For the Experiential Marketer...

As an Event Marketing professional I highly recommend Event Marketer Magazine, the Event Marketer website (www.eventmarketer.com) and other Red 7 Media publications (i.e. BizBash... a whole NEW world of prospects) to learn more about the heavy-hitters in this field.

For their top 100 Event Marketing Agencies of 2008 visit:

http://directory.eventmarketer.com/agencyitlist/home

I also recommend checking out those agencies that specialize in branded entertainment and sponsorship activation:

http://directory.eventmarketer.com/agencyitlist/results/Sponsorship+activation+-+execution

Finally, for a thorough Event Marketing Agency list visit:

http://directory.eventmarketer.com/cat/Agencies

Cancel the Blamestorming Session: 3 Tips to Marketing / Sales Alignment

Historically, the relationship between marketing and sales has been (to put it politely) problematic, with lots of finger-pointing, and lots of valuable sales leads falling through the gaps between the two functions. But in an age of cautious spending, no company can afford to have sales leads disappear because of poor internal processes. To pull through the downturn successfully, you need sales and marketing teams that work together seamlessly and effectively… you need sales and marketing alignment.

And while sales may once have been the alpha in a not-so-happy-marriage, today the tables have turned. In the digital era, B2B marketing is not just responsible for getting names into the top of the funnel. They must also build relationships with those contacts, nurture them over time, provide guidance and information at every stage, and bring them to the point where they are qualified opportunities ready to convert.

Let’s cancel this week’s blamestorming session…
Here are 3 tips to promote effective sales and marketing alignment:

1. Score Your Leads Collaboratively

Effective lead scoring is essential to ensuring that only well-qualified leads are handed over to sales. The focus should be on bringing marketing and sales teams together to agree on the definition that will be used to score leads at each stage in the funnel. Establishing this together will avoid finger-pointing later, and will enable you to develop appropriate content for leads at every stage.

Together, the teams should decide on the criteria for scoring potential buyers all the way from a basic name entering the top of the funnel, through engaged party, prospect, lead, and finally opportunity. Lead scoring will consider factors such as the prospect’s interaction with your website and social media profiles, the amount and type of content viewed, shared and downloaded, information given in registration forms, and the results of any direct mail, events or other activities.

More importantly, don’t forget to score for negative behaviors, too. Activities like unsubscribing from emails or negative social media comments are signs that a prospect no longer wants to engage. Again, these definitions need to be agreed upon between both teams.

2. Stop Valuable Leads From Falling Through the Cracks

Once you have decided on how to define and score activities during the complete sales funnel, you will also need to set the ground rules for when a lead should be handed over to sales. Handing over only highly-qualified leads means Sales focuses all of its efforts on leads that are ready to convert, resulting in increased revenue and a better B2B marketing ROI.

But what if the weeks or months pass and the lead doesn’t move on to the next stage? That’s when many leads tend to fall into a limbo where neither marketing nor sales feels responsible for them. With budgets tight, marketing has understandably wanted to focus on getting more sales leads into the funnel, and on pursuing the ones that show a greater propensity to buy. There simply hasn’t been time or money to lavish attention on stalled leads that may never become customers.

But now, technological advances have made it possible to nurture leads over the long term cost-effectively, by keeping in regular automated contact and providing useful content based on what you already know about the lead.

But lead nurturing can’t be conducted independently by sales. There needs to be regular two-way communication between the functions, so that sales knows what activity the lead has undertaken and what messages and content have already been communicated to them. There also needs to be a smooth process for sales to hand back leads that have failed to convert, so they can be put back into the funnel for further nurturing.

3. Use Metrics to Show What’s Worked

One of the biggest challenges for any marketing team is to demonstrate how marketing spend is driving revenue for the business. Done properly, regular lead scoring and comprehensive lead nurturing deliver ample data that demonstrate how leads have been progressed through to conversion.

You still need to choose the right metrics. To truly demonstrate marketing’s value, you need to be measuring things like marketing program performance, impact on revenue and profit per customer.

Key Takeaway

Marketers, avoid a shotgun wedding by creating a long-term, healthy and happy relationship with sales.  Strive to understand their needs like they understand the customer.  Rely on them for the great information they bring from the field.  Work together to define your ideal lead.  That information will inform all of your marketing activities.  The rest is doing your due diligence when it comes to getting the job done.  While your role may be getting those leads into the funnel, it’s also about keeping that funnel clear of debris.


By Jennifer Pricci

The Recession and Student Spending Trends

Marketing managers who target the 18-25 year old demographic, have you altered the way you reach college students?

Student spending today is basically Generation Y spending.

Born between 1977 and 1994, Generation Y comprises today’s high school and college student markets. The large size of this generation (71 million) makes them a profitable market. One that, as a marketer, you can’t afford to miss.

Student spending differs by whether the student is in high school or college.

Today’s high school students... have more money to spend than any teens to date, 51 percent more than 1995 teenagers.

Together they spend an estimated $187 billion a year on:

• clothing
• wireless tech gadgets
• alcoholic beverages
• tobacco
• eating out
• personal appearance
• fun

While still in high school, most students earn close to $100 per week. Plus some have their own credit cards or access to their parents’ cards.

Almost all high school students have their own computers and are online. Any business wanting to reach them must have a well-designed Web site.

Today’s college students... spend more than $100 billion of their own money each year and influence many family purchases.

They have money to spend. More than half of today’s full-time college students work.

They also spend on credit. More than 90 percent of those 21 and older use credit cards. Their average credit card debt is $3,000, and 10 percent owe more than $7,000. They do pay their credit card debts, just a little slower than older generations.

College students buy over the internet, but first they comparison shop on an average of three Web sites.

Together high school and college students have a tremendous effect on the economy.

So Marketers… Target Generation Y!

They like to shop, with the men liking shoping more than men in prior generations.

But they are “notoriously fickle,” demanding the latest trends in record time.

They are immune to hard sell advertisements. They are brand and fashion-conscious, but won’t buy if clerks “get in their face” trying to sell them. The hard sell doesn’t work with them.

They prefer brands with a core identity based on core values. They won’t buy a product just because it’s in the mall. It’s more important to them that a product is recommended by their peers. Word of mouth is the best method of marketing to them.

Today’s students don’t like the status quo and are immune to established brands. They like appeals that reflect their lifestyles more than their outward appearance.

They respond best to humorous and emotional advertising. They like advertisements that show other people like them in real-life situations. They also like innovative music and advertising that centers on their lifestyles.

Marketers Rank B:B Challenges

What are the greatest challenges that B2B marketers are facing? From generating high-quality leads and a high volume of leads to generating public relations buzz, see which challenges topped the list.

Today's Most Significant Challenges for

B2B Marketers to Overcome

The call from the sales force is not "Give us more leads" – it’s "Give us better leads." As you can see in the chart, marketing teams are aware of this issue and are responding to the challenge.

Depending on your lead generation process, lead quality may be the result of either the original state of the lead or of a nurturing process to determine if and when the lead is sales-ready. The latter case – a nurturing process – also addresses the second most significant challenge shown in the chart above: marketing to a lengthening sales cycle.

A strategic nurturing process not only identifies when a lead is sales-ready, but can pinpoint at which stage of the buying cycle the prospect is in, to forecast timely opportunities.

When the quality of a lead is dependent on its original state, it usually means that all but the most obviously disqualified leads are handed off to the sales force as they are generated. Surprisingly, this practice is still very common in B2B marketing.



By Jennifer Pricci

What to do first when you get laid off?

The top seven steps are: exit gracefully; secure whatever additional pay and benefits you can; apply for unemployment; get health coverage if possible; get real about your expenses; roll over your 401(k); and start your search. 

1. Exit gracefully.
   
   Your old boss might become the link to a new job and at the very least can be a great reference by providing a letter of recommendation.
2. Secure whatever you can.
   
   It depends on your level in the company, but try for an extension of your salary, health benefits or life insurance benefits; a positive letter of recommendation from your supervisor, use of your office for a a period to search for another position or use of an outplacement firm; even your laptop or other equipment that will help you get a new job. (If you get severance, take advantage of the health benefits – get physicals, dental checkups, fill prescriptions.)
3. Apply for unemployment immediately.
   
   Typically, you can still collect unemployment even if you receive a severance, and if you take a part-time job while you are looking for a new position, you may be eligible for partial benefits. Regular benefits are paid for 26 weeks in most states and some will extend that under certain circumstances.
4. Protect your health benefits.
   
   Enroll in Cobra if your employer is required to have it. (Companies with 18 or fewer employees are not.) Complete the forms to continue your health insurance; you’ll have to pay a monthly fee, but it’s worth it — don’t leave a gap in your coverage. If you can’t get insurance through your company, call a health insurance broker and see what plans you can qualify for.
5. Get real about your expenses immediately.
   
   You have to know what you are spending monthly so you know where you can cut costs to avoid getting into debt while you’re laid off. Search “track your spending” on this site to get tips on how to control your costs.
6. Roll over your 401(k) plan directly to an individual retirement account.
   
   Do not cash it out, or take a check from the company with the intention of opening an IRA. You have a limited time to get it into that new account or the government will consider it a withdrawal and if you’re under 59-1/2 you’ll pay a 10 percent penalty, and no matter what your age you’ll pay income tax. Sadly, 80 percent of people with $10,000 or less in a 401(k) cash it out when they leave the job – but in reality, after taxes and penalties, that $10,000 is closer to $6,000 if you’re in the 28 percent tax bracket.
   
   Go to the websites of Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab or T. Rowe Price, where you can find the forms that allow you to roll the money over directly.
7. Start your search.
   
   Take one or two days to regroup, and then schedule at least 3 to 6 hours a day to work on your job search. Refresh your resume and join an online social network if you don’t belong to one.
   
   Begin with LinkedIn and leverage gadgets to showcase your work, embed your blog or link to your other profiles. Network through whatever other affiliations you have – religious and volunteer organizations, sports clubs, alumni groups, etc. Call headhunters in your industry – don’t assume that they are overwhelmed with people contacting them.