Marketing to the C-Suite
Everyone in marketing and sales wants in to the C-Suite executive. Marketing and selling at the executive level has long been a favored business strategy. But as marketing communicators, how well do we assist sales with messaging that truly resonates at the C-level?
Marketing deliverables must support sales initiatives at multiple stages of the customer buying cycle. That’s why we create ads, glossy brochures, webcasts, white papers, and all the tactical deliverables required to move a prospect over to the sold column. But what about messaging for the C-level?
In the book, Selling to the C-Suite, co-authors Stephen Bistritz and Nicholas Read address the issue from the point of view of sales strategy. For those of us in marketing, the book is a valuable guide on how to support sales in their efforts to sell at the highest levels. The heart of the issue is that C-level executives have different priorities from others in their organization. For any proposed spending, C-level executives have multiple options. They can choose to buy your product or service; they could buy from your competitor; maybe they could achieve similar financial results by hiring more sales people or increasing staff training. The C-level perspective is not about the widget or servicing the widget, it about how for a given investment, the organization can derive most benefit – and often in the shortest amount of time.
People who make a career in sales understand this. As marketers, support for C-level engagements must be less about the widget, and more about return on investment. Next time you are asked to develop marketing support for C-level engagement, stay focused on quantifiable business impact. It’s the “elevator speech.” Hold subject matter experts responsible for laser-like focus on the issue of bottom line business impact. Far too often content-gathering conversations start here, but quickly devolve into performance details, technical specifications, and the standard Features & Benefits information that can be found on any organization’s website.
For a moment, think of yourself as having the big corner office – maybe it’s your favorite chair in a corner of the kitchen. If you receive a profit-sharing bonus, a tax refund, or a Nigerian email scam actually sends you money (OK, the last item may be a stretch), as family CEO what do you do with the available funds? You could pay bills, make some home improvements, put money down on a car, or buy a vacation… you get the idea. Business leaders make similar decisions about projects to fund or activities to support.
Make it Effective:
- Focus less on product/service and more on value
- Don’t use jargon, messages should focus on outcome level
- Enable sales to personalize the assets to individual C-level executives
- Content must be relevant, engaging, and, focused on the industry sector
- Create conversation starters: interesting data about industry trends, success stories, etc.
Such a strategy proved effective for business analytics software leader SAS. Last year, a series of thought leader events was held in about a dozen cities across North America. The events featured analytics consultant, author, and educator Tom Davenport, and focused on how companies can use analytics to drive business results. Tactical marketing support included print, an online presence, advertising, and live event support. All of the tactical deliverables focused on business outcome and value. For the SAS sales staff, the events were a great way to engage prospects and customers while building stronger relationships.
Your marketing support activities may only get one chance to assist sales in making an impact at the C-level. Keep the messaging focused on what your organization offers that can help a senior executive deliver results demanded by the board of directors. This will help establish your sales team as trusted advisors to your customers and open new opportunities for your business.
Thought Leadership and the Buying Cycle
Organizations claim it. Industry gurus boast their credentials. Marketers include it as a key element of their overall strategy. Everyone wants it; few have it – thought leadership.
At a recent marketing meet-up, thought leadership was a hot topic of conversation. Amidst the canapés, glasses of white wine, and the exchange of business cards, talk of thought leadership came up frequently. What struck me was the level of interest for including thought leadership as a key marketing tactic. Some of those gathered worked for organizations on the cutting edge of emerging technology. Others were marketers working for established companies in mature industries. Regardless, most of the marketers I spoke with planned to include thought leadership in their 2010 marketing plans. Those with a clear understanding of how thought leadership fits into the buying cycle have the opportunity to succeed. The others will soon be in search of the next bandwagon upon which to jump.
Marketing consulting firms, professors, and authors all publish models of the customer sales cycle. Whatever model you subscribe to, most have certain elements in common. However, what’s often undervalued in these models is the issue of market maturity. Industries transition through phases: from radical new concept; through paradigm differentiation; to the point an established market develops and offerings are seen as commodities. An analysis of the environment in which the business operates is central to delivery of an effective thought leadership program. Whether the subject is cloud computing or cloud-soft tissues, thought leadership can help differentiate a business from the competition. The key is identifying an approach that sets an organization apart from competitors while building a stronger bond in the supplier-customer relationship.
As a “pull” tactic, thought leadership or knowledge leadership is most applicable early in the sales cycle when building awareness. It also plays a role in helping organizations maintain customer loyalty. Thought leadership marketing is about conveying the image of market leadership. It should take a strong position on where markets, technology, or regulatory requirements are heading. It’s not necessary that the organization be the market sales leader. Rather, it’s about exhibiting a depth of understanding and generously offering original insight.
As a marketing tactic, thought leadership must be inexorably tied to an organization’s competence and how it plans to differentiate itself from the competition. A solid thought-leadership program has a number of essential characteristics.
• Unique Voice – Take a stand with a clearly defined message. Demonstrate you are the leader and expert in a given field. Break new ground with ideas that challenge the status quo, creating opportunity for prospects and customers to take a new look at your organization.
• Extend Your Reach – Take on public speaking opportunities, start a newsletter, author a blog, get published. True independent thought leadership is not about publishing ideas exclusively on your company website. It’s about creating a uniquely defined, forceful, and compelling vision so your ideas are sought out and published on someone else’s website.
• Inform, Don’t Sell – While thought leadership must support an organization’s overall marketing direction, it should generously provide insights from which others can benefit. Challenge your audience to think outside the box by presenting useful information. Invite others into the conversation. Be willing to test your ideas and assumptions, especially by extending your reach through social media.
• Long Term View – As a marketing tactic, thought leadership is not about filling the sales funnel for the upcoming quarter. It’s about building relationships and moving from being seen as only a supplier, to being seen as a trusted advisor. Thought leadership is not a form of marketing collateral. It’s a long-term strategy whose results are best measured over time.
As a marketing tactic, thought leadership can be applied in both B2B and B2C marketing. But, thought leadership is not for every organization. Taking a unique stand and openly sharing intellectual property goes against some organization’s culture. However, for those organizations seeking an effective pull tactic to balance the marketing investment in standard push marketing techniques, a thought-leadership program offers a unique longer-term return on investment.
Beautiful Smile – Nice Promotion
Every business needs some amount of promotion. Heck, even the CIA promotes itself with a presence on the World Wide Web. But for a small business, promotional expenses can take a bite out of the bottom line. One small business has found a unique way to promote itself and make people smile… while making an impression.
Every morning on my way into work I drive past a shopping center and parked in the last row, nearest the street, is this rolling billboard for Village Dental. I don’t know the dentist or anything about his practice. What I know is that at least half a dozen people I work with have commented about the VW bus and mentioned the promotion.
There are several Laws of Small Business Advertising, and Village Dental successfully makes it works. First, Create Curiosity. The rolling billboard grabs people’s attention and gets noticed. Second, Be Easy to Contact. There’s a phone number, a web address, and the office is located just across the parking lot from the van. What more do you need? Third, Use One Message. Smile, it couldn’t be more focused than that.
I’ve a dentist with whom I am very happy. But if I needed a dentist, I’d be sure to check our Village Dental.
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In addition to the traditional print campaign, Starbucks began running one-time TV ads in high-profile shows such as “Saturday Night Live,” or quick hits on news networks such as CNN, which then drive traffic online. Furthering their traditional media presence, last week Starbucks announced a title sponsorship of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” A natural partnership, Mr. Davenport said, it will include occasional references to the chain’s environmental activism or efforts in volunteerism.
Radio can play an important part in promotional campaigns as well. When Smirnoff, the makers of America’s most popular vodka, made plans to introduce its first line of ready-to-drink products in the United States,