The Global Language Monitor has declared the word 'Twitter' the top word of 2009, according to IT Pro. This is in a top ten that features words as diverse as Obama and Vampire and is based on a global survey of words used by English language speakers.
If you're wondering how this is worked out, languagemonitor.com explains that GLM uses a Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), which it describes as "...the proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet, now including blogs and social media. The words are tracked in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and velocity."
The top ten (I'm sure you'll be interested to know) looks like this:
1. Twitter — The ability to encapsulate human thought in 140 characters
2. Obama — The word stem transforms into scores of new words like ObamaCare
3. H1N1 — The formal (and politically correct) name for Swine Flu
4. Stimulus — The $800 billion aid package meant to help mend the US economy
5. Vampire — Vampires are very much en vogue, now the symbol of unrequited love
6. 2.0 — The 2.0 suffix is attached to the next generation of everything
7. Deficit — Lessons from history are dire warnings here
8. Hadron — Ephemeral particles subject to collision in the Large Hadron Collider
9. Healthcare — The direction of which is the subject of intense debate in the US
10. Transparency — Elusive goal for which many governments are striving
If this survey is to be believed (it can't of course track everyday speech, which may contain quite different words), it says a lot about how the power of micro-blogging, as opposed to just social networking. Note, Facebook and other sites that fall under the same social networking umbrella as Twitter don't feature here.
Twitter's popularity seems to arise from its simplicity - as yet it isn't cluttered with adverts, photos and all the other paraphernalia that dominate Facebook and the like. Its main function is sharing thoughts and links (to other sites, articles, photos etc.) in no more than 140 characters. Despite such a tight restriction, it continues to be incredibly popular. Somehow people like the discpline. It may not have exceeded facebook yet in terms of users, but the fact that people are talking about it shows what a hot topic it's continued to be.
Arguably, the popularity of Twitter's enforced brevity reflects an increasing intolerance of irrelevance and waffle. With so much going on in our lives, quite often we simply don't have the time to read long emails and weighty attachments. Twitter says: "Tell me what you want to say as quickly as you can." and we do. Of course with so many links to articles, the truth is that we're still taking the time to read things that interest us, we just don't need to wade through paragraphs of unnecessary explanation to find out if it's of interest in the first place.
Whether Twitter will continue to discipline us remains to be seen and I predict that sooner or later the powers that be won't be able to help themselves and will start introducing advertising features and other peripheries that add little to the medium.
I only hope that this trend towards succinct forms of communication continues. That people use it for their emails, their web copy, their mailshots and other forms of advertising. Maybe one day we'll stop using words to baffle, confuse and over-complicate and see simple, straightforward communication as the way forward. I sincerely hope so.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
A guide to improving internal brand perception
You may be an internal communications professional, a CEO, a marketing executive or even a brand manager. But whichever category you fall into, you’re likely to have met resistance to internal brand communication at some point.
This could be down to the sheer volume of employees you work with (there’s always going to be some people who can’t stomach the brand), problems with internal politics, or simply neglect over time.
Whatever your issues, promoting the brand is never an easy task, so we got to thinking about some of the simpler tricks you can use to improve brand perception and smooth the process of brand communication across the board.
It’s not about you
One of the more common misconceptions about branding is that the brand belongs to marketing. What this often means, for brand professionals and employees alike, is a divisive way of thinking i.e. if I don’t work with the brand then I don’t need to worry about it and vice versa.
For many ‘pro-brand’ people this can lead to transparent brand touting exercises, which try to convince people that the business’s brand must be accepted at all costs, regardless of people’s individual brand perceptions.
While people who are new to the business will need to gain an understanding of your brand values, your employees should also understand that they are instrumental in sustaining the brand. So rather than just telling people what the business stands for, ask people for their (honest) interpretations. This way you can make brand building an inclusive process.
Brand feedback can be gained in various ways and shouldn’t just be slotted into an induction programme. You may want to try annual employee surveys or workshops. The latter is a more positive, interactive medium for feedback and will also encourage people to see themselves as part of brand building, rather than simply brand recipients.
In groups, encourage people to think about all the different ways in which they represent and use the brand, so that they gain an understanding of how their actions, in particular how they communicate with clients, prospects etc. impact the brand. If people do express negative attitudes, explore these with them. Use their thoughts and feelings to discuss with others how to address poor brand image. If for example, your brand emphasises excellent customer service and your employees feel that this is contrary to the reality of the situation, look into the reasons and feed back to managers etc. as appropriate.
You aren’t responsible for how people behave within the business, but you can use your knowledge to positively influence others’ actions. Above all, remind yourself and others that the brand doesn’t exist in a vacuum and requires input from everyone to survive.
Brand champions
Identifying and utilising ‘brand champions’ i.e. those that like and endorse the brand, is an essential part of successfully communicating your brand.
As you might expect, many brand champions work in senior positions and/or commercial roles, such as sales, commercial development and of course marketing. However you will always find people in other departments who are equally pro-brand, they just don’t have the opportunity to show it in the same way that others do.
A good way to root out your brand champions is to ask for volunteers from each department to put forward a representative, who you can call upon for assistance in cascading brand messages. Make it clear that their involvement won’t be time-consuming (this is the most common reason people use not to get involved) and you should soon have a group of brand enthusiasts.
While a lot of brand communication will need to come directly from you, involving others in communication activities will gain you credibility. Employees are always more receptive to people they know and are therefore more likely to accept messages from your representatives at face value than they would from you.
Treat your employees as customers
One technique that brand professionals should always employ (and indeed any professional), is to deliver the same level of service to employees that you would to a customer. That is, not only in the level of courtesy that you display, but in your general responsiveness and the professionalism with which you communicate. This is how you create respect for your team and thereby positive associations with the brand.
Aside from impeccable one to one correspondence (well written, concise, not a typo in sight), your one to all communication will need to employ similar marketing techniques to those that are used for external marketing. For example, one to all emails need to be engaging, brief, easy to digest and in the tone of voice that reflects your brand. They must also display an appropriate use of brand graphics that don’t dominate the email’s message.
It’s also important to encourage senior executives and others who regularly send out correspondence to follow a set of guidelines that explain how to construct a brand-friendly email. Again, asking others to follow your example helps to make the brand applicable to everyone.
Creating an internal brand
It’s one of the lesser used tools, but developing an internal brand can go a long way to increasing employee engagement. By an internal brand we mean an employee-facing brand that is recognisable as belonging to your business, but offers a variation on colours, images and even tone of voice. For example, it may have a slightly friendlier tone, or use more fun images than those traditionally associated with the external brand.
To give you an example: an old colleague of mine, who is also an extremely experienced project manager, suggested to the internal communication team at her current employer that they use an internal brand for the roll-out of a new HR self-service system. Rather than welcoming the suggestion, the communication team was extremely scathing, sending her off with her tail between her legs and in the direction of its strict external brand guidelines. An attitude that was dismissive at best and foolish at worst.
The project manager I’m thinking of had worked with many brand teams in her time to ensure the successful implementation of HR self-service. Therefore she had first-hand experience in the value of internal branding for ensuring acceptance of new technology. And of course what works for technology can work for anything – give employees their own brand identity and you let them know that what you’re doing is about them and not just the business.
Accept the bah humbugs
It’s important to accept that you’ll always have moaners and back stabbers. Some people are anti-brand and will stay that way whatever you do. A good example of this came from a marketing ex-colleague of mine, who one particular employee had turned into his nemesis: challenging and complaining about any communication that related to the brand. Far from rising to his negative comments, my colleague just accepted that that was the way he was, responded politely and left him to it.
As she did, the best way to handle someone who dislikes your work on principle is to greet their objections with courtesy and sincerity. Welcome any suggestions, however provocative they may be and above all, assume the role of consummate professional. This way they have far less cause to challenge you.
Have a plan
You may not be an internal communication expert, but when rolling out large-scale brand exercises, such as a rebrand, always have a communication plan. Again, as you would with your customers and prospects, think of the best times and ways in which to reach employees, so that communication is as constructive and well-received as possible.
In summary
There’s no one single method that ensures positive brand perception. Brand building is a continuous and often challenging process that requires constant nurturing.
But with the right level and tone of correspondence, alongside good internal support, you can soon start to affect brand attitudes at every level of the business and make the brand of interest to everyone (well, almost).
This could be down to the sheer volume of employees you work with (there’s always going to be some people who can’t stomach the brand), problems with internal politics, or simply neglect over time.
Whatever your issues, promoting the brand is never an easy task, so we got to thinking about some of the simpler tricks you can use to improve brand perception and smooth the process of brand communication across the board.
It’s not about you
One of the more common misconceptions about branding is that the brand belongs to marketing. What this often means, for brand professionals and employees alike, is a divisive way of thinking i.e. if I don’t work with the brand then I don’t need to worry about it and vice versa.
For many ‘pro-brand’ people this can lead to transparent brand touting exercises, which try to convince people that the business’s brand must be accepted at all costs, regardless of people’s individual brand perceptions.
While people who are new to the business will need to gain an understanding of your brand values, your employees should also understand that they are instrumental in sustaining the brand. So rather than just telling people what the business stands for, ask people for their (honest) interpretations. This way you can make brand building an inclusive process.
Brand feedback can be gained in various ways and shouldn’t just be slotted into an induction programme. You may want to try annual employee surveys or workshops. The latter is a more positive, interactive medium for feedback and will also encourage people to see themselves as part of brand building, rather than simply brand recipients.
In groups, encourage people to think about all the different ways in which they represent and use the brand, so that they gain an understanding of how their actions, in particular how they communicate with clients, prospects etc. impact the brand. If people do express negative attitudes, explore these with them. Use their thoughts and feelings to discuss with others how to address poor brand image. If for example, your brand emphasises excellent customer service and your employees feel that this is contrary to the reality of the situation, look into the reasons and feed back to managers etc. as appropriate.
You aren’t responsible for how people behave within the business, but you can use your knowledge to positively influence others’ actions. Above all, remind yourself and others that the brand doesn’t exist in a vacuum and requires input from everyone to survive.
Brand champions
Identifying and utilising ‘brand champions’ i.e. those that like and endorse the brand, is an essential part of successfully communicating your brand.
As you might expect, many brand champions work in senior positions and/or commercial roles, such as sales, commercial development and of course marketing. However you will always find people in other departments who are equally pro-brand, they just don’t have the opportunity to show it in the same way that others do.
A good way to root out your brand champions is to ask for volunteers from each department to put forward a representative, who you can call upon for assistance in cascading brand messages. Make it clear that their involvement won’t be time-consuming (this is the most common reason people use not to get involved) and you should soon have a group of brand enthusiasts.
While a lot of brand communication will need to come directly from you, involving others in communication activities will gain you credibility. Employees are always more receptive to people they know and are therefore more likely to accept messages from your representatives at face value than they would from you.
Treat your employees as customers
One technique that brand professionals should always employ (and indeed any professional), is to deliver the same level of service to employees that you would to a customer. That is, not only in the level of courtesy that you display, but in your general responsiveness and the professionalism with which you communicate. This is how you create respect for your team and thereby positive associations with the brand.
Aside from impeccable one to one correspondence (well written, concise, not a typo in sight), your one to all communication will need to employ similar marketing techniques to those that are used for external marketing. For example, one to all emails need to be engaging, brief, easy to digest and in the tone of voice that reflects your brand. They must also display an appropriate use of brand graphics that don’t dominate the email’s message.
It’s also important to encourage senior executives and others who regularly send out correspondence to follow a set of guidelines that explain how to construct a brand-friendly email. Again, asking others to follow your example helps to make the brand applicable to everyone.
Creating an internal brand
It’s one of the lesser used tools, but developing an internal brand can go a long way to increasing employee engagement. By an internal brand we mean an employee-facing brand that is recognisable as belonging to your business, but offers a variation on colours, images and even tone of voice. For example, it may have a slightly friendlier tone, or use more fun images than those traditionally associated with the external brand.
To give you an example: an old colleague of mine, who is also an extremely experienced project manager, suggested to the internal communication team at her current employer that they use an internal brand for the roll-out of a new HR self-service system. Rather than welcoming the suggestion, the communication team was extremely scathing, sending her off with her tail between her legs and in the direction of its strict external brand guidelines. An attitude that was dismissive at best and foolish at worst.
The project manager I’m thinking of had worked with many brand teams in her time to ensure the successful implementation of HR self-service. Therefore she had first-hand experience in the value of internal branding for ensuring acceptance of new technology. And of course what works for technology can work for anything – give employees their own brand identity and you let them know that what you’re doing is about them and not just the business.
Accept the bah humbugs
It’s important to accept that you’ll always have moaners and back stabbers. Some people are anti-brand and will stay that way whatever you do. A good example of this came from a marketing ex-colleague of mine, who one particular employee had turned into his nemesis: challenging and complaining about any communication that related to the brand. Far from rising to his negative comments, my colleague just accepted that that was the way he was, responded politely and left him to it.
As she did, the best way to handle someone who dislikes your work on principle is to greet their objections with courtesy and sincerity. Welcome any suggestions, however provocative they may be and above all, assume the role of consummate professional. This way they have far less cause to challenge you.
Have a plan
You may not be an internal communication expert, but when rolling out large-scale brand exercises, such as a rebrand, always have a communication plan. Again, as you would with your customers and prospects, think of the best times and ways in which to reach employees, so that communication is as constructive and well-received as possible.
In summary
There’s no one single method that ensures positive brand perception. Brand building is a continuous and often challenging process that requires constant nurturing.
But with the right level and tone of correspondence, alongside good internal support, you can soon start to affect brand attitudes at every level of the business and make the brand of interest to everyone (well, almost).
Monday, 16 November 2009
Latest whitepaper: how to make the best of a trade show
Once feared to be a dying breed, trade shows have defied the digital age and continue to be an invaluable source of leads for many businesses.
But useful as they are, finding the right shows can be one of the hardest tasks a marketer can undertake. A good event will bring great rewards for years to come, whereas getting it wrong could be potentially disastrous for your business, both in terms of lost revenue and brand damage.
With so much at stake, we got to thinking about which are the key considerations for choosing an event and how to make a show deliver optimum value for your business.
What events should I attend?
The first and most obvious question you’ll need to ask of any trade show is: ‘What’s the show about?’ This should be followed shortly after by: ‘Who’s going?’ and ‘How many people are attending?’ Once you’ve ascertained that it’s a relevant subject matter and your target audience is attending, you’ll be in a good position to start making some analysis.
As a rule of thumb, a generic event must attract your target audience in large volumes, whereas smaller events must be specific to your product or service. It’s simply a numbers game: you will generate a higher percentage of leads at a niche event than you would at a generic one.
Just to be clear: by ‘generic’ we mean generic within your marketplace. For example, if you sell marketing merchandise e.g. branded stationery and are attending a marketing exhibition, you may be reaching the right people, but you have no guarantee that they are looking for products like yours. In this scenario, high volumes are essential to increase the likelihood of attracting people to your stand. On the other hand, if you attend a promotional marketing exhibition, you know that delegates are specifically looking for products like yours (if not yours specifically) and are therefore far more likely to drop by your stand.
An important question to ask is: ‘Which of my competitors will be attending?’ Request information on both those that attended the previous year and those who have re-booked. This will tell you whether the show is regarded well amongst your competition and whether it could be valuable for your business.
Be brutal with ROI
However large or small the event, be ruthless when it comes to estimating your return on investment. And do be aware of sales people who try to tempt you into attending an event based on business names and/or size of business. Household names are all very well, but if the event is only attracting 100 delegates and is not specific to your product or service, what is the likelihood that you will walk away with leads and ultimately contracts from those businesses?
As an example you could be a computer hardware manufacturer that has paid £5000 for a stand at an IT conference and exhibition. The conference is reaching 100 IT decision-makers, all from companies like Lloyds Bank, Vodafone and Topshop.
On the day, out of the 100 businesses, 70 are already satisfied with their current hardware supplier and are not looking to review this. Of the 30 that are looking, only 15 haven’t already found a preferred supplier. Of the 15 that haven’t found a preferred supplier, only 10 will be looking at the conference. Of the 10 businesses, only 5 have the time to visit your stand. Of the 5 only 3 actually give you their contact details. Therefore you walk away with 3 leads and with a current conversion rate of 20%, none of them convert to sale.
The business has achieved no ROI and lost more than £5000 from attending the event.
We have deliberately created a bleak scenario here to demonstrate that leads are dependent upon much more than job titles and that it is easy to be wowed with impressive sounding names that in reality mean very little. Yes, if the exhibitor had won a single contract with Vodafone it could have brought in a large contract, but with the likelihood so reduced, it wouldn’t be worth the gamble.
How much should an exhibition cost me?
Another key consideration is the actual cost of each lead. Essentially, the amount that you spend is entirely dependent on how much you are prepared to pay for each lead.
Exhibition leads are always more costly than, for example, direct mail or website leads, so you should expect your cost per lead to be higher than usual. However the cost per lead still needs to bear some relation to the average contract/sales value. For example, if you are a car retailer, with an average margin of £5,000 per car, your cost per lead can be higher than for say, a laptop manufacturer.
Use your cost per lead to determine whether a show is cost effective for you. So for example, the car manufacturer may decide that their CPL should be no more than £150. If the event costs £10,000* and they expect 100 leads, at a CPL of £100, it’s worth attending. In theory, if the car manufacturer spent £150,000 on an event and realistically expected 1000 leads, at a CPL of £150 it would be extremely valuable to their business.
As in the example of the computer hardware manufacturer at the IT conference, do be brutal in your lead estimations. It’s often useful to visualise an event, or even attend the show in question as a delegate, to inform your decision.
*Do consider that costs include more than just stand space and must factor in accommodation, carpet laying, contractors, meals and equipment hire etc.
How to exhibit
Your objectives should always influence the scale and nature of your presence to some degree. For example, if you are launching a new brand and exposure is critical to success, make sure that you go the extra mile with the stand design and size, so that it won’t be easily missed. Also concentrate on maximising visual exposure at other points around the exhibition hall, for example through sponsoring a seminar area. Equally if lead generation is more important you may not want to go all out on stand size and sponsorship, but instead focus on ways to attract visitors to your stand through aggressive pre-show promotion.
In most cases trade shows are all about leads. However, don’t forget that leads and brand are mutually supportive in marketing i.e. you can’t have one without the other. That means regardless of what’s most important to you, don’t neglect your leads or brand, even if you weight your spend differently according to your objectives.
Standing out
The stand must look slick, eye-catching and inviting and be positioned in a high traffic area e.g. near a cafe or rest area. If there is a dedicated zone for your type of product then it is advisable to exhibit in this area, to avoid missing visitors that are looking for your product and could bypass your business otherwise.
The stand must be well manned at all times and preferably include an interactive feature e.g. a demo area, or plasma screen presentation. There should also be an easy way of capturing leads, either through your own lead forms or hand-held data capture devices.
Your sales people must be alert and on hand to help at all times. Huddling, surfing the Internet and ignoring visitors will all be detrimental to your brand.
Sponsorship
Sponsoring an event is extremely costly and is usually more applicable to larger players in the market who quite simply have more money to spend. If budgets are limited, it is best to keep sponsorship to times when you are promoting a new product or service so that you know you have something exciting to shout about.
It is also important to challenge exhibition organisers’ perception of sponsorship value – only pay what you feel something is worth and make this clear to the organiser. Also have an idea of how much value the sponsorship will add to your presence at the show, to help quantify how much you are prepared to spend.
Sponsorship should never just be the plastering of a logo on signs and merchandise. Try to do something different and preferably interactive e.g. a breakfast networking event where you have the opportunity to promote your product or service, or cafe area sponsorship with customised messages, for example on takeaway cups, that clearly communicate your brand.
Think about how else you can add value to the event e.g. through case study speakers, or your own demonstration and/or seminar rooms. Again, only opt for extra presence if you feel that it will significantly increase your brand presence/lead count - depending on your aims for the event.
Do consider making use of any visitor mailing lists, for contacting delegates both before and after the event. Not all event organisers will make these available, but some will offer mailshot opportunities either via third party email, or their own mailing houses and it is usually wise to make use of these.
Preparation
Crib sheets with sales messages for the show are essential to ensure consistency from your sales people. What do you want people to say about your business? Are there specific products/versions you want to promote? What is your Unique Selling Point (this is a common exhibition question when visitors are faced with a lot of companies selling the same product)?
If you are promoting a new product or service, is everyone well-versed in the key features and benefits? Some responsibility must be placed on your sales people to be well prepared for the show, therefore it is not unreasonable to make it clear that penalties may be applied for those who are unprepared on the day.
Set targets for sales people so they have an idea of what they’re aiming for and budgets permitting, factor in a post-show reward. Include conversion rates and expected sales from show leads, to put their work into context. Even if it’s simply a bottle of champagne for the person who generates the most leads.
It’s important to issue a pre-exhibition pack with dates, times, directions, targets, crib information, where they can find follow-up templates, accommodation, evening events etc. Try to include something fun, like drinks events you may be attending to keep people’s interest up and motivate them prior to the event. This pack will prevent you (in theory at least) from answering endless queries. To this end, issue it at least 1 week prior to the event.
Follow-up
Key to making an event work is how you handle follow-up. Follow-up should be conducted promptly, either the day following the show or at another date agreed with your new contact. Make sure leads are categorised into low, medium and high priority, so any delays due to low staffing don’t impact your ‘hot’ leads.
Prepare your follow-up materials in advance of the event so that they are quick to access in the aftermath. Use templates that can be easily edited and mail merged so that communication is consistent but fast.
If you can send something with your communication to make it stand out from other exhibitors, then this will help you to continue making an impact on your prospects.
Never a given
Even with your tried and tested shows, make the organiser work for you. No-one should assume your continued support, however successful the show may be.
Most importantly, trade shows aren’t right for every business. Good event organisers will recognise this, but always beware those that don’t have your best interests at heart. If in doubt, go along for a look, but leave the decision until next time.
But useful as they are, finding the right shows can be one of the hardest tasks a marketer can undertake. A good event will bring great rewards for years to come, whereas getting it wrong could be potentially disastrous for your business, both in terms of lost revenue and brand damage.
With so much at stake, we got to thinking about which are the key considerations for choosing an event and how to make a show deliver optimum value for your business.
What events should I attend?
The first and most obvious question you’ll need to ask of any trade show is: ‘What’s the show about?’ This should be followed shortly after by: ‘Who’s going?’ and ‘How many people are attending?’ Once you’ve ascertained that it’s a relevant subject matter and your target audience is attending, you’ll be in a good position to start making some analysis.
As a rule of thumb, a generic event must attract your target audience in large volumes, whereas smaller events must be specific to your product or service. It’s simply a numbers game: you will generate a higher percentage of leads at a niche event than you would at a generic one.
Just to be clear: by ‘generic’ we mean generic within your marketplace. For example, if you sell marketing merchandise e.g. branded stationery and are attending a marketing exhibition, you may be reaching the right people, but you have no guarantee that they are looking for products like yours. In this scenario, high volumes are essential to increase the likelihood of attracting people to your stand. On the other hand, if you attend a promotional marketing exhibition, you know that delegates are specifically looking for products like yours (if not yours specifically) and are therefore far more likely to drop by your stand.
An important question to ask is: ‘Which of my competitors will be attending?’ Request information on both those that attended the previous year and those who have re-booked. This will tell you whether the show is regarded well amongst your competition and whether it could be valuable for your business.
Be brutal with ROI
However large or small the event, be ruthless when it comes to estimating your return on investment. And do be aware of sales people who try to tempt you into attending an event based on business names and/or size of business. Household names are all very well, but if the event is only attracting 100 delegates and is not specific to your product or service, what is the likelihood that you will walk away with leads and ultimately contracts from those businesses?
As an example you could be a computer hardware manufacturer that has paid £5000 for a stand at an IT conference and exhibition. The conference is reaching 100 IT decision-makers, all from companies like Lloyds Bank, Vodafone and Topshop.
On the day, out of the 100 businesses, 70 are already satisfied with their current hardware supplier and are not looking to review this. Of the 30 that are looking, only 15 haven’t already found a preferred supplier. Of the 15 that haven’t found a preferred supplier, only 10 will be looking at the conference. Of the 10 businesses, only 5 have the time to visit your stand. Of the 5 only 3 actually give you their contact details. Therefore you walk away with 3 leads and with a current conversion rate of 20%, none of them convert to sale.
The business has achieved no ROI and lost more than £5000 from attending the event.
We have deliberately created a bleak scenario here to demonstrate that leads are dependent upon much more than job titles and that it is easy to be wowed with impressive sounding names that in reality mean very little. Yes, if the exhibitor had won a single contract with Vodafone it could have brought in a large contract, but with the likelihood so reduced, it wouldn’t be worth the gamble.
How much should an exhibition cost me?
Another key consideration is the actual cost of each lead. Essentially, the amount that you spend is entirely dependent on how much you are prepared to pay for each lead.
Exhibition leads are always more costly than, for example, direct mail or website leads, so you should expect your cost per lead to be higher than usual. However the cost per lead still needs to bear some relation to the average contract/sales value. For example, if you are a car retailer, with an average margin of £5,000 per car, your cost per lead can be higher than for say, a laptop manufacturer.
Use your cost per lead to determine whether a show is cost effective for you. So for example, the car manufacturer may decide that their CPL should be no more than £150. If the event costs £10,000* and they expect 100 leads, at a CPL of £100, it’s worth attending. In theory, if the car manufacturer spent £150,000 on an event and realistically expected 1000 leads, at a CPL of £150 it would be extremely valuable to their business.
As in the example of the computer hardware manufacturer at the IT conference, do be brutal in your lead estimations. It’s often useful to visualise an event, or even attend the show in question as a delegate, to inform your decision.
*Do consider that costs include more than just stand space and must factor in accommodation, carpet laying, contractors, meals and equipment hire etc.
How to exhibit
Your objectives should always influence the scale and nature of your presence to some degree. For example, if you are launching a new brand and exposure is critical to success, make sure that you go the extra mile with the stand design and size, so that it won’t be easily missed. Also concentrate on maximising visual exposure at other points around the exhibition hall, for example through sponsoring a seminar area. Equally if lead generation is more important you may not want to go all out on stand size and sponsorship, but instead focus on ways to attract visitors to your stand through aggressive pre-show promotion.
In most cases trade shows are all about leads. However, don’t forget that leads and brand are mutually supportive in marketing i.e. you can’t have one without the other. That means regardless of what’s most important to you, don’t neglect your leads or brand, even if you weight your spend differently according to your objectives.
Standing out
The stand must look slick, eye-catching and inviting and be positioned in a high traffic area e.g. near a cafe or rest area. If there is a dedicated zone for your type of product then it is advisable to exhibit in this area, to avoid missing visitors that are looking for your product and could bypass your business otherwise.
The stand must be well manned at all times and preferably include an interactive feature e.g. a demo area, or plasma screen presentation. There should also be an easy way of capturing leads, either through your own lead forms or hand-held data capture devices.
Your sales people must be alert and on hand to help at all times. Huddling, surfing the Internet and ignoring visitors will all be detrimental to your brand.
Sponsorship
Sponsoring an event is extremely costly and is usually more applicable to larger players in the market who quite simply have more money to spend. If budgets are limited, it is best to keep sponsorship to times when you are promoting a new product or service so that you know you have something exciting to shout about.
It is also important to challenge exhibition organisers’ perception of sponsorship value – only pay what you feel something is worth and make this clear to the organiser. Also have an idea of how much value the sponsorship will add to your presence at the show, to help quantify how much you are prepared to spend.
Sponsorship should never just be the plastering of a logo on signs and merchandise. Try to do something different and preferably interactive e.g. a breakfast networking event where you have the opportunity to promote your product or service, or cafe area sponsorship with customised messages, for example on takeaway cups, that clearly communicate your brand.
Think about how else you can add value to the event e.g. through case study speakers, or your own demonstration and/or seminar rooms. Again, only opt for extra presence if you feel that it will significantly increase your brand presence/lead count - depending on your aims for the event.
Do consider making use of any visitor mailing lists, for contacting delegates both before and after the event. Not all event organisers will make these available, but some will offer mailshot opportunities either via third party email, or their own mailing houses and it is usually wise to make use of these.
Preparation
Crib sheets with sales messages for the show are essential to ensure consistency from your sales people. What do you want people to say about your business? Are there specific products/versions you want to promote? What is your Unique Selling Point (this is a common exhibition question when visitors are faced with a lot of companies selling the same product)?
If you are promoting a new product or service, is everyone well-versed in the key features and benefits? Some responsibility must be placed on your sales people to be well prepared for the show, therefore it is not unreasonable to make it clear that penalties may be applied for those who are unprepared on the day.
Set targets for sales people so they have an idea of what they’re aiming for and budgets permitting, factor in a post-show reward. Include conversion rates and expected sales from show leads, to put their work into context. Even if it’s simply a bottle of champagne for the person who generates the most leads.
It’s important to issue a pre-exhibition pack with dates, times, directions, targets, crib information, where they can find follow-up templates, accommodation, evening events etc. Try to include something fun, like drinks events you may be attending to keep people’s interest up and motivate them prior to the event. This pack will prevent you (in theory at least) from answering endless queries. To this end, issue it at least 1 week prior to the event.
Follow-up
Key to making an event work is how you handle follow-up. Follow-up should be conducted promptly, either the day following the show or at another date agreed with your new contact. Make sure leads are categorised into low, medium and high priority, so any delays due to low staffing don’t impact your ‘hot’ leads.
Prepare your follow-up materials in advance of the event so that they are quick to access in the aftermath. Use templates that can be easily edited and mail merged so that communication is consistent but fast.
If you can send something with your communication to make it stand out from other exhibitors, then this will help you to continue making an impact on your prospects.
Never a given
Even with your tried and tested shows, make the organiser work for you. No-one should assume your continued support, however successful the show may be.
Most importantly, trade shows aren’t right for every business. Good event organisers will recognise this, but always beware those that don’t have your best interests at heart. If in doubt, go along for a look, but leave the decision until next time.
Friday, 13 November 2009
Marketing Direct article on racist brand values
http://www.marketingdirectmag.co.uk/news/966514/COMMENT-South-Africa-brand-values-dictated-white-people/
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Why moaning about the recession is old hat
The recession has been a media feeding frenzy for months, almost years, now. And it's really starting to grate. I write this after having come across yet another doom and gloom article on the economy.
Now I understand why people feel it necessary to constantly write about the recession - I'm doing it right now, so it would be senseless to criticise people for using it as a talking point. But I don't understand why so much of this comment is just that - comment, words - no rallying cries to action. No inspiration to motivate people into a better future. It's almost as if we enjoy finding new things to moan about, most recently the let down on economic growth prospects.
No we haven't grown yet and when we do it's likely to be a slow start, but if you're familiar with the term 'self-fulfilling prophecy' then this is definitely one of them. If we truly believe that the economy will struggle indefinitely, then it's more likely that it will continue to for a long time yet. I'm not talking about something as trite as 'Positive Mental Attitude', but simply recognising that we shouldn't accept that a certain state of play is inevitable. It's a bit like looking at all the problems with the environment and saying: "That's it, we've had it." and then using it as an excuse not to recycle or switch to energy saving light bulbs (which a lot of people do, incidentally).
There are always ways to make a difference, to punch above your weight, to change the shape of things to come. I agree to some extent with Dragon Deborah Meadon's sentiments that most businesses that fail in the recession perhaps shouldn't have been trading at all. There are indeed plenty of businesses that have continued to thrive and that has a lot to do with their business model: recognising the changes in consumer demand and adapting to the times. Much as many of us miss Woolworth's, this was largely their downfall. Great in their heyday, but simply not able to keep up with an ever evolving consumerist landscape.
I also know that the recession has affected many people very badly and had a terrible impact on their lives - no-one would dispute that. But in looking forwards we have to stop resorting to the easiest common denominator, which is counting our woes and looking for the nearest person or institution to blame. It could be the government or the banks, but it's never ourselves.
Now I understand why people feel it necessary to constantly write about the recession - I'm doing it right now, so it would be senseless to criticise people for using it as a talking point. But I don't understand why so much of this comment is just that - comment, words - no rallying cries to action. No inspiration to motivate people into a better future. It's almost as if we enjoy finding new things to moan about, most recently the let down on economic growth prospects.
No we haven't grown yet and when we do it's likely to be a slow start, but if you're familiar with the term 'self-fulfilling prophecy' then this is definitely one of them. If we truly believe that the economy will struggle indefinitely, then it's more likely that it will continue to for a long time yet. I'm not talking about something as trite as 'Positive Mental Attitude', but simply recognising that we shouldn't accept that a certain state of play is inevitable. It's a bit like looking at all the problems with the environment and saying: "That's it, we've had it." and then using it as an excuse not to recycle or switch to energy saving light bulbs (which a lot of people do, incidentally).
There are always ways to make a difference, to punch above your weight, to change the shape of things to come. I agree to some extent with Dragon Deborah Meadon's sentiments that most businesses that fail in the recession perhaps shouldn't have been trading at all. There are indeed plenty of businesses that have continued to thrive and that has a lot to do with their business model: recognising the changes in consumer demand and adapting to the times. Much as many of us miss Woolworth's, this was largely their downfall. Great in their heyday, but simply not able to keep up with an ever evolving consumerist landscape.
I also know that the recession has affected many people very badly and had a terrible impact on their lives - no-one would dispute that. But in looking forwards we have to stop resorting to the easiest common denominator, which is counting our woes and looking for the nearest person or institution to blame. It could be the government or the banks, but it's never ourselves.
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