Organized Your Marketing Team into TOFU, BOFU and MOFU Yet?

No, this is not a post on a tofu recipe. It is although a post on how you could categorize your marketing team (as formulated by Mike Volpe, CMO of Hubspot).

• TOFU (Top of Funnel) - This team will focus on strategies to attract prospects. Strategies ranging from blogging, search marketing, using social media channels to paid ad campaigns. This team’s goal  is to find new contacts or leads and build a marketing database.
• MOFU (Middle of Funnel) - This team will focus on strategies to build trust. They will initiate nurturing programs to build a relationship with leads and also be involved in scoring to qualify them for the sales team. This team’s goal is to classify leads generated by the Tofu team, to score them and forward qualified prospects to the sales team.
• BOFU (Bottom of Funnel) - This team will focus on strategies to create a bridge with the sales team to increase conversions. They will create content that will help sales teams close deals. This team’s goal is to generate the maximum of leads that convert by working closely with sales teams.

We plan on implementing this is great yet simple approach to optimizing our marketing team efforts. What about you? Are you ready to organize your marketing team into Tofu, Mofu and Bofu? We are keen to hear how it goes.

Kick-start your process. Begin with finding new leads. Ask us how

From Contacts 

Through Content 

To Conversion

Monetize Your Marketing Database!

The various facets of data quality include correctness, accuracy, completeness, currency and credibility. As ‘data is what data does’, new opportunities are arising to know customers outside-in, and B2B marketers need to leverage the power. With accurate, current and relevant customer information and with access to dynamic databases; marketing programs can now revolve around customers for a change!

Give customers what they need and not what they want.

Get to know how we can help you Monetize Your Marketing Database!

Marketing Case Study - Monetize Your Database from InfoCheckPoint

Turn Up The Volume on Telemarketing ROI!

Wouldn't you like to:
• Lower cost per lead by 61%
• Increase web traffic by 55%
• Improve deal sizes by 9%

You can gain this and much more by integrating telemarketing with your overall marketing approach. By using inbound marketing you will be able to nurture every lead and avoid prospects resisting your phone calls. The thumb rule with telemarketing is:

1. Don’t start cold, begin with warm conversations

2. Prepare a script not a sales spiel 

3. Integrate Telemarketing With Your Overall Marketing Plan

Get to know how to boost telemarketing ROI with data intelligence and qualified leads. Turn Up The Volume on Telemarketing ROI!

Telemarketing should not be an independent process. It should be integrated with other marketing activities to yield higher returns. By utilizing inbound marketing strategies you can observe your customer’s buying cycle rather than just your own sales process. Using a holistic approach and creating an ecosystem of all marketing activities you will be able to nurture every lead and avoid prospects resisting your phone calls.

You can now boost telemarketing ROI with data intelligence and qualified leads.  Signup or send us a mail and complement your sales and marketing teams!

The New Cult of Marketing to the ‘Mass of Niches’

In the world of marketing, there is a drastic shift in mindset from mass marketing to marketing to the ‘mass of niches’. What this means is that, companies are no longer targeting masses in general, they are connecting with a niche group of masses who relate, understand, support and promote their products, services and values.

What You DON’T Need to Do	What You NEED to Do
Is to rollout mass marketing campaigns using a huge database to improve response and click through rates.	Is to identify your niche market and market at a mass scale. Make your ‘mass of niches’ as your target audience.
Is to develop sales oriented pitches	Is to build relationships
Is to create mass advertising campaigns to influence a few group of people.	Is to create a generation of best customers as your representatives.
Is to ‘push’ through outbound marketing.	Is to ‘pull’ through inbound marketing.
Is to limit your marketing strategy to either digital or offline mediums.	Is to holistically use both offline and digital marketing mediums.
Is to consider all customers good. Some of them are more inappropriate than worth.	Is to identify the right customers. Those who are best suited to your organization, objectives, values and business.

Customers have more influence, control and brand affinity than ever before. Companies need to harness this power by connecting with them. 

Wish to know how to connect with your ‘mass of niches’. Ask us how! 

Our segmented databases not only facilitate customize targeted communication, it provides you with insights into who your best and worst customers are!
’

“Your worst customer is your best friend. Your best customer is your partner”, Jeff Jarvis, ‘What Would Google Do?

Use ‘Bots’ to Boost Not Batter Your Marketing!

Marketing Automation (MA) is a process that ensures prospects are constantly engaged. It creates and delivers email campaigns and other marketing collaterals, and tracks website traffic and responses.

However, it is not about only implementing a new product; it is about a change in mindset. Automation alone does not translate to increase in sales; it will automate sending emails, taking the prospect to the next level is what the sales team needs to do.

Keep in mind – Automation is only as good as the strategy that is developed for it. Therefore, all functionalities of MA tools should be used to justify its effectiveness. You should:

• Observe customer actions and interactions to send them relevant messaging at the right time.

• Know which customer is in the “buying mode”, therefore building valuable leads for your sales team.

• Monitor, measure and develop reports through KPI dashboards to find out marketing and sales effectiveness.

• Develop customized and flexible sales workflow to give attention every lead deserves.

• Integrate MA with CRM systems in order to nurture leads with relevant communication.

Marketing Automation helps you develop customized, ‘right-time’ marketing programs that educate, inform, propose and keep prospects alive, interested and engaged. 

With Info CheckPoint you can easily integrate your database with one of the leading CRM applications, Salesforce.com. You can implement coherent nurturing strategies and action plans. Utilize a multi channel email engagement approach to build customer relationship through automating marketing processes. 

Let ‘bots’ help you connect relevantly with your customers!

Is Marketing ROI Your Focus, Yet?

There is much hype and confusion around buzzwords like “ROI”, “results” and “performance.” So, first things first what is Marketing ROI? It is the amount of gross profit generated from marketing investment. 

The hard fact is that CEOs are unconvinced of marketers and the ROI their initiatives generate. Database marketers are always justifying their stance of how they are contributing through objectives of increasing customer acquisition, customer retention and cross selling.

Here are some pointers you can consider in measuring ROI:

• Customer Acquisition – calculation of new customers is fairly easy. It is the amount of revenue a new customer is going to generate, which is easily identifiable.
• Customer Retention - the calculation usually applied is = Number of customers x percentage retained x marketing costs. However an important metric seems to be missing. Any guesses? Replacement cost! By including replacement cost the ROI drastically improves.
• Technology Infrastructure – marketers more often than not find themselves justifying cost on investment in technology such as databases, marketing automation, CRM initiatives, etc. Here are 4 areas which will help in rationalizing cost:
• Total Cost – It include total expense incurred on licensing or purchasing technology and the cost of resources utilized to deploy or implement it.
• Process Improvement Savings – Dollars saved as a result of introducing new process can be justified as a return of savings on investment.
• Information Technology Savings – If new technology introduced compensates for the time invested by resources (personnel as well as machine time) earlier it can be categorized as cost savings.
• Time to Market – should new technology propel product or service launches therefore increasing faster time to market delivery; revenue generated from that as well can be included in your validation.

Justfying your investment can be deifnitely a cinch if your database provides rocking results. Gain access to a ROI Intelligent database. Contact Us 

Direct Database Marketing to Drive ROI

Do you think that by “doing it all” your “doing it right?”
While we all can develop an email flyer or a Facebook post, marketing goes beyond being a selling at a lemonade stand. A marketing expert or team can be sustainable by increasing sales and business growth.

MARKETING IS NOT ABOUT

• Doing it because you can – it is about doing it because you should. You need to identify what will get you best results. We may all know the basic marketing tactics, however only a specialist would know which one will create impact. Pay attention to professionals, they are where they there are for a reason. 
• Striving to be understood – it is about understanding first. We are not ‘bots’ and neither are our clients. We need to build a relationship and recognize expectations and requirements, in order to get and give what everyone wants. 
• Carbon copying – nobody likes copy cats. In order to engage and attract attention, running a copy cat campaign may not be the best idea. If you do not have the time and resources, get help! A marketing team of experts will be able to understand what you and your clients need and will be able to build a unique campaign that represents your brand personality the best. 
• Making assumptions – just because you build a product or service, does not mean customers will magically appear. It would be a mistake to assume that a good product or service will sell itself. Your marketing plan should revolve around your clients, to include the metrics of who, what, where, how and when to market. 
• Guessing - Marketing is not about “throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks” and neither is it about “throwing darts when blindfolded”.

When developing marketing plans, client expectations not only need to be met they to be exceeded. While we all know this, how many of us tend to over promise to be one above the rest?

And if the adages in this post haven’t driven home the point, thought leader, Seth Godin puts in a beautiful way, “In our rush to get picked or get noticed or build buzz, the instinct is to promise more. Perhaps it pays to promise less instead, to radically change expectations and to reset what it means to deliver on the promise of delight.”

We adopt best practice approaches in marketing and database management. Get to know more.

Size Does Matter…With Big Data at Least!

Let us first clarify what ‘Big Data’ is and what the buzz around it is about.

Big Data is information about customers available through various sources and channels, from social and ICT networks, from videos and digital images, from sensors or GPS signals, to name a few. This data is something which can be invaluable for businesses. 

So why are people getting ‘buzzy’ about Big Data? 

Because it is the biggest source for marketers to gain real-time and in-depth insights into the preferences and behavior of their customers. 

How does Big Data help? 

It helps in creating targeted marketing campaigns. To give customers what they need more than what they want. While you may think this applies mainly to B2C companies you are mistaken, as B2B companies need to consider their clients’ businesses as individual personas as well.

Ask CMOs what defines a successful brand? And they will tell you it is primarily in using customer data to drive marketing decisions and ROI. What better way to obtain customer data than through social media channels. And yet, of around 85% of companies that use social media as a marketing tool, only 19% collect data from these channels! 

The best way to create brand awareness, build brand association and increase engagement is in conversing with customers, personally. Mass media marketing tactics for sure don’t work in social channels.

Your next marketing plan should go regional rather than national; it should go into sub verticals, into personas rather than demographics and focus on specific stages in the buying cycles. Your database of customers should be segmented to identify groups to enable targeted communication. 

This is where Info CheckPoint comes in by providing segmented databases that are socially integrated including LinkedIn profiles with every contact. 

So go get started, drill down, target, personalize and increase marketing ROI!

Psst - While size does matter, so does the quality of experience!

The ‘In and Out’ Bound Routine in Marketing!

More than 200 million Americans have registered on DND “Do Not Disturb” lists. Marketers need to b aware of their unintended intrusive behavior (referring to our classic outbound marketers).

It is no longer about:

• Buying people’s interest, it is about earning it!
• Pushing your product or service on customers, it is about getting customers to you!

Inbound marketing techniques don’t just generate leads they generate revenue. Most popular tactics used today are social media and content marketing.

We are not ‘bots’ and neither are our customers. Develop dialogues with inbound marketing rather than inundate with monologues. Marketers spend 90% of their efforts on outbound marketing and 10% on inbound marketing. Ratios of your marketing efforts need to be flipped!

Don’t seek customers in the jungle; make your brand a watering hole to get them to you. Don’t shout, be heard; don’t search, be found. Amen!

Here are some interesting stats, feel free to share the buzz:

• Inbound Marketing saves you money! It costs 62% less that Outbound Marketing.
• There will be 61% increase in investment in Inbound Marketing.
• 57% of B2B companies acquired business through blogs, 42% through Twitter and 41% through Facebook.

Source – www.cmo.com

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What is the Mojo of your Marketing Database?

Do you have a high ‘data quality quotient’? 

Without quality data even the best of analytical minds will not be able to decipher data into business intelligence.

Do you have qualified analytical experts?

What you need, are analysts who understand the business of database and direct marketing, not just statisticians.

Do you involve analysts in the strategic and tactical decision making process?

Involvement of analysts is a great way of integrating ideas, addressing issues and discussing implementation aspects.

Do you constantly seek to find innovative ways to capitalize on data you have?

It is not the fact that you have data, but how you use it that makes your business competent. Finding new ways to interpret, analyze and utilize data provides scope to identify niche audiences and unique solutions.

Based on a recent IDC report, every 2 years, digital information is estimated to double. Harnessing the power of data creatively, intelligently and effectively is a great way to keep the mojo rising!

When B2B Marketers Need to Sell Without Actually Selling!

In ‘no man’s' land of the purchasing funnel, B2B Marketers have to fill the void and act as Sales Reps. That is the significance of the 60% mark in B2B Marketing. What does all this mean?

Based on a survey, most customers contact sales reps after completing 60% of their purchasing decision process. This is where Marketing plays a new role in pursuing purchasing decision of customers through the funnel. 

With customers becoming more independent in making purchasing decisions, sales and marketing messaging has to be relevantly focused. Any gap in the purchasing funnel if left unattended is sure to create a void, one that all B2B Marketers wish to avoid!