Winning over digital natives who are looking for the right service provider is all about working smarter, not harder. We know how to help you stay ahead of the curve and thrive amidst the competition. We take you through the trends and tactics we think are critical to winning in B2B Telco.

1. 6 B2B
Telco Marketing
Trends

2. Less than 10% of Telco
marketers believe they are
highly advanced when it comes
to being more:
• data-driven
• customer-responsive
• digitally adaptive
Trends For Evolving Telcos
2
10%

3. That Can Be Applied To Your Marketing Today
Six approaches that fit neatly into the traditional planning framework
01
02
03
04
Creative
2. Blockbusters
3. Touchpoint Consistency
Distribution
4. Hyper-targeting
5. Brand Investing
Audience
1. Thought Leadership
Measurement
6. Cost per Connection

4. The True Value of
Thought Leadership
1

5. The B2B Buying Process Is Especially Emotional
B2B marketing and B2C marketing are fundamentally different
Jon Miller
CEO and cofounder of Engagio,
previously cofounder of Marketo
“It’s not a big deal if you buy
the wrong can of soda.”
Don Draper
Creative Director at Sterling Cooper,
fictional character on Mad Men
“Nobody ever got fired for
buying IBM.”

6. …believe TL increases trust
83%
Business
Decision Makers
81%
C-Suite
Executives
…believe TL increases trust
49%
B2B Buyers Trust Thought Leaders
B2B marketers who “define the buying vision” earn trust
B2B Marketers B2B Buyers
Edelman + LinkedIn Study: How Thought Leadership Impacts B2B Demand Generation

7. B2B Buyers RFP Thought Leaders
What B2B buyers “RFP” is thought leadership
…believe TL
wins more RFPs
17%
…believe TL
wins more RFPs
63%
Business
Decision Makers
64%
C-Suite
Executives
B2B Marketers B2B Buyers
Edelman + LinkedIn Study: How Thought Leadership Impacts B2B Demand Generation

8. B2B Buyers Pay Premiums to Thought Leaders
Thought leadership wins both market share and premium pricing
…helps me charge
premium pricing
10%
…I am willing to pay
premium pricing
49%
Business
Decision Makers
47%
C-Suite
Executives
B2B Marketers B2B Buyers
Edelman + LinkedIn Study: How Thought Leadership Impacts B2B Demand Generation

9. But B2B Buyers Aren’t Getting What They Need
Marketers haven’t identified a repeatable approach
What percent of the time do you get
value from thought leadership?
44%
Edelman + LinkedIn Study: How Thought Leadership Impacts B2B Demand Generation
B2B Buyers

10. “In most cases, business customers do
not relate Telcos and ISPs with B2B
solution providers.
The only way a Telco or ISP can make a
mark in the B2B space is to position
themselves as a thought leader, or trusted
advisor, through a robust content
marketing strategy framework.”
10
Recommendation:
Invest In Thought Leadership
of BDMs say
TL increases their trust
in an organization
82%
- B2Bento.com

11. The Repeat Profitability
of Blockbusters
2

12. Most Marketers Imitate the Newspaper Model
But real-time journalism is a difficult business

13. Instead, Imitate Disney’s Franchise Formula
Tell (i) fewer, (ii) older, and (iii) merchandisable stories

14. Use Disney’s “Total Merchandising” Approach
Monetize the same IP across different formats and channels

15. The Franchise Formula Works For Telco Too
In B2B, we sell expertise, not entertainment

16. MQLNO YES REVENUESALESNURTURE
NO
BLOCKBUSTER
B2B Franchises Win by Being “Always Relevant”
The art of saying the same thing in 50 to 100 different ways

17. We’ve Got a Playbook: “Blockbuster Marketing”
Covering audience, creative, distribution + measurement

18. The Need for
Touchpoint Consistency
3

19. Almost No Advertising Gets Remembered
There’s simply too much supply: Consumers see 5,000+ ads per day

20. Brand Memory Requires Pattern Recognition
Mathematically, brand = consistency x frequency x scale x time

21. Touchpoint Consistency Builds Brand Memory
Manage brand pattern amid a Cambrian explosion of channels

22. The End of
Hyper-targeting
4

23. Brands Are Overly Obsessed With Targeting
Worry less about “zero waste” and worry more about environment

24. The Problem: Over-Targeting Excludes Buyers
Marketers are starting to wake up to this expensive truth

25. The Solution for B2B Is “Relevant Reach”
Reach the current and *future* buying committee
CIO
Junior
IT Decision Makers
Extended Buying
Committee
2.7
Years

26. Relax Your Reach To Persuade More Buyers
Start reaching the entire buying committee today
TARGETED
BUYERB R O A D N I C H E
B2C B2B

27. Brands tend to spend where they can
hyper-target buyers. But when your
audience scope becomes too narrow, you
actually begin excluding potential buyers.
Hyper-targeting can drive up
costs, including:
 Cost per impression (CPMs)
 Cost per click (CPCs)
 Cost per lead (CPLs)
…ultimately limiting reach and sales.
At 10+ employee companies,
half of buyers are junior.
27
50%
Recommendation:
Invest In Lifetime Customer Value

28. The Rules of
Brand Investing
5

29. #1: Practice the “60/40 Rule”
Brands need to balance long- and short-term objectives
“Investment in long-term brand and
trust building, combined with short-term
brand activations to reap the sales
benefits of those investments”
60/40 RULE

30. #2: Plan for the “10:1 Rule”
Even Star Wars spends aggressively on paid media – so should you

31. #3: Optimize for the “80/20 Rule”
Don’t treat all content equally – invest in winners

32. The Economic Case for
Connection Density
6

33. Everyone Is “Counting” the Wrong Metrics
Current industry metrics (CTR, CPC) do not correlate with brand value
Not everything that counts can be counted,
and not everything that can be counted counts.
Albert Einstein

34. Cutting-Edge Measurement Connects to the Offline World
Things like “connection density” do correlate with brand value
8.2%
5.1%
4.8%
3.9%
3.5%
Most-Connected Metro Regions
2
3
4
Least-Connected Metro Regions
More Connections, More Job Growth
(Average Job Growth, 2010-2014)
*Based on index of connectedness. 2014 employment based on first nine months of year.
Data: LinkedIn, Bureau of Labor Statistics, South Mountain Economics LLC

35. Content Helps to “Persuade” Connections
Getting “relevant reach” supports alignment of sales and marketing
16%
40%
Non-Nurtured Prospects Prospects Exposed To Content
+150%

36. 36
For Telcos’ marketing efforts to be
effective, it’s crucial to uncover a more
sophisticated form of measurement that
better identifies purchase intent.
Telcos might benefit from a new metric,
connection density (CD), which
measures how connected certain
groups of professionals are.
• Use social selling to build
trusted relationships
• Tap employees’ networks
• Don’t forget about influencers
Recommendation:
Invest In People Metrics
3
1. Use social selling to build
trusted relationships
2. Tap employees’ networks
3. Don’t forget about influencers
Approaches

37. Great.
So, How Can
I Take Advantage
of These Trends Tomorrow?

38. 1 Thought leadership is what sells
2 Structure your thought leadership into “blockbusters”
3 Use your “blockbusters” to create touchpoint consistency

39. 4 Reach your entire audience – junior and senior
5 Invest according to the 60/40, 10:1, and 80/20 rules
6 Value the “connections” created through content

40. Q&A