• Provider• Buyers

Referrals

Co-Marketing

& Co Selling

• PartnersInfluence

• Community Leaders

Co-Selling

AlliancesIndustry Expertise

Strategies for Growth in 2012 eBook:

Refe al Ma keting s Inbo nd Ma keting

InfluenceAdvocate

Leaders

Referral Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing

How-to Build your Referrals & Social Capital to Drive your “Lead Demand Engine” using Inbound Marketing Social “Lead Demand Engine” using Inbound Marketing, Social Media, Partnerships, and Strategic Alliances.

© 2011 Ephor Group | 1 (800) 379-9330 | www.ephorgroup.com | 5353 W Alabama Suite 300 | Houston, TX 77056Ephor Groups provides services (GrowthSTEP, Revenue Management, & Management Science) needed to efficiently grow, outperform the competition, attract useful capital, and create wealth for software and service

Strategies for Growth in 2012 Referral Marketing vs. Inbound MarketingWhen it comes to lead generation, referrals are the most cost efficient sales and marketing tactic.

The Internet has shifted the balance of marketing effectiveness to inbound marketing (i.e. online social marketing) away from outbound marketing which is more effective than advertising or teleselling than advertising or teleselling.

Strategies for Growth in 2012 Referral Marketing vs. Inbound MarketingLinkedIn drives the most referrals for B2B outside of client referrals.

Client referrals have the highest close t (t i ll 1 i 3 b tt )

B2B companies using Social Media acquire clients.

rate (typically 1 in 3 or better).

Strategic alliance partnerships outperform sales people when managedmanaged.

Not everyone can sell, but everyone can ask for feedback and a referral!

Average Cost Per Client for B2B <$1,000 using Inbound Marketing versus 5 to 50x the cost for traditional advertising (Ephor Group 2011 research report)traditional advertising (Ephor Group 2011 research report).

89% of US business users search online before they make a purchase (Big Research 2011).

How People Buy Today Has Changed

#1. Buyers first ask peers or experts: y p p

Blogging and Community Research:

#2. Buyers then go online for: Vendor Comparisons

Product/Service Details and Case Studies

Online & Analyst Reviews

Inbound Marketing Automation ChecklistSetup Routine ManagementSetupI. Referral templates and processes for

employees, partners, agents, etc.

II. Lead Capture (web landing pages per keyword

Routine Management Data Management

Promotion Frequency (publishing schedule)p ( g p g p y

phrase) & Call-To-Action Offer Button Integration (website, landing pages, Paid Search Google AdWords, LinkedIn, etc.)

III. Lead Scoring and Qualification

Partner Management

Asset Management ead Sco g a d Qua cat o

IV. Integration (Wordpress, CRM, eCommerce, Financial, etc.)

V Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

A/B Testing and Metrics Reporting

PR & Event Management V. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

VI. Social Media: Blogging, Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn

Referral Management

VII. Links: Directories, Communities

VIII.Lead Nurturing Campaigns including database setup

© 2011 Ephor Group | 1 (800) 379-9330 | www.ephorgroup.com

Generate 10X the Referrals then Generate 10X the Leads

Incent all your people to drive referrals including:

“Inbound Marketing” includes: Social Networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn,

including: Account managers Customer service reps Partners

C it l d

FaceBook, Inclusion in Search Rankings such as Google, Online Links from Partners + Friends, Blogs, News Sites, Opt-In Email Newsletters, Videos, Viral Content, Q&As, Forums, and social media.

Community leaders Forums, and social media.

“Feet-on-the-street models are legacy thinking. Today’s wealth creating enterprises succeed with a few key sales personnel at the top of the pyramid supported by word-of-mouth recognition, referrals and inbound marketing lead generation. And the majority of a firm’s new clients should come from referrals.”

GoToMarket Case Study: Benefits of Inbound Marketing Content to Drive Leads

Content > Visits > Leads

SolidWorks Case Study: 100+ Downloads Available 10,000+ Views/Per Month500 L d P M th500 Leads Per Month

Inbound Marketing Automation Best Practice: BloggingBlogging enables content distribution and feedback (i.e. a mechanism for dialogue).

Blogging best practices: 1.) Publish routinely according to a blog schedule,

2.) Comment on relevant and compelling partners, experts, and others, and

3.) include a CTA (call-to-action) in every blog post. Bonus blogging best practice. i.e. Make it easy f i t i t t for viewers to interact with polls, comments, social media icons for “Like” and “sharing, etc..

Inbound Marketing Automation Best Practice: Get Found Online.Search Engine Optimization (SEO):Search Engine Optimization (SEO):How to get found 102 on Google when your buyers are searching.

SEO best practices: SEO best practices: 1. Add SEO optimized content (with keywords,

keywords in links, alt image keyword links, etc.) regularly by category theme like a corporate organization chart to your

Increase quality of leads when referred by partners within the community.

webpages.

2. Get others (partners, bloggers, etc.) to link back to your website using keywords. i.e. have others “syndicate your content”have others syndicate your content

Inbound Marketing Automation Best Practice: Social Media Community Building for ReferralsToday, you would have to run 125 ads to reach 80% of the market versus 1 primetime ad on a leading show fifty years ago But with community marketingon a leading show fifty years ago. But with community marketing…

Social Media Community Building:Get Found Online When Buyers Search 201. Build relationships and then lead generation and revenue will come naturally.

Community & relationship building practices: 1. Act like a participant and not an NBA owner. 2. Make it easy to use, try, buy, engage, discuss.

I i h I h A k h h h Invite them. Incent them. Ask them what they want. 3. Spend time listening and then take action. 4. Always say- thanks for coming, thanks for participating,

thanks for your suggestion.

4 ways to generate attention: 1. Buy (advertising)2. Beg (PR), 3. Bug (direct)4. Earn (Inbound by publishing online)“The purpose of marketing = Buy, beg, or earn attention that goes viral.” – David Meerman Scott Webinar.

You Must Become a Go-To Resource ExpertReferenced Post Content

Offer your buyers and partners:

Referenced by industry

blogs

Post Content Online

• Unique Research• Informed Opinions• News & Trend AnalysisMultimedia Content

Mentioned in news

publications

Online discussions

• Multimedia Content• Authentic Expert Contributors• Quality Discussion & InteractionLinks are Tweeted People email

links to each other

Cited at conferences + events

Liked/Shared on Facebook

other

Sometimes, a single piece of content or just a few, can yield these results but, more often, it takes dozens to hundreds of attempts to become a resource.

+ events

Discover What People Want By Asking Them!

1. LinkedIn

2. Polls

3. Q&A

4. Surveys

5. Contests

LinkedIn’s “Groups” are a powerful way

Like Facebook, LinkedIn now has a wall that drives “likes” and comments (as

well as traffic).

to grow your network and spread

a message.

Partner Blogging + Writing

Guest blogging (or contributing content to any type of publisher) is a great way to build your brand and earn links.

The Business Case for Inbound Marketing Automation

A major strategy for growth in 2012 (and 2011 for many) is to leverage Marketing Automation for Inbound Marketing versus Advertising as it is more effective (conversion rates) and more cost more effective (conversion rates) and more cost effective (i.e. Capital efficient).

Did you know that almost 80% of equity backed software and service qu y ba d so a a d sproviders either implemented Marketing Automation in 2011 or is evaluating for 2012?

Benefits of Marketing Automation:I. Generate more leads.

f l d d f lII. Lower cost of client acquisition and reduce cost of sales.I.

The Business Case for Inbound Marketing Automation

Enables lead capture and opportunity conversion through automated lead nurturing and

i scoring programs.

Creates brand awareness by promoting the brand using all available web marketing and available web, marketing, and social media tools.

Enables ongoing, both trigger event based (i.e. when a visitor event based (i.e. when a visitor returns generates and automatic email follow-up with a relevant and compelling offer based on which webpages they visited) and routine lead visited) and routine lead nurturing.

Ensures a robust, full scale email marketing, and direct email marketing, and direct marketing program without having to hire a full-time marketing coordinator run the program.

Marketing Automation Vendor Evaluation & Selection Criteria

Marketing Automation Vendor Evaluation Scorecard:

Selection Criteria

Key Questions to Ask Before Demo: References by Industry?

Integration for CRM, Financial, Wordpress, eCommerce etc.?

App marketplace?

Onboarding process? Training and ongoing support? User conference? ongoing support? User conference?

Strategies for Growth in 2012: Create a Referral Community Ecosystem Are you searching for ways to convert prospects to

HR Tech LinkedIn Community

clients quicker and more efficiently?

Fish where the fishes are currently. For the first time in history, you can find, listen to and interact with prospects online. Bypass adminsand reach buyers directly.

Key Success Factor: Be a branded sector leader.

Alsbridge Outsourcing Leadership

Strategies for Growth “In this slow growth economy, there will be bifurcation between leaders and laggards;

the best revenue strategies will outperform the competition, and win the war for profitability.”

Legacy Thinking Revenue Strategy for 2012 Outcome of New Revenue Management Practice

“Feet-on-the-Street” Direct Sales Multi-tiered Distribution Lower Cost of Client Acquisition

Outbound Marketing Inbound Marketing Lower Cost of Sales Pipeline Creation

Lead Generation Partner Generation Referral based opportunity introductions Lead Generation Partner Generation Referral based opportunity introductions.

Outbound Telemarketing Market Research Intelligence integrated into ongoing routines.

M k t t E t i SMB M k Ni h V i l S i li ti I d M i

Effective B2B growth strategies require capital efficient programs to reach qualified buyers

Market to Enterprises or SMBs Market to Niche Verticals Specialization = Improved Margins.

19

qualified buyers. “Feet on the street” models are legacy thinking. Multiple lead sources are required to be capital efficient. Multi-tiered distribution is key. Referrals from partners, alliances, and communities will generate the majority of

new clients.

Strategies for Growth in 2012Best Practices for 2012 and beyond include:I. Have a lower cost of sales than your

competition. co pet t o

II. Have a capital efficient pipeline generation and revenue model.

III. Utilize Technology: CRM, Social Media, & Marketing Automation

II. Implement multi-tiered Sales Distribution Compensation:PRM, Agent, Alliances, Partners, Account Managers, Sales Personnel

III. Leverage a Portfolio of Sources and Mix.

IV. Implement Management Science reporting to provide visibility and proactive actions: p y pPro-Activity of the 3 C’s: Cash, Clients, Contracts.

V. Invest in Asset Management to ensure a lower cost of customer acquisition and higher ROI for spend.

20

Conversion Rate from Lead to Close• Crowded marketplace• Too much advertising

Marketing is Hard

Revenue Management

ChannelReferral

g• “Committee Buy”• Resource constraints• Buyers require Immediate ROI from a

Branded LeaderDirect

Direct

Partners Matter• Reputation = Lower cost of sales• Use of best practices from both organizations

Partners

• Create referrals, incent referrals

Team Management is Key Origination• Provide expertise and service

• Must be committed to client outcomes

CRMOperations

Alignment Upsell

NewOpportunity

from a Partner’ Client

MAPPINGOpportunity

Client Management

Upsell

Marketing Automation Best Practice: Convert Leads to Opportunities.

400%+ more webpages indexed for companies that blog.

Lead Nurturing Checklist:1. Have documented programs and

use them. 2. Database management best

practices in place. 100% more inbound links for companies that blog.55% more website visitors for companies that blog.

Inbound Marketing Call-to-Action (CTA) Checklist:

3. Phone Qualify the Leads (MEDDIC).

4. Clear handoff for each lead – be 100% certain on action, next steps, closed loop feedback.

5 Ask questions about the g ( )1. Create Urgency2. Use #’s3. Indicate a specific action4 Use images

5. Ask questions about the individual and the buying process, and append company info from 3rd party sources.

6. Leverage 3rd party content and reuse available content 4. Use images

5. Make clickable6. Position Position Position7. Use Contrasting Colors8 Test Test Test!

reuse available content 7. Think like a publisher.

PR = Daily FrequencyMarket the hit, not just the news,

8. Test, Test, Test!9. Use CTA links:

• Use buttons• “See..examples of why XYZ”• “Find out how”

don’t need to initiate, make it about the conflict, re-tweet others content. Make others feel important.

• “Listen to …”• “Take our quiz, poll, survey”

GrowthSTEP™ >> Star Performer Attributes >> Perform Business Process™ >> Wealth Creation

Management Science

a) Operational Efficiencyb) Tactical Clarity

Revenue Management

Go-To-Market Flight Plan b) Tactical Clarityc) Strategic Clarity

a) Portfolio of Revenue Sourcesb) Portfolio Mix

a) Referral Community b) Inbound Qualified Leads Engine

Go-To-Market Flight Plan

Outcomes created:Increase near term earningsPosition the company to attract an array of strategic

Outcomes created: Pipeline of Leads & Referrals Profiled Targets of Dissatisfied Buyers Early

Outcomes created: Lower Cost of SalesCapital Efficient Revenue Model Position the company to attract an array of strategic

options for value realization (“Strategic Optionality”)Predictable Cash ManagementProactive Client Management ensures budget accuracy and greater per client profitability Top quartile growth created through market differentiation at service level

Profiled Targets of Dissatisfied Buyers, Early Adopters and Influencers

Capital Efficient Revenue ModelAlternative Distribution creates opportunities to test new pricing, products, marketsAlternative Distribution creates strategic alliance and M&A opportunitiesBalanced portfolio of revenues: service offerings, industries served and customer concentrations

© 2012 Ephor Group | 1 (800) 379-9330 | www.ephorgroup.com

Strategies for Growth Objective = Lowest Cost of Client Acquisition

Go to Market Development & Implementation of Brand Assets E h G id i Development & Implementation of Brand Assets Development & Implementation of Marketing Assets Marketing Asset Performance & Management Science

Revenue Development P fili & T ti

Ephor Groups provides services (Revenue Management, GrowthSTEP, Management Science) needed to efficiently grow, outperform the competition,

Profiling & Targeting Lead Development Probability Based Selling Sales productivity = Management Science reporting

p p ,attract useful capital, and create wealth for software and service providers.

Alternative Distribution Identification & Development of Channel & Partnering Relationships Development & Implementation of Channel Partner Support Programs

Productization of Services Productization of Services Product Development definition and service delivery standards Distribution venues by product

Acquisition & Integration M&A C t D l t T ti S i M&A Corporate Development Transaction Services Integration & Operational Conversion

© 2011 Ephor Group | 1 (800) 379-9330 | www.ephorgroup.com