Marketing Dollars to Surge Online in 2005
Over the past several years, I’ve noticed an interesting change in the annual budgeting process among many of our technology clients. In the late ‘90s, the standard process involved pre-budget planning in October, management review and adjustments in November, and distribution of approved budgets by late December. This process helped the marketing team get off the ground quickly in early January. However, as the economy has slowed, many technology companies have delayed the start of the budgeting process until late December to account for end-of-year revenue figures. What we’re seeing now is that the range of planning, review, and approval phases is compressed into a very hectic late December/early January cycle. In fact, you’re probably in the midst of finalizing your budgets right now.
We recently came across an insightful study—sponsored by BitPipe, Inc., TechTarget, and Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey—on 2005 IT Marketing Trends. This survey of 371 technology marketing professionals reflected a mix of people working for technology vendors and those in advertising or marketing agencies. In this issue of Focus Forward , we’ll highlight key findings from this survey that we believe are of value to our readers.
This issue addresses the following topics:
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What Are Marketing Managers’ Top Priorities?
According to the 2005 IT Marketing Trends Study Results, 66% of participants indicated that their budgets would increase in 2005, while approximately 30% anticipated flat or lower budgets from the prior year. Interestingly enough, technology marketers have put lead generation on the top of their list. Lead generation is always a priority in any marketing organization, and this year is certainly no exception. The study indicates that nearly 2/3 of technology companies expect to spend more money on lead generation initiatives in 2005 than in 2004.
These results are consistent with our own experience. Many of our technology clients have indicated that although their pipelines are fairly healthy, business is taking far longer to close than in past years, hence the need to add more leads to the top of the funnel in order to increase the chance of hitting their revenue targets.
Diving in a bit deeper to the allocation of lead generation funds, results were telling. Respondents to the survey indicated that spending would rise in all categories of lead generation. More specifically, professionals anticipate double-digit spending increases in 2005 with white papers, webcasts, online newsletter advertising, promotion of product literature, search optimization, and blogs. Why these areas in particular?
If you’re a regular reader of Focus Forward , you’re familiar with our opinion about the value of white papers. White papers pick up where traditional brochures leave off, giving prospects the details that will help them understand not just what your technology does, but also how it works with their existing systems and data. For many technology evaluators, white papers leave the hype behind by discussing more factual information.
We’ve also seen a big increase in webcast use among our clients. By promoting your technology product or service through a webcast, your sales, marketing, or technical team can deliver a virtual presentation to any prospect without incurring costs associated with one-on-one time. And, if you archive the webcast, attendees can view the webcast anytime, any place.
How Is the Mix of Online and Traditional Programs Changing?
From 2004 to 2005, the average marketing professional will be spending more on online programs than traditional print or telemarketing efforts. 60% of participants indicated that spending on online sales lead-generation programs would increase in 2005, with only 4% indicating a drop in that area. When asked about media, participants planned slight reductions in investments in print advertising and other “offline” activities, such as direct mail and telemarketing, effectively devoting equal funding to online and offline.
When asked about the importance of particular areas of spending to drive online lead generation, over 85% indicated that white papers and case studies were important. In a market where prospects are moving with more caution, a real-world case study gives potential customers a chance to identify with an actual customer in a brief problem/solution/results format. A well-crafted case study generally includes a summary of the results achieved by the customer using your technology or service; a detailed explanation of their particular organizational, business, and technology challenges; and, often, a numbers-driven total cost of ownership (TCO) or return on investment (ROI) assessment. A companion white paper can support case study claims by providing details of the technology or service, such as product architecture, service delivery milestones, and specifications.
Over 71% of participants indicated that webcasts and product literature were also important to their online lead generation efforts. From our experience with technology firms, we’re seeing a noticeable increase in the use of webcasts to drive leads. One of the ways we’ve helped dozens of clients is in repurposing materials created for the webcast, namely the presentation slides and transcripts of the presentation itself. The result is a reference document that summarizes the foremost themes and messages of the presentation, which can be used as part of a follow-up email when pursuing webcast registrants and/or attendees. Many TechTarget customers create reference documents based on webcasts. These IT Briefings also help generate leads and drive sales.
How Can Marketing Managers Get the Most from Limited Budgets?
Regardless of what your budget looks like, I’m sure you’re always interested in hearing how to get more done with less. I hope sharing the 2005 IT Marketing Trends Study Results with you has provided a timely reality check to help you compare your plans with those of other technology marketing professionals.
Perhaps your company’s “next big thing” isn’t quite ready, so you need to drive revenue with older technology. To help drive online and traditional lead generation efforts, you might consider the value of repurposing—taking existing product literature, white papers, case studies, and presentation material and repositioning it for different market segments. It’s often faster, easier, and more cost-effective to convert raw but accurate material into a new marketing piece than to start from scratch.
Online newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with clients and prospects. (That’s certainly true for Focus Forward!) Marketers who may be looking to cut lead generation and customer retention costs can increase prospect and client “touches” through a weekly, monthly, or even quarterly publication. A number of cost-effective services exist to ease layout and publication, such as Roving Software’s Constant Contact service and IMakeNews. Cost-conscious marketing professionals can write short article summaries that point to existing website content, announce the availability of new products and promotions, and showcase thought leadership with executive and guest interviews.
Summary
According to the Marketing Trends Study, marketing professionals are investing more this year in online lead generation than ever before. White papers, case studies, webcasts, online newsletters, and promotional materials are the most significant areas for investing marketing dollars, since slow-moving prospects are eager for proof points and backup when making recommendations to their management team. While marketers are shifting their investments from offline promotions toward online, the data show that people are still deploying a mix of traditional print, telemarketing, and online programs to achieve their goals.
Resources
Learn More
Regardless of the size of your marketing budget, you’ll want to be sure you’re getting the most out of every dollar. At Tim Rosa Associates, we’ve been helping technology marketing professionals write, edit, and repurpose marketing materials of all types, including all of the pieces mentioned in this article. We offer full-service print and online document production services as well.
You can learn more about our capabilities at www.timrosaassociates.com/L1_services.html. As you finalize your marketing budget for 2005, let us help you identify the best opportunities to drive leads and support your business. We will work with you to understand your particular needs and deliver what you need—on time and on budget. Let us know if you’d like to see samples of our work, or if you’d like to talk with one of our clients.
Thanks for reading,
Tim Rosa
Founder
Copyright © 2005 Tim Rosa Associates, LLC. All rights reserved. |
