demand generation tools webcast: drive more leads with alinean value-marketing tools

Marketing to Today’s Economic-Focused Buyer:

Driving More High Quality Leads with Value-Focused Tools

TOM PISELLO, Chairman & Founder

Blog: http://tompiselloroiguy.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @tpisello

http://www.alinean.comhttp://www.fightfrugalnomics.com

http://tompiselloroiguy.blogspot.com/

http://www.alinean.com/

http://www.fightfrugalnomics.com/

© 2011 Alinean, Inc.2

Today’s Economic-Focused Buyer


The Economic-Buyer

• Size

Longer Sales CyclesMore Leads to Close Same

Amount of Business

Stalled Deals

Harder to Reach

More Skeptical

of Claims

Outcome Focused

Harder to

Engage


Buyers Research Purchases Independently and Online

Source: SiriusDecisions 2010

15% 12% 9%

11%9%

6%

19%21%

14%

55% 58%71%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2009 2010 2015

Web

Direct Mail

Email

Events

Internet-fueled Buying Cycles


Buyer Skepticism – Trust 3rd Parties vs. Vendors

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Early Middle Late

Internal events/triggers

Peers

Industry analysts

Trade publications

Search engine results

VARs/Partners

Consultants

Vendors

Most often

selected


Internal Events / Triggers Drive Early Stages of Buying Cycle

3rd Parties such as Peers, Analysts & Trade Pubs Most Influence – Mid / Later Stages


Information Overload Rising / Effectiveness Declining

6

50%

28%

10%6%

3% 3%

37%40%

6%3%

11%

3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1 to 10 11 to 25 26 to 40 21 to 50 51 to 75 75+

Campaigns Received Per Week

2006 2010

Average 2006: 15.4 campaigns

Average 2010: 20.3 campaigns

32% increase

62% of B2B vendors need more leads in

order to generate the same amount of

sales



Successive Downturns Cause Fundamental & Permanent Change

-8.0%

-6.0%

-4.0%

-2.0%

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

B2B Spending Annual Growth

IDC historical spend

Forecast compiled from IDC, Forrester, Gartner and Goldman Sachs

Two successive downturns in past 10 years have permanently changed buyers

Affected technology marketplace first:

Prior: Innovation, growth, time to market, features / functions drove purchases

After: Saving money, bottom-line impact, best value and fast payback

“Great Recession” downturn reinforcing / accelerating this fundamental change

All areas of economy impacted for all of B2B purchase decisions

Tech Bubble

Great Recession

IDC 2010


CFOs Gain More Control

• CFOs responsible for more groups

• Taking control of strategy + buying-

cycle

• Uncover Issues

• Set priorities

• Specify potential solutions

• More financial due-diligence on all

purchases

• Require formal business cases

• Seek lowest price, lowest risk /

best value solution


Quantifiable benefits

are mandatory

On average 90% of corporations surveyed require

quantifiable proof of bottom-line benefits on most

projects.

Quantifying value is

difficult for buyers

Two-thirds (65%) of buyers indicate that they do not

have the knowledge or tools needed to do business

value assessments and calculations.

Third party validation is

essential

Most trusted sources are: Industry Analysts (31.4%),

and Peers (28.7%).

Vendors lag as a trusted source for only 8.1%.

Buyers turn to vendors

for value proof points

81% of buyers expect vendors to quantify business

value of proposed solutions.

Source: IDC 2010, survey of 200 B2B buyers,

Sirius Decisions 2010 B-to-B Buyer Survey on trusted sources.

Frugalnomics: the new mantra for B2B Buyers


Fight Frugalnomics with Value Marketing

http://www.fightfrugalnomics.com



Fight Frugalnomics with Value Selling & Marketing

Value Focus

Discussion:

• Prescriptive & Quantified

• Discover… Is customer

aware of issue?

• Diagnose… How bad is it?

• Quantify … Value of change

• Compare … Value vs. Status

Quo / Competition

Drive: Customer /

Diagnostics-Led: What is

issue & outcome / value of

change?

Product Focus

Discussion:

• Customer knows issue

• Tie features / functions to needs

• Compares product alternatives

• Feature • Function • Price

Drive: Sales-Led: Product

Driven

Solution Focus

Discussion:

• Customer knows issues &

desired outcome

• Questions to discover pain

points

• Recommend solution to

solve pain

Drive: Sales-Led: Pain-Point

Driven

Solution

ProviderTrusted AdvisorVendor


Value Marketing: How Companies Buy vs. How to Market / Sell

SiriusDecisions Buying Cycle

Loosening

of the

Status Quo

Committing to

Change

Exploring

Possible

Solutions

Justifying

the

Decision

Making

the

Selection

Committing

to a Solution

Decision

Consideration

Discovery

Lead

Prospect

Marketing Qualified

Lead

Sales Qualified Lead

Opportunity

Close

Traditional Marketing Cycle


Create awareness

around a new problem

Align problem

with business

issues; drive urgency

Help buyer

identify needs in solving

the problem

Align solution

with specific sets of

business needs

Demonstrate core features

and functionality

Validate/reinforce choice

Content Marketing Strategy and the Buying Lifecycle

Loosening of the

status quo

Committing to change

Exploring possible solutions

Committing to a

solution

Justifying the

decision

Making the selection

Education Solution

Vendor Selection

BUYING CYCLENEW CONCEPT

NEW PARADIGMESTABLISHED MARKET

Content Marketing Strategy

Reputation Demand Creation Sales Enablement

13Source: SiriusDecisions


Discovery

Loosening

of the

Status Quo

Committing to

Change

Exploring

Possible

Solutions

Justifying

the

Decision

Making

the

Selection

Committing

to a Solution

Decision

Consideration

Discovery

Risk adverse / overloaded

Easier to do nothing than change

Don’t have time to fully understand

issues

Executive driven / CFO aligned

Internet fueled via 3rd party sources

Sales often not engaged yet


• 84.1% buyers use white papers during the buying journey (most used)

• Average of 3.2 white paper downloads per month (very active)

• Leveraged throughout the buying lifecycle:

– Discovery

• 35% for awareness and finding ideas to challenge status-quo

• 33% for finding solution options

– Consideration -23% for creating a short list of vendors and vendor evaluation

– Decision - 10% for making a final decision

BUT, utilization and frequency of use are DOWN year over year…

Need something newer, more personalized / dynamic to break through the clutter and renew relevance to more skeptical / frugal buyers ….

Whitepapers Remain Most Valuable Demand-Gen

Tool

Source: Ziff-Davis Enterprise


Discovery – Connect and Engage with Interactive White Papers

• One-to-One personalized white

paper

• Customized dynamically from a

few data points

• Registration profile (if

available)

• Quick survey

• Uses data to personalize report

• Qualitative Information

• Quantified Results

• Produces customized PDF

• Download or E-mail


Personalizing via Profile

Entice with Abstract

Collect / Confirm

Personalization Data Points

from User:• Industry

• Location

• Size

• Stage in Buying Cycle

• Role in Buying Cycle

• Pain Points

• Asset Survey


Intelligent / Personalized Report

• See Some Basic Results On-

Screen As Data Is Entered

• Download or E-mail PDF

Personalized White Paper

• Register Prior to Download

• Capture Lead and Intelligence• Customize contact profile

• Intelligence from pivot point

profiling

• Usage reporting

• Integrate with lead nurturing

system


Discovery – Connect and Engage with Interactive White Papers

• Break through the Noise!

• Generate More Leads vs.

Traditional White Papers

• Engage and Educate

• Reduce Sales Cycles

• Drive more Sales

• Engage

• Personalized

• One to One Dialogue

• Research Based

• 3rd Party Credibility

• Improved Intelligence via Profile

• Improved Usage Tracking


Discovery - Diagnose with Assessment Tools

– Survey current opportunities, spending and practices

– Diagnose issues

– Benchmark status quo versus competition and leaders

– Recommend improvement strategies

– Map solutions to improvement strategy

20


Profile for Benchmarking

Benchmark comparisons

Typically by industry, location and size


Survey

Survey Questions – Multiple Choice, Pull-downs, Quantifications, Rankings

Spending, Sentiment or Current Practice Questions


Diagnostic Assessment Results

Compare current responses vs. peer averages and leaders

Drive priorities through benchmark comparisons

Intelligently recommends solutions to resolve most pressing issues

Recommends next steps in buying lifecycle


Personalized Report

Register Prior to Receiving Report

Executive Summary & Expanded Analysis in PDF report.


Discovery - Diagnose with Assessment Tools

– Connect better with frugal / skeptical executives

– Engage earlier in decision making cycle

– Provide Cx / Sr level executives with reason to break status-quo

– Establishes urgency of resolving these issues over others

– Reduces time to realize issues and commit to change

– Elevate relationship from Vendor to Trusted Advisor

– Improves competitive position

25


Consideration

Loosening

of the

Status Quo

Committing to

Change

Exploring

Possible

Solutions

Justifying

the

Decision

Making

the

Selection

Committing

to a Solution

Decision

Consideration

Discovery

Recommend solutions to address

issues / goals

Quantify the cost of doing nothing

Make the case for change

Quantify rewards vs. risks

Make project a priority


Consideration : Justify Change with ROI Analysis

– Highlight costs for status quo, quantifying the “cost of doing nothing”

– Quantify the business benefits / savings for each stakeholder

– Keep it Simple, But Credible

– 3rd party validation to improve credibility

27


Profile

Profile current environment and opportunity

Keep simple (<10 data points maximum)

Key defaults provided from research to streamline discovery


Calculate and Illuminate Benefits

Applying research and case studies estimate savings / benefits.

Don’t usually communicate ROI unless pricing / investment included (optional)

Interactively provide what-if scenarios


Call to Action and Next Steps

Promote Registration and Download / E-mail PDF Report

Highlight Additional Next Steps, Including Sales ROI Workshop


Personalized PDF Report

Register to receive report.

Results summarized and expanded in PDF report.

E-mail or Download options.


Consideration : Justify Change with ROI Analysis

– Increase urgency for this project over others

– Reduce time it takes for customer to build own business case / justify change

– Reduce discounting (value focus vs. price)

– Prove value of add on solutions / services for better up/cross-sell

– Improve competitive positioning

32


Decision

Loosening

of the

Status Quo

Committing to

Change

Exploring

Possible

Solutions

Justifying

the

Decision

Making

the

Selection

Committing

to a Solution

Decision

Consideration

Discovery

Make the case for change, but lose

deal to competitor…

B2B customers strategy has changed –

“to buy only what they need at the

lowest possible price.” (Forrester)

Need to prove solution as best value

Total cost of ownership (TCO)

comparisons can help


Decision – Differentiate with TCO Analysis

– Compare against status quo or against select solutions

– Quantify costs for unique opportunity

– Tally total costs over product lifetime not just up-front costs

– Prove better value via total cost of ownership (TCO)• Lower lifecycle cost

• Better benefit realization

• Lower risk

• Intangible benefits (more upside potential)

34


Profile and Results Summary

Profile to collect data in order to customize TCO comparison for specific

scenarios / configurations

Communicate results interactively


TCO Comparison and Result Highlights

Head to Head comparison of solutions total cost of ownership

Summarize Key Findings


Register to Receive Report

Register to Receive PDF Report via E-mail or Direct Download


Report Options to Match Stakeholders / Decision Phase

PDF report via e-mail or direct immediate download

Completely personalized

Summarize results, Highlight more detail than in online tool, Call to Action


Decision – Differentiate with TCO Analysis

39

– Validate selected solution as best value

– Quantify low risk of decision for buyer

– Reduce decision cycle in final stages of buying cycle

– Reduce competitive discounting


Create awareness

around a new problem

Align problem

with business

issues; drive urgency

Help buyer

identify needs in solving

the problem

Align solution

with specific sets of

business needs

Demonstrate benefits and functionality

Differentiate/

Validate/reinforce choice

Integrated Content Marketing Strategy

Loosening of the

status quo

Committing to change

Exploring possible solutions

Committing to a

solution

Justifying the

decision

Making the selection

Education Solution

Vendor Selection

BUYING CYCLENEW CONCEPT

NEW PARADIGMESTABLISHED MARKET

MESSAGING

Reputation Demand Creation Sales Enablement

Interactive

White Paper

Webinar Case Study

Executive

Assessment

Event Webinar Analyst Report

Benefits

Calculator

Peer Interaction

Source: SiriusDecisions

TCO

Calculator

Competitive

Comparison

Analyst Report

Interactive

White Paper


Next Steps

1. Your Sales & Marketing Ready to Do Business with Frugal Buyers? Take this Diagnostic Assessment to Find Out.

2. Research White Paper: Five Reasons You May Not Be Spending Enough on Content Marketing

3. Over 200% ROI from a Value Marketing Program Sound Impossible? Find Out for Yourself

4. Why Alinean? Alinean Vendor Profile (SiriusDecisions)

Alinean powered tools can significantly upgrade the quality of sales interactions

throughout the buying process, allowing prospects to drive at the beginning

through simpler, self-service tools and sales to provide greater depth as the buying

process proceeds – SiriusDecisions 2010

http://www.fightfrugalnomics.com

https://roianalyst.alinean.com/enterpriseroi/AutoLogin.do?d=583481707964037332


http://www.alinean.com/docs/Alinean_Not_Spending_Enough_on_Content_Marketing.pdf

http://www.alinean.com/docs/Alinean_Not_Spending_Enough_on_Content_Marketing.pdf



http://www.alinean.com/Resources/Alinean2010Profile_SiriusDecisions.pdf




demand generation tools webcast: drive more leads with alinean value-marketing tools

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