When I talk to partners about their business, I hear inspiring stories -- stories about helping a hospice spend more money on patients, or implementing ERP for a Native American nation, or providing managed services for a robotics startup. You also undoubtedly have great stories to tell. These stories can be the foundation for your marketing content.
When partners think about storytelling, they generally think about just case studies, which we'll talk more about later. But stories bring any material to life and help illustrate your point in a way that connects with your reader.
The American Express "Start Booming" ads are a great example of engaging stories that inspire and deliver the intended message. They're not case studies, but real-life examples of a benefit derived from a service: Small-business owners take advantage of their reward points to improve their business.
Stories for a Variety of Content
Stories help you make your point in a blog post, a whitepaper or webinar. You don't need to use the names of your clients and it's OK to combine events from unrelated projects to create the story that will illustrate your point. The goal is to help the prospect visualize how the technology will apply to and improve their business.
If you send out a monthly newsletter, include a story about a problem solved. Each month, focus on a different aspect of how your clients are migrating to the cloud. Instead of a case study on a SharePoint document management project, create an e-book with a series of stories about companies improving collaboration.
Case Studies: The Most Boring Documents on Earth
We are so used to following the "normal" case study formula of "challenge, solution, benefits" that we take out all human interest. Case studies should not be about the technology solution; they should be about the effects of the solution on the people and the business.
The following excerpt from a recent Microsoft case study is a good example of how not to engage your prospects. The generalization may be an attempt to make the case study apply to a variety of industries, but the outcome is anything but compelling.
"The company also had no central location to store contracts, performance reports, and other business documents, making it difficult for analysts to find critical information. For these reasons, ABC Company sought a new data solution."
Turning that idea into a story, even at a high level, will help connect the reader with the situation:
"Analyst turnover at ABC was high due to the long hours required to complete projects on time. To find the original contract and monthly performance reports for each project analysis report, the analyst needed to access three separate shared drives, drilling into four folders in each drive. ABC Company needed to make a change."
Your stories are interesting and help people make better decisions and improve how they run their business. Share them with tell the world.
Is your organization telling stories to connect with prospects? Please send me a note so we can share the knowledge.
This is the sixth installment in Barb's series on content marketing. Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 23, 20110 comments
The idea of writing content is likely to be daunting for your contributors. While there are some technical folks who love to write, it's an uncommon trait in most partner organizations. Changing gears from solving problems to writing about solving problems will be a little easier if you share these tips with your writing team.
Tell a story. One of the easiest ways to get started writing and to make your point is to tell a story about a challenge that you solved for a client. You don't need to use names -- just describe the situation and how you approached it. Simplify by focusing on one element of a project instead of covering too much.
Keep it conversational. When writing any marketing content, it's best to imagine that you're having an in-person conversation with your prospect. Think about how you would explain the topic in person. Take out the big words, skip the acronyms and write in plain, conversational English.
What questions would your prospect ask you as you engaged in this conversation? How would your topic translate into your prospect's specific business challenges? How would you solve that challenge?
Break content into chunks. "Users don't read -- they scan Web pages," according to Hendrik-Jan Francke, owner of Bright Orange Thread, a Pennsylvania-based Web design firm. "Content needs to be 'chunkified' so that the eye can jump from nugget to nugget and quickly answer the question, 'Is what I am looking for in this section, in this list, this paragraph?'"
Hendrik-Jan has helped a number of Microsoft partners simplify their Web sites by "chunkifying" the content. "Chunkified means breaking long paragraphs into short ones with headers," he said. "Breaking long lists into two lists."
You can also apply the "chunkify" concept to the structure of whitepapers and case studies, building smaller "bites" for downloads and calls to action. Instead of taking on a 10-page whitepaper, start with a three-page report with a high-level treatment of the subject. Or start a series of two-page reports, each addressing a different aspect of your topic.
Use graphics. Graphics help keep readers engaged and illustrate your solution from a new perspective. Use PowerPoint and Visio to create charts and illustrations that simplify concepts so your prospects see the big picture. Keep it simple; don't try to accomplish too much in one graphic. Remember: one concept per graphic.
It's also very important to help your readers put the graphics in context immediately. Captions should explain the relevance of the chart or illustration to the topic. Keep labels as short as possible to let the illustration make your point. If you need many words to explain the graphic, step back and rethink your approach.
And finally, help your team avoid getting too caught up in the details of creating content. A lot of content never gets published because there is too much focus on editing and tweaking to make it perfect. As Seth Godin would say, "Ship it." Practice will improve your team's output and their comfort level with the process.
Is your team building interesting content? Please tell me about it so we can share the knowledge.
This is the fifth installment in Barb's series on content marketing. Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 17, 20110 comments
Imagine a potential buyer, Norman. Norman wakes up on Monday morning thinking, "If the California engineering team could post their drawings and RFP responses in a central place where the Washington proposal team could grab them and wrap them into the final RFP submission, we could save hundreds of hours on each response cycle. I am going to call Acme Solutions today and get them to implement SharePoint for us."
While we can continue to hope for Norman's call, let's take a look at what the real buying process looks like and what that means to your content marketing strategy.
Buyers have different objectives as they progress through the stages of making a purchase decision. When you offer valuable content every step of the way, you help lead buyers to your door for the final solution. In this blog, we'll look at each stage in the process and what kind of information buyers need at each one. Let's use our example above and see how Norman might evaluate a solution to his problem.
Acknowledge the Problem: Prospects recognize that they have a problem that needs fixing. Norman knows that he could save money if his team could collaborate better. He'll want to know if other companies are having the same kind of problem and how they are addressing it. Content that would help Norman includes:
- blog posts that address proposal management and
- a whitepaper about productivity gains from collaboration.
Understand the Possibilities: Prospects research how they can solve the problem. Norman will investigate what tools other companies in his industry are using. Give Norman:
- an e-book about RFP response cost-cutting through proposal management, and
- blog posts about the benefits of collaboration for engineering companies.
Compare Solutions: Prospects compare the solutions and vendors that they have uncovered. Norman will start to evaluate different solutions looking for the best fit. He might like to see:
- a screencast demonstrating an improved RFP process,
- case studies that describe a proposal management implementation and the savings, or
- a solution brochure.
Make a Selection: Prospects choose which solution and vendor. Norman wants to ensure that he is making the best choice for his company and his team. He will want to validate his decision using:
- testimonials from existing clients and
- support brochures.
Link Each Step To Build a Relationship
As you build your content, consider which step of the buying cycle you are supporting. At the end of each document, blog post or screencast, invite your prospect to move forward with you by offering them just the information they want for the next step.
With a full set of content to support your buyers as they progress toward a decision, you build a relationship of trust. By the time your prospect makes a selection, he or she will have come to trust you as a source of valuable information. That's a great place to start.
Have you found a clever way to build content that connects? Tell me about it so that we can share the knowledge.
This is the fourth installment in our series on content marketing. Check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 09, 20110 comments
Now that you've figured out who you're targeting and the purpose of your content marketing, where do you start? A good first step is to look at the assets that you already have and turn them into content you can use right away. Turn marketing materials and documents that you've developed in the past into marketing content for the future. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.
Use a Case Study To Build a White Paper
Did you create a case study a few years ago that you don't use any longer because the technology is outdated? You probably still provide services that solve the same business problem described in that case study, but with the latest technology. Use the case study as a framework for a white paper -- just remove the specific company information and update the solution descriptions. State the business problem, describe the solution, explain the benefits and end with how your organization understands how to solve issues like the one described.
Seminar Content Becomes an E-Book
Have you held a seminar or webinar in the past year? What did you do with the slide deck that you created for your presentations? Add explanatory text and screenshots to the slides to make an attractive and interesting e-book. Don't forget to include a call to action, like a free consultation or certificate for free hours, on the last page. Offer the e-book on your Web site, through Pinpoint, in your e-mail signature line and e-newsletter.
Reuse, Recycle and Repurpose Blog Posts
Do you have a blog on your Web site that has great material about a specific technology topic or business problem but not many visitors? Turn those posts into an e-book or report. With a compelling title -- "Five Crucial Decisions When Moving to the Cloud" -- and a nice table of contents, you can create a professional-looking document with valuable information.
Don Carnevale, director of marketing at BroadPoint Technologies in Bethesda, M.D., combines blogging with e-newsletters to deliver relevant information to a broad audience. Don explains, "We have a consulting team with diverse industry and product expertise contributing posts to the BroadPoint blog. To help our customers and prospects focus on the content that matters to them, we send a monthly e-newsletter that highlights several blog posts with links to the full articles on our Web site. The newsletter reminds readers each month of the breadth of our expertise and they can choose to dig into the subjects that are relevant to their roles and organizations."
Screencasts from Demos
Consultants are often more comfortable showing rather than writing -- and videos and screencasts may be their perfect medium. Jing, by Techsmith, is a free screen-recording tool that will get you started quickly. Remember that with screencasts, just like any other content, you don't want to show just the product. Help your consultant build a story with the screencast, which can be as simple as a day in the life of an office manager.
Checklists from Proposals
Checklists can be a quick way to get your team started on content development. Have your project managers developed project questionnaires and checklists that they use for business process review or implementation guides? While you don't want to give away hard-earned intellectual property, you can pare down the lists to include questions that will help prospects identify weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. Keep the lists short to get your prospects' attention and give them a reason to call you for more.
There are no rules in content marketing. Be creative and think about how you can give your prospects a peek into your expertise.
Have you found a unique way to turn your company's professional services documents into marketing material? Please let me know and let's share the knowledge!
This is the third installment in our series on content marketing. Check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 02, 20110 comments
As much as I want to jump ahead and talk about finding and creating great content, we need to start with the first step in your content marketing plan -- defining your prospect. Large companies can afford to spend big dollars on market research to define their target markets precisely. Most of us don't have those resources or the time, but with a little reflection and analysis, you can make an educated choice.
Build a Profile of Your Ideal Customer
Start by looking at the most profitable deals you have closed in the past six months or year. List the industries, size of the companies, roles of the people involved in the buying decision, and key problems that you solved. Look for patterns in each area, and you might see:
- Two deals closed that came from referrals through an old customer, all the same industry.
- A trend of department managers investigating software without the involvement of IT.
- More projects requiring support of remote workers.
Focusing your message doesn't have to be limited to an industry vertical. You may find that your best target is HR directors in Duluth working for companies with 50 to 500 employees. You're looking for common challenges for a group that you can define.
Learn More About Your Defined Target
Once you have a clear picture of the market that you want to pursue, do your research to get to know them better. Industry and professional association Web sites can provide a wealth of information about the challenges the group faces and may provide an outlet for your content. Look for opportunities to expand your service offering as you do your research.
While you are on those industry or functional sites, pay attention to the way content is delivered to the audience. Check the Web sites of other vendors that serve the market. Are white papers or videos common? Are there multiple blogs that serve the community? The more you can learn about your target "community," the better you can serve their interests and get their attention.
Give Your Target Life
Once you and your team can visualize your audience, writing and creating content will be much easier. Your message will be stronger and it will be easier for your contributors to imagine who they are "talking" to when they write. This approach can really help technical people write more conversationally and at a level that mere mortals can understand.
Have some fun and give your target a name. Your target definition might look like:
- Tracy Trainor: HR director of a service company with $50 to $500 million in sales.
- Common challenge: Provide certification training to employees spread across regions.
- Common motivator: Compensation/advancement tied to number/types of certifications held by employees across regions/organizations.
- Sources of information: Society for Human Resource Management, regional HR organizations.
Your message will stay clear and focused when your target is defined and clearly communicated to your team. Building marketing content takes time, so the more you can do to make the process easy, the more successful you will be. Meanwhile, tell me how you have identified a niche for content marketing so we can share the knowledge.
This is the second installment in our series on content marketing. In Part 1, we discussed how to come up with a basic content marketing plan. Next week, we'll talk about how to build content that educates and motivates your prospects to take action.
Posted by Barb Levisay on February 22, 20110 comments
If you believe today's marketing pundits, the only way business-to-business service companies can attract new prospects is with content marketing. For a Microsoft partner, content marketing means the creation and delivery of information that educates a prospect on some aspect of the services that the partner delivers. Most partners have plenty of internal knowledge that would make valuable, compelling content -- the challenge is finding the time to create and deliver.
Why Content Marketing Is Important
Changing buyer behavior is the primary cause for the shift to content marketing. Everyone, including technology and business solution buyers, starts their purchase decisions with an Internet search for information. The ultimate goal of content marketing is for you to supply the information that your prospects are searching for online in a way that positions you as an expert.
Content Marketing for Microsoft Partners
While the term "content marketing" may be new, packaging information to attract prospects is definitely not new to Microsoft partner marketers. Being in the business of information technology has always required the partner marketer to educate prospects about the benefits of adopting technology. Educational seminars, white papers and case studies have always been our core offers.
Also not new is the huge challenge for partners to find the time to build compelling content. Fortune 500 companies can afford to hire a herd of technical writers to produce mountains of material, but partners have to take consultants off billable work to write competently about the subjects that interest our prospects.
Start with a Plan and Stick with It
As most partners will agree, their Achilles heel in marketing is having a plan to stick to. Seminars are scheduled and e-mails sent as a result of panic when the pipeline is dangerously low. Content marketing is not suited to the one-hit-wonder marketing approach, which makes it a challenging strategy for most partners.
Since content development should be a shared activity, the content marketing plan will give everyone involved a clear understanding of who you are addressing and what message you want to deliver. Include in the plan:
- Prospect Target Definition: Who are you writing/speaking to? This takes into account the industry, demographics and the problems and risks that motivate your audience's decisions.
- Desired Outcomes: What action are you trying to motivate? Remember, with content marketing you are trying to educate, but you should educate with your end game in mind.
- Content Form: How do your prospects like to receive their information? IT folks prefer blogs and white papers, CEOs like case studies. Do a little research on your target.
- Calendar: If you don't have deadlines, it will not get done.
- Accountability: If you don't have accountability, it will not get done.
With a minimal amount of planning and lots of accountability, even a small organization can share the load to produce valuable content that will help prospects view your organization as an expert.
No Silver Bullet
While every purchasing decision may start with a search on the internet, in our service-based businesses most final purchasing decisions are made based on relationships. Content marketing should be a part of your marketing strategy, but it is no replacement for person-to-person relationship building. Use content marketing as a tool to attract new prospects, but don't use it as an excuse to avoid personal connections.
Is your organization taking a creative approach to building content? Please tell me about it so we can share the knowledge.
This is the first installment in a new series on content marketing. In the coming weeks, we'll dig deeper into finding and creating content that you can put to work attracting the right prospects to build your business.
Posted by Barb Levisay on February 14, 20110 comments
Existing client events should do two things: help your clients improve their business and build a stronger relationship between you and your client. Valuable content and professional delivery are clearly the basic ingredients, but attention to detail and a little creativity can turn a good meal into a State dinner.
Assure Attendance with Reminders...and Incentives
The first order of business in making the event memorable for your clients is to get them there. Your registration confirmation should include an Outlook Calendar Appointment with full details and directions. Send them an email reminder a couple of days in advance and place a reminder call the day before the event. If you don't have their number, send a reminder e-mail with directions.
There are always outside events that can affect the turnout for your event, but creative thinking can even overcome something as inescapable as the weather. When a snowstorm threatened to impact attendance at a Vertical Solutions seminar, Marketing Manager Tina Featheringham e-mailed each registrant a Panera menu the day before the event. She asked them to choose the item off the menu that they would like to be served at the catered event. One hundred percent responded and were in their seats when the Pittsburgh-based Gold Partner's event started because of Tina's attention to detail.
Make guests feel welcome and valued
Don't assume that your employees know how to be good hosts. Have a call before the event to help them prepare. These simple guidelines will make clients feel valued:
- Welcome each guest you meet, shake hands, thank them for coming
- Talk to clients – not each other
- Listen, listen, listen
Give employees that don't meet with clients regularly some conversation starters with open-ended questions. Remind them that the event is a time to gain insight into client challenges that might be opportunities for you to solve with services.
- How has the economy affected their business?
- How does their company manage relationships with their customers?
- What are their company's plans for growth over the next couple of years?
- How does their management team feel about technology moving to the cloud?
Remind your team -- including eager sales people -- that this is not a day to directly solicit sales, but to build relationships. There's no better way to make people feel good than to ask questions, then be quiet and listen.
Promote Two-Way Communication
While your clients have come to the event to learn, it is also the perfect opportunity for you to learn more about your clients. You can be interested without being intrusive with:
- networking opportunities at breaks and lunch
- round-robin introductions if you have a small group -- ask them to share something about their company
- open ended questions on the event evaluation sheet
Eat Well and Have Some Fun
While the intention of your event is to educate your clients, that doesn't mean that you should forget food and fun. Don't scrimp on food. With a little Bing research you can find popular restaurants that will help you choose a menu that fits the event and your budget.
Motivate attendees to turn in their evaluation sheet with unexpected prizes. Software is always appreciated, but get creative with geek t-shirts, gift cards or game tickets to add a little excitement to the day.
End the event with a call to action that your clients will remember. "Be sure to call us if you have a problem" is not an effective call to action. Tanya Knight, Marketing Director for ePartners uses "ePartners Bucks" as an added thank you for clients that attend the Gold Partner's events. Everyone loves a coupon and the $100 ePartners Bucks remind people to pick up the phone before the coupon expires.
Have you done something creative at your event to help clients remember you? Please tell me about it so that we can share the knowledge.
This is the last in our three-part series looking at how you can use in-person events to build relationships with clients without spending a fortune or dedicating months to planning. If you missed part one, we covered how to choose content that will attract clients. In part two we talked about delivering content without putting your audience to sleep.
Posted by Barb Levisay on January 24, 20112 comments
When you hold an event for your existing clients do you spend as much time preparing as you do for a prospect event? Your clients will notice. The respect and appreciation you have for your audience is evident from the way you prepare -- from testing the projector through choosing your speakers.
Choose Speakers Thoughtfully
After you have decided what your seminar content is going to be, it's time to think about who can best present the material. Take an honest inventory of the potential presenters in your company. Factors to consider include:
- Clarity and cadence of speech
- Subject knowledge
- Comfort presenting to groups
- Ability to stay focused on the subject without getting too technical
If you don't have strong speakers inside your firm, look to other sources. Since it's often difficult to schedule a Microsoft speaker, think about the other ISVs and partners that you work with. Work with the firms to develop business issue presentations, not just product pitches.
Consider asking a client to present. People like being asked to share their expertise. And, when your audience hears real experience stories from other clients, it's far more powerful than hearing it from you.
When you include other speakers in your presentation lineup, consider inviting their clients if it's a good fit for the material.
Connect with Your Audience Through Stories
We've all experienced that dread as the presenter launches PowerPoint and you see "Slide 1 of 56" on the bottom left of the screen before he hits the slideshow icon. Put yourself in your attendee's seat. Attendees want to understand more about the subject that you are presenting but they don't want to listen to you drone through 336 bullet points.
There is no better way to help people clearly visualize than with examples and stories. Keep your slide deck short and keep the bullet points brief -- better yet use pictures to augment your words. Yes, you may need to explain technology (using clear, simple terms) but use examples of how companies use the technology to improve their business.
Get specific. The more you can help the audience visualize how they can benefit from the technology or services, the more likely they are to adopt. Make it easy for them to explain the concepts and the benefits to their teams when they return to the office.
When you are presenting to your existing clients, you are building on an existing relationship. There is no need to include an "About XYZ Partner" slide at the beginning of each deck. Respect that relationship and don't waste their time blowing your own horn over and over.
Call to Action
Every presentation should end with a suggested action. What action do you want each person in the audience to take if they see the value? Ask them to do something on the last slide. It can be as simple as "Talk with John in the back of the room if you would like to find out more." Or it can be more specific: "Sign up today and receive a 20 percent discount on services."
When you present material helpful to their business and respectful of their time, you forge stronger relationships with your clients. And don't forget to test the projector.
Have you held a successful event including both clients and prospects? Please tell me about it so that we can share the knowledge.
In this 3-part series, we're looking at how you can use in-person events to build relationships with clients without spending a fortune or dedicating months to planning. If you missed Part 1, we covered how to choose content that will attract clients. In Part 2 hopefully you have gotten some good pointers to help you deliver content without putting your audience to sleep. In Part 3, we'll take a look at making your event memorable without breaking the bank.
Posted by Barb Levisay on January 07, 20110 comments
You know that feeling when you run into an old friend that you haven't seen for a long time? You have a great conversation and you agree that you will do a better job keeping in touch. And you really mean it. Long-term relationships build strong connections.
Your clients are no different. Using social media to connect with new clients and build communities is great -- but is no replacement for long-term friendships. You may not have time to visit every client regularly, but holding regular in-person events where you can shake hands and reconnect is smart marketing that will build your business.
Good Content Is Worth the Time
For whatever reason, partners often assume that their clients don't want to attend in-person events. When you offer information that helps them improve their business, clients will make the time. And there lies the key -- deliver content that makes it worth their time to attend.
Five years ago, KTL Solutions Inc., a Dynamics partner located in Frederick , Md., decided to hold a Users Group aimed at clients who were not able to attend the Microsoft Convergence show. From that first modest but positive event with 25 attendees the annual event has grown, hosting over 120 people in May 2010. An impressive 95 percent of those that register attend the free day-long event, some even traveling in and staying at hotels to participate.
So, what kind of content attracts that level of interest? Kim Lally, KTL's controller, said, "We focus our subjects on the issues that our clients bring up with our consultants. Sessions are intended to help clients solve those issues, not just sell them software. We work hard to keep it educational, not sales-y."
Educate with Purpose
Educational sessions and presentations should also serve your purpose -- which is to provide additional services to the clients who attend your event. You can achieve both ends by showing the value of technology, software or processes that improve business operations. KTL found that balance with 2010 sessions including:
- "Today's Virtual Office -- Best Practices for Cutting the Cord" focused on how organizations can support virtual workers. The educational message supports cloud and virtualization services.
- "Moving from Bookkeeper to Strategic Advisor" showing financial professionals how to use business intelligence dashboards to improve their value to the organization.
You can also use examples of specific outcomes that your current clients have achieved by using the technology you implemented for them. Decision makers like to hear how other organizations have overcome the same hurdles they face. Use specific examples or group together common outcomes, like:
- "IT Cost Reduction: How XYZ Company Trimmed 25 Percent from IT Costs in Two Months"
- "Five Ways Project-Based Companies Cut Costs with Improved Proposal Management"
- "Three Creative Ways Local Companies Used Mobile Devices to Increase Sales"
The CEO, CFO, operations manager and sales director really don't care how cool the technology is -- they care about how it saves or makes them money. No matter how tempted you are to talk about the latest product features, keep your content focused on how you solve the problems that your clients face.
Have you done a client event that that was well received? Please tell me about your experience so that we can share the knowledge.
In this 3-part series, we'll look at how you can use in-person events to build relationships with clients without spending a fortune or dedicating months to planning. In Part 1, we've covered how to choose content that will attract clients. Part 2 will address how to deliver content without putting your audience to sleep. In Part 3, we'll take a look at making your event memorable without breaking the bank.
Posted by Barb Levisay on January 06, 20110 comments