Leavitt Offers Tech Companies Marketing Tips
Old marketing tricks no longer work, says Angela Leavitt, founder and chief of Mojo Marketing. That’s changing the game for marketing folks at tech companies, she adds. And she offered suggestions on how to better appeal to prospects and convert them to buyers.
Leavitt was the opening speaker during today’s tech sales seminar at ITEXPO 2018 in Fort Lauderdale. The program is titled “From Stranger to Customer: Generate More Leads and Close More Sales”.
Google AdWords campaigns, and buying lists and emailing people on the lists, should be avoided. That’s because people today are bombarded with email. So people don’t pay as much attention to emails as they used to, says Leavitt. And some of the emails are never opened at all.
Also, people tend to prefer doing their own research instead of being pushed content, she says. And, more than ever, people are turning to their networks for recommendations on nearly every decision. That’s true whether they’re choosing a restaurant or making a business purchase, she indicates.
That has really changed the sales funnel, Leavitt notes. In the past marketing was only responsible for the top of the sales funnel, she says. But now marketing is responsible for pushing customers down the funnel to the ready-to-purchase phase.
So marketers need to create content to reach the personas to which they’re trying to appeal. Research shows that 79 percent of buyers consume at least three pieces of content before buying.
Of course, before doing that, businesses need to have the resources in place to serve buyers.
Then marketers need to analyze last year’s data – including closed deals sources, lost deals, lead sources, top web pages, top blog posts, etc. – to understand what worked well and what did not. They need to define buyer personas. People sell to other people – not to companies, she notes. And sellers may have to appeal to more than one person/title within a given company.
Then it’s time to work on branding and messaging, she says. That includes keeping your logo and website fresh. Websites, she says, should include a positioning statement, a unique selling proposition, and a list benefits. In writing benefits, she suggests companies keep in mind that different titles may seek different benefits.
Leavitt also emphasizes that tech companies need to demonstrate their understanding of prospects’ pain points. That will help them to win trust and business. Marketers can do that by addressing different personas through specific pages on the website. It might say: Do you have this problem? If you do, here’s how we can help you.
“It’s just another demonstration of we get you, we get you, we get you,” she says.
“Most people in this industry are not doing this,” Leavitt continues. The Mojo Marketing leader adds that if you do this, you’ll stand out in the marketplace.
Edited by Maurice Nagle