Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

The “big three” of direct marketing For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Intros

• Cheryl Strege, The Partner Marketing Group • Who are you?

• What do you do?

• What do your customers love about you?

• Dogs or cats? For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

– The “big three” – List, Offer, Creative • What’s the big deal about the list?

• List types, sources and guidelines • Definition of an offer • Where to find good offers • Creative examples For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Direct Marketing Success Rule –50% to the list –30% to the offer –20% to the creative

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Example

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List Sources

• Compiled Lists – Large databases populated with information collected from various sources such as telephone directories, credit bureaus, and annual reports – Example: Dun & Bradstreet, InfoUSA – Tend to be less frequently updated • Subscriber Lists (also known as Response Lists ) – Publications that your target market reads, such as “Manufacturer’s Monthly” or “Dry Cleaner’s Quarterly” – Will generally have high list minimums (around 2,500-5,000 names) but if the list is the “right” one, it’s worth it to pay a little extra.

Remember, quality over quantity!

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List Sources

• Association Lists – Example: ASAE (American Society of Association Executives) is the membership organization of the association profession • http://www.asaecenter.org/ – Example: Search for the manufacturing association in your respective country • Association for Manufacturing Excellence in the US, Canada, UK, Australia (http://www.ame.org/) For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

List Sources

• Best list – your own! (If you dedicate time to updating and maintaining it) – People you meet at networking functions – Networking sites such as LinkedIn and Xing – Visitors to your website – Referrals from your existing customers!

– Referrals from hardware providers, Microsoft platform partners, networking specialists • Emulate the attributes of best customers in your list selections Revenue – Most revenue – Most profitable – Best fit – CUSTOMER CLONER!

Profitable Fit For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

List Sources

• Social networking opportunities (and lists) – LinkedIn – social networking tool to connect with customers, prospects, influencers, and referral sources (www.linkedin.com) – Xing – the leading European business network with over 8 million members (www.xing.com) – Facebook – adding over 1 million new users per month! – Twitter – grew by 1400% in the last year Leverage social marketing resources on the Microsoft Partner Network!

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List Sources: Direct Marketing Association & NextMark list search tool

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List Source: Manta

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List Sources

• Another option: Contact a list broker – Will make recommendations – Can help you determine appropriate selection criteria – Utilize their knowledge of available lists, which lists are more successful than others, which lists may be fatigued, etc.

– Ask about their experience with recommending lists for CRM solutions. • Ask if they have recommended lists to your competitors such as SalesForce.com resellers • Ask about list recommendations for business solutions within the specific industry/verticals you specialize in • Will give you a good indication if this list broker is the right fit for your needs or if you should keep looking • Ask list brokers if they’ve worked with Microsoft and/or Microsoft Dynamics partners previously to gauge their experience.

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List Sources for ISVs

• If you’re marketing a product to partners… Partner Channel Builder Solution Finder Associations such as IAMCP (International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners) Worldwide Partner Conference, extreme CRM, The Partner Event Publications such as The Partner Channel Magazine Social media, such as LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook • If you’re marketing a product to Microsoft Dynamics users… User Groups Events such as Convergence List brokers For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Do’s and Don’ts: Direct Mail

• Direct Mail – Most common, and most readily available, type of list.

– Targeting your list (size, geography, industry, etc) will allow you to reduce the list size and increase the chances of response. – The greater the number of selects, the smaller the list.

– Prioritize quality over quantity. For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Do’s and Don’ts: Direct Mail

• Continued… – If you have to pay for the minimum order (2,500 5,000) names, that’s ok if it’s the “right” list. – Set reasonable expectations. ( ½% to 3% response rate) – Ask for a “multiple use” list or unlimited use for a period of time so you can nurture the contacts.

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Do’s and Don’ts: Email

• When renting an email list… – Avoid “junk lists” which consist of email addresses harvested from various web sites. – Responsible online marketing holds permission as the key criteria, meaning that potential customers give their consent to receive communications. – Legitimate email lists consist of true opt-in records.

Best Practices

Build your own list by… – Soliciting opt-ins on your website.

– Creating a form page for your website before a prospect downloads an offer.

– Attending events and tradeshows as a sponsor (sometime you will receive an opt-in email list).

– Joining associations and other (networking) business organizations.

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Do’s and Don’ts: Email

• For email lists that you own, use an email service like MailChimp to manage compliance such as opt outs, spam reports, etc.

• Also use the tracking features to determine the effectiveness of your message • • • How many recipients are opening the email?

How many click-through to an article or to your website?

How many emails bounced?

• Before sending your email, run it through SpamCheck or SwiftPage. They will scan your email just like a spam filter would. For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Offers

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Definition

• What does the recipient receive?

• What do they have to do to get it?

– Call – Return the business reply card – Go to the website and download – Send an email – Fax back a form • Objective - move the recipient to take action – Get your prospect or customer to raise their hand and take the next step with you – Initiate and build an ongoing relationship (of value) with the prospect For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

The Basics of an Offer

• When responding, the recipient gives up some piece of information in exchange for the offer. • Offers vary by sales stage – For example, an offer for a demo may be inappropriate at the beginning of the relationship. However, at times an online trial might be a good offer if the prospect has advanced through the sales cycle and is ready to see the solution.

• Good offers at the beginning of the sales cycle are generally educational in nature, and often from a credible third party – Whitepapers – Industry reports – Analyst reports – Webcasts • Lastly, “a salesperson will call” is not a good offer For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

In a Perfect World…

• You would intelligently customize your message and your offers for… – every industry’s needs – the needs of every role (CEO, VP of Sales) – every stage of the sales cycle (from initial seekers of info to qualified prospects) – and deliver in a fashion most consumable to the prospect (email, direct mail, webcast, in-person, etc.) For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Example: Soft vs. Hard Offers

Soft (low risk)

T-shirt or Zune (personal gift item) Sweepstakes Drawing for a gift Whitepaper Webcast

Hard (higher risk)

Live seminar In-person needs analysis Assessment Demo Free software trial or free subscription for a limited time Financing terms For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Example: Hard Offer

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Resources from Microsoft

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Resources from Microsoft

• According to Marketing Sherpa, webcasts or web seminars are the second most popular lead generation offer in business-to-business technology marketing, second only to whitepapers . – 66% of technology buyers found webinars “very valuable” or “somewhat valuable”.

– 20% of tech decision makers reported attending webinars on a weekly basis, with 18% taking part in webinars every other week. – 47% of business technology buyers attend webinars more frequently now than they did two years ago.

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Microsoft Case Studies

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PartnerSource > Marketing

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PartnerSource > Industry & Vertical Content For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

PartnerSource Whitepaper Library For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Microsoft Partner Network Global Promotions For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Where Else?

– The Microsoft Dynamics public website – Microsoft Worldwide Events For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Third Party Resources

• Harvard Business Review – High credibility – Perceived as valuable – Unbiased • Usually have to purchase content for your use but the benefit of generating additional interest in your solution will often offset the cost For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Third Party Resources

• Analyst Reports – AMR Research – Enterprise Strategy Group – Forrester Research – Gartner, Inc.

– IDC – Jupiter Research – Ovum – The Yankee Group For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Creative

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Creative

• Select a theme – It’s the job of marketing to “tell a story”. – Engages the brain, catches the attention of the reader. • NASCAR Example • Baseball Example For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Sunrise Technologies – Best Overall Marketing Campaign

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Tribridge – Best Lead Generation Campaign For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

The TM Group – Best Existing Customer Campaign For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Enliven Software – Best ISV Campaign

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Client Profiles CRM Campaign

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Summary

• List makes up 50% or more of the success of your campaign. Don’t skimp!

• Check out… – Associations that cater to your industry focus – Manta – Jigsaw • Know the “do not contact” rules, especially for email For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Summary

• Remember your audience – Prospects (and customers) will ask you “WIIFM” – The “so what” test – Motivate prospect to take action – Raise their hand (in exchange for the offer, you obtain their name and company name) – Nurture the relationship • Sell the value of the offer – Don’t try to sell the solution in the initial stage of the relationship – Become the knowledge expert • Tailor your offer, as much as possible, to the needs to the prospect – Mix up the offers – different ones will appeal to different people – Use a combination of offers to move your prospect through the sales cycle For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners

Learn More

• Join Microsoft “Marketing Monarchs on PartnerSource and LinkedIn (Friday am webcasts) – https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/communities/marketing/training /MarketingMonarchHomePage – http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=3402881&trk= • Opt into the monthly newsletter from The Partner Marketing Group • www.ThePartnerMarketingGroup.com

• Contact [email protected] if you need outsourced marketing help!

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Cheryl Strege

The Partner Marketing Group [email protected]

Thank You for Attending extreme 2010!

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