CASE STUDY: Inbound: building trust into your marketing strategy

www.tomorrow-people.com

Inbound: building trust into your online marketing strategy

David Smith


Tomorrow People

• Leading UK inbound agency providing cutting edge modern marketing

• B2B specialising in technology and online

• 5 stages Inbound marketing methodology - delivering strategies that build brands, generate sales-ready leads and increase revenue


What is trust?

The Parental Unit: key signal

&behaviors

• Openness

• Transparency

• Sharing

• Knowledge

• Communication


Why is it so important to modern organisations online?



Yes, the B2B landscape has changed


Traditional

Intrusive

Push

Sales Cycle tactics Telemarketing Tradeshows Direct mail Email Blasts Press / TV Advertising Radio

Passive

Pull Modern

Buying Cycle SEO / SEM Blogging Social Media Content Marketing Automation Nurturing Word of Mouth


Sam Davies

March 2013

Advertising Telesales Exhibitions

Content Marketing Inbound

Marketing

Social Media

Marketing


Executive Finance Customers Sales Operations Customer

Service

From 1 to many to Many to Many

Prospect /

Customer

Marketing

2 way dialogue


Are our communications falling on deaf ears?


Where is the trust?

Research has shown

• 18% of people trust what

organisations say about their

brand

• 92% trust brand advocates

(trusted sources)

Trustpilot 2014


Trusted sources – old world vs. new world?


Trust in advertising?

Reviews & recommendations

dominate customer choice

Nielsen’s Global trust in advertising and

brand messages (Apr 2012) survey of

more than 28,000 internet respondents

in 56 countries

40% 40% 41% 42% 46% 47% 47% 47% 47%

50%

58% 58%

70%

92%

Ads served

in search

engine

results

TV program

Product

placement

Ads before

movies

Ads before

movies

Ads on

radio

Ads in

newspa

pers

Billboards

& outdoor

Ads in

magazi

nes

Brand

sponsor

ship

Ads on

TV

Emails I

signed up

for

Branded

websites

Editorial

content

Consume

r opinions

online

Recommendatio

ns from people I

know


What does this mean to online marketers?

Focus on User Signals and the power of

online Word of Mouth

• UGC

• Endorsements

• Social proof

Create brand advocacy and leverage

influencers


The Influences of Trust


Word of Mouth Marketing

Experiential The most common and powerful form, typically accounting for 50 to 80% of

WOMM activity. It results from a customer’s direct experience with a product

or service.

Consequential Occurs when consumers are directly exposed to traditional marketing

campaigns and pass on

messages about them or the brands they promote.

Intentional Occurs when marketers use celebrity endorsements to trigger positive buzz

for product

launches.


Who is in the Sphere of influence?

Professional

Employed in their area of

influence

•Have a desire to share

their knowledge &

experience

•Well established and highly

regarded in their field

•Credentials are earned

either academically

or though extensive

experience in a particular

field

• Intermittent or one-

time advocacy

• Have positive

sentiment

• Open and willing to

share specific

experiences with

others

• Independent from the

brand

• Sustained passion for the

brand and the brand’s

cause

• Possess similar qualities

and values of the brand -

shares the brand mission

• Strong team players

• Teachable in terms of

methods and messaging

to spread the word

• Intrinsically motivated to

support and endorse the

brand and it’s purpose

• hold media attention and

public fascination

• Possess their own unique

qualities that should either

align with the brand and

audience.

• Are audience specific and

belong to one of many

verticals including

entertainment, politics

business, authors, sports,

artists, parenting, etc.

Advocate Ambassador Celebrity


Many to Many

Executive Product Technical

Prospect

& Customer

Ambassador Advocates Sales

2 way dialogue

Marketing


Now we know what’s needed but do we really know who your target market?


What you want your audience to hear?

*McKinsey research 2013


Understand your target market – the persona

• Goals • Pains • Challenges • Wants/desires • Tone • Channels • Offers • What information format • Who influences them


FAMILIARITY AWARENESS CONSIDERATION

PROSPECT 60%

DECISION

SALES

The customer journey

Initial pain / solution Using content provided by the preferred vendor

Feeling more confident after reviewing conversations around different vendor capabilities.

On site meeting with top 2 providers to discuss solution in depth. Good meetings and focus

Overwhelmed by the amount of information to sort through to evaluate options

Receives proposal from shortlisted providers, tries to identify meat from fluff

Agree on cost and project plan, phased in order to maximize risk and early delivery of value

Reviews some useful research data and product information online but has trouble finding enough local case studies and comparing the many products / services on the market

Price way off, negotiation based on ROI and value proposition versus available budget

MO

VIN

G T

OW

AR

DS

THE

GO

AL

BA

RR

IER

S TO

GO

AL

Seeks on-going self education and research about a particular problem


1. Define the customer experience scenario

2. Establish expectations, priorities & performance perceptions

3. Map the true customer experience

4. Identify opportunities for improvement

5. Create a customer experience scorecard

Map the Customer Experience


Trust & buyer behavior

Helps compare how you stand against your competitors

Evaluate

Buy Consider

Advoc

ate

Bond

Experience

Positive buying experience

encourages consumer to continue

interacting with you

Consumer becomes advisor,

tester, referrer


The role of content


WoM Acquisition Retention


Creating a voice; raising knowledge, understanding and appreciation of your industry

Solution to the pain. Creating deliberation and thoughtfulness around the value proposition of

your products or services

Referencability: Aimed at creating a firmness of purpose, and conclusion around the offering


The content strategy requirement

The P

illars

of

Conte

nt

Mark

eting f

or

Inb

ou

nd

Targeting

Offer

Placement

Buyer Persona

Alignment

Improved

targeting of key

buyer roles using

buyer intelligence

Buyer’s Journey

Alignment

More compelling

offers and offer

sequences to drive

qualifying

behaviours

Campaign

Alignment

Streamlined planning of integrated inbound and outbound components


Mapping the messaging line - against the assets

Unaware

LinkedIn

Post

eBook

eBook

Peer to Peer discussion

Product pages

ROI calculator

Methodology

Video case

study

Company

blog

Awareness Decision Consideration


Trust in motion… Oracle #TheSocialInfluencer


3 simple steps

Creating a story

that’s interesting,

relevant and

authentic.

Spread the word, if the

story’s strong enough

the influencers engage.

Build Your list of

influencers based

on persona

requirements



Objectives

• Raise Oracle social brand and product awareness

• Building differentiation into the market

• Lock in customer / prospect revenues

• Enable social programs

• Provide a clear methodology & primary research

• Creatively talk about the issues across social

Strategy

Build reach, credibility & leveraging TRUST


Step 1 – Know your audience


Step 2: Tell a compelling story

Live Debate

Report

Survey

Awareness Consideration Decision


The influencers


Online Advertising

SEO

Social Media

Outreach Program

Email Marketing

Step 3 - Connect with your audience

Trusted Experience


To build trust into you marketing strategy remember…

Understand your audience / persona

Know their buying journey

Reach out to market influencers

Create an engaging story

Create a fully integrated comms plan


Q&A