Definitive Guide to B2B Marketing in the Digital Age

B2B Marketing Strategy in the Digital Age

Last Updated: Feb, 2017

Carolyn Bao | CEO, Shiny.ly Technology Inc. (USA)

Confidential and Proprietary. Do not share or forward without written permission from Shiny.ly Technology, Inc

• Is it still worthwhile to do branding in digital age• What is digital marketing, exactly• How to amplify the value of the company using

digital marketing • How should B2B companies best utilize digital

marketing

Learning Objectives


PreludeWhat Keep CMOs Up In the Night?

3


Revenue Growth

4

CEO/CFO’s Ask of CMO • How are we performing at each stage of the

lead-to-revenue cycle? • How is marketing contributing to the pipeline

and revenue?• How much revenue can we confidently

forecast for current and future quarters?

Profitability

• What’s the return on the money we are investing in marketing?

• What would happen if we increase (decrease) marketing spend by (x) percent?

• Is marketing continuously improving to optimize spending?


1.

First, Build Up Your Brand


The Shifting Source of Competitive Advantage

WHAT ELSE CAN WE MAKE AND SELL? WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO FOR CUSTOMERS?

UPSTREAM ACTIVITIES DOWNSTREAM ACTIVITIES

Sourcing Production Logistics InnovationShapingCustomerPerception

InnovationBuildingAccumulativeAdvantage

Contract with lowest-cost suppliers

Reduce costs/maximize scale and throughput

Optimize supply-chain and distribution efficiency

Build better products

Define competitive setChange purchase criteriaBuild Trust

Tailor offering to consumption circumstancesReduce customer costs and risks

Harness network effectsAccrue and deploy customer data

FIXED COSTS, CUSTOMER VALUE, AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ARE MOVING DOWNSTREAM

Source: Harvard Business Review, December, 2013 Issue

“


“Nobody ever gets fired for choosing IBM”

Why Investing in Branding and Downstream Value

- Business cliché when choosing enterprise software


2.

Craft Your Brand’s Story with Lasting Effect


• What does the company stand for

• Reputation of this company • Credibility of the sales rep• What’s their track record• Reference Clients • What can you do for me

Key Factors Universal to all B2B Buyers

Source: BMA, Business Marketing Association


B2B Customer Journey

Source: Forrester Research, Inc.


Depicting B2B Buyer- Amanda, Email Marketing Buyer

WhoWhat &

Why

How & Role

Value Prop


Elevator Pitch Brand Vision

Reason to BelieveEmotional Benefits

• Mastercard – Priceless• Visa – Anywhere you want

to be

• Accepted everywhere• Safe transactions • Go where cash cannot go

Crafting your story - Develop Your Value Proposition Map


B2B Sales & Marketing Has Changed


Buying Process Has Changed


Are Your Sales/Marketing Teams Ready?


3.

B2B Marketing – Main Functions


B2B Marketing’s Key Functions

Strategy Execution Forecast Improve

• Insights of Customer Buying Cycle

• Insights of Target Buyer Personas

• Insights of Target Customers’ Budget Cycle & Sources

• Marketing Automation Infrastructure

• Value Proposition

• Product Marketing • Demand Generation • Inbound Marketing • Account Based Marketing • Content Marketing • Lead Qualification • Client Testimonials • Webinar & Event

Marketing • Lead Nurturing• Paid Media • Website• Sales toolkit

• Measurements o Volumeo Conversiono Velocityo Value

• Predictions

• Cross-Department collaboration

• Analytics • A/B Testing


B2B Case Study: HubSpot

-

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

-

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

HubSpot’s Growth far exceeded that of S&P 500 (Tech) and Nasdaq

Revenue ('000) S&P 500 (Tech) Nasdaq


• HubSpot（Stock Ticker：HUBS）Its products and services aim to provide tools for social media marketing, content management, web analytics and search engine optimization.

• HubSpot has perfected what it sells: Inbound Marketing, proven by its phenomenal growth propelled by marketing.

• Harvard Business Review HubSpot Case Study

HubSpot: Inbound Marketing Software Company

https://hbr.org/2012/10/target-the-right-market-2


Content Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing

Content marketing

Technical SEO

Freemium Trials

Interactive Tools

Marketing Automation

Inbound Marketing“The core idea of inbound marketing is to create a steady stream of valuable, relevant content. When you publish content that your audience really cares about, you naturally attract inbound traffic that can eventually convert into paying customers. It is never about shilling for your product. It’s about relevant, valuable content.” - Brian Kardon, CMO at Fuze


• HubSpot sells “Inbound Marketing SaaS software” • Created the category of “inbound marketing” • Became the thought leader in B2B and digital

marketing • 90% customers have been sourced via HubSpot’s

own inbound marketing efforts • $121MM - Annual sales • 90% - customers sourced by Marketing • 45K - MQL/mon • 30- Marketing staff worldwide, with 1% offer rate, harder than being

admitted to Stanford or Harvard• 120 - Sales staff

• Went public in October 2016 with market cap of ~$2B• Comparison:

• Marketo: $150MM annual sales, 4.5K MQL/mon, IPO market cap $724MM

How HubSpot Nailed Demand Generation

Sirius Decision –Demand Generation Waterfall


Consumer Decision Journey (CDJ)


Align Content Strategy to CDJ

Carolyn Bao | CEO, Shiny.ly Technology Inc.(USA)

4.

Distribute Your Branding/Solution Story


Earned Media

Paid Media

Owned Media

SHARINGMentionsSharesRepostsReviews

ADVERTISINGPPCDisplay AdsRetargetingPaid InfluencersPaid content promotionsSocial media ads

WEB PROPERTIESWebsiteMobile siteBlog siteSocial media channels

SEO&brand content drive earned media

Leverage owned, earned, and paid media for a comprehensive marketing strategy

Give more exposure to web properties with SEO and PPC.

Owned, Paid & Earned Media

Propel sharing & engagement with paid promotion


Sample Conversions• Sign up for emails• Request a free sample• Sign up for events • Buy now Key Capability to Cultivate• SEO

26

Owned Media

Owned Media: all the properties that your brand owns and manages, including website, apps, mobile sites, official handles on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Yelp, Slideshare, etc.

Owned Media

Paid Media Earned Media


Attract

SEM Keywords Facebook ｜LinkedInContent DistributionKeynote Speeches

Strangers

Engage

Ebook Whitepaper

Customer Testimonials

Visitors

Convert

Landing PageCall-to-Action

Forms

Visitors

Close

Signup for Emails Sign up for Events

Leads

Delight

Client Conference Exclusive Events

Customers Promoters

Source: Hubspot

Strategy of Owned Media - Corporate Website


• How does success look like?

• Direct Response • Branding

Set GoalsPrepare Ad

CopiesDetermine Ad

Execution

Measure results with

each channel

Optimization across

channels

• Reach • Delivery mechanisms:

TOD; Frequency Cap Determine cost basis: CPM/CPC/CPL/CP

• Targeting: Demo, geo, behavioral, device, platform, custom-database

• Ad copy & creative

• CPA per channel • CPA per user group• Revenue

contribution per channel

• A/B Testing

• ROI per ad copy • Blended CPA• Revenue

contribution per ad

Paid Media: all forms of media that are paid to be shown. Distribution channels include social network sites, content websites, mobile apps, video content networks, billboards, TV and radio ads

Paid Media


• Xerox – Created a targeted “Get Optimistic” campaign to connect with 30 top accounts and partnered with Forbes to create a magazine that offered relevant business tips. 70% of targeted companies interacted with the microsite, readership increased 300-400% over previous email campaigns, added 20,000 new contacts, generated 1,000+ scheduled appointments, and get this: yielded $1.3 BILLION in pipeline revenue. Yes, BILLION.

Successful Paid B2B Marketing Campaign


To grow and nourish our relationships

For self-fulfillment

Bring value & entertainment to one another

To define themselves to others

To get the word out about causes they care about

30

Earned Media

Earned Media: branding story in other people’s voice. Nielsen studies show that 77% consumers will buy based on WOM recommendations .

* Source: New York Times study

Why

do

peop

le sh

are*


5.

Improve your story – measure, analyze & optimize

Confidential and Proprietary. Do not share or forward without written permission from Shiny.ly Technology, Inc 32

Start with Asking “What Impact Business Metrics?”

1. Start building your measurement framework by asking the question of “what metrics will drive our business growth?”

2. Then, identify what metrics will help you understand what marketing metrics are contributing to those business metrics

3. Then, within each marketing channel (like website, in this example), what main functions are succeeding *

* Source: Avinash Kaushik’s DMMM


Won

B2B Marketing Metrics

Created Leads

Leads

MQL

TAL

QUALPresent Solution

Fit


Measure Through B2B Sales Cycle

Volume

Conversion

Value

Veloctiy


Marketing budgets have been increased in these areas:

• Data• Analyses• Customer

centric technologies

B2B Marketing Budget Allocation Investment Trends


• Is it still worthwhile to do branding in digital age• Yes, absolutely

• What is digital marketing, exactly• Marketing strategy that is primarily executed through digital channels

• How to amplify the value of the company using digital marketing • Use well structured digital marketing plans to iterate & optimize marketing strategy and

product value

• How should B2B companies best utilize digital marketing • Focus on the core strategy, optimize the insights into Persona, Channel ROI and Content

Strategy to continuously improve marketing ROI

Summary


Thank YouAuthor: Carolyn Bao, [email protected]