A Path Through the Noise…

Ted Konnerth

Egret Consulting Group

June 2009

Marketing in a Niche

Noise• Traditional advertising across all media (print, TV, radio,

email, internet, etc) projects 3,000- 5,000+ messages a week

• We have become immune to solicitation

• Our ‘boutique’ comments get lost in the noise

• So effective marketing requires ‘more’, louder or just ‘gooder’

• It takes a minimum of 7 ‘touches’ to effect a new relationship

• Old brain vs new brain

• Most companies market to the new brain

• Old brain:• Limited attention span• Fight/flight mechanism• Responds only to specific stimuli

• The old brain decides

NeuroMarketing

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Niche, Defined

• Raspberry Jam rule

• Transactional vs. Consultative

• Niche types:• Functional (CFO’s, IT, Nurses)• Specialty (Electrical, automotive,

Insurance)• Regional vs National

Critical Marketing Elements

• Website

• Email

• Social networks

• Newsletter

• Snail tools

• Industry-specific Conferences

• Collateral material

• #1 marketing tool for recruiters?

Web• Current with a clean look

• Relevant content

• Keywords (is ‘recruiter’ on your website?)

• SEO (identify your competitors, copy ‘em)

• Association links, (you link to them)

• Cross-branded links, (they link back as well)

• Testimonials

• LinkedIn addresses, with a company page!

Social Networks and Web 2.0

• LinkedIn: create your own group with your current clients and candidates

• Facebook: if your candidates are < 40

• Twitter: only if your niche supports it

• Facebook: if you’re looking to get lucky

• RSS feeds: great for ‘drumbeats’

• Blogs: if you got the time

• Flickr / You-tube: wha?

Email• Bulk capabilities, with little effort

• From (WHO are you marketing, the firm or you?)

• Subject line, make it meaningful and SPAM-free

• Data scrubbing responsibilities (bounces, out of offices, bad addresses, etc.)

• Professional help if you exceed 5,000 emails

• Personalized message; Dear Joe…

• Signature line: linkedin, bio, associations, etc

Newsletter

• Relevant copy, not ‘sell sheets’

• Goal: get it forwarded to their network and get people to ask to sign up for it

• Monthly, without fail.

• Add layers of interest: surveys, quotes, industry events, calls to action

• Send in html or pdf and link to your web

• Work with a pro to ensure delivery

Newsletter, some more

• Constant Contact will handle the mail process for about $150/mo (15,000 newsletters)

• ‘Brand’ the author

• Viral market to the ‘opens’

• Solicit the ‘un-opens’

• Track the ‘click-throughs’

Newsletter (again?)• Force the practice: sign up EVERYONE

• Identify association meetings you may attend; if you had an appointment or two

• Forward the newsletter articles onto your trade rags to develop a relationship with trade journal editors (and sign up the editors on your newsletter, too)

Newsletter Metrics• We mail 17,000+ every month

• We add about 1,000/mo, subtract 500-800/mo

• Opens are 20%

• Click-throughs average around 400/mo

• Survey takers average less than 50/mo

• We were quoted and referenced by another writer for our survey results

• Annually, we peg about 35% of total revenues to the newsletter

• Goal: reduce the 12,000+ non-opens

Be a Star

• Newsletters sent to an editor => Writer

• After several attempts, I am now the contributing writer to Electrical Wholesaling

• I receive a free half-page print ad in every journal to compensate my writing efforts.

Coordinated marketing

• Started with the newsletter

• Then on to contributing writer

• Then the free space ad

• I created a newsletter topic– Blue-footed boobies

– Ran the ad

– Handouts at trade conferences

Snail strategy• Women in industry newsletter,

mailed to ‘women in the industry’

• Tim Tolan’s Top 100, redux:• I.d. top 100 players in my niche

• Name gathered every CEO and assistant

• Mailed $5 Starbucks card to each CEO

• Followed up with personal phone call

Snail, deux• Sent On-Boarding White Paper to Top 100

• Followed up with phone call

• With each call, I.d. email address and add to the newsletter list

• Sub-divide the Top 100 into 20+ and develop list of every senior exec, plus complete corporate research. Call every senior exec and intro. Get their emails, too.

Snail, results• Top 100 started one year ago

• Met with grand total of 2 CEO’s

• Been referred by one of the CEO’s into one of his board companies to start a search

• Phase three starts in June, with a targeted strategy to only 20 hand-picked CEO’s where I’ve read every financial report and market to their old brain

• Lesson: when you start on $B+ companies, be prepared to go very, very slowly.

Conferences

• Every newsletter has a listing of upcoming events and a call to action: meet me @ NECA, etc.

• Every conference I attend is pre-planned with scheduled meetings or I don’t go.

• Meetings at the conferences are introductory with a specific goal to pick up a search or interview a candidate for a live search

• I wear suit and tie to conference meetings

Collateral materials

• Cheap, simple, professional

• Consistent design theme; business cards, web, letterhead, newsletter, ads.

• RFP’s and e-brochures follow same design theme

• My post-offer collateral is an e-version of my Onboarding white paper

David Maister

• Three levels of Marketing:

• First Line:• Small-scale seminars

• Speeches

• Articles/blogs

• Proprietary research

David Maister, Deux

• Second Line• Newsletters (unless they’re well-

written and industry specific)• Polls• Brochures• Community/civic involvement• Country clubs

David Maister, Trois• Clutching at Straws

• Mass mailers• Cold calls• Press articles

• Raspberry Jam Rule

• How Clients Choose• (hint, they don’t want to use us)

• Market to Existing Clients MOST

To Do List

• Start a company marketing calendar• Trade shows• Scheduled campaigns (snail mail, or other)

• Create a drumbeat strategy. Use RSS feeds or trade mags to get timely info and send those to your prospective and current clients

• Don’t forget to market to your current and former clients and ‘premium’ candidates

• Start a PR program: placement announcements, company announcements, etc.

References

• Managing the Professional Services Firm

David Maister

• Neuromarketing

Patrick Renvoise and Christophe Morin

• My web: egretconsulting.com

• My email: tk@egretconsulting.com