 How would you define success in your Field Marketing role? This question was posed to me not too long ago, and faster than expected my answer was: I would base it on the quality of my collaboration with sales. Quality and collaboration… let’s come back to that in a moment. As I made that statement I felt that the expected answer was more in line with “achieve 110% of pipeline target” or “run focused webinars across key verticals”. Yes, that is the job but success, in my opinion, comes from doing the job in a certain way. Secondly, I am not sure why my response surprised me so much, as I have experienced this really working (and not), and this is where the part about quality and collaboration comes in. It’s not about always saying “yes” or even being mentioned in the internal announcements about closed deals (!) but about taking the time to educate and be educated and make sure you focus on the same end goals, in every day business, beyond the quarterly or annual business plan and QBRs. As our world and our work has changed over the last year, the power of high quality collaboration between marketing and sales has only increased, and I can see three key areas worth some extra focus:
 MEET THE AUTHOR: ANNA PHILIPPEN
Anna has international experience from marketing, alliances and general business management. A native Swede and fluent in German, she is now settled back into Swedish life after more than a decade in the UK, South Africa and Germany. Anna loves to take an idea and run with it, make it happen with a team that cares and exceed expectations (a little competitive, are we?). She has held positions at RSA, Dimension Data and Symantec before working with numerous other IT companies on a project basis.
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 We love data at Yellow Spider, mainly because it provides so much insight that we use to improve our clients marketing outreach. During these times of reflection we are supporting a number vendors who are revisiting and analysing their data to make sure it is providing them with maximum value. Our main focus is to highlight opportunities for growth which are often overlooked or missed. We have developed a tool that combines data and intelligence gathered through the sales and marketing process to identify specific behaviours and buying preferences. This allows us to create groups of customers with similar characteristics resulting in effective segmentation and identify clearly defined groups of opportunities:
This method of segmentation helps to define marketing activities, go to market strategies and messaging for targeted nurture campaigns aimed at driving specific outcomes or responses. It’s powerful insight and is particularly relevant to organisations selling through a two-tier model. Information gathered can be used to strengthen channel relationships and build more effective (and mutually lucrative) engagements through a programmatic approach. The benefits of taking a fresh look at your data are clear and by introducing a regular cadence of analysis patterns start to emerge. Once the framework is in place it’s easy to run the analysis on a quarterly basis as a temperature check or to measure the effectiveness of sales and marketing campaigns. To find out how we can help you maximise your data and optimise your channel engagements please get in touch.  We’ve seen lots of events being cancelled over the past couple of months some with the promise of “going digital” as an alternative to the live event itself. This got us thinking at Yellow Spider about what “going digital” actually means. It’s hard to imagine a time when one can simply recreate the face to face experience of a live event with a digital substitute, no matter how advanced it is. There are some great platforms out there that have rocketed in popularity over the last few weeks that aim to recreate the human experience. They provide a virtual event, presenting content in a compelling way, offer a two-way question and answer facility, some even allow you to request giveaways. A brilliant solution in the absence of a ‘real’ event but how do you gauge an individual’s reaction to a statement or message? How can you see what they are responding to or understand what it is they want to gain by engaging with you? At Yellow Spider “going digital” means so much more. There is already an abundance of digital content available in our organisations today so going digital for us means looking at the end to end digital journey, leveraging existing platforms, assets and content to identify, segment and nurture opportunities at all stages of the sales pipeline. We start with leads and opportunities that already exist. What are these people doing instead of attending trade events? We look at how we can leverage all digital platforms to understand more about the audience’s characteristics, what and how they consume content and how they want to engage. By understanding how content is consumed we evolve marketing tactics using multi touch digital campaigns to drive awareness and action and gain attention. We look at the complete landscape and create digital content aimed at specific market verticals then formulate campaigns that move those ‘warm’ opportunities through the sales pipeline. We use digital platforms to gauge interest levels and response rates then feed this information into a lead scoring process. This method of scoring allows us to measure engagement in a campaign and track behaviours and demographics to get a better understanding of the prospect's company and situation. This helps to define the lead follow up strategy and highlights who needs immediate follow up, who needs to be nurtured and who should be discounted. That work also feeds really well into a virtual event strategy for a more targeted and tailored approach based on interest indicators. And, that is where we believe a virtual event can really make a immediate impact on leads and pipeline generation, much like the physical events that are now on pause. In summary it doesn’t need to just be all about virtual events, there is so much more digital marketing activity that can provide real, measurable results (and generate pipeline). Contact us today to find out how we can help your journey to “going digital”.
In this time of uncertainty, let us take you on a journey through the 7 wonders of the data world. 1. Take a holistic view of your data landscape It might sound obvious, but the first step to a future proofing your data landscape is to ensure it is healthy, clean and doesn't lack obvious information. Review your CRM and data management systems to highlight what information is a ‘must have’ then run a report. You could be surprised how many fields are empty, wrongly populated or not following a standardised naming conventions. Look at those big elements first; the devil is not always in the detail! New 7 Wonders Fact : The statue is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. It has been hit by lightning numerous times, once just before the World Cup in 2014, damaging the back of the head and tip of a finger which both had to be repaired quickly before the games began. 2. Structure your data as a blueprint for the future Use your data wisely. Building the right segmentation will enable you to personalise your approach for each of your target groups and build specific buying group personas. Then, when it comes to positioning, you’ll be able to create content and messaging that you know resonates with those specific personas for maximum impact. It creates the blueprint for all of your future marketing campaigns. New 7 Wonders Fact : Even after 2,000 years or so, the Colosseum still influences the construction of modern-day amphitheatres. 3. Discover the hidden gems in your data Sometimes, the most obvious data targets are not the most lucrative; never forget to study historical data! Analysis of past buying patterns helps you look at your data in a different way and highlight opportunity clusters that perhaps have been over looked. Over laying sales data and alignment with your competitors will uncover hidden gems that will drive new campaigns aimed at regaining your ‘share of wallet’. New 7 Wonders Fact : Machu Picchu was built by the Incas around 1450, but abandoned it a century later . It was then only known locally until Yale Professor Hiram Bingham re-discovered the site in 1911. 4. A step by step approach to managing data Here are a few simple steps to successful data management:
The El Castillo temple in Chichen Itza counts 365 steps - one for each day of the year. 5. Use data wisely to feed your pipeline Use past learnings to build a healthy pipeline. Leverage data on customer buying patterns and preferences to enhance your outreach strategies be that digital campaigns, appointment setting or audience acquisition. Be smart with your data to create your own lead generation oasis! New 7 Wonders Fact: Petra is half-built, half-carved into the rock. It includes an ingenious water management system with tunnels, diversion dams, cisterns and reservoirs which controlled and conserved seasonal rains - creating an oasis in an essentially arid area during the Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine periods. 6. Build affection for your data Valuable data is a labour of love and requires team work. Investing time with your team to share the importance of data will help you in the long run. Understanding and buying into what needs to be done leads to effective maintenance and will empower your team member to leverage the data in an accurate way. Win win! New 7 Wonders Fact: It took the efforts of 22,000 workers, painters, embroidery artists and stonecutters to shape the Taj Mahal, using materials from all over India, Asia and beyond. 7. Data for the long road  Maintaining, curating and caring for data is essential to ensure it remains accessible, relevant and fit for purpose. Identify a ‘champion’ who owns and reviews all of your company data on a regular basis to ensure its robust and useable for years to come. New 7 Wonders Fact: The collection of fortifications known as the Great Wall of China has historically had a number of different names in both Chinese and English - including "Ten-Thousand Mile Long Wall", "the outer fortresses", "the border wall(s)", "the Purple Frontier" or "the Earth Dragon".
Do you have the capacity in-house to offer the best support to your partners? Indeed, Local and Regional Marketing teams are often stretched – and do not have the capacity to proactively reach out to partners in their region and manage processes inherent to Partner Marketing programmes. And while support and increased capacity is often the initial consideration when thinking of outsourcing a Partner Marketing desk, it comes with a lot of added benefits too! Expertise When outsourcing your Partner Marketing, you are bringing to the team subject matter experts, who have a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise. They can - from the get-go - share and leverage best practice and provide you with valuable insight and outside perspective – bringing value almost instantly. Focus Having a dedicated team to own and manage your Partner Marketing programme from end to end brings the focus that is needed to run an effective programme. The centralized programme management means efficiency in the process, visibility across the assigned regions, and best practice sharing. The programme and processes are constantly reviewed – as the agency’s focus is to drive efficiency, and suggestions for improvements are regularly shared. Free of the time-consuming tasks, your local marketing teams are able to refocus on their core responsibility and elevate their vision to concentrate on the strategy rather than the day to day running of the programme. Result oriented An outsourced Partner Marketing programme will by definition put the focus on results and ROI. By proactively following up with your partners in region, the team will not only drive planning, engagement and execution, they will also capture and report on all elements by activity. You are able to drill down to the details and review each activity ROI but also, thanks to consolidated reports, have greater visibility on Sales Pipeline at a Partner, Country and/or Regional level. Cost effective and flexible Last but not least, outsourcing your Partner Marketing desk is a cost effective and flexible solution. It provides you with the flexibility of scaling up or down to suit your business needs – which is not easily possible when hiring your own staff. But also, very importantly, a Partner Marketing desk usually requires different type of skills that cannot easily be found into 1 or 2 individuals only: strategy, administrative skills, compliance, project management, language capability (especially true for EMEA!) – and the list goes on. When investing in a marketing agency, you have access to a team of experts, specializing in each field - allowing you to get more value for your money. Convinced? Contact Yellow Spider to discuss how we can help you make the most of your Partner Marketing programme. About Yellow Spider Yellow Spider offer a 100% outsourced marketing function for technology vendors and partners. Our team of Marketing Experts fit seamlessly into your existing team to bridge skills, fill gaps in headcount or cover leave of absence. Our services are around 4 pillars: Campaign Management, Event Management, Partner Marketing and Field Marketing. Learn more at YellowSpider.com or contact us at info@yellowspider.com
 One of the key objectives of any event is to meet and engage with target accounts, have meaningful conversations and come away with some decent leads, and hosting your own conference gives you complete control of the agenda, and the invitation list. It makes sense that if you build your own agenda, offer compelling content and host your event in a good and convenient venue you can attract an audience who are interested in your offering and are at the right stage in their buying cycle. You have a strong story; they have a requirement – voila! Sadly, it’s not that easy. All too often companies make considerable investment in building their own events but fail to invest in securing the right delegates to register. The result? A mad rush at the last minute to get ‘bums on seats’, to fill the conference room and avoid the embarrassment of their sponsors and guest speakers talking to an empty room. This serves one purpose – the room is indeed full but there’s a possibility its full of people who want a day out and a free lunch on you. So how to get the right people on your delegate list? We support vendors with audience acquisition and management services for all types of events across EMEA, from executive briefings and regional seminars through to large scale conferences with thousands of attendees. Here are our top tips for success: Articulate the value It sounds simple, but what value will attendees realise from the event? We write a value proposition that clearly articulates the ‘why attend’, tailoring the message for each key vertical, market or product focus. This enables us to target specific personas and buying groups with relevant messages. A clear audience acquisition campaign Our event experts work alongside the existing events team to design, execute and manage an audience acquisition campaign to drive interest from the right profile of audience. The program is multi-touch, multi-tactic and is designed to raise awareness and drive interest then convert that interest into registrations. Keep talking to registered delegates It’s so easy to keep the focus on registrations and lose sight of maintaining a conversation with registered delegates. We build a nurture stream for registered folks, keeping them informed with event news, ancillary events, cool demos and new speakers. We also run a ‘bring a colleague’ program to enlist registrants (and speakers!) as influencers within their networks. Add value with a concierge service! To really provide value-add over and above digital communication we offer a concierge service to enable VIP delegates to achieve a bespoke event experience. We advise on session to attend, arrange meetings with senior execs, offer private meeting space and facilitate any travel and logistical support they need. This layer of VIP service ensures your high profile delegates place value on the event and significantly reduces the number of dreaded no-shows. If you would like to avoid the ‘rent a crowd’ approach to audience acquisition and would like to learn more about the Yellow Spider approach, please get in touch. We’d be delighted to chat through our experience and how we could help you maximise your ROI with the right audience at your next event.
 Social media can be key to a successful event. It helps you create interest, stand out in a crowded room and ultimately drive customers to your booth. A few actions taken by the right amount of people can have a significant impact on the success of an event and consequently on your business.
Social media is all about multiplying the outreach and it’s more straightforward than you might think. When we run an event for client’s we follow these five golden rules. Join the social conversation. Online conversations are happening in the runup to, and during, all major events. By adding the official event hashtag to your post the event audience becomes your audience – tell them what you are planning, where you are and what to talk to you about. Remember show organisers frequently repost messages that includes their hashtags which increases the reach of your posts! The power is in the hashtag. Use it, always. Hashtags not only make any word searchable online, they also group information posted by whoever, wherever, whenever. As well as the event hashtag make sure you identify and use your company keywords for anything you post on social media. The rule is no more than three. Be relevant When it comes to social engagement content is king. Be sure you have done your preparation and have relevant content ready to share. Use the show traffic to amplify your digital campaigns and drive audiences to also visit your website and download your assets. If you don’t have your own content most events and tradeshows have apps you can download prior to or during the event which are always a good source of content, so share comment and like. Post, like, share, engage Be active and monitor your online activity. Post, like, re-tweet, share and reply! Being on top of what’s going on and being responsive will help you increase your company’s virtual presence at the event and any follow-up actions take less time than the original one. Make the most of each post, after all, social media is all about engaging with your audience. Remember that this part can be done by anybody, so have some help lined up back at the office so your booth team are not spending their time on smartphones! Embrace the power of video Video marketing has emerged as one of the best ways to engage your target audience. Events are providing countless opportunities to generate video content that will create a sense of community, drive traffic to your stand and extend your presence. You can record attendees’ opinions, share industry upcoming trends or video the team to give a touch of authenticity. |
