Nic Brisbourne

10 Marketing Rules for Emerging Enterprise Software Vendors

From Nick Gregory, of Market Accelerator Ltd - http://www.marketxl.co.uk/

Marketing in emerging (aka high tech fast growth) enterprise software companies is fundamentally different to your larger, more mature counterparts.  You don’t have the resources, brand, or track record of the big vendors. Paradoxically, as we show in this document, this situation is a virtue not a disadvantage.

Our experience proves that the goal on winning the beachhead deals, that are so vital to your success, should make your marketing quite straightforward.

Market Accelerator’s business is at the sharp end of the IT industry: we help high growth companies build markets and then lead them.  To help you we’ve compiled this list of the top ten marketing rules to get you on your prospect’s radar and the deals flowing through the sales pipeline.

Rule 1 – Your proposition must hit a sweet spot

With little track record, you are selling a vision, a dream - not a product with a large user base.  You are a minnow compared to established vendors and your product should offer more than just a solution to a known problem within your target market. Your product must do something important enough for the buyer to want to take the risks associated with an emerging vendor.  Ultimately, be clear, be concise and be different – even be radical.  Make the product features innovative and the solution benefits tangible and measurable.  The proposition must be market focused and lead with customer stories and anecdotes.  This will a build relevant proposition with strong technical arguments and a clear business case.

Rule 2 – Ruthlessly measure and manage your marketing plan

Your marketing plan must have clear goals (e.g. number of qualified leads per month) and specific performance measures (e.g. cost per lead).  It should include a balanced programme of marketing activities for the fiscal year and have a budget allocated to each activity (rough split should be: resources 20%, communications 10%, events 40%, campaigns 30%).  The budget should be between 5% and 15% of target sales revenue and every expenditure tracked from plan to P&L.  Report regularly against performance measures and goals and be prepared to immediately replan should conditions dictate.

Rule 3 – Your brand must make you credible

First impressions count.  You wouldn’t turn up to a customer meeting badly dressed and with bad attitude, so don’t let you brand image do it instead!   Don’t spend a fortune on this.  A logo, colour palette, fonts, nice artwork, a bunch of templates and a clear set of guidelines will be enough for your brand kit.  Don’t fiddle with it for at least 18 months and police your supplier’s and own organisation’s use of the brand.  And make sure your strap line and top-level messaging says what you do!

Rule 4 – Put the marketing database at the core of your marketing

This is your universe of prospects, partners, customers and influencers.  The goal of the marketing database should be to enable and record all interactions with every contact as well as  track and report prospects progress through the sales cycle.  You should continuously add and signup new contacts (automatically where possible).  Ensure all internal users keep the database up-to-date or you’ll get a black hole in your universe.

Rule 5 – The goal is Lead Generation and Lead Qualification

Every marketing activity should generate leads. If you can’t connect a marketing purchase order to lead generation, don’t spend it.  If your sales team is doing lead generation, go back to rule 2. If you don’t have enough leads, go back to rule 2.

Leads should only have one of two states: qualified or unqualified.  In agreement with your sales organization, define what a qualified lead looks like.  As soon as a lead meets these criteria it is qualified and should become an opportunity.  If the lead doesn’t meet the criteria, it too is qualified, but as a reject.  Bin it if it’s not a target prospect; recycle it to a contact if it is – they will become a lead eventually.

Rule 6 – Interact on the Internet

By Internet, we mean your web site, direct mail, search engine marketing, blogging, forums, communities and so on.  Get your head around all this, all the dots do join up and have the ability to accelerate your market velocity and reach as well as increase presence and generate leads - at an attractive cost and rate.  Your marketing database should record and track all inbound and outbound online activity.  Analytics packages will monitor and measure who’s doing what.

The simple rule for online success is good content.  If this is fresh and relevant, everything else online-wise gets much easier.

Rule 7 – Invest in thought leadership and build media relations

A decade ago this used to be press and analyst relations.  Today, the Internet has changed media almost beyond recognition.  The one thing that hasn’t changed is the need to build and nurture relationships with key media and feed them with good editorial content.  Whether industry analyst, editor, journalist or blogger you must respect their need to have regular, thought leading and informative content.  Build themes around industry hot topics thereby positioning you as an agenda setter and thought leader in your market.

Rule 8 – Pick your events wisely

Events cost a lot of money:  booth design and build; literature and promotional items; appointment setting and preshow promotion; logistics and travel; and entertainment and expenses… You get the point – you can’t afford too many of these and you certainly can’t afford not to get a large number of leads from the event.

Only commit to shows that have a proven return.  If you are not sure, either pass it up or go as a delegate only.  Set a budget and stick to it. Scour the event programme and cover all opportunities: speaker slots, press and analyst activities, sharing partner presence, announcements, demos, hospitality,  pre-booked meetings and ad-hoc meetings; and more…

Rule 9 – Don’t do advertising

It takes a sustained advertising campaign to build enough momentum to generate leads.  You can’t afford that.  Move on.

Rule 10 – Marketing is strategic

Marketing takes product to market.  Thereby, it should be integrated and aligned with product development and the sales team.  R&D should not be doing marketing.  Neither should sales.  If this is the case in your organisation, you don’t have the right marketing talent in your team.  That needs fixing.

Rule 11 (a sin, not a rule)  – Focus your resources on your market not your competitors

If your product is as good as you think it is you’ll need all your time and energy convincing the market.