Does your B2B Marketing have Consistent Messages?

Posted by Ambal Balakrishnan July 22nd 10

B2B Marketing has become multi-faceted in this digital era. We asked our panel of B2B marketing experts "How can companies maintain branding and messaging consistency across various marketing vehicles that they use? For example, how can trade show marketing strategy be consistent with blogging and other social media strategy?". Read on to get their insights.

Ardath Albee

Blog Marketing Interactions Twitter Ardath421

"B2B Marketing Must Be Driven by an Umbrella Strategy"

Ardath Albee's Bio

Ardath Albee is a B2B Marketing Strategist. Her company Marketing Interactions helps companies with complex sales and quantify marketing effectiveness by using interactive e-marketing strategies driven by compelling content. She empowers her clients to create customer-centric nurturing programs that leverage strategic story development to engage prospects until they are sales ready. Ardath’s book, eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale is now shipping! 

Ardath Albee's Tip

Managing your messaging and brand consistency across marketing execution means that all of your tactics must be included in your overall marketing strategy. Problems arise when marketers think that social media is a stand-alone strategy or that trade shows are an island. When you manage all of them with an umbrella strategy, then consistency becomes the norm, not the exception.

An example of a strategic objective: To increase interactive online dialogue with our prospects and customers about the benefits of collaboration technology.

An example of a tactical objective: Post to Twitter, a minimum of two tweets, three times per day with a collaboration focus.

In order to accomplish the strategic objective, marketers need to determine what engages each audience they’re trying to influence. Whether those prospects are at your website, blog, receive an email, or are attending a trade show, the story your company shares with them needs to be compelling and consistent.

That means you have to plan how the story gets told in the most effective ways for each tactic. The best way to do that is with an editorial calendar based on a messaging storyline.

I recently wrote a post about creating editorial calendars, so let’s discuss the elements of a messaging storyline.

A messaging storyline for a marketing strategy is a documented approach to address the informational needs of each buying segment (persona), at each stage of the buying process in relation to the problems your offerings address.

To get started, answer the following questions for each persona addressing one specific problem:

• Why should they solve the problem?
• What are the risks of not solving the problem?
• What are best practices they need to know?
• How do they build a business case?
• What obstacles must they overcome to buy?
• Why should they choose your company?

As you complete this exercise for different personas, you’ll begin to see similarities and differences. Most importantly, you’ll see a core story emerge that will indicate what needs to remain consistent in the theme for the messaging—regardless of distribution point. What changes are the angles you choose to address each persona’s specific interests, areas of responsibility, etc.

With this plan in hand, no matter where you plan to use your messaging, you can be sure that your story is consistent—adding credibility to your brand—across blogs, tradeshows, webinars, white papers, your website and other distribution points.

It all comes back to how well you know your buyers and keeping your focus squarely on them as your story unfolds across the buying process.

Ardath Albee Recommends

• Leading Lights: Marketing and PR Strategist David Meerman Scott – video interview

Maria Pergolino

Blog Modern B2B Marketing Twitter Marketo InboundMarketer

"Simple Content Creates Quality Leads!"

Maria Pergolino's Bio

Maria Pergolino is Director of Marketing at Marketo, leading their efforts in adoption of social media channels for brand awareness and demand generation. She has worked in marketing for over ten years, and specifically in online marketing including social media, search marketing, and lead generation and nurturing for the past six. Maria has a Marketing Degree and MBA from the School of Business at Rutgers University, is a Salesforce Certified Administrator, and a speaker at numerous marketing events. She has also written for many marketing blogs, and is a frequent contributor to Marketo’s popular blog, Modern B2B Marketing.

Maria Pergolino's Tip

Given that B2B Marketing has become multi-faceted in the digital era, maintaining consistency of your branding and messaging across various marketing vehicles is critical.
In order to maintain a consistent brand across traditional and digital marketing, you need to integrate your offline and online marketing strategies. Maintaining crucial elements of both strategies will enable the best results.  Consider these tips when you are ready to begin:

• Maintain the brand expectations – What does your brand and overall message mean to your customers? Are you famous for post sales customer service or pre sales information? No matter where your brand stands for now, make sure you carry that into your blogging, content marketing and social media strategies.
• Maintain consistency – Do you have a certain logo or consistent content element you use for your marketing collateral? To keep things integrated, make sure to use the same elements in your B2B online marketing content like blog posts, press releases or social media information.
• Combine paths – Do you have a special conference or product launch coming up? Be sure to include online paths on your conference or launch materials to find out more and engage with you through your web site or other online outpost. The reverse is true as well – give online customers ways to engage with you through a customer service line or meeting live with a salesperson.

It’s important to make sure your brand’s message is consistent across both traditional and digital marketing arenas. You want to make sure existing and prospective customers get the same message no matter where they engage with yo

To learn more useful information about B2B brand consistency, subscribe to the Modern B2B marketing Blog or follow Marketo on Twitter.

Maria Pergolino Recommends

• Forester Blog for Interactive Marketing Professionals
• Laura Patterson's book Marketing Metrics in Action
• Hugh MacLeod's Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity

 

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posted in ClickInsights: Expert Interviews

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