Technology Decisions Issue 2 | Page 7

  Five  Steps  to  Harnessing  the  Power  of  Marketing  2.0  for  your  B2B  Company     SOME  THINGS  NEVER  CHANGE   As  you  embrace  the  powerful  new  world  of  2.0,  it’s  important  not  to  neglect  those   Marketing  1.0  elements  that  continue  to  work:  a  sound  marketing  strategy  for  example,   that  still  revolves  around  Porter’s  Five  Forces,  and  the  basics  of  segmentation,  targeting,   and  positioning.    Three  of  the  4Ps  are  also  still  the  same:  Price,  Product,  and  even  Place   (especially  for  bricks  and  mortar  B2B  companies).  Only  Promotion  has  drastically   changed.     And  marketing  and  sales  is  still  about  people  dealing  with  people.  Implemented  well,   Marketing  2.0  actually  strengthens  this  relationship  between  the  prospect,  marketing,   and  sales.     Now  that  we  understand  the  differences  between  1.0  and  2.0,  it’s  time  to  put  the   rubber  on  the  road  and  look  at  our  five  ways  to  begin  using  the  new  approach.   5  PRACTICAL  STEPS  TO  SALES  &  MARKETING  2.0   However,  before  we  set  off  to  embrace  the  opportunities  of  Marketing  2.0,  it’s   worthwhile  to  suggest,  as  with  any  journey,  that  it  pays  to  know  where  you  are  going   before  you  depart.  So  make  sure  you  set  clear,  measurable  objectives  beforehand  for   what  you  would  like  to  achieve.  For  example,  you  may  want:   • • • Specific  market  insight  to  improve  your  marketing  tactics  and  strategies  (good)   Generate    new  leads  and  prospects,  and  the  generation  of  incremental  revenue   &  profit  (better)   Combination  of  both  (best).   Then  develop  a  clear  and  concise  Marketing  Dashboard  so  that  you  and  the  rest  of  your   management  team  can  keep  track  of  progress  along  the  way.  Remember,  what  doesn’t   get  measured,  doesn’t  get  done.     STEP  1:  SHIFT  FROM  OUTBOUND  TO  INBOUND  MARKETING   The  goal  here  is  to  stop  interruption  marketing,  and  engage  in  permission  marketing   where  prospects  come  to  you  with  their  interests  and  buying  needs.  Use  the  following   Inbound  Marketing  techniques  to  turn  your  website  into  a  prospect  magnet.   • SEO  (Search  Engine  Optimization):  Start  with  developing  your  “keyword   identity”.  Find  those  keyword  phrases  that  you  can  successfully  compete  on,   and  that  will  minimize  prospect  “bounce”  and  maximize  conversion.  Then   optimize  the  content  and  structure  of  your  website  around  those  keyword   phrases.  Finally,  create  meaningful  external  backlinks  to  your  site,  to  boost   your  site’s  credibility  and  importance  to  search  engines.  Successful  SEO  is  as   much  a  marketing  exercise  as  it  is  a  technical  one,  so  don’t  just  leave  it  to  the   techies.   7       Gossamar  2009  -­?  2011.      Creative  Commons  Attribution-­?Share  Alike  2.5  Canada  License