Newsletter

December 2010

MindFireInc Spotlight is a monthly newsletter prepared and edited by Ted Raymond of Allegra.

Fast Fact

Social Media has changed the face of marketing. Twitter alone has more than 50 million tweets per day.

Sales Tip: Getting Ready for 2011

At this time of year, every good sales person should take the time to review the past year and set goals for the future. Often these are little more than a wish list. This year, take time to develop a written territory plan to help increase your odds of making 2011 the best year of your career.

Territory planning does not have to be an arduous task. With the investment of just a few hours, you can effectively develop a plan that will guide tactics and activities for the entire year. Start with a review of the past year. Where did you have success? Were there particular vertical markets you had more success in? Look at the business challenges of those clients. Did they all revolve around customer loyalty, demand generation, lead nurturing or some other key business issue? As you look at characteristics of past success, you may very well identify key attributes of future prospects. If you have not had success in cross media marketing, then you MUST take the time to research what others are doing within the industry. Cross media marketing is one of the greatest growth opportunities for 2011.

After you have evaluated what has worked in the past, think about what opportunities you may have passed up. Did you sit down with every client to discuss their marketing challenges? If not, this is a clear opportunity to open up a discussion about cross media marketing. Set an objective to discuss current marketing challenges with every one of your clients.

While talking with your existing clients is the easiest way to grow your business, it can’t be the only pillar of growth. It is important to also look for new business opportunities. Develop a list of key prospects that you think would be interested in cross media. Think about the key business issues that this prospect faces. Use these issues as the basis for starting the conversation. Do not start the conversation about printing or direct mail. Open your conversation about lead nurturing or new business development.

Putting the plan together is the most important step. It is critical that you take the time to write down your plan. Put specific activity measurements into the plan. How many meetings a week will you organize to talk about multi-channel marketing? Each sales person in your company should be presenting to at least five marketing executives per week. How many prospects will you need to contact to get appointments with five or more executives per week? Once you have the tactics figured out, document each metric you plan to achieve.

Cross media success in 2011 is based on a few simple principles. Understanding these concepts will ensure that multi-channel marketing provides the revenue growth you expect. It is important to understand that:

• The market is changing and that most campaigns now include at least three channels of communication.
• A marketing service provider does not sell print; they offer solutions to critical business challenges
• As a MindFireInc partner, the only missing ingredient of success is your commitment and activity.

Planning for 2011: A Marketing Communications Calendar

2010 was probably one of the most difficult revenue-earning years for many companies worldwide.

At the end of each year, it is a good idea to conduct an annual review with your clients. Look back at the tactics that they have employed over the last 12 months and evaluate what has proven to be successful. Use this information to ensure you get a regular and ongoing source of revenue in 2011.

One of the most powerful tactics to ensure you will see ongoing revenue from clients is to sit down with them and plan out a marketing communications calendar. This process does not have to be complicated. It could be as simple as meeting with your client and highlighting the key events they have throughout the year. Ask them what products they will launch, client events they will host, and milestones they expect to achieve. After you have documented the key events, ask them how they will promote and communicate information around these events. Clients likely will not have the details of how they will communicate, but that is ok. You now have the information you need to begin to develop a marketing communications calendar.

After you have gathered all of the key events, take the time to create a written communications calendar. This should be a single sheet of paper that has all of the key events for the year. A simple excel worksheet that is broken out by month is an excellent tool. Take the time to think about which events can be supported by multi-channel marketing.

Now that you have an annual communications plan, it is easy to proactively become an extension of your client’s marketing department. Look at a few months with key events and put together some ideas as to how to promote them. Contact your client and let them know you are thinking about their business and have ideas on how to help them be more successful. By working this process a few months in advance of key events, you are almost guaranteed to capture revenue.

The most successful MSP can take the planning process to a whole new level. It is common for many top level service providers to charge anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 for mapping out a comprehensive communications calendar. Consider for a moment what it would mean for your business if you could be compensated thousands of dollars for working with your client to determine which campaigns you would be paid to produce for the balance of the year.

Tips for Success in 2011: Make Courageous Changes

Each year the calendar turns and it provides us a fresh start. Many make resolutions that will be broken within a few weeks, while others decide to make real change. The key difference is that some people say they HAVE to make a change like losing weight or growing sales while others WANT to make a change. This year think about a few simple yet courageous changes that could have a significant impact on your business.

Cut from the bottom. – It does not matter if you are a business owner or a sales person; in all likelihood you are carrying some dead weight. Look carefully at your client list and identify those accounts that occupy a great deal of mindshare and are difficult to manage but are not very profitable. It is not uncommon that the most demanding clients are the least profitable. Carefully analyze your account base and have the courage to fire your worst clients.

Build your bench. – Evaluate your team and make sure that you have the most productive and innovative team available. If you have team members who are just going through the motions and can’t snap out of it, cut them loose. With unemployment over 9% in most areas, you will find a great deal of talent available. Now is the time to make difficult decisions about staffing. Even if your team is doing well, it is worth spending some time interviewing potential employees. Carve out 2-3 hours per month to have coffee with a potential employee. If you unexpectedly have a vacancy, you will be prepared to move quickly and fill the role if you have a stable of qualified candidates.

Increase your marketing.. – If you have been financially challenged like many service providers, you may have cut back on your own marketing. Now is the time to be bold. Your marketing should be stronger than it has ever been. Remember to practice what you preach. Are you doing monthly cross media campaigns? Have you leveraged email as a way to stay in touch with clients and prospects? Now more than ever you want to be visible. Companies are beginning to spend. Help them remember the value that you provide by staying top of mind and solving their key business issues. Spend more than you think you should. The investment will pay off.

Think like a winner. – Over the last several years, so many people have fallen into a rut that they have begun to buy into the hype. They have lost the belief that they can win. They have accepted that survival is good enough. This is ridiculous! Focus on what you can control. Increase your activity. While new business may be more challenging than it used to be, it is still out there. Compete in a game of market share and have the confidence that you have better solutions than your competitor.

Celebrate your success. – When emerging from a difficult period in business, it is important to celebrate your success. Take a minute to write down the top ten accomplishments of 2010. Then take a minute to celebrate. Throughout 2011, be sure to celebrate the wins. Success is contagious and if you celebrate you will create an incubator for more growth.

Marketing Trends for 2011: The Key Trends for the Year

As the end of the year approaches, the marketing prognosticators are all weighing in on the emerging trends for 2011. While no one knows for certain, there are three dominate themes that all seem to agree on:

1. Integration of online and offline marketing
2. Mobile marketing
3. The continued growth of social media

As a MindFireInc service provider, you are positioned perfectly to address all three of these key trends.

First, it seems that everyone agrees – multi-channel communication will continue to grow in 2011. Most expect more channels will be used in campaigns and online and offline integration will continue to be an emerging trend. As a service provider, you have a number of tools to help support this trend. Consider the ability to integrate direct mail with the web. Also, the integration of QR codes that tie the offline world to the online world.

Second, mobile marketing is expected to dominate in 2011. The LookWho’sClicking® product has wonderful tools to help integrate mobile marketing. The use of SMS text messages will likely be a key area for growth as marketers try to figure out how to enter the mobile space. QR codes will also be a key service offering in the mobile space.

Finally, social media will continue to grow at a rapid rate. Cross media campaigns that include the ability for respondents to follow on Twitter, or “Like” on Facebook will be increasingly appealing to marketers. Look for announcements in early 2011 from MindFireInc about new functionality to make social media integration even easier.