focus
on the metrics that matter. Don’t send your CEO the
email report on email open rates and click through rates.
That data is meaningless if you can’t track contributions
to revenue, the sales funnel, and overall leads delivered to
sales.
5.	Gap Analysis
	 Evaluate the gaps where your org falls short with demand
gen and marketing automation. Look at everything with
the Process, Platform, People and Content. Plan how to
fill the gaps in order to support the demand generation
strategy.
6.	 eadership—Quit Being The Tail On The Dog
L
	 Too often a demand generation strategy is left to a
manager level marketing resource with limited support.
The people in these situations react to situations instead
of operating with a plan. Make sure your people have the
leadership to work with Sales, communicate the results,
and stay on track with the demand generation strategy.
7.	 eople—Invest In Your Most Important Resource
P
	 Marketing automation gives the impression with the
name alone that marketing can be automated. Don’t even
go there and don’t let Sales or other CxO’s believe that
for a minute. Marketing automation is hard and requires
an ongoing effort of continually building knowledge and
skills on the technology, understanding how to engage
customers, developing content, and building processes.
People need training to keep initiatives running efficiently
and effectively over the course of the year.
8.	 old Your Marketing Automation Vendor
H
Accountable.
	 Time and again I hear from a marketing VP or a
marketing operations manager that their marketing
automation vendor has left implementations and
onboarding incomplete. The vendor’s customer success
manager has too many accounts and they only contact
each customer once a month, if that. And too often
clients get the suggestion “have you checked our blog/
15
knowledgebase/outdated support portal?” This is
unacceptable. Your marketing automation vendor should
proactively work with you provide you with the plan to
lead towards your success and self-sufficiency. To be fair,
blaming your marketing automation vendor for all that
ails your demand generation is unacceptable as well.
9.	 atabase Health—Get Your House In Order
D
	 2014 will be the year database health becomes a strategic
imperative for marketing automation. I have heard of
several enterprise organizations with marketing automation
that have been blacklisted by ISP’s for poor email practices
resulting from dirty database data. Reputation and revenue
are at stake with a dirty database. This is no longer 2002
when a cluttered database is acceptable. Plan for data
hygiene in 2014 or lose your job!

10. Content—Wake Up!
No more excuses in 2014 for a lack of content. Content
fuels how you engage with customers through any channel
and especially with marketing automation. Without
content, campaigns don’t have any story to tell. Without
content, you’re dead in the water with any demand
generation effort.

Just Do it!
Don’t be that marketing team that uses marketing
automation as an overpowered email blaster in 2014.
Now is the time to build and execute a demand generation
strategy the right way with marketing automation. How
are you planning to evolve and improve your marketing
operations in 2014?

16
More Information About Us
About Matt Heinz
Matt Heinz is the Founder and President of Heinz Marketing Inc. Matt brings more
than 12 years of marketing, business development and sales experience from a variety of
organizations, vertical industries and company sizes. His career has focused on delivering measurable results for his employers and clients in the way of greater sales, revenue
growth, product success and customer loyalty.
About Heinz Marketing
Heinz Marketing is a Seattle marketing agency focused on sales acceleration. Heinz
Marketing helps clients achieve sustained sales success by growing revenue from existing
customers and cost effectively identifying and winning new customers.
Contact Heinz Marketing
Heinz Marketing Inc.
8201 164th Ave NE, Suite 200
Redmond, WA 98052
877.291.0006
www.heinzmarketing.com
acceleration@heinzmarketing.com
Learn More About Heinz Marketing
Interested in learning more creative ways to make the most of your marketing?:
Request your FREE 10-minute brainstorm at www.10minutebrainstorm.com
Join our newsletter:
www.heinzmarketinginsights.com
Check out our blog: www.mattonmarketingblog.com
Follow Matt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/heinzmarketing

8201 164th Ave. NE, Suite 200
Redmond WA 98052
Ph. 877.291.0006
www.heinzmarketing.com

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais procurados

Extending the Customer Experience
Extending the Customer ExperienceExtending the Customer Experience
Extending the Customer ExperienceBrian Kalma
 
Technology, Sales & Marketing Tips for B2B or SaaS Businesses
Technology, Sales & Marketing Tips for B2B or SaaS BusinessesTechnology, Sales & Marketing Tips for B2B or SaaS Businesses
Technology, Sales & Marketing Tips for B2B or SaaS BusinessesConnect Labs
 
Explain Digital Strategy To Your Mum
Explain Digital Strategy To Your Mum Explain Digital Strategy To Your Mum
Explain Digital Strategy To Your Mum Amber Horsburgh
 
Ultimate startup marketing guide
Ultimate startup marketing guideUltimate startup marketing guide
Ultimate startup marketing guideToni Wijaya
 
3 Types of Thought Leadership: Creating the Perfect Mix of Content for Your B...
3 Types of Thought Leadership: Creating the Perfect Mix of Content for Your B...3 Types of Thought Leadership: Creating the Perfect Mix of Content for Your B...
3 Types of Thought Leadership: Creating the Perfect Mix of Content for Your B...LinkedIn
 
Developing a Cohesive Brand Voice
Developing a Cohesive Brand VoiceDeveloping a Cohesive Brand Voice
Developing a Cohesive Brand VoiceJeff Ryan
 
10 things every business person should know about content strategy
10 things every business person should know about content strategy10 things every business person should know about content strategy
10 things every business person should know about content strategyMelissa Rach
 
We're not "doing a startup", Topconf
We're not "doing a startup", TopconfWe're not "doing a startup", Topconf
We're not "doing a startup", TopconfRachel Andrew
 
Bigbuzz agency capabilities deck q4 2017
Bigbuzz agency capabilities deck q4 2017Bigbuzz agency capabilities deck q4 2017
Bigbuzz agency capabilities deck q4 2017Kevin Kelly
 
NextView 2015 Year in Review
NextView 2015 Year in ReviewNextView 2015 Year in Review
NextView 2015 Year in ReviewNextView Ventures
 
Experiences: The Seventh Era Of Marketing
Experiences: The Seventh Era Of MarketingExperiences: The Seventh Era Of Marketing
Experiences: The Seventh Era Of MarketingThe Content Advisory
 
Webinar how to scale a dream sales team
Webinar how to scale a dream sales teamWebinar how to scale a dream sales team
Webinar how to scale a dream sales teamMindTickle
 
Profile of a Growth Hacking Team
Profile of a Growth Hacking TeamProfile of a Growth Hacking Team
Profile of a Growth Hacking TeamWishpond
 
How to-write-magnetic-headlines week 4
How to-write-magnetic-headlines week 4How to-write-magnetic-headlines week 4
How to-write-magnetic-headlines week 4PrudenceDabuMubaiwa
 
Process, Creativity and Productivity
Process, Creativity and ProductivityProcess, Creativity and Productivity
Process, Creativity and ProductivityMighty Guides, Inc.
 
Startup Recruiting Workbook: Sourcing and Interview Process
Startup Recruiting Workbook: Sourcing and Interview ProcessStartup Recruiting Workbook: Sourcing and Interview Process
Startup Recruiting Workbook: Sourcing and Interview ProcessWork-Bench
 
Getting Started as a PM
Getting Started as a PMGetting Started as a PM
Getting Started as a PMHubSpot
 

Mais procurados (20)

Extending the Customer Experience
Extending the Customer ExperienceExtending the Customer Experience
Extending the Customer Experience
 
Technology, Sales & Marketing Tips for B2B or SaaS Businesses
Technology, Sales & Marketing Tips for B2B or SaaS BusinessesTechnology, Sales & Marketing Tips for B2B or SaaS Businesses
Technology, Sales & Marketing Tips for B2B or SaaS Businesses
 
Explain Digital Strategy To Your Mum
Explain Digital Strategy To Your Mum Explain Digital Strategy To Your Mum
Explain Digital Strategy To Your Mum
 
Ultimate startup marketing guide
Ultimate startup marketing guideUltimate startup marketing guide
Ultimate startup marketing guide
 
5 things I wish I knew before starting up
5 things I wish I knew before starting up5 things I wish I knew before starting up
5 things I wish I knew before starting up
 
3 Types of Thought Leadership: Creating the Perfect Mix of Content for Your B...
3 Types of Thought Leadership: Creating the Perfect Mix of Content for Your B...3 Types of Thought Leadership: Creating the Perfect Mix of Content for Your B...
3 Types of Thought Leadership: Creating the Perfect Mix of Content for Your B...
 
Developing a Cohesive Brand Voice
Developing a Cohesive Brand VoiceDeveloping a Cohesive Brand Voice
Developing a Cohesive Brand Voice
 
10 things every business person should know about content strategy
10 things every business person should know about content strategy10 things every business person should know about content strategy
10 things every business person should know about content strategy
 
We're not "doing a startup", Topconf
We're not "doing a startup", TopconfWe're not "doing a startup", Topconf
We're not "doing a startup", Topconf
 
Amongst models
Amongst modelsAmongst models
Amongst models
 
Bigbuzz agency capabilities deck q4 2017
Bigbuzz agency capabilities deck q4 2017Bigbuzz agency capabilities deck q4 2017
Bigbuzz agency capabilities deck q4 2017
 
NextView 2015 Year in Review
NextView 2015 Year in ReviewNextView 2015 Year in Review
NextView 2015 Year in Review
 
Experiences: The Seventh Era Of Marketing
Experiences: The Seventh Era Of MarketingExperiences: The Seventh Era Of Marketing
Experiences: The Seventh Era Of Marketing
 
My Portfolio
My PortfolioMy Portfolio
My Portfolio
 
Webinar how to scale a dream sales team
Webinar how to scale a dream sales teamWebinar how to scale a dream sales team
Webinar how to scale a dream sales team
 
Profile of a Growth Hacking Team
Profile of a Growth Hacking TeamProfile of a Growth Hacking Team
Profile of a Growth Hacking Team
 
How to-write-magnetic-headlines week 4
How to-write-magnetic-headlines week 4How to-write-magnetic-headlines week 4
How to-write-magnetic-headlines week 4
 
Process, Creativity and Productivity
Process, Creativity and ProductivityProcess, Creativity and Productivity
Process, Creativity and Productivity
 
Startup Recruiting Workbook: Sourcing and Interview Process
Startup Recruiting Workbook: Sourcing and Interview ProcessStartup Recruiting Workbook: Sourcing and Interview Process
Startup Recruiting Workbook: Sourcing and Interview Process
 
Getting Started as a PM
Getting Started as a PMGetting Started as a PM
Getting Started as a PM
 

Destaque

Secrets to Successful Marketing Automation
Secrets to Successful Marketing AutomationSecrets to Successful Marketing Automation
Secrets to Successful Marketing AutomationHeinz Marketing Inc
 
50 Essential Content Marketing Hacks (Content Marketing World)
50 Essential Content Marketing Hacks (Content Marketing World)50 Essential Content Marketing Hacks (Content Marketing World)
50 Essential Content Marketing Hacks (Content Marketing World)Heinz Marketing Inc
 
Secrets to a Successful Eloqua Experience
Secrets to a Successful Eloqua ExperienceSecrets to a Successful Eloqua Experience
Secrets to a Successful Eloqua ExperienceHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Marketing Automation Tools for Eloqua Operations - From DocuSign's Ryan Schwartz
Marketing Automation Tools for Eloqua Operations - From DocuSign's Ryan SchwartzMarketing Automation Tools for Eloqua Operations - From DocuSign's Ryan Schwartz
Marketing Automation Tools for Eloqua Operations - From DocuSign's Ryan SchwartzHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Account Management Best Practices: Strategies, Tactics & More to Increase Ret...
Account Management Best Practices: Strategies, Tactics & More to Increase Ret...Account Management Best Practices: Strategies, Tactics & More to Increase Ret...
Account Management Best Practices: Strategies, Tactics & More to Increase Ret...Heinz Marketing Inc
 
Multichannel Content Strategy: How to Build Awareness, Customers & Revenue
Multichannel Content Strategy: How to Build Awareness, Customers & RevenueMultichannel Content Strategy: How to Build Awareness, Customers & Revenue
Multichannel Content Strategy: How to Build Awareness, Customers & RevenueHeinz Marketing Inc
 
The JESS3 guide to Facebook Emoticons
The JESS3 guide to Facebook EmoticonsThe JESS3 guide to Facebook Emoticons
The JESS3 guide to Facebook EmoticonsJESS3
 
Navah's 5 Golden Rules Of Shopping
Navah's 5 Golden Rules Of ShoppingNavah's 5 Golden Rules Of Shopping
Navah's 5 Golden Rules Of ShoppingNavah Hopkins
 
Sdc13 feb13 class12
Sdc13 feb13 class12Sdc13 feb13 class12
Sdc13 feb13 class12missjaqui
 
7 WEIRD WAYS YOUR POSTURE MESSES WITH YOU
7 WEIRD WAYS YOUR POSTURE MESSES WITH YOU7 WEIRD WAYS YOUR POSTURE MESSES WITH YOU
7 WEIRD WAYS YOUR POSTURE MESSES WITH YOUJodie Harper
 
Huevos rellenos de bonito del norte y remolacha
Huevos rellenos de bonito del norte y remolachaHuevos rellenos de bonito del norte y remolacha
Huevos rellenos de bonito del norte y remolachaOlmeda Orígenes
 

Destaque (20)

Secrets to Successful Marketing Automation
Secrets to Successful Marketing AutomationSecrets to Successful Marketing Automation
Secrets to Successful Marketing Automation
 
50 Essential Content Marketing Hacks (Content Marketing World)
50 Essential Content Marketing Hacks (Content Marketing World)50 Essential Content Marketing Hacks (Content Marketing World)
50 Essential Content Marketing Hacks (Content Marketing World)
 
Secrets to a Successful Eloqua Experience
Secrets to a Successful Eloqua ExperienceSecrets to a Successful Eloqua Experience
Secrets to a Successful Eloqua Experience
 
Marketing Automation Tools for Eloqua Operations - From DocuSign's Ryan Schwartz
Marketing Automation Tools for Eloqua Operations - From DocuSign's Ryan SchwartzMarketing Automation Tools for Eloqua Operations - From DocuSign's Ryan Schwartz
Marketing Automation Tools for Eloqua Operations - From DocuSign's Ryan Schwartz
 
Account Management Best Practices: Strategies, Tactics & More to Increase Ret...
Account Management Best Practices: Strategies, Tactics & More to Increase Ret...Account Management Best Practices: Strategies, Tactics & More to Increase Ret...
Account Management Best Practices: Strategies, Tactics & More to Increase Ret...
 
Multichannel Content Strategy: How to Build Awareness, Customers & Revenue
Multichannel Content Strategy: How to Build Awareness, Customers & RevenueMultichannel Content Strategy: How to Build Awareness, Customers & Revenue
Multichannel Content Strategy: How to Build Awareness, Customers & Revenue
 
Catalunya Music Dante
Catalunya Music DanteCatalunya Music Dante
Catalunya Music Dante
 
The JESS3 guide to Facebook Emoticons
The JESS3 guide to Facebook EmoticonsThe JESS3 guide to Facebook Emoticons
The JESS3 guide to Facebook Emoticons
 
選擇1或2
選擇1或2選擇1或2
選擇1或2
 
mfj
mfjmfj
mfj
 
Navah's 5 Golden Rules Of Shopping
Navah's 5 Golden Rules Of ShoppingNavah's 5 Golden Rules Of Shopping
Navah's 5 Golden Rules Of Shopping
 
Funciones racionales
Funciones racionalesFunciones racionales
Funciones racionales
 
Sdc13 feb13 class12
Sdc13 feb13 class12Sdc13 feb13 class12
Sdc13 feb13 class12
 
New Economy Summit 2014
New Economy Summit 2014New Economy Summit 2014
New Economy Summit 2014
 
7 WEIRD WAYS YOUR POSTURE MESSES WITH YOU
7 WEIRD WAYS YOUR POSTURE MESSES WITH YOU7 WEIRD WAYS YOUR POSTURE MESSES WITH YOU
7 WEIRD WAYS YOUR POSTURE MESSES WITH YOU
 
8 la materia y sus propiedad
8 la materia y sus propiedad8 la materia y sus propiedad
8 la materia y sus propiedad
 
WRI 102 Syllabus Spring 09
WRI 102 Syllabus Spring 09WRI 102 Syllabus Spring 09
WRI 102 Syllabus Spring 09
 
Huevos rellenos de bonito del norte y remolacha
Huevos rellenos de bonito del norte y remolachaHuevos rellenos de bonito del norte y remolacha
Huevos rellenos de bonito del norte y remolacha
 
Mobile Wars
Mobile WarsMobile Wars
Mobile Wars
 
Ws 601 jump start your share point governance _ then take it home
Ws 601 jump start your share point governance _ then take it homeWs 601 jump start your share point governance _ then take it home
Ws 601 jump start your share point governance _ then take it home
 

Semelhante a 2014 Marketing Planning Guide

Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing P...
Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing P...Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing P...
Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing P...Brent Spilkin
 
The ultimate business growth masterclass
The ultimate business growth masterclassThe ultimate business growth masterclass
The ultimate business growth masterclassGaynor Gravestock
 
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerCreating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerLeadScorz
 
THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]
THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]
THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]HubSpot
 
How to Upscale Your Business
How to Upscale Your BusinessHow to Upscale Your Business
How to Upscale Your BusinessTechAcute
 
Accelerate sales onboarding
Accelerate sales onboardingAccelerate sales onboarding
Accelerate sales onboardingBenoit Laflamme
 
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerCreating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerLeadScorz
 
Successful Marketing Starts With A Strategy
Successful Marketing Starts With A StrategySuccessful Marketing Starts With A Strategy
Successful Marketing Starts With A StrategySpryIdeas
 
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerCreating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerLeadScorz
 
Module 3 business planning with benefit of hindsight
Module 3 business planning with benefit of hindsightModule 3 business planning with benefit of hindsight
Module 3 business planning with benefit of hindsightrestartplatform
 
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These TipsFind The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These TipsJerry Snyker
 
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These TipsFind The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These TipsKeinspahr
 
Should You Hire Us? Six Questions for Marketers
Should You Hire Us?  Six Questions for MarketersShould You Hire Us?  Six Questions for Marketers
Should You Hire Us? Six Questions for MarketersMythology LLC
 
Successful Marketing Starts with a Strategy
Successful Marketing Starts with a StrategySuccessful Marketing Starts with a Strategy
Successful Marketing Starts with a StrategyKatie Spence
 
The definitive guide to fast casual catering operations cater cult llc
The definitive guide to fast casual catering operations   cater cult llcThe definitive guide to fast casual catering operations   cater cult llc
The definitive guide to fast casual catering operations cater cult llcCater Cult
 
Topic 4- Planning and Preparation .ppt
Topic 4- Planning and Preparation .pptTopic 4- Planning and Preparation .ppt
Topic 4- Planning and Preparation .pptJaySears2
 
New Rules Strategies 2015
New Rules Strategies 2015New Rules Strategies 2015
New Rules Strategies 2015Greg Winokur
 
You're Ready to Start Marketing. Now What? (Series: Digital Marketing Tips fo...
You're Ready to Start Marketing. Now What? (Series: Digital Marketing Tips fo...You're Ready to Start Marketing. Now What? (Series: Digital Marketing Tips fo...
You're Ready to Start Marketing. Now What? (Series: Digital Marketing Tips fo...Financial Poise
 

Semelhante a 2014 Marketing Planning Guide (20)

Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing P...
Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing P...Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing P...
Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing P...
 
The ultimate business growth masterclass
The ultimate business growth masterclassThe ultimate business growth masterclass
The ultimate business growth masterclass
 
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerCreating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
 
THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]
THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]
THE 5 KEYS TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE [INBOUND 2014]
 
How to Upscale Your Business
How to Upscale Your BusinessHow to Upscale Your Business
How to Upscale Your Business
 
Marketingplan
MarketingplanMarketingplan
Marketingplan
 
Accelerate sales onboarding
Accelerate sales onboardingAccelerate sales onboarding
Accelerate sales onboarding
 
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerCreating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
 
Successful Marketing Starts With A Strategy
Successful Marketing Starts With A StrategySuccessful Marketing Starts With A Strategy
Successful Marketing Starts With A Strategy
 
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales ManagerCreating Success as a New Sales Manager
Creating Success as a New Sales Manager
 
Module 3 business planning with benefit of hindsight
Module 3 business planning with benefit of hindsightModule 3 business planning with benefit of hindsight
Module 3 business planning with benefit of hindsight
 
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These TipsFind The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
 
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These TipsFind The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
Find The Journey To Network Marketing Success With These Tips
 
Should You Hire Us? Six Questions for Marketers
Should You Hire Us?  Six Questions for MarketersShould You Hire Us?  Six Questions for Marketers
Should You Hire Us? Six Questions for Marketers
 
Successful Marketing Starts with a Strategy
Successful Marketing Starts with a StrategySuccessful Marketing Starts with a Strategy
Successful Marketing Starts with a Strategy
 
The definitive guide to fast casual catering operations cater cult llc
The definitive guide to fast casual catering operations   cater cult llcThe definitive guide to fast casual catering operations   cater cult llc
The definitive guide to fast casual catering operations cater cult llc
 
Topic 4- Planning and Preparation .ppt
Topic 4- Planning and Preparation .pptTopic 4- Planning and Preparation .ppt
Topic 4- Planning and Preparation .ppt
 
New Rules Strategies 2015
New Rules Strategies 2015New Rules Strategies 2015
New Rules Strategies 2015
 
Amanda
AmandaAmanda
Amanda
 
You're Ready to Start Marketing. Now What? (Series: Digital Marketing Tips fo...
You're Ready to Start Marketing. Now What? (Series: Digital Marketing Tips fo...You're Ready to Start Marketing. Now What? (Series: Digital Marketing Tips fo...
You're Ready to Start Marketing. Now What? (Series: Digital Marketing Tips fo...
 

Mais de Heinz Marketing Inc

How To Build a Predictable Pipeline (B2B Marketing Expo Keynote Deck)
How To Build a Predictable Pipeline (B2B Marketing Expo Keynote Deck)How To Build a Predictable Pipeline (B2B Marketing Expo Keynote Deck)
How To Build a Predictable Pipeline (B2B Marketing Expo Keynote Deck)Heinz Marketing Inc
 
20 Proven Tactics to Increase Video Engagement & Conversion
20 Proven Tactics to Increase Video Engagement & Conversion20 Proven Tactics to Increase Video Engagement & Conversion
20 Proven Tactics to Increase Video Engagement & ConversionHeinz Marketing Inc
 
How Content Can Accelerate the Buying Journey & Shorten Sales Cycles
How Content Can Accelerate the Buying Journey & Shorten Sales CyclesHow Content Can Accelerate the Buying Journey & Shorten Sales Cycles
How Content Can Accelerate the Buying Journey & Shorten Sales CyclesHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Eight (surprising) ways to increase sales team morale and retention
Eight (surprising) ways to increase sales team morale and retentionEight (surprising) ways to increase sales team morale and retention
Eight (surprising) ways to increase sales team morale and retentionHeinz Marketing Inc
 
B2B Research: Marketing Automation Satisfaction Ratings & Perceptions
B2B Research: Marketing Automation Satisfaction Ratings & PerceptionsB2B Research: Marketing Automation Satisfaction Ratings & Perceptions
B2B Research: Marketing Automation Satisfaction Ratings & PerceptionsHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Mile Wide & An Inch Deep: Marketing Automation Perceptions (Research)
Mile Wide & An Inch Deep: Marketing Automation Perceptions (Research)Mile Wide & An Inch Deep: Marketing Automation Perceptions (Research)
Mile Wide & An Inch Deep: Marketing Automation Perceptions (Research)Heinz Marketing Inc
 
Revenue Operations Research & Best Practices
Revenue Operations Research & Best PracticesRevenue Operations Research & Best Practices
Revenue Operations Research & Best PracticesHeinz Marketing Inc
 
How to develop customer trust and commitment in a digital age
How to develop customer trust and commitment in a digital ageHow to develop customer trust and commitment in a digital age
How to develop customer trust and commitment in a digital ageHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Delivering a Predictable Pipeline: B2B Revenue Ops Success Framework
Delivering a Predictable Pipeline: B2B Revenue Ops Success FrameworkDelivering a Predictable Pipeline: B2B Revenue Ops Success Framework
Delivering a Predictable Pipeline: B2B Revenue Ops Success FrameworkHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Sales Content That Sells: A Proven Approach To Sales Enablement Success
Sales Content That Sells: A Proven Approach To Sales Enablement SuccessSales Content That Sells: A Proven Approach To Sales Enablement Success
Sales Content That Sells: A Proven Approach To Sales Enablement SuccessHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Heinz Marketing Predictable Pipeline Framework & Maturity Model
Heinz Marketing Predictable Pipeline Framework & Maturity ModelHeinz Marketing Predictable Pipeline Framework & Maturity Model
Heinz Marketing Predictable Pipeline Framework & Maturity ModelHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Building a Predictable Pipeline - Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit Deck
Building a Predictable Pipeline - Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit DeckBuilding a Predictable Pipeline - Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit Deck
Building a Predictable Pipeline - Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit DeckHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Predictable Pipeline Midyear Review
Predictable Pipeline Midyear ReviewPredictable Pipeline Midyear Review
Predictable Pipeline Midyear ReviewHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Budgeting for Marketing Performance: How to Save Time, Spend Wisely & Do More...
Budgeting for Marketing Performance: How to Save Time, Spend Wisely & Do More...Budgeting for Marketing Performance: How to Save Time, Spend Wisely & Do More...
Budgeting for Marketing Performance: How to Save Time, Spend Wisely & Do More...Heinz Marketing Inc
 
Content That Converts Drive ROI and Revenue Through 2018 and Beyond
Content That Converts Drive ROI and Revenue Through 2018 and BeyondContent That Converts Drive ROI and Revenue Through 2018 and Beyond
Content That Converts Drive ROI and Revenue Through 2018 and BeyondHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Buildings Don't Write Checks: A Predictable Pipeline Approach
Buildings Don't Write Checks: A Predictable Pipeline ApproachBuildings Don't Write Checks: A Predictable Pipeline Approach
Buildings Don't Write Checks: A Predictable Pipeline ApproachHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Buildings Don't Write Checks: Sales Pipeline & Demand Secrets for Professiona...
Buildings Don't Write Checks: Sales Pipeline & Demand Secrets for Professiona...Buildings Don't Write Checks: Sales Pipeline & Demand Secrets for Professiona...
Buildings Don't Write Checks: Sales Pipeline & Demand Secrets for Professiona...Heinz Marketing Inc
 
2018 Multichannel Marketing Effectiveness Report Findings
2018 Multichannel Marketing Effectiveness Report Findings2018 Multichannel Marketing Effectiveness Report Findings
2018 Multichannel Marketing Effectiveness Report FindingsHeinz Marketing Inc
 
Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve...
Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve...Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve...
Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve...Heinz Marketing Inc
 
The Advocate Effect: How internal & external advocates can accelerate deal ve...
The Advocate Effect: How internal & external advocates can accelerate deal ve...The Advocate Effect: How internal & external advocates can accelerate deal ve...
The Advocate Effect: How internal & external advocates can accelerate deal ve...Heinz Marketing Inc
 

Mais de Heinz Marketing Inc (20)

How To Build a Predictable Pipeline (B2B Marketing Expo Keynote Deck)
How To Build a Predictable Pipeline (B2B Marketing Expo Keynote Deck)How To Build a Predictable Pipeline (B2B Marketing Expo Keynote Deck)
How To Build a Predictable Pipeline (B2B Marketing Expo Keynote Deck)
 
20 Proven Tactics to Increase Video Engagement & Conversion
20 Proven Tactics to Increase Video Engagement & Conversion20 Proven Tactics to Increase Video Engagement & Conversion
20 Proven Tactics to Increase Video Engagement & Conversion
 
How Content Can Accelerate the Buying Journey & Shorten Sales Cycles
How Content Can Accelerate the Buying Journey & Shorten Sales CyclesHow Content Can Accelerate the Buying Journey & Shorten Sales Cycles
How Content Can Accelerate the Buying Journey & Shorten Sales Cycles
 
Eight (surprising) ways to increase sales team morale and retention
Eight (surprising) ways to increase sales team morale and retentionEight (surprising) ways to increase sales team morale and retention
Eight (surprising) ways to increase sales team morale and retention
 
B2B Research: Marketing Automation Satisfaction Ratings & Perceptions
B2B Research: Marketing Automation Satisfaction Ratings & PerceptionsB2B Research: Marketing Automation Satisfaction Ratings & Perceptions
B2B Research: Marketing Automation Satisfaction Ratings & Perceptions
 
Mile Wide & An Inch Deep: Marketing Automation Perceptions (Research)
Mile Wide & An Inch Deep: Marketing Automation Perceptions (Research)Mile Wide & An Inch Deep: Marketing Automation Perceptions (Research)
Mile Wide & An Inch Deep: Marketing Automation Perceptions (Research)
 
Revenue Operations Research & Best Practices
Revenue Operations Research & Best PracticesRevenue Operations Research & Best Practices
Revenue Operations Research & Best Practices
 
How to develop customer trust and commitment in a digital age
How to develop customer trust and commitment in a digital ageHow to develop customer trust and commitment in a digital age
How to develop customer trust and commitment in a digital age
 
Delivering a Predictable Pipeline: B2B Revenue Ops Success Framework
Delivering a Predictable Pipeline: B2B Revenue Ops Success FrameworkDelivering a Predictable Pipeline: B2B Revenue Ops Success Framework
Delivering a Predictable Pipeline: B2B Revenue Ops Success Framework
 
Sales Content That Sells: A Proven Approach To Sales Enablement Success
Sales Content That Sells: A Proven Approach To Sales Enablement SuccessSales Content That Sells: A Proven Approach To Sales Enablement Success
Sales Content That Sells: A Proven Approach To Sales Enablement Success
 
Heinz Marketing Predictable Pipeline Framework & Maturity Model
Heinz Marketing Predictable Pipeline Framework & Maturity ModelHeinz Marketing Predictable Pipeline Framework & Maturity Model
Heinz Marketing Predictable Pipeline Framework & Maturity Model
 
Building a Predictable Pipeline - Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit Deck
Building a Predictable Pipeline - Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit DeckBuilding a Predictable Pipeline - Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit Deck
Building a Predictable Pipeline - Zoominfo Growth Acceleration Summit Deck
 
Predictable Pipeline Midyear Review
Predictable Pipeline Midyear ReviewPredictable Pipeline Midyear Review
Predictable Pipeline Midyear Review
 
Budgeting for Marketing Performance: How to Save Time, Spend Wisely & Do More...
Budgeting for Marketing Performance: How to Save Time, Spend Wisely & Do More...Budgeting for Marketing Performance: How to Save Time, Spend Wisely & Do More...
Budgeting for Marketing Performance: How to Save Time, Spend Wisely & Do More...
 
Content That Converts Drive ROI and Revenue Through 2018 and Beyond
Content That Converts Drive ROI and Revenue Through 2018 and BeyondContent That Converts Drive ROI and Revenue Through 2018 and Beyond
Content That Converts Drive ROI and Revenue Through 2018 and Beyond
 
Buildings Don't Write Checks: A Predictable Pipeline Approach
Buildings Don't Write Checks: A Predictable Pipeline ApproachBuildings Don't Write Checks: A Predictable Pipeline Approach
Buildings Don't Write Checks: A Predictable Pipeline Approach
 
Buildings Don't Write Checks: Sales Pipeline & Demand Secrets for Professiona...
Buildings Don't Write Checks: Sales Pipeline & Demand Secrets for Professiona...Buildings Don't Write Checks: Sales Pipeline & Demand Secrets for Professiona...
Buildings Don't Write Checks: Sales Pipeline & Demand Secrets for Professiona...
 
2018 Multichannel Marketing Effectiveness Report Findings
2018 Multichannel Marketing Effectiveness Report Findings2018 Multichannel Marketing Effectiveness Report Findings
2018 Multichannel Marketing Effectiveness Report Findings
 
Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve...
Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve...Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve...
Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve...
 
The Advocate Effect: How internal & external advocates can accelerate deal ve...
The Advocate Effect: How internal & external advocates can accelerate deal ve...The Advocate Effect: How internal & external advocates can accelerate deal ve...
The Advocate Effect: How internal & external advocates can accelerate deal ve...
 

Último

Call Girls Pune Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Available
Call Girls Pune Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service AvailableCall Girls Pune Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Available
Call Girls Pune Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service AvailableDipal Arora
 
Lucknow 💋 Escorts in Lucknow - 450+ Call Girl Cash Payment 8923113531 Neha Th...
Lucknow 💋 Escorts in Lucknow - 450+ Call Girl Cash Payment 8923113531 Neha Th...Lucknow 💋 Escorts in Lucknow - 450+ Call Girl Cash Payment 8923113531 Neha Th...
Lucknow 💋 Escorts in Lucknow - 450+ Call Girl Cash Payment 8923113531 Neha Th...anilsa9823
 
Unlocking the Secrets of Affiliate Marketing.pdf
Unlocking the Secrets of Affiliate Marketing.pdfUnlocking the Secrets of Affiliate Marketing.pdf
Unlocking the Secrets of Affiliate Marketing.pdfOnline Income Engine
 
VIP Call Girl Jamshedpur Aashi 8250192130 Independent Escort Service Jamshedpur
VIP Call Girl Jamshedpur Aashi 8250192130 Independent Escort Service JamshedpurVIP Call Girl Jamshedpur Aashi 8250192130 Independent Escort Service Jamshedpur
VIP Call Girl Jamshedpur Aashi 8250192130 Independent Escort Service JamshedpurSuhani Kapoor
 
Value Proposition canvas- Customer needs and pains
Value Proposition canvas- Customer needs and painsValue Proposition canvas- Customer needs and pains
Value Proposition canvas- Customer needs and painsP&CO
 
VIP Kolkata Call Girl Howrah 👉 8250192130 Available With Room
VIP Kolkata Call Girl Howrah 👉 8250192130  Available With RoomVIP Kolkata Call Girl Howrah 👉 8250192130  Available With Room
VIP Kolkata Call Girl Howrah 👉 8250192130 Available With Roomdivyansh0kumar0
 
Best VIP Call Girls Noida Sector 40 Call Me: 8448380779
Best VIP Call Girls Noida Sector 40 Call Me: 8448380779Best VIP Call Girls Noida Sector 40 Call Me: 8448380779
Best VIP Call Girls Noida Sector 40 Call Me: 8448380779Delhi Call girls
 
Call Girls Navi Mumbai Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Avail...
Call Girls Navi Mumbai Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Avail...Call Girls Navi Mumbai Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Avail...
Call Girls Navi Mumbai Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Avail...Dipal Arora
 
0183760ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss00101011 (27).pdf
0183760ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss00101011 (27).pdf0183760ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss00101011 (27).pdf
0183760ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss00101011 (27).pdfRenandantas16
 
Call Girls In Panjim North Goa 9971646499 Genuine Service
Call Girls In Panjim North Goa 9971646499 Genuine ServiceCall Girls In Panjim North Goa 9971646499 Genuine Service
Call Girls In Panjim North Goa 9971646499 Genuine Serviceritikaroy0888
 
VIP Call Girls In Saharaganj ( Lucknow ) 🔝 8923113531 🔝 Cash Payment (COD) 👒
VIP Call Girls In Saharaganj ( Lucknow  ) 🔝 8923113531 🔝  Cash Payment (COD) 👒VIP Call Girls In Saharaganj ( Lucknow  ) 🔝 8923113531 🔝  Cash Payment (COD) 👒
VIP Call Girls In Saharaganj ( Lucknow ) 🔝 8923113531 🔝 Cash Payment (COD) 👒anilsa9823
 
Grateful 7 speech thanking everyone that has helped.pdf
Grateful 7 speech thanking everyone that has helped.pdfGrateful 7 speech thanking everyone that has helped.pdf
Grateful 7 speech thanking everyone that has helped.pdfPaul Menig
 
Pharma Works Profile of Karan Communications
Pharma Works Profile of Karan CommunicationsPharma Works Profile of Karan Communications
Pharma Works Profile of Karan Communicationskarancommunications
 
GD Birla and his contribution in management
GD Birla and his contribution in managementGD Birla and his contribution in management
GD Birla and his contribution in managementchhavia330
 
Mysore Call Girls 8617370543 WhatsApp Number 24x7 Best Services
Mysore Call Girls 8617370543 WhatsApp Number 24x7 Best ServicesMysore Call Girls 8617370543 WhatsApp Number 24x7 Best Services
Mysore Call Girls 8617370543 WhatsApp Number 24x7 Best ServicesDipal Arora
 
HONOR Veterans Event Keynote by Michael Hawkins
HONOR Veterans Event Keynote by Michael HawkinsHONOR Veterans Event Keynote by Michael Hawkins
HONOR Veterans Event Keynote by Michael HawkinsMichael W. Hawkins
 
Call Girls In DLf Gurgaon ➥99902@11544 ( Best price)100% Genuine Escort In 24...
Call Girls In DLf Gurgaon ➥99902@11544 ( Best price)100% Genuine Escort In 24...Call Girls In DLf Gurgaon ➥99902@11544 ( Best price)100% Genuine Escort In 24...
Call Girls In DLf Gurgaon ➥99902@11544 ( Best price)100% Genuine Escort In 24...lizamodels9
 
9599632723 Top Call Girls in Delhi at your Door Step Available 24x7 Delhi
9599632723 Top Call Girls in Delhi at your Door Step Available 24x7 Delhi9599632723 Top Call Girls in Delhi at your Door Step Available 24x7 Delhi
9599632723 Top Call Girls in Delhi at your Door Step Available 24x7 DelhiCall Girls in Delhi
 
Monthly Social Media Update April 2024 pptx.pptx
Monthly Social Media Update April 2024 pptx.pptxMonthly Social Media Update April 2024 pptx.pptx
Monthly Social Media Update April 2024 pptx.pptxAndy Lambert
 

Último (20)

Call Girls Pune Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Available
Call Girls Pune Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service AvailableCall Girls Pune Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Available
Call Girls Pune Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Available
 
Lucknow 💋 Escorts in Lucknow - 450+ Call Girl Cash Payment 8923113531 Neha Th...
Lucknow 💋 Escorts in Lucknow - 450+ Call Girl Cash Payment 8923113531 Neha Th...Lucknow 💋 Escorts in Lucknow - 450+ Call Girl Cash Payment 8923113531 Neha Th...
Lucknow 💋 Escorts in Lucknow - 450+ Call Girl Cash Payment 8923113531 Neha Th...
 
Unlocking the Secrets of Affiliate Marketing.pdf
Unlocking the Secrets of Affiliate Marketing.pdfUnlocking the Secrets of Affiliate Marketing.pdf
Unlocking the Secrets of Affiliate Marketing.pdf
 
VIP Call Girl Jamshedpur Aashi 8250192130 Independent Escort Service Jamshedpur
VIP Call Girl Jamshedpur Aashi 8250192130 Independent Escort Service JamshedpurVIP Call Girl Jamshedpur Aashi 8250192130 Independent Escort Service Jamshedpur
VIP Call Girl Jamshedpur Aashi 8250192130 Independent Escort Service Jamshedpur
 
Value Proposition canvas- Customer needs and pains
Value Proposition canvas- Customer needs and painsValue Proposition canvas- Customer needs and pains
Value Proposition canvas- Customer needs and pains
 
VIP Kolkata Call Girl Howrah 👉 8250192130 Available With Room
VIP Kolkata Call Girl Howrah 👉 8250192130  Available With RoomVIP Kolkata Call Girl Howrah 👉 8250192130  Available With Room
VIP Kolkata Call Girl Howrah 👉 8250192130 Available With Room
 
Best VIP Call Girls Noida Sector 40 Call Me: 8448380779
Best VIP Call Girls Noida Sector 40 Call Me: 8448380779Best VIP Call Girls Noida Sector 40 Call Me: 8448380779
Best VIP Call Girls Noida Sector 40 Call Me: 8448380779
 
Call Girls Navi Mumbai Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Avail...
Call Girls Navi Mumbai Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Avail...Call Girls Navi Mumbai Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Avail...
Call Girls Navi Mumbai Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Avail...
 
0183760ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss00101011 (27).pdf
0183760ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss00101011 (27).pdf0183760ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss00101011 (27).pdf
0183760ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss00101011 (27).pdf
 
Call Girls In Panjim North Goa 9971646499 Genuine Service
Call Girls In Panjim North Goa 9971646499 Genuine ServiceCall Girls In Panjim North Goa 9971646499 Genuine Service
Call Girls In Panjim North Goa 9971646499 Genuine Service
 
VVVIP Call Girls In Greater Kailash ➡️ Delhi ➡️ 9999965857 🚀 No Advance 24HRS...
VVVIP Call Girls In Greater Kailash ➡️ Delhi ➡️ 9999965857 🚀 No Advance 24HRS...VVVIP Call Girls In Greater Kailash ➡️ Delhi ➡️ 9999965857 🚀 No Advance 24HRS...
VVVIP Call Girls In Greater Kailash ➡️ Delhi ➡️ 9999965857 🚀 No Advance 24HRS...
 
VIP Call Girls In Saharaganj ( Lucknow ) 🔝 8923113531 🔝 Cash Payment (COD) 👒
VIP Call Girls In Saharaganj ( Lucknow  ) 🔝 8923113531 🔝  Cash Payment (COD) 👒VIP Call Girls In Saharaganj ( Lucknow  ) 🔝 8923113531 🔝  Cash Payment (COD) 👒
VIP Call Girls In Saharaganj ( Lucknow ) 🔝 8923113531 🔝 Cash Payment (COD) 👒
 
Grateful 7 speech thanking everyone that has helped.pdf
Grateful 7 speech thanking everyone that has helped.pdfGrateful 7 speech thanking everyone that has helped.pdf
Grateful 7 speech thanking everyone that has helped.pdf
 
Pharma Works Profile of Karan Communications
Pharma Works Profile of Karan CommunicationsPharma Works Profile of Karan Communications
Pharma Works Profile of Karan Communications
 
GD Birla and his contribution in management
GD Birla and his contribution in managementGD Birla and his contribution in management
GD Birla and his contribution in management
 
Mysore Call Girls 8617370543 WhatsApp Number 24x7 Best Services
Mysore Call Girls 8617370543 WhatsApp Number 24x7 Best ServicesMysore Call Girls 8617370543 WhatsApp Number 24x7 Best Services
Mysore Call Girls 8617370543 WhatsApp Number 24x7 Best Services
 
HONOR Veterans Event Keynote by Michael Hawkins
HONOR Veterans Event Keynote by Michael HawkinsHONOR Veterans Event Keynote by Michael Hawkins
HONOR Veterans Event Keynote by Michael Hawkins
 
Call Girls In DLf Gurgaon ➥99902@11544 ( Best price)100% Genuine Escort In 24...
Call Girls In DLf Gurgaon ➥99902@11544 ( Best price)100% Genuine Escort In 24...Call Girls In DLf Gurgaon ➥99902@11544 ( Best price)100% Genuine Escort In 24...
Call Girls In DLf Gurgaon ➥99902@11544 ( Best price)100% Genuine Escort In 24...
 
9599632723 Top Call Girls in Delhi at your Door Step Available 24x7 Delhi
9599632723 Top Call Girls in Delhi at your Door Step Available 24x7 Delhi9599632723 Top Call Girls in Delhi at your Door Step Available 24x7 Delhi
9599632723 Top Call Girls in Delhi at your Door Step Available 24x7 Delhi
 
Monthly Social Media Update April 2024 pptx.pptx
Monthly Social Media Update April 2024 pptx.pptxMonthly Social Media Update April 2024 pptx.pptx
Monthly Social Media Update April 2024 pptx.pptx
 

2014 Marketing Planning Guide

  • 1. 2014 Marketing Planning Guide It’s that time of year again! No, we’re not talking about presents under the tree or hot apple cider or snowball fights. We’re talking marketing budget, new resource planning, strategic marketing plans and more! We realize both end-of-year business planning as well as holiday preparations can both be stressful. We can’t really help you with your shopping, but we can offer a series of best practice guides and advice on how to plan for and hit the ground running on some focused, strategic sales and marketing initiatives to start the New Year right. Enjoy! First Things First: How To Get Organized And Strategically Plan For The Year Ahead 2 Six Critical Marketing Focus Areas To Ensure 2014 Success 2 Five Ways To Stay Focused, Get More Done And Be More Successful 2 Four “New Marketing” Skills You’d Better Learn Quick 3 Five Stages Of Effective Content Strategy Implementation 4 Productivity Tips For The End Of The Year 5 Ten Productive Ways To Work In The Last Days Of The Year 5 Forecasting Your Pipeline And Lead Management Building And Managing A Bigger Sales Pipeline How To Organize And Communicate With Channel Partners Lead Generation Modeling Made Simple Improve Sales Forecast Accuracy With These Seven Steps 7 7 8 9 9 Budgeting For Success 10 Six Marketing Focus Areas You’ll Want To Budget For In 2014 10 How To Write A Marketing Budget Your CFO Will Enthusiastically Support 11 Plan And Budget For Data Hygiene In 2014 12 Six Places To Cut Budget (Without Impacting Results) 14 Marketing Automation 15 Get Your Marketing Automation Initiative Back On Track For 2014 15
  • 2. F I RST T H ING S F IRST: H OW TO G E T O R GANIZ ED A N D S T R AT E GIC AL LY PL AN FOR TH E YEAR AHEAD Six Critical Marketing Focus Areas To Ensure 2014 Success Success in 2014—which includes developing the plans and resources required to execute—means simultaneously assessing the impact of current-year efforts while precisely projecting what you’ll need across the organization to accelerate success in the New Year. What skill sets do existing staff need to increase success in the coming year? We highly recommend that marketing organizations take advantage of time in late Q3 and early Q4 to get ahead of the 2014 budgeting and planning cycles—by both reviewing and improving the efficacy of current efforts, plus successfully planning, budgeting for and hitting the ground running on greater objectives next year. Where can it be improved—depth and breadth—and how can that be most efficiently accomplished? Think of it as a 2014 Readiness Review: part real-time postmortem on the year to-date, plus a functional review of what’s needed to hit 2014’s objectives. Which specific tools, applications and integrations are required both now and over the next several quarters? To do this, dedicate time with your managers and key marketing contributors and dig into the following: Process What systems are in place to support and automate execution? Which new processes can be introduced to improve efficiency, consistency and results with minimal cost? People Database Health How efficient is the current prospect database? Technology What is the optimal software stack for your marketing organization? Sales And Marketing Collaboration What processes, rhythms and other collaborations need to be in place to improve lead conversion and sales success? What specific strategies and tactics can be adopted to improve real-time results? Content, Social And Search Strategy What is the optimal mix and collaboration between content, social and search specific to your customer and market opportunity? Which roles are required to execute on the strategy and objectives moving forward? Five Ways To Stay Focused, Get More Done And Be More Successful I recently asked several business and executive coaches what they do for their clients. I wanted to know more about their process, their approach, and generally how they create value for the people and organizations they engage. Although each had a slightly different take, it all boiled down to one thing—focus. Each successful coach produced results for their clients by helping them get the most out of themselves and their teams, in every case by focusing time, talents, resources and values. What I heard generally fell into five distinct areas of focus: 1. Focus On What’s Important It’s easy to feel successful in a day that’s busy. Filled with putting out fires. Getting things done. But often, we don’t get the right things done. By stepping back and focusing on what’s most important (not necessarily what’s in front of us, or what’s easiest, or what’s screaming the loudest), we make far better forward progress (and often in less time). 2. Focus On What You’re Good At Know your strengths, and lean into them. Compare that to what your organization needs, and ensure that others are doing everything else for you. Yes, there’s a cost to 2
  • 3. delegating, but the results will far outweigh the investment when you have more time for your strengths, and others are accelerating your cause by leveraging theirs. your values? Getting back to the basics of your business can oftentimes be the simplest and most effective way to accelerate growth and productivity again. 3. Focus On Fewer Things 5. Focus On What You Want Most of us take on far too much. Even if those are all things that are both important and speak to our strengths, there’s not enough time in the day to get it all done. Make the hard trade-offs for what’s going to drive the most value, and make the hard decisions to put other projects on the back burner. It’s amazing to me how many people let the day and its myriad influences direct not just day-to-day, but larger directional decisions that affect personal and professional success. When’s the last time you took 30 minutes to reflect on what’s most important to you? What will make you happiest and fulfilled? How do you map those priorities back to your life and your business? 4. Focus On The Basics What’s most important to your business? What’s fundamental? What got you where you are now? What are Four “New Marketing” Skills You’d Better Learn Quick Of course, achieving one or many of these areas of focus is far easier said than done. If you have the discipline to address and stick to these on your own, you’re in the minority. For the rest of us, finding a coach (or even just a mentor) to keep us accountable and help unlock the full potential of our focus can reap significant dividends personally and professionally. Marketing today, especially for B2B, has changed significantly. And whether you’ve been out of it for awhile, or want to make sure your skill set keeps up with what’s required for success now and moving forward, here are four skills I recommend you learn quickly. 1. Funnel Math And Revenue Perfromance Management The mindset you want, even as a marketer, is that your job depends on finding and closing business. It’s not enough to manage the trade show, send the direct mail, or even flood more leads to the sales team. You need to understand the economics of the full sales funnel—how many opportunities are required to generate a closed sale, and how many leads are required to find a qualified, short-term opportunity (for starters). Next, knowing that today’s sales process is completely nonlinear, you need to understand the fundamentals of lead nurturing and two-way lead and opportunity movement, including the metrics behind these dynamics for your unique market and industry. Here’s a relatively simple mathematical model for understanding the lead-opportunity-sale math for your company. And for revenue performance management, I recommend reading up on best practices from Marketo, Eloqua, Hubspot and others whose business focuses on revenue-centric marketing. 2. Social Lead Generation And Buying Signal Mining If you’re worried about followers and likes, you’re doing it wrong. Focus instead on engagement, conversations, and driving an active, two-way discussion about the issues, needs and pain points your target customers care about most. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Your prospects are sharing their needs and buying signals on the social web every day. Your responsibility is to listen, look proactively for mentions of those keywords and buying signals, and become an information concierge to drive topof-pipeline lead generation for your organization. Technology and process drives value here, not media buying and budget. The social web is the greatest source of ongoing free leads ever seen. Are you taking advantage? Here’s a best practice guide on social sales best practices, as well as a full (and free) resource on successful social selling. 3. SEO And Inbound Marketing Fundamentals The rules change (literally) daily, but it’s important to understand the fundamentals of what drives natural traffic, and how to create content that drives perpetual inbound interest for your products and services. If you understand (and read) nothing else, understand that the most important drivers of successful SEO and inbound marketing are 1) great content, and 2) inbound links that demonstrate others are validating your great content. 3
  • 4. It’s worth reading content from Hubspot, SEOMoz, Content Marketing Institute and others who keep up on the daily changes of the technical aspects of SEO, but educate and enable “the rest of us” on how to cut through the clutter and drive value, traffic and conversions. This isn’t about buying a marketing automation system. It’s about having a strategy that addresses how your customers buy, and enabling processes and tactics throughout your organization that address and empower your prospects where they are. 4. Lead Management/Nurture Workflow Development No matter how tightly you manage your sales process, your prospects will decide (independent of you) when they’re ready to buy. So your lead management and nurture strategy had better reflect that. Even if you aren’t using a marketing automation solution, your marketing strategy should reflect the reality that the majority of your prospects don’t convert (or move forward) right away, and that most of them need “nurturing” in advance of being ready to buy. This isn’t to say that the “old” marketing focus areas and strategies aren’t relevant or don’t work. Because many are and do. But if you don’t have a working knowledge of the above four disciplines, it’ll be difficult to be a working marketer moving forward. Five Stages Of Effective Content Strategy Implementations This installment outlines five key structural stages of effective content marketing implementation. Like most marketing programs, the vast majority of your time will be spent in execution mode. But without proper planning, your execution has far less of a chance of having the effect you desire. What’s more, ensuring that your plan covers each of the key elements or stages of the program is essential to maximizing success. and conversion? Think through these and other structural questions before beginning to execute or even outline the key points to be made. Different formats and structures lend themselves to different angles and approaches to content. The better you’re able to match your objective and audience to the right format, the more productive the final product will be in delivering your desired outcome. 1. Objective With the first two steps above in place, you’re ready to execute. Set a clear production schedule with stages of review for key parties. Depending on the nature of the content program and product, consider including a customer review of the content before it’s finished as well, to make sure it resonates and “works” not just with internal reviewers but a potential peer of your intended end audience. Just as in product development, it’s easy to make adjustments, cut corners or otherwise change the original plan to get a final product out the door. But as you execute, ensure that you aren’t compromising the objectives and original needs of the content and program overall. Seems basic and obvious, but the nuances of your specific objective or need for a particular piece of content (or content program) may change how you execute. For example, is your content intended to drive awareness and discovery, or something more specific and deeper within the sales process? Knowing what you need the content to do (i.e. what you want the audience to think and act on after consuming your content) will drive clarity and precision through the rest of your program execution. Defining your objective up front will also ensure all internal constituents (especially between sales and marketing) are on the same page and agree on what you’re trying to accomplish. 2. Asset Architecture Once you have the objective established (which also inherently directs who you are targeting and with what purpose), you can effectively choose the format and structure of the content itself. For example, what media should you use? If written, is it a blog post, a white paper, a transcript of a previous event, or something else? How and where should it be published and accessible? Will you require registration? How long will it be, and what will you request of (or offer) the recipient after consuming the content? How will you measure consumption, impact 3. Execution 4. Measurement Because you included measurement in your inventory of asset architecture requirements, you won’t be scrambling during or after execution to figure out if your plan worked. With measurement structures in place, start reviewing the immediate and long-term impact of the content program. Does the output or result match your expectations and objectives? If you started with a limited test, have you seen enough to expand deeper into the market, to more of your opt-in list, or across the rest of your customer base? 4
  • 5. 5. Continuous Improvement As you measure consumption and impact trends, look for ways to make your results even better. What are consumers of your content telling you explicitly and implicitly about its value? What feedback are you getting about how to make it more impactful? What have you learned from this particular content program that can impact previously-launched programs, but also make future programs more successful right out of the gate? Plenty of content programs get launched and quickly forgotten about. And if they continue to drive inbound traffic and/or leads, that may be OK. But there are often best practices discovered in later programs that could be applied to previous, now-passive programs to make them perform even better for you in the background. Productivity Tips For The End Of The Year Planning Your Holiday Vacation 4. Have An Escalation Path (Just In Case) With the holiday season, you may be wanting to take time off. You may want to truly go dark, no email, phone calls, or meetings. To do that successfully takes planning, as does doing the same for a great vacation or even a long weekend. If something truly does catch on fire (which can happen), make sure your staff (or at least an assistant or trusted number two) can still get ahold of you if necessary. Again, last resort, but important. If you want to truly disappear, here are a few steps I recommend. 5. Keep Capturing Notes And Ideas 1. Clear Your Schedule Even though you’re intentionally adding distance between yourself and active work, you’ll still have ideas. Better to capture those on paper, in Evernote or somewhere else you can save them for processing and/or execution later. Cancel as much as you can, and move the rest. Don’t leave yourself with any scheduled reasons to re-engage. It’s a slippery slope. 2. Make It Clear To Colleagues And Clients Don’t tell people you’ll check in every once in awhile. Let people know you’ll really be gone. Make it clear who they can contact while you’re gone. 3. Create A Really Good And Clear Out-Of-Office Auto-Reply For Your Email Again, be clear that you’re not going to respond anytime soon, and give contact information for others that can take care of them in the meantime. If you must, leave a cell phone number for emergencies but make it clear that something had better be on fire. 6. Have A Re-Entry Plan (And Give Yourself Time And Patience To Adjust Back) Before you leave, set up your first day back. Leave plenty of time open to catch up on email, re-orient yourself to active work, and re-connect with your closest colleagues to get caught up on what’s most important. I recommend blocking an entire day to do this. Relatively simple list, but rarely executed well. You may not need every step for a three-day weekend, but a couple can still give you the time away you need to come back refreshed and productive. Ten Ways To Be Productive In The Last Days Of The Year It only happens once a year, that magical week between Christmas and New Year. And for those who continue working in between holidays, it’s definitely slower. More colleagues, customers and partners are out of the office, more recurring meetings are cancelled, and we consequently have more lightly-scheduled days than normal. How you use that time is completely up to you. It would be easy to reactively handle email, take a long lunch, and linger too long in your RSS reader. But we both know, if you’ve chosen to stay in the office this week, there are better things to do. Here are at least ten things you can do in the quieter days leading up to New Year’s Day to help you accelerate through the curve and come back January 2nd ready to take on the world. 5
  • 6. 1. Finish A Big Project 6. Networking Something (or several things) on your plate have been sitting there for longer than expected. You haven’t had time to get them done, or haven’t taken the time to break that project down to the individual steps it will take to get it off your desk. Now’s the time to do just that. Pick a project (or two, no more than that), and set an aggressive goal to get it done in the next couple days. Shut your door, turn off email, and focus. If you pick the right project, you’ll be far better off with this done and producing results for you next week. Who are the people and organizations you’ve lost touch with over the past year? Make a list, and focus time this week to get back in touch. You don’t need a reason—just a quick “reflecting on the past year and thought of you” kind of message will work great. If your contact is out this week, they’ll still appreciate seeing your email or voicemail when they return. And if they are in this week, you might just get a faster response and reconnection. 2. Plan A Big Project Every one of us has a list of projects that sound great, but have no next steps attached to them. They’re typically complex projects that just need a little planning, need some immediate next steps and deadlines. Even the most complex projects have a very simple next step to get them rolling. Figure out what those next steps are for you—today, tomorrow and next week even. Get the ball rolling this week and you’re far more likely to get the whole project done faster. 3. Get Organized This is a great time to finally implement a more successful organizational or productivity system for yourself. Especially if you’re decided you like the approach of Getting Things Done, for example, but haven’t yet had time to implement it, block the next couple days and make it happen. This may feel like “preparing to work” vs. getting actual work done, but I guarantee the rest of your week (and your New Year) will be far more productive if you invest the time to do this now. 4. Clean Stacks on your desk, random magazines on your bookshelves, clutter that distracts you from what needs to get done. You just hope there’s nothing in the middle of that stack that needed to be completed last week. Take the time this week to clean it all up, get it organized, and extra credit for creating and/or implementing an organizational system or strategy that keeps this clutter from happening again. 5. Improve Your Work Environment Is your workspace set up in the most effective way? Should your desk face a different direction, do you need a whiteboard on the wall, a printer within arm’s reach, a headset for your phone? This is a great time to consider how you might more effectively work, and ensure you have the set-up and tools to do it. This includes software, Web tools, subscriptions, whatever you need. 7. Inbox Zero Even if you don’t implement a proactive email inbox management strategy right away, work this week to declutter the one informational interface you likely use more often than others throughout the day and workweek. Take the time to sort, file or respond to as many relevant emails as possible. Delete the rest. Don’t be afraid to declare “email bankruptcy” and start from scratch, especially for that backlog of email newsletters you’ve been meaning to get to (but, let’s face it, you just won’t as they keep piling up). 8. Spend An Afternoon (Or Day) Alone With your Thoughts Give yourself the gift of your own mini-retreat. Take with you a handful of things you’ve been meaning to brainstorm or think about. It could be your professional goals for the new year, it could be a new project or opportunity that simply needs your creative thinking to get started. Find a quiet coffee shop (without wifi) where you can ensconce yourself and just think for awhile. 9. Dream Where do you really want to go? What would you really rather be doing not just this time next year, but in 3–5 years? If you never have time to think that far ahead, this is your time. This could be related to a product or brand you help manage, it could be related to the business you own or run, or it could be related to your career or personal life. Think big, think beyond what you can comprehend or plan for immediately. Worry about implementation and next steps later, but document your ideas and thought process so you can sort, prioritize and consider what happens next. 10. Recharge Focus too much of the next few days on the list above and you’ll likely get back to the office on January 2nd without the energy you’ll need to face the onrush of work, opportunities, fire drills and other distractions that will inevitably come. Take an afternoon and take in two matinee movies. Stay home and catch up on whatever’s on your DVR. Take that long lunch. Just do these things intentionally, and be ready for the big year ahead. 6
  • 7. F O RE C AS T IN G YOU R PIPEL IN E AN D LEAD MANAGEM ENT Building And Managing A Bigger Sales Pipeline Why Do You Need A Pipeline In The First Place? Most leads aren’t sales-ready: Whether you’re sending out campaigns or fielding inbound calls, as little as 15 percent of your leads are going to be both qualified and sales-ready. The majority of your leads may be qualified, but they’re not ready to be worked into an active buying cycle. You need a pipeline that can triage and communicate with these prospects accordingly. You Can’t Focus On Everything You simply cannot keep everything in your head. Notebooks and post-its on your computer monitor aren’t going to help either. You need a system to manage lead volume, status, next steps, reminders, etc. for you. Your time, right now, is best spent on the best prospects, ready to take the next step. Let your pipeline manage the rest of the work for you. The Right Message At The Right Time With every stage of the buying process, your prospects will want (and accept) different things from you. This includes type of information, frequency of contact, and channel(s) used to communicate. By using a pipeline with defined stages, most of this thinking is already done for you. You simply execute. Maximum Sales, Minimum Work An effective sales pipeline strategy will help you get the maximum sales and conversion from your prospects, while doing as little work as possible. It’s not about being lazy or taking shortcuts, it’s about working smarter and respecting your buyers. And it works. It’s A Pipeline, But Your Prospects Shouldn’t Know That The last thing you want to do is make your prospects feel like they’re in some kind of sales funnel. Don’t treat them like a number, and don’t force them to go faster than they’re willing or ready to go. An effective sales pipeline will nurture prospects on their time with occasional offers to let them self-select into a more active communication and buying cycle DO NOT SELL Seriously, especially in the early stages when prospects aren’t ready to buy. Instead—add value, educate, connect and empower. Become a trusted adviser for your prospects, someone they can trust, someone they know won’t sell them something they don’t need, or that won’t benefit them. The more you build value, the more your prospects will look forward to hearing from you. Automate As Much As You Can This means reminders for next steps, the next steps themselves (based on activity triggers), content templates you can quickly customize for individual prospects, etc. Custom communication is important, but if you understand your customer base, there’s plenty to templatize and automate to save you significant time and hassle as you execute. Differentiate From Competitors As you build value and communicate with prospects all along the sales pipeline, also build differentiation and preference for you and your products/services. Don’t slam competitors, and in most cases don’t even address them directly. But make it clear how you’re special, how you’re different. Differentiation and preference will lead to action and decision in your favor. Key Strategies For Effective Pipeline Execution Use a lead management system: At minimum, make sure you have a CRM system that integrates contacts, accounts and sales opportunities in one place. Salesforce.com does a great job of this, but may be too much for small businesses. For smaller or early-stage organizations, I’d also recommend PipelineDeals or Highrise. You Clearly Define Lead And Opportunity Stages Define not only the stages your prospects go through (from the very beginning, nurture stages through to the sale), but also define your communication strategy at each stag— what do they get, how often, in what format, etc. Defining this up front will make decisions and actions both faster and more successful as you execute (especially if you have a team where common definitions are critical). Focus On Great Content Be remarkable. Be educational. Make yourself requiredreading for your prospects. Teach them how to do their jobs better, how to live their lives better. Great content, especially in today’s information-overload world, can be a powerful differentiator and attractor of new business to you. You Make It Easy For Prospects To Move Forward Give your prospects ample chances to “raise their hand” to move forward more actively into the buying stages. Create 7
  • 8. offers that inherently mean they’re interested in moving forward—price estimator tools, free trials, buying guides, etc. Integrate these offers into your other content, putting the prospect in control of taking the next step. If you’re done your work up front—building value, differentiation, and preference—they’ll come to you to buy far more often. How To Organize And Communicate With Channel Partners Every business has partners, including a large number that are either current or prospective channels of new business. But not every partner is created equal. 3. Minimal production and/or minimally successful lead conversion Some are extremely important to your business, others aren’t as much but are nonetheless proactive referral sources. The combination of both scores then dictates the depth and frequency with which you might want to communicate with that partner. And these activities can be grouped together with partners that garner the same score. And there are multiple shades of grey in between. 4. Dark Most businesses we work with struggle to organize those partners in the first place, let alone Partner Ranking and Campaign Matrix determine and operationalize campaigns to keep those partners active and productive. 1. Proactive Importance (Quality Of Network/Introductions) 1. Elite channel to target prospects 2. Good/average channel to target prospects 3. Occasional match with target prospects 4. Minimal match with target prospects Productivity (Quantity/ Regularity Of Network/Introductions) 1. Proactive, proven regular communication and introductions 2. Reactive, responds when asked, handful of introductions 4. Dark Quarterly call Gist Twitter 1. Elite Importance To help (or at least to start), consider the partner matrix highlighted below. It allows you to effectively “score” current and prospective partners along two primary factors: Importance and Productivity. I use a four-point scale for each factor, with the following general definitions: Productivity 2. Reactive 3. Minimal Monthly meeting/call Bi-monthly call Gist Gist Twitter Twitter Monthly meetings Joint pipeline Gist Twitter Monthly calls Gist Twitter Quarterly call Gist Quarterly call 2. Good Bi-monthly meetings Joint pipeline Gist Twitter Quarterly meetings Gist Quarterly call Email only Email only Email only Email only Email only Email only 3. Occasional 4. Minimal All partners get periodic curated content email All partners eligible for one-off, contextual emails Manage Twitter & Linkedin updates via HootSuite Daily "New & Notable" emails from Gist Legend Importance (quality of network/introductions) 1. Elite channel to target prospects 2. Good/average channel to target prospects 3. Occasional match with target prospects 4. Minimal match with target prospects Productivity (quantity/regularity of network/introductions) 1. Proactive, proven regular communication and introductions 2. Reactive, responds when asked, handful of introductions 3. Minimal production and/or minimally successful lead conversion 4. Dark 8
  • 9. How you decide to execute and act with each partner type in the matrix is up to you, and likely dependent on your business, industry and how you like to operate. But I bet scoring and organizing your partners in the first place will be a big first step, and likely help drive natural direction on what to do next. Lead Generation Modeling Made Simple Too many marketers don’t model how many leads they actually need to hit their organization’s sales goal. Those who do model often overdo it. • How many leads you need But you’ve got to do the math. Most of the time it boils down to answering just two questions: • How much those sales will cost via a paid lead generation campaign • How many sales will result (and with what bookings output) • How many opportunities are required to get a sale? • How many leads do you need to create a new opportunity? Let’s leave out sales cycle length for now, to keep things simple. Let’s just look at leads-to-opportunities-to-sales. And with that model, if the inputs are isolated and the lead/opportunity/sales figures are calculated with simple formulas, you can make adjustments to the inputs to see what the sales and/or revenue impact would be if you: • Generated more leads To build the model, you need a handful of inputs: • Increased the average sales price • Average sales price of a closed deal • Increased the percent of leads you can close • Percent of leads that turn into a new sales opportunity • Increased the percent of opportunities you can close • Percent of new sales opportunities that convert into a sale Start simple, but build this model and share it with your team. Discuss it with sales management. Get on the same page, and execute with more confidence that what you’re doing is leading directly to sales success. • Average cost per lead If you don’t know these figures explicitly, come up with a reasonable but somewhat conservative guess. With this input, you can build a model telling you: Improve Sales Forecast Accuracy With These Seven Steps A consistent weak point across sales organizations is their sales forecast. Yes, it’s difficult to predict which sales will close. But your forecast drives numerous decisions across the organization. And when forecasts are wrong, the implications go well beyond commission checks. To improve the quality and accuracy of your sales forecasts, starting immediately, I recommend the following seven steps. 1. Use Consistent Definitions If your entire sales team is working from a consistent set of definitions (i.e. what is a good lead, what is a qualified opportunity, etc.), then it’s easier to trust the data you have. If you look historically at your conversion rates—overall, by industry, by geography, by rep—it’s easier to predict conversion rates and new sales from a future pipeline of opportunities. The entire sales and marketing team needs to understand these definitions, and sales management needs to enforce their usage on a regular basis. 2. Know Your Sales Cycle Length If you get a good lead today, when will it likely close? This week? This quarter? This year? Many inaccurate sales forecasts get this one piece of data wrong, meaning your conversion rates are accurate but don’t take place in the window of time you assumed. You eventually get the revenue, but not at the time your organization was 9
  • 10. expecting it. By building in a typical (or even conservative) sales cycle length into your model, you’re making it easier to map expected sales to the week, month, quarter or year in which they’re likely to land. 3. Read Market Changes (And Their Impact On Closing Behavior) The model you build last year might not work this year. If market conditions are weak, sales cycle length may have spread out. If budgets are tighter, an earlier decision maker may need permission from the CFO to take action now. These changes can wreak havoc on your sales forecast if you don’t anticipate, identify and adjust both behavior and expectations as a result. 4. Require A “Compelling Event” To Become An Opportunity It’s the right contact at the right company in an ideal market. They can surely benefit from your product or service. But do they want it? Is it a priority? Is there something internally that is driving urgency and prioritization of what you’re selling? Requiring a defined “compelling event” for new opportunities may reduce the volume of opportunities created, but it also increases the likelihood that those deals will close, which in turn makes your forecast far more accurate. 5. Conduct Regular Deal Reviews Sit down with your sales reps and walk through their pipelines. Not just names and numbers, but context. Ask for the back story, why they’re qualified, what the compelling event internally is that’s driving action. This isn’t about not trusting your reps. It’s about establishing a culture of accountability, learning and collaboration. Make these deal reviews about helping your reps brainstorm new ways of accelerating deals, establishing greater urgency with latent opportunities, and creating greater income opportunities for them personally. In the process, you’ll have a more intimate idea of the quality and accuracy of the pipeline. 6. Make Updating The Forecast Fast, Easy And Mandatory For Your Reps Opportunities change after they’ve entered the pipeline. Close dates move out. Or up. Deals that were on a fast track suddenly slow down, and perhaps should be moved back to an earlier stage. Most reps don’t want to make these changes to opportunities in their CRM system, as that may imply weakness in their own pipelines and selling skills. Instead, make it easy and mandatory to make these changes in real-time. Make it clear to the sales organization that these changes will help management improve selling conditions, and address real-time changes with the resources needed to close more business. 7. Reward Accuracy And Honesty Very few sales organizations reward pipeline performance and behavior. They compensate based on closed business, but not based on how close reps come to their forecasts. Create incentives for your reps to accurately forecast their expected sales. Foster an environment where honest changes to forecasts, even if the news isn’t good, is encouraged and rewarded. Would you really reward a rep for reducing their sales forecast? Absolutely. Imagine the alternative, that they led you to believe their output would be much higher when they knew they couldn’t deliver.   B U D GE T IN G F OR SU CCESS Six Marketing Focus Areas You’ll Want To Budget For In 2014 Last week we covered a handful of marketing budget line items that you might consider cutting without a significant impact to your performance and results. But if you aren’t simultaneously looking for the means to improve your results through new efforts, channels and strategies, you might be caught flat-footed when what used to work starts to decline, and you’re playing catch up without the money to fund it. From what we’re seeing deliver solid ROI for leading B2B marketing organizations today, as well as the focus areas we believe will continue to deliver high-leverage results in 2014, here are six strategies we recommend you consider for investment in your new budget: 1. Advocate Marketing Platform And Resources Think about the various constituent groups that could be more proactively delivering your message, offers and expanded word of mouth for your brand, products and services. Your most loyal, passionate customers just need the right nudges to help you spread the word. I’d encourage you to check out what Influitive is doing to create Advocate Hubs that are accelerating the mobilization of their happy customers, partners, employees and more. 10
  • 11. 2. Content Strategy Content (and the tools/technology that organize and distribute it) has already become the most important asset marketers will work with in 2014 (more important than media). If you don’t have a content strategy, and the resources to execute it, you’ll spend way too much money replicating its replacement value to drive qualified leads to your sales team. Think carefully about the content you need in 2014, and budget the resources to create and capitalize on it. 3. Marketing Automation Support Too many companies buy their marketing automation platform and assume that’s enough. World-class lead management programs require four components to succeed: 1) strategy, 2) platform, 3) people and 4) content. Those last two are sorely underfunded, and are the primary reasons why many marketing automation efforts are less than successful. Think carefully about the people and content resources you need to fulfill the full ROI and pipeline growth potential of your marketing automation platform. 4. Influencer Engagement The funding you need here may very well be just a single person or a percentage of someone on your PR or marcomm team. But it’s on this list because, if you don’t dedicate the resources for it, you’ll never get the work done. Most companies engage the press and analysts, but few go the extra mile to engage the bloggers, Twitter users and other “social” influencers that, together, may have even greater reach and sway over your target market. These individuals are often easier to engage and build relationship with as well vs. crusty reporters who get pitched all the time. 5. Sales Enablement Tools Forward-thinking sales reps are already doing this for themselves. They’re using tools such as OFunnel, Newsle and others to filter the noise and find for themselves buying signals from their existing networks. They’re using ToutApp to get real-time alerts when prospects engage with their follow-up emails. But marketing groups are increasingly playing a proactive role in providing a set of sales enablement tools that help their sales counterparts increase productivity, efficiency and output. 6. Social Lead Generation The budget required here is almost exclusively for technology, but the output is pure lead generation. With social, the media is free. But it’s like the best library of buying signals in the world with all the books on the floor. Tools such as Socedo, SocialBro, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, GaggleAMP and Papershare can help you mine the social web for qualified leads at a fraction of the cost of other paid media. At minimum, budget for a series of tests of these and other platforms in early 2014 to validate their leadproducing potential. How To Write A Marketing Budget Your CFO Will Enthusiastically Support Ah, the fall. Changing weather and leaves. College football. Baseball’s postseason. And annual budget time! If you’re on a calendar fiscal year, you know what I’m talking about (and probably wince every time you hear that word). For many companies, annual budgeting is a painful process of back-and-forths, arguments about priorities and endless spreadsheet revisions I can’t promise these ideas will make all of that go away, but if you want a less painful process this year, my best piece of advice is to build a budget that your CFO will understand and agree with from the get-go. Here are seven specific best practices to get there. 1. Ask For Organizational Goals Up Front I can’t tell you how many times I see marketing leaders develop a plan and budget without any context for the business or division’s overall goals. What are your revenue targets next year? How about net-new sales, margin, customer retention and other key business metrics? How can you write a marketing plan and budget without knowing what everything is building towards? This step alone will help you align your priorities with those of your CFO and others. 2. Get Sales Buy-In First Before taking your plan and budget to the CFO, run it by your sales counterparts. Make sure they understand how vital your plan is to helping them hit their number next year as well. If you can go back to the CFO together, saying jointly that these efforts are required to hit and exceed sales goals, you’re in far better shape to justify and keep what you’re asking for. 11
  • 12. 3. Cut Unsuccessful Line Items From Last Year (And Explain Why) If you keep everything from last year by default, it’s far too easy to assume that you’re just doing a “land grab” for more money. Even if you had a great year, I’m sure there were initiatives that didn’t pass muster or deliver the results you had hoped. As a way of making your plan both more efficient and credible, cut any items that were unsuccessful, highlight that in your plan and clarify why. This will also serve to demonstrate the rationale you likely used to justify any additions to the plan for the coming year. 4. Organize By Business Objective (Instead Of Marketing Function) Most marketing budgets are organized in a way that lacks clarity for the CFO. It may be easier for you and your team to manage input and areas by sorting them by your org chart or primary functions, but it’s far easier for the CFO and other members of the management team to justify your budget if its organized by business objective. This won’t work for everything, but at minimum you should be able to sort certain initiatives by sales, customer retention, etc. 5. Project Results Wherever Possible (Revenue, Not Just Spend) Most marketing budgets focus entirely on costs. And even if you couch everything in terms of the overall business objectives they support, it’s far better to project precisely what results you expect from any new budget requests. Better yet, create a mini ROI calculator inside your budget so that any negative impact of cuts are clear. 6. Make Future Expenditures Contingent On Early Success It’s tempting to ask for everything up front. But in today’s fast moving markets, it’s also difficult to accurately predict what you’ll really need in the second half of next year. Rather than propose a firm budget for the full calendar year, identify certain line items that are contingency on early success. This can be defined as success in early marketing objectives or success in overall business performance. But either way, this makes your “core” budget request more manageable and demonstrates that the bigger number won’t come into play unless it’s justified by performance. 7. Tie Staff Bonuses To Sales Performance, Not Marketing Tactic Completion I’m not talking about commissions. Most marketing teams have bonuses built into their budgets already. But in most cases, they get paid if the marketing objectives or tasks are completed no matter how sales performs. This year, consider tying marketing bonuses to broader company performance. At minimum, tie your demand generation team’s bonus to sales opportunity growth and/or closed business. Tie the retention team’s bonus to churn reduction or growth of lifetime value. Plan And Budget For Data Hygiene In 2014 Data management and data hygiene are probably the most overlooked components to a successful marketing automation initiative, right after content. I recently learned of a large enterprise with marketing automation that was blacklisted by ISPs. The blacklist status effectively shuts down all outbound marketing efforts right as they are heading into Q4. This happened because of poor data management and data hygiene. It can happen to any organization with marketing automation. When it happens, heads roll because it impacts customer engagement and revenue. The audit process for getting off ISP blacklists isn’t easy. Can you imagine being responsible and for this with your organization? Building a plan with a budget can prevent these nightmare situations. Here Are Eye-Opening Stats On B2B Data Quality According to Sirius Decisions: • 25 percent of the average B2B database is inaccurate • 60 percent of companies surveyed had an overall data health scale of “unreliable” • 80 percent of companies have “risky” phone contact records • NetProspex reports in their 2013 State of Marketing Data • 64 percent of companies surveyed have “unreliable” data and 34 percent have “questionable” data • 61 percent of companies surveyed said 35 percent of their records were “incomplete” How do CMOs and Demand Generation Directors avoid getting their companies blacklisted? How do Modern Marketers ensure over 90 percent email deliverability month 12
  • 13. after month? How do companies maintain CAN-SPAM Act compliance? What sources of data are used to build, maintain, and append the database? How do marketing automation teams keep out the spam traps and keep the good contact records up to date? These are mission-critical questions that need a plan. Operating without a plan puts marketing operations, reputation, and revenue at risk! Here Are Steps To Consider As The Starting Point For Effective Management Establish A Data Management Strategy Do you have a data strategy? Chances are you don’t. Build the strategy and business case that a budget will support. A marketing automation platform needs regular health checks and ongoing maintenance. Define the standards for complete records and manage how the database grows and where records come from. Define the minimum standards for deliverability rates. Establish requirements for data providers. Marketing Automation and CRM platforms need regular updates, health checks, de-dupes, and data appends. A database will have a natural decay of contact data because people change jobs, companies go out of business, and mergers happen. All of these events directly impact the effectiveness of a database. Keeping the database healthy is strategic to maintaining a strong revenue pipeline. Check Your Database For A Baseline Of Health Get a database health scan before implementing the strategy or randomly buying tools or hiring consultants. A good health check should identify spam traps and determine record completeness at a minimum. Don’t forget to check phone records as well. Find a reputable organization like Unlock The Inbox, Reachforce or NetProspex to conduct a health scan for a baseline assessment. Budget For Data Hygiene in 2014 Imagine the situation where in July 2014 your email deliverability tanks to 80 percent and pipeline opportunities decline. Not fun, right? Data hygiene is an investment that builds marketing automation effectiveness and drives revenue! Investments are typically needed to for tools and services regularly clean out spam traps, update and append data records, and perform detailed de-duplication. CRM and marketing automation platforms have some basic tools for de-duplication and there are often free utilities or connectors that can serve as temporary solutions. Finding service providers and platforms that can enhance the free tools are a prudent step, especially when starting a clean-up process. Maintain Regular Maintenance And Updates A database is like a car. Regular maintenance keeps the machine running smoothly and efficiently with the best performance. Here are just some of the items to monitor and manage: Deliverability—anything below 90 percent is a red flag. Why are messages not delivered? Opportunity pipeline growth—Are conversions and opportunities decreasing? Many factors go into this but even the best content and campaigns will fall flat without a healthy database. Reputable data sources and partners—We all get the spam emails from the offshore list brokers that offer segmented B2B contacts for pennies on the dollar. Don’t. Do. It. Chances are cheap lists are loaded with questionable contacts scraped from websites by offshore sweatshops. Monitor the soft email bounces—are they increasing over time? Why are soft bounces happening? Monitor sender scores using services like ReturnPath. This is especially critical for marketing organizations using dedicated IP addresses for outbound marketing. The higher a sender score, the better the reputation which helps ISP’s monitor and allow emails from trusted sources. Prevent duplicate records—Use de-duplication platforms like RingLead whenever importing new data, or when performing regular updates. This keeps records clean and can merge duplicate records in the CRM or marketing automation platform. Append and update records—Keep records up to date with a data provider to ensure the proper taxonomy, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and syntax are correct. Segment old records—Don’t delete old or outdated records completely. Place old records in a quarantine or sandbox that is kept away from marketing and sales operations. Even after de-duplication and data append, old records may be needed for an audit or opportunity research. Contact cadence and governance—Who can send outbound communications, when, how often, and who receives the messages? Set a clear policy that the entire organization understands. CAN SPAM—Does your marketing operations team understand CAN SPAM requirements for the US? What about Canadian and EU requirements? Ignorance is not the same as innocence when trouble arises. The US Federal Trade Commission offers these guidelines for compliance. Plan Wisely Data management and hygiene is strategic and helps keep marketing automation and demand generation running strong. Putting off the health checks and maintenance can directly impact revenue opportunities, customer engagements, and reputations. 13
  • 14. Six Places To Cut Budget (Without Impacting Results) Whether your budget from this year is being challenged for next year, you need to make room for new initiatives, or if you’re simply (and smartly) looking for ways to cut lessefficient initiatives out of your marketing strategy in 2014 without significantly impacting results, here are six places you might want to explore. They maintained the focus and science behind their content strategy and actually improved social sharing and pass-along, all while eliminating a significant chunk of their content marketing budget. Third-party writers are great, but only as a supplement to the ideas and direct contributions of people already inside and around the business. Each of these, if executed well, can clearly still generate material results. But I’ve found they can also be the source of some of the most excessive waste in B2B marketing organizations of various sizes and industries. 4. Trade Shows 1. PR It continues to surprise me how many companies assume by default that they need a PR agency. I know some amazing PR professionals and agencies, but there are too many others that will take a ton of your money and not deliver much in return. Furthermore, there’s a difference between having a PR strategy and hiring a PR agency. That plus PR has changed significantly from the days when the press was your primary conduit to get news, commentary and other information to your prospects to build awareness, interest and preference. Many companies find they can put more focus on their content and social strategies to get the same awareness, traffic and inbound lead impact without the glut of press releases and PR fees. 2. Paid Search Buying clicks from Google can still help you make a ton of money, but most companies are spending far more than they need to. They manage their paid search programs in aggregate, and aren’t optimizing their programs down to individual keywords and keyword groups, plus measuring impact of clicks through to the sale, to understand which clicks are profitable and which are not. You may find, for example, that some of your least expensive keywords aren’t converting into business at all. So if you’re managing your spend based on cost per lead, and getting excited about that 50 percent reduction in CPL you’ve achieved so far in 2013, you may still be losing and wasting money. 3. Blog Contributors The new CEO of a company in Seattle immediately shut off all budget to third-party writers for their blog. He challenged his marketing team to find 10 people, anywhere in and around the business, who could commit to writing one blog post a month. And they did it, within four days. A couple people in marketing, a couple developers, a board member, the CEO himself, etc. You don’t need to be there just to be there. And your trade show strategy isn’t the booth plan, either. You can work an event, conference or trade show without being there. You can also send a couple people to set up meetings or work the hallways, get a ton of business done, and without locking people into booth duty and tens of thousands of dollars. Events are channels. A booth is one of many ways to leverage that channel. If your target customer is aggregating together somewhere, take advantage. But there are countless ways to do it more cost effectively than the traditional booth set-up. 5. Focus Groups Customer, prospect and market feedback is critical. And sometimes focus groups can help get you that feedback. But the social Web is a daily, real-time feedback mechanism. So are your most loyal customers. Why not invest in an advocate marketing program, set up with a platform such as Influitive, to not only manage and drive greater participation from your customers but actively seek more of their feedback? Or, check out what ProdThink is doing. They’re offering a real-time platform for capturing product interest, triaging product priorities, and offering a dynamic environment for anyone to play with and evaluate new features. Does it replace the focus group? No. But it can deliver some of the same results faster and at a fraction of the cost. 6. Recruiting Fees The more narrow your criteria, the more important recruiters can be. And lord knows finding the right person can make a huge difference, and justify the recruiter’s fees many times over. But if you’re not actively using LinkedIn to find candidates, you’re missing a huge opportunity to leverage your existing network to ferret out viable candidates. Job postings require applicants to respond. But in a tight market, your best candidates may not be looking. Filter your search based on seniority, role, skill sets and more. Then ask your connections to make introductions where needed. You’ll be surprised how many top candidates you’ll find in less than 15–20 minutes. 14
  • 15.   MA R K E T IN G AUTOMATION Get Your Marketing Automation Initiative Back On Track For 2014 Marketing automation initiatives have tremendous potential. However many companies under perform after just a few months of platform usage and there are many reasons for the letdown. As we approach 2014 now is the time to plan for getting the initiative back on track. Here Are Common Causes For A Marketing Automation Initiative Falling Short Of Expectations 1. No defined demand generation strategy. 2. Weak leadership and missing executive sponsorship. 3. Overselling how quickly marketing automation will deliver results, and missing what the results will be. 4. Failure to correctly integrate marketing automation with CRM. 5. Limited focus on training internal resources to build internal operating experience. 6. Using marketing automation as an overpowered email blast engine with no nurturing, scoring, or inbound marketing configuration. 7. Failure to measure metrics that matter, and effectively communicate results. 8. Complete lack of a content marketing strategy for any campaign efforts. 9. Not holding the marketing automation vendor accountable for successful start-up and ongoing support. Get Your Marketing Automation Initiative Back On Track With These Important Steps 1. Define The demand Generation Strategy And Objectives First What are the revenue goals for 2014? What is the overall plan to meet those goals? How will demand generation map to major events throughout the year? What 2. 2B Marketing Involves Marketing To People B People are emotional and sometimes follow seemingly irrational paths through the famous Buyer’s Journey. Use marketing automation to support a process that provides the right information, at the right time, to the right people. 3. Process Design Marketing Automation is a process enabler that supports a bigger strategy. Marketing automation is not a strategy in itself. Build the strategy with the desired outcomes. The process should support the strategy. This is where the definitions of leads and opportunities come into play. 4. ocus On The Metrics That Matter F What is the required Marketing contribution for leads for the upcoming year? How many Marketing Qualified Leads flow into Opportunities and Closed Sales? Focus on the metrics that matter. Don’t send your CEO the email report on email open rates and click through rates. That data is meaningless if you can’t track contributions to revenue, the sales funnel, and overall leads delivered to sales. 5. Gap Analysis Evaluate the gaps where your org falls short with demand gen and marketing automation. Look at everything with the Process, Platform, People and Content. Plan how to fill the gaps in order to support the demand generation strategy. 6. eadership—Quit Being The Tail On The Dog L Too often a demand generation strategy is left to a manager level marketing resource with limited support. The people in these situations react to situations instead of operating with a plan. Make sure your people have the leadership to work with Sales, communicate the results, and stay on track with the demand generation strategy. 7. eople—Invest In Your Most Important Resource P Marketing automation gives the impression with the name alone that marketing can be automated. Don’t even go there and don’t let Sales or other CxO’s believe that for a minute. Marketing automation is hard and requires an ongoing effort of continually building knowledge and skills on the technology, understanding how to engage customers, developing content, and building processes. People need training to keep initiatives running efficiently and effectively over the course of the year. 8. old Your Marketing Automation Vendor H Accountable. Time and again I hear from a marketing VP or a marketing operations manager that their marketing automation vendor has left implementations and onboarding incomplete. The vendor’s customer success manager has too many accounts and they only contact each customer once a month, if that. And too often clients get the suggestion “have you checked our blog/ 15
  • 16. knowledgebase/outdated support portal?” This is unacceptable. Your marketing automation vendor should proactively work with you provide you with the plan to lead towards your success and self-sufficiency. To be fair, blaming your marketing automation vendor for all that ails your demand generation is unacceptable as well. 9. atabase Health—Get Your House In Order D 2014 will be the year database health becomes a strategic imperative for marketing automation. I have heard of several enterprise organizations with marketing automation that have been blacklisted by ISP’s for poor email practices resulting from dirty database data. Reputation and revenue are at stake with a dirty database. This is no longer 2002 when a cluttered database is acceptable. Plan for data hygiene in 2014 or lose your job! 10. Content—Wake Up! No more excuses in 2014 for a lack of content. Content fuels how you engage with customers through any channel and especially with marketing automation. Without content, campaigns don’t have any story to tell. Without content, you’re dead in the water with any demand generation effort. Just Do it! Don’t be that marketing team that uses marketing automation as an overpowered email blaster in 2014. Now is the time to build and execute a demand generation strategy the right way with marketing automation. How are you planning to evolve and improve your marketing operations in 2014? 16
  • 17. More Information About Us About Matt Heinz Matt Heinz is the Founder and President of Heinz Marketing Inc. Matt brings more than 12 years of marketing, business development and sales experience from a variety of organizations, vertical industries and company sizes. His career has focused on delivering measurable results for his employers and clients in the way of greater sales, revenue growth, product success and customer loyalty. About Heinz Marketing Heinz Marketing is a Seattle marketing agency focused on sales acceleration. Heinz Marketing helps clients achieve sustained sales success by growing revenue from existing customers and cost effectively identifying and winning new customers. Contact Heinz Marketing Heinz Marketing Inc. 8201 164th Ave NE, Suite 200 Redmond, WA 98052 877.291.0006 www.heinzmarketing.com acceleration@heinzmarketing.com Learn More About Heinz Marketing Interested in learning more creative ways to make the most of your marketing?: Request your FREE 10-minute brainstorm at www.10minutebrainstorm.com Join our newsletter: www.heinzmarketinginsights.com Check out our blog: www.mattonmarketingblog.com Follow Matt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/heinzmarketing 8201 164th Ave. NE, Suite 200 Redmond WA 98052 Ph. 877.291.0006 www.heinzmarketing.com