Characteristics of a Conference Worth Going to - IAITAM

I just returned from the IAITAM Annual Conference in Henderson, Nevada (right outside of Vegas). While most conferences are scaling back and losing exhibitors and attendees, IAITAM (International Association of IT Asset Managers) seems to be one of the few associations that have grown its annual conference and its membership. The question is why and how?

I think there are several important reasons to why/how IAITAM grew.

1-   ITAM as a trend is on the rise. No matter where you go, you hear about IT asset management and cost control. This industry is part of the popular IT trends as seen in the ITAM Industry in the Ascendancy article by @ITAMReview.

2-   IAITAM is an extremely niche topic/industry that hits across all IT markets. Everyone could benefit from ITAM.

3-   Companies and people are seeking ways to either re-educate or to continue to educate themselves in their industry. The IAITAM conference is a perfect place to garner information.

4-   Unlike other organizations, IAITAM brings everything in-house – from production of attendee bags to signs to its membership magazine. The savings allows for the organization to give back to its members by giving a first class conference with world class food and entertainment.

So, while I think majority of trade shows and conferences are not worth spending money on. The annual IAITAM conference is one of the few that fit the criteria of must attend if you are in the ITAM industry for the following reasons:

1-   Great networking opportunities.

2-   Attendees are extremely targeted audience and, this year, they are ready to spend money.

3-   An extremely targeted audience.

4-   The luncheons and dinners are served in the exhibit hall and the association does everything possible to drive attendees to the booths. There is also an extremely limited exhibition time, which is good for a show that’s only about 400 people.

5-   Qualified leads. No need to shift through information.

With that said, look for shows with the characteristics above and you can’t go wrong.

Trade show boothmanship training? Not bloody likely

I’ve been getting a lot of emails from trade show/conference vendors about training for trade shows. While I’m a big fan the e-newsletter, this might not be the best tactic for companies who create exhibit booths and signage seeing as the economy took a nosedive this past year and just about everyone has cut back big expenses – like trade shows. Marketing and sales folks are recycling what they have from last year and an email about “boothmanship” training isn’t likely going to change their mind and drive them to the company for a soft sell. So, what should these companies do?

Well, if I headed up marketing at a trade show company, I wouldn’t give up the newsletter, but I also wouldn’t send it every 2 weeks. That’s just going to annoy me. I’d also go back to some traditional marketing to create brand awareness and I’d revamp my message to talk about:

-          Cost effective methods for trade shows and conferences – cut your cost in half, while increasing qualified leads

-          Pre-conference jitters: Practical methods on how to maximize sales time at the event

-          Attracting attention to your company: How to make them come to you

With all that said and done, these companies likely won’t see the dollars coming in for another 6-9 months, but at least they will be top-of-mind once corporate marketers can spend again.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Social media expert – Anyone? Anyone?

We keep hearing the phrase, “I’m a social media expert” time and time again. But, it seems like everyone is a social media expert or, at least, feel that way. Does it make you a social media expert if you have a blog, Tweet a bit and know what the hell Ning is? IMHO, I don’t think so. Like any industry or market, social media marketing must come from experience. It’s a bit of a Catch 22.

So, how do you become a social media expert.

1-      Read/Research – ‘nuff said on this.

2-      Check out what the influencers in the space are doing.

3-      Join social media sites and starting “listening in” on the conversations. I find that while you learn something about the folks participating, it’s very similar to high school cliques, except all the popular kids aren’t jocks.

4-      Ask questions. Most social media influencers are willing to help.

So, how the hell are you supposed to know who to trust? Look for history, call references and then go with your gut. You can hire a major agency, but it’s gonna cost you. If you hire a small firm or a one-person shop, make sure you are looking at case histories; getting good references and that you like/trust the person. And, no matter what who you hire or how many people are at the company, bring your B.S.-O-meter.

Additional  reading…..

Is the Social Media Expert Going the Way of the Dodo?

15 Social Media Maxims for Marketers

Nobody’s an Expert in this Crazy ‘Social Media’ Thing

The Celebrity CEO: Don't Put all your eggs in one basket

We all know them. We all love or hate them. But, the question is whether or not the celebrity CEO is good or bad for companies. With CEOs-turned-industry-leaders- like Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Steve Balmer (former and current CEO of Microsoft), Martha Stewart, and Larry Ellison - you have larger than life leadership tied to the well being of the company (at least that’s what most people think). Comments from these gentlemen can move markets, similar to the power Alan Greenspan once held. But, there is a lesson to be learned from creating Celebrity CEOs. Companies built around one man (or woman) – no matter the dynamic personality or genius – can put the entire organization at risk, and there are many examples to choose from.

·         You need look no further than one of my all-time favorite Celebrity CEOs – Steve Jobs. From his first illness some years ago to today’s “mystery illness,” Apple’s stock price seems to rise and fall based on the health of this gentleman.

·         American International Group, a major global insurance company, was headed up by former Celebrity CEO Maurice (Hank) Greenberg for more than four decades. When he “retired” from his post, the public was uncertain about the company’s new leadership and the stock took a momentary dip. His celebrity-dom rubbed off on his sons – Jeffrey W. Greenberg, former celebrity chairman & CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies, who was publicly ousted from the position; and Evan G. Greenberg, president & CEO of ACE Limited, the lesser known Greenberg.

·         Martha Stewart’s drawn out investigation, her time as a jailbird and finally her release made headlines around the world.

·         While last month’s downgrade of General Electric from its AAA-rating received lots of attention, Berkshire Hathaway’s similar downgrade was largely ignored. Unlike the ratings downgrade of GE and many other high profile companies (including ExxonMobil, J&J, ADP, and Pfizer), criticism about Warren Buffett’s reign over the company’s investments and acquisitions were looked upon as long-standing concerns tied to the health of the company. Of course, in the case of the Oracle of Omaha’s financial wizardry, the criticism bounced off him like raindrops hitting the curve of a car’s windshield. However, what happens when Buffett decides to retire or hand over the reins to someone else (you never know at his age).

While you want your CEO to be a visionary and stand as the leadership within a company, it’s not always a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket and create only a solitary celebrity spotlight. There are three major issues associated with creating a celebrity leader:

-          Larger-than-life expectations can lead to dangerously exaggerated disappointments. Investor confidence is a vital element for public or equity-backed companies, and celebrity CEOs typically cause a roller coaster effect of highs that are too high, and lows that are too low. 

-          A single misstep by the Celebrity CEO – including personal misfortunesm as per Steve Jobs – can have a disastrous effect on the stock price or even the profits. We won’t even mention the criminal or civil suits some of today’s celebrity CEOs may face in the not-so-distant future.

-          Overemphasis on the leader to solve all the company’s problems.

-          The importance of well planned, duly announced succession.

2009 Predictions in Tech Marketing and Tech PR

  Happy 2009! It's a Bear market all around the world, but I don't think it will completely collapse the tech PR and marketing industry . . .  at least not for small and mid-sized firms. Here are my predictions for 2009:

1- Tech PR firms will have a resurgence this year. Specifically, the small and mid-sized firms will really do well. My rationale...companies are starting to get smarter about marketing during a recession. And, while some may hire a PR manager internally, I think the likelihood is that the head or marketing will hire an external resource as there is resistence within the organization.

2- There will be a huge number of Tech PR practitioners starting their own individual consulting business or their own firm (either by themselves or with a partner). And, many will NOT be virtual.

3- There will be massive turnover in the tech marketing space in Q3 and 4. If we hold to the "economy will start to come back by mid-year" theory, you'll have a lot of in-house marketers seeking new horizons.

4- With Obama coming in, increased regulations across all markets - financial, health, etc.- this is the year of the CFO and CIO. Companies will be pushing the CFO and CIO to superstar status and begin marketing them outside the company to assure/re-assure the public, Wall Street, and shareholders that the company has excellent people in place to ensure compliance.

5- Lastly, IT managers and CIOs have gotten smarter over the last couple of years about their public image. They realized that a healthy public profile, whether in IT magazines or on social networks, will boost their image value internally and externally. We'll see a lot more CIOs and their direct reports on social media and microblogging sites.

6- Tech magazines have been getting thinner and thinner. This year, many of the IT trades will be pulled off shelves and turn subscription-only for the print publication.

7- Trade shows are already fading, but this year, we'll see conference show management companies begin to explore virtual trade shows and events, which will have similar sponsorships, booths, etc. but will be entirely online.

8- Ironically, social media marketing hasn't been a big hit with tech marketers. I believe this struggle to understand social media will continue in '09.

9- There has been an explosion in blogging, but I believe that by the end of 2009 the majority of corporate tech blogs will be abandoned due to lack of time and mismanagement. The interest will still be there, but I've watched marketers struggle with how to work a blog.

10- Large PR will lose business to boutique tech PR firms due to client budget cuts. Or, maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.

Let's see how many of these predictions for Tech PR and Marketing is correct come this December.

Why Blog?

I recently had three separate conversations about blogging and was surprised to find that people still think that blogging is social media marketing and that it’s a great strategy.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Blogging is not a strategy. It’s a tactic that should fit into an overarching strategy. 

So, why would you need a blog?

1-      To build a community and communicate with them effectively

2-      To target select communities – influencers, investors, customers, prospects, etc. If you’re a start-up, you can use your blog to communicate vision.

3-      Create a second online destination site for you company (the primary site being the company website).  A great example would be Approva’s blog.  Approva is a company  that deals with risk, compliance and operations and the official site is the usual corporate sell.  But the Approval blog has great information on the topics of risk, compliance and operations AND serves as a platform to launch campaigns, such as the singing CPA belting out Happy Birthday to Sarbanes-Oxley. That crazy online campaign spread quickly and really jacked up the eyeballs to the site.

4-      Get your groove on and become the expert you’re meant to be.  Just do it publicly.

5-      It helps with search engine optimization.  Big time.

6-      Great way to attract employees to your culture as blogs is less formal than website (usually).

7-      Get early feedback to your ideas or validate assumptions.

People have to stop thinking of blogs as just another marketing vehicle and treating it as such.  Everyone – I’m betting yourself included – is sick of advertising and marketing double-speak.  So, stop treating online tactics as traditional marketing vehicles that carry company-focused message and start thinking about them as a method to show your smarts.  Everything else around building a blog then becomes tactical to support the strategy.

The conversation about having a blog is similar to the one about having a public relations program.  You want it.  You know you need one.  But, you’re not sure why.  If you have defined goals and an overarching strategy to support those goals, you now have the answer to the question of why. 

Look for my upcoming topics on blogs as this is only just the beginning:

·         What the blog are you talking about?

·         If a blog falls in the forest, but no one is around to hear it….

·         One o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock…blog.

·         Where in the world does my blog belong?

·         Blog-a-licoius; Twitter me Pink; Ning the Subject

B2B Marketers Need to Change with the Times

Marketing as we know it is changing.  Forrester Analyst Laura Ramos identifies four factors driving the change.

1. Commoditization (I translate this as hyper-competition.)
2. Consumerism and the social groundswell (Forrester’s terminology for the fact that social media now empowers customers to spit back at marketers and share experiences with one another.)
3. Ad avoidance translates to sales call avoidance (Great point…sales calls are part of the larger genre of commercial messaging clutter, a phenomenon often and mistakenly limited to advertising.)
4. Globalization (This was a referral the sometimes more favorable economics of fulfilling many marketing services offshore, in other countries.)

AttentionMax, Oct 2008

So, what does this mean?  Get your groove on and start seeking out emerging marketing practices.  Don't just look at the tactics, but internalize it and understand that that topdown marketing is not the only factor anymore.  And, keep in mind, people are sick of hearing marketing-speak.  Keep it simple and keep your audience in mind.  Be authentic.

Pepsi's New Look - Love it or Hate it?

It's time for change.  No, I'm not talking about the presidential election here.  I'm talking Pepsi's brand new look.  Love it or hate it, Pepsi is changing its logo.  And, the branding experts are loving it. Even Peter Shankman - a favorite marketer of mine - is talking about the new Pepsi look.

So, here's the evolution...

Millions of dollars went into this?  And, marketers are saying that it will cost hundreds of millions to roll out the new look. 

Hey!  I believe in marketing (obviously) and I've seen it work.  But, I'm still baffled at why brands spend millions to change a perfectly good logo.  Call me crazy, but the o1987 or even the 1971 logo worked fine. In fact, I would have suggested bringing back the old 1971 logo so that people can harken back to the good old days of the last recession.  Kidding about the link to the recession, but totally not kidding about the bringing back the logo.

The new logo is hip and trendy.  But, like my mother always said, buy classic looks because it will never go out of fashion.   

Digital Marketing is Eco-friendly – Are We Paperless Yet?

I just got out of a morning session at a marketing conference and I’m astonished by the sheer volume of paper being passed around, left on seats and in the trash bins.  Just in this 1-hour session, I’ve just been handed:

·         4 pieces of marketing materials that will likely never get read

·         1 small plastic bobble-head (which will end up in the trash as soon as I finish this  post)

·         1 very nice leather notebook (hmmm…nice, memorably, but completely useless as 90% of my life is electronic)

·         1 stress ball (which my 2-year-old will like)

What is all this junk?  What the hell happened to being environmentally conscious and the notion of green marketing?  OK, so we don’t always get it right, but the amount of crap I just collected can’t be right either.  The best way to be ecologically friendly, while saving money on marketing is to move from print to digital marketing.  Here’s some ways you can do that:

1.       Advertising: If your company is a niche B2B company, consider moving the majority of your advertising from print to electronic – online, e-newsletter sponsorships, online video or audio, etc.

2.       Marketing materials: Do you really need to print and give out more paper?  Anyone going to read the darned things?  No?  Make the materials digital…well, duh!  Put it on your website, make it email-able, distribute using a USB flash key or email info while on a trade show floor.  No muss, no fuss and totally trackable. Even better, you save on printing and shipping costs.

3.       e-Newsletters: If you’re not doing this, shame on you!

4.       Tzotchkes: Do people really need another squeezeball, pen, clicker or plastic whatever?  Does it really move the dial in terms of sales or branding?  I’ll admit that I was a trade show tzotchke junkie at one time.  I had boxes of these little things, but none of them made me recall the companies or what they were selling.  If you’re trying to drive traffic to your booth, how about using a clear message, pre-scheduling meetings and just doing a big give-away (if the show is even worth it).

5.       Direct mail: Everyone is sick of junkmail.  It’s a bit like telemarketing calls, no one wants them.  And, you’re going to send a round of postcards or cheesy tzotchkes with corporate logo on it?  Who cares?  If you absolutely must send direct mail, think about using ecologically friendly products such as a bean with a logo on it or a plantable seed bookmark (you’ll think of a clever tie-in). 

6.       Pick up the d*mn phone and call: Not to belabor the point, but I always question why go with direct mail when direct marketing can be as easy as picking up the phone (bypass the email, please!).  With email, IM, SMS, social networking and all the wonderful electronic communications tools these days, it’s sometimes a more effective method to just pick up the phone and call someone.  Gasp!  What a concept. A good old-fashioned 6-minute conversation may just get you to where you want to go.

7.       Go green: There’s been a lot of buzz around the term corporate social responsibility.  Companies are attempting to do some good, while capitalizing on those good deeds.  Make going green within the company a serious venture and talk about it once the programs are in place.  For example, extend the opportunity to work from home or create a virtual office.  Dan Smolen’s Study Root Blog talks about how to reduce employee commuting costs by going green.

There is so much more we can do to save corporate dollars, while being socially conscious. Like I said, we may not get it right 100% of the time, but at least you’re trying.

B2B Marketing Lead Generation

So many companies struggle with lead generation, but with the right sales team and marketing support, it should make lead generation a lot easier.  Marketing should be creating lead generating programs (as well as brand building), while sales should be taking those leads and turning them into customers. 

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.  There are some tried and true lead generating marketing tactics that will give you qualified leads as long as the strategy, content and implementation are done correctly.

1-      Webinars: This is a cost effective method of generating leads without ever leaving your desk.  But, you need to have content people want to hear and you need to be genuine in your delivery (in other words, don’t do a hard sell). This only involves getting

2-      Executive breakfast events: For whatever reason, senior level executives who are  decision makers will always come out for a free breakfast.  Once again, make sure you have something they want to come out for – maybe even hire a speaker of note.

     3-     Trade shows and conferences: I’m reluctant to put this one in as I’m not a big fan of exhibiting at a lot of trade shows as they are very costly and the ROI is often in the negative numbers.

4-      Channel or marketing partnerships: All the major software and hardware companies have strong reseller programs, where other companies do much of the work selling.

5-      Referrals program: Nothing will ever be better than having your clients refer you.  Create a client referral program that incentives your clients, partners and vendors to refer business to you.

      6-      Online social networking: Get to know your prospects without a lot of selling pressure and be there when they are ready to commit.  Granted this tactic probably takes the most patience and time, but when you’re able to monitor what the frustrations of your prospects (and even your clients are), you’ll get a better handle on what their needs. 

7-      Online marketing: The most effective and least expensive tactics are online (though online sponsorships and advertising costs continue to rise).  Consider having a good search engine marketing/optimization program – including pay per click ads, sponsorships, link programs as well as organic search.  In addition, consider online sponsorships to drive people to your site or to take action (e.g. download a white paper); generate brand awareness; or create a tie-in to an existing campaign (whether offline or online).

8-      White paper: By creating a content on a subject that your prospects want to read about, you can easily capture leads

9-      Blog, blog, blog: Blogs are a no pressure sales tactic. 

10-   Public relations: This is less of a hard sell and more about building communications and a well-rounded message, but this is one of the only tactics that will help build credibility.  Tactics such as:

·         Media coverage and commentary

·         Articles bylined by a company executive

·         Industry analyst relations program

·         Speaking on panels or at conferences: The very best leads often come from conversations after the speaking opportunity when people approach you to pick your brain.

·         Viral marketing campaigns such as online videos and podcasts

Even the best lead generating campaigns cannot work if there is poor team work and collaboration.  Your sales and marketing teams need to work together in order for marketing to work. Everyone from the CEO to the receptionist should know who your customers are and what they need.  Customer service should be at the top of the list of important lead generating activities. And, you need to understand how to optimize your lead management process. 

If you’re head is spinning and you’re wondering how you’ll get to some of these tactics, hire help (either internal or external).  I’ve seen a lot of companies try to “do it all” and fail – either the program is half finished, the tactic doesn’t get the attention it needs or the content is lame (as no one has time to think it through).  If you can’t hire, then take one tactic at a time.

Lead generation isn’t difficult.  It’s that the prospect isn’t usually ready to sign on right away – lead time can be anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.  The difficulty is getting your sales team to push the prospect along through the pipeline and nurture them over a long period of time (meaning that your sales team needs to have staying power and your attrition rate needs to be extremely low).