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Five Quick Social Media Tips for IBs and CTAs

April 25, 2011 By Candyce Edelen Leave a Comment

Last week, Phil and I spoke at the National Introducing Brokers Association (NIBA) New York conference. We discussed the topic of lead generation and how IBs (introducing brokers) can use social media to grow their businesses. After the session, we had opportunity to talk to a number of IBs and CTAs (commodity trading advisors) about the challenges they encounter in building their businesses. Most rely PropelGrowth Blogheavily on cold calling, seminars, and referrals to generate new business.

The common complaint we heard over and over is that these IBs and CTAs lack the time and resources to dedicate to building a presence online. As we looked at several of their websites and LinkedIn profiles, we discovered some consistent issues:

  • Their websites often include a lot of educational content, but there is no lead capture mechanism to identify prospects who are using that content. The only lead capture form on most sites is the “open an account” page.
  • Many IBs are using email marketing, but they send out newsletters that don’t include links back to the website, so they can’t track click-throughs to figure out which articles people are reading in their newsletters.
  • Most of the IBs are using LinkedIn, but few have detailed profiles, and even fewer link their profile to blogs.
  • Very few IBs or CTAs are blogging.
  • Many are avoiding putting out information on the web or social media because they don’t understand the NFA rules around promotional content and are concerned about being out of compliance.

I understand that IBs are dealing with time and resource constraints, but using the web to market your businesses is not really optional anymore. I urge all IBs and CTAs to seriously consider several steps:

  1. Update your LinkedIn profile to add detail about what you’re doing. The first thing most people will do when you reach out to them asking them to invest in your fund is look you up on the web. Your LinkedIn profile will probably be the first thing they check. Add content that inspires confidence in you as a trusted advisor. Otherwise, why should your prospect trust you with their money?
  2. Seriously reconsider blogging. Again, investors need confidence that you’re the right CTA or IB to manage their money. If you blog about your principles, approaches, results (within NFA and CFTC guidelines), you can inspire them to have confidence that you know what you’re doing. Even if you only write one blog entry a week, you can start to build up content over time that will inspire trust in your investors.
  3. When you use email marketing, think about what you want to accomplish. Include links to content on your site. Put the main part of your newsletter on the website, and use summaries or abstracts in your emails with a unique link to each article. That will allow you to track who clicks and which articles are the most popular with your readers.
  4. Add some lead capture components to your website that only ask for a name and email address. This allows you to begin nurturing a relationship with a prospect before they’re ready to open an account with you.
  5. Read the NFA rules and get familiar with the promotional guidelines. Focus your content on education rather than pitches. Here are the links to the NFA guidelines:

http://www.nfa.futures.org/nfamanual/NFAManual.aspx?RuleID=9063&Section=9

http://www.nfa.futures.org/NFA-faqs/compliance-faqs/promotional-material/index.HTML

Warm regards,

Candyce

 

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The (Social) Medium is the Methodology

March 10, 2011 By Phil Donaldson Leave a Comment

There was a thread in the Social Media Marketers discussion group on LinkedIn that recently caught my attention:

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Social Media is A tool not THE tool in one’s marketing mix.

What caused me to respond was the notion of social media as a tool. The term itself causes a certain amount of misunderstanding that tends to distort the conversation. The definition of a tool can be open to more than one interpretation. Also, some think of social media as specific sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Others see it as a collection of technologies. Still others see it as simply the act of engaging socially in the ether. Even the term “social web” can be somewhat problematic. The web (which has come to include the mobile web) has very quickly evolved to become a social experience.

I recently attended the Focus Interactive Summit which spotlighted the current state of social media strategies. It was a mix of virtual presentations, chat and threaded discussion (as well as the obligatory sponsor plugs and iPad raffle for answering a questionnaire). One of the presenters, Chris Heuer of Deloitte had a very incisive perspective. He stated that social media is not so much technology as much as it is methodology. When you think about it, Twitter has morphed from a vanity model (“Just finished eating pancakes for breakfast”) to one of sharing information (“You might find this article by Jane Doe interesting”). As I stated in my LinkedIn response, it’s the synergy of online interaction and collaboration that fuel the social media experience.

From a B2B marketing perspective, social media as a methodology makes plenty of sense. As the new sales and marketing models coalesce, the way we do business is changing on an almost daily basis. What has become the real game changer is the customer-centric nature of the new paradigm. We’re swiftly moving away from “what can I sell you?” and moving toward “how can I help you?” From the latter perspective, marketers become focused more on providing value by meeting the customer’s business need. This also includes responding to the unique personalities and emotional makeup of individuals. As a result, we’re challenged with developing new methods of reaching with relevance, which becomes about the resulting content and how we deliver it.

At the same Focus event, Deborah Schultz of Altimeter Group declared that social media is not a channel, but rather an experience. Many tend to think of as a separate entity. In a solutions-based business world, social media is a step in the problem solving process. If the new marketing is about a shift in attitude and behavior, then social media (or electronic social engagement) is part of that new behavior. The combination of human interaction and the nature of current technology characterizes the social marketing process. The underlying technologies have transformed the way we engage with one another. As we adapt, we alter the tools slightly to reach our shared objectives. Electronically mediated interaction affects us by causing us to learn while participating. We provide content to customers. Based on their feedback (through digital observation and personal interaction), we respond with more relevant content. In various discussion groups, we interact with our colleagues to exchange knowledge. We are at the same time student and teacher. The engagement with customers and colleagues through various online experiences becomes what we now call social media.

As time goes by, technologies and terms will either fade away or evolve into something more identifiable. What will remain is the need for building relationships and providing value. At least that’s what we’ll want the internet archeologists to say.

What’s your take on social media? Comment below and let me know.

Video © 2009 Onion Inc.


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Discussion? What Discussion?

February 25, 2011 By Phil Donaldson Leave a Comment

Capital markets sales and marketing teams must provide customers the opportunity to articulate business need

In the science fiction cult classic, “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension,” alien leader John Emdall from Planet 10 issues an ultimatum to protagonist Buckaroo Banzai concerning the evil John Whorfin. In it, she (everyone on Planet 10 is named “John”) discloses Whorfin’s plans to steal Banzai’s oscillation overthruster, a device that enables trans-dimenensional passage back to Planet 10. John Emdall proclaims that if Banzai doesn’t stop Whorfin, she will — by destroying Earth. She finishes with, “End of discussion,” to which the character New Jersey (inimitably played by Jeff Goldblum) replies:

“Discussion? What discussion?”

I’m amazed at how many one-sided “discussions” take place in the Capital Markets. The supposed educational webinars and panel discussions that end up being promotional agree-fests. The “one-size-fits-all” pitch decks that concern themselves with what sales wants to talk about. You know, the “pray ‘n spray” approach that essentially sets the stage for the demo. Where’s the customer-centric discussion in all of this?

The economic crisis has now placed banks in a different position. Banks, having relied on their historical leadership, lost faith with customers. They need to re-build trust in their customer base by demonstrating value. In order for that to happen, there’s got to be a conversation with the customer about what they want, about what they need. That means engaging with the customer. That means listening to the customer. The goal of content marketing is to present information that inspires a conversation with customers over time. Like sonar, it is an instrument that sends out information with the intention of receiving feedback to gauge where the target is. In the financial services marketing paradigm, it’s about determining the needs of the customer. Start the conversation. Listen. Respond.

Allow me to suggest how this can be done. Your white paper creates context. What you hear back determines your next article or blog post. The discussion continues. Your panel webinar focuses on topics relevant to your customers’ needs. You solicit feedback and questions. The discussion continues. Your live event, informed by your previous conversations, provides more value to your audience. The discussion continues. Your thought leadership program makes a difference to customers and the industry because you’ve contributed valuable information, enabled conversation. At the end of it all, you’ve maintained a top-of-mind position and become a trusted advisor. They’ve listened to you because you’ve taken the time to listen to them.

With the new lines of communication that have opened up in recent years  — social media being the most recent — the opportunity to connect with B2B customers is unprecedented. It can take place synchronously or asynchronously. In real-time or over time. But the real value is in the fact that the communication is two-way. You can now gain a voice in the marketplace by providing your customers a voice in your marketing content. Make a difference in their lives by working to understand them and respond with relevance.

I recently heard about client who took questions at a live event and is using those questions to drive a thought leadership program. That’s music to my ears. That type of feedback is vital to addressing customer need. Another client takes questions customers ask at sales meetings and turns the answers into blog posts and other marketing content.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Weigh in. Let’s have a conversation. Then, let the discussion continue.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension © 1984 Sherwood Productions and 20th Century Fox; © 2002 MGM Studios.



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9 Sales and Marketing Tips, Star Trek Style

December 15, 2010 By Phil Donaldson 2 Comments

Lead Generation: the New Frontier.Years ago, essayist Robert Fulghum wrote, “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten”. It was an imaginative way of taking the things of childhood and applying them to everyday life. This inspired the Star Trek adapted “All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek” by Dave Marinaccio. As a child in the 1960’s, the original Star Trek television series captured my imagination and greatly influenced my life. Seeing people from different backgrounds work together toward a common goal as equals and using amazing technology to accomplish it really impressed me. The future is here and we have really cool tools to help Capital Markets sales and marketing people align to reach greater heights of revenue generation. If you’ll kindly indulge me, I’d like to apply a bit of the Star Trek approach to our continuing mission:

Seek out new life and new civilizations.
It’s all about finding and building relationships.

Non-interference is the prime directive.
Get out of the way and let the customer articulate their need.

Keep your phaser set on stun.
Don’t overwhelm customers with your script. Listen and respond to customer need as part of a conversation. Then, work to create vision around your solution.

Humans are highly illogical.
B2B customers are human. Buying can be a highly emotional and risky thing. Be patient. Be flexible.

Enemies are often invisible, like Klingons, they can be cloaked.
Often in a sale, there are hidden agendas and hidden competitors. The obstacle could be an unseen competitor or customer-side internal politics. Marketing and sales should be prepared and work together to strategize around this.

Infinite Diversity and Infinite Combinations (IDIC).
Appreciate the difference in everything. Embrace new approaches. Be creative. No two solutions are exactly the same, although at first glance they may seem to be. Find what makes yours unique and embrace it.

When your logic fails, trust a hunch.
Don’t be afraid to take risks. That’s what made Captain Kirk such a great leader.

Insufficient data does not compute.
Just as insufficient market data can adversely affect a trade (remember the “Flash Crash”?), marketing and sales need to be in constant communication about goals and lead qualification.

Even in our own world sometimes we are aliens.
Often within the same company, sales and marketing can seem like aliens to one another. That’s okay. When everyone sits down to work things out together, the sky’s the limit.

There you have it. If you let these principles guide the team effort, success will be achieved at warp speed. Live long and prosper!

Illustration courtesy of Douglas E. Graves (http://deg3d.biz/). Star Trek is a  trademark  of CBS Studios Inc.

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Thought Leadership Content to Support the Entire Buying Cycle

August 27, 2010 By Candyce Edelen 1 Comment

There has been an interesting discussion running on the Focus site (http://www.focus.com/questions/marketing/are-thought-leadership-efforts-seperate-buying-cycle-driven/) about developing thought leadership and whether it can be used throughout the buying process. This is something many of our clients struggle with. Let’s face it – developing strong content that can be used for thought leadership takes thought, time, and subject matter expertise. Over and over again, I see our clients purchase thought leadership content from the analysts instead of writing their own. Now I’m not dissing the analysts here – the folks at Aite Group, Tabb Group, Financial Insights, Tower, etc. etc. are excellent and are always very helpful to your audiences. But they’re also expensive. So here are some thoughts on how you can leverage the subject matter experts in your organization to develop content that will support your prospects throughout their buying cycle.

The first stage leads go through is AWARENESS. This is where most companies start and end in their thought leadership strategy. In this stage, prospects need content that helps them understand and articulate their business pain, recognize the root causes, and realize that there are ways to address those causes and solve the problems. A great example of this is all the content we see on the importance of low latency and high throughput connectivity and collocation capabilities in the capital markets.

But then the client needs help as they RESEARCH the solution – now your content should guide them into functionality that they should consider. This should not be product focused. For example, if you’re selling low latency market data feeds, you could discuss the key messaging components and how the feeds are consumed by downstream systems. You can also talk in general about underlying technology choices and what’s important to look for as they research the way to solve their latency issues. This is also an opportunity to let your founders and business visionaries talk about why they came up with the key capabilities your company offers.

The next stage is EVALUATION. Now it’s time to provide guidance on the type of functionality that should be a minimum expectation in any product. This is your opportunity to contribute to their RFP. Great sales people do this on every deal, there is no reason why marketers can’t facilitate. Again – the content should focus on needs and capabilities from your prospect’s point of view – NOT your product features.

Next stage is VENDOR SELECTION. Think about content you could offer like case studies or videos done by your clients about how they approached the selection process. You can also get your technology visionaries to talk about why they took a certain approach that is critical to product functionality and a key differentiator (e.g., the underlying architecture or data structure).

Next stage is RISK MANAGEMENT. Here you might educate the prospect on implementation strategies, what preparation steps they need to take, problems other clients have encountered and how they overcame the issues. Provide implementation guides. Reassure the prospect that if they choose your company, they’ll get the kind of knowledgeable support that will help them succeed in addressing the business goals that took them along this buying path in the beginning.

As you plan your budgets for 2011, I strongly urge you to do a content audit – figure out what you have that supports each stage of the buyer process, and budget for new content to fill out the stages. Look at this post on buyer personas to make sure the content is also relevant to the individual member of the decision committee: http://www.propelgrowth.com/2010/08/19/buyer-personas-in-the-capital-markets/

For further thoughts on this subject, there’s a full article available for download: http://landing.propelgrowth.com/thought-leadership-to-support-the-entire-buying-cycle.html

Warm regards,

Candyce

 

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Buyer Personas in the Capital Markets

August 19, 2010 By Candyce Edelen 1 Comment

If you pay much attention to the lead generation and lead nurturing world, you’ve been hearing a lot lately about the concept of a buyer persona. This is not a new idea. Effective sales people who manage complex sales cycles with multiple decision makers have been using these concepts for decades to flesh out the key business issues, needs, decision criteria, and prejudices of each key member of the buying committee. The best sales people map out the players and their issues and sell to each individual based on their needs and interests.  That’s how you close large deals.

But this concept is relatively new to Marketing. Traditionally, Marketing has developed feature/benefit focused content and collateral that focused on the product or solution rather than focusing on the business needs of the prospect.

In a “Sales 2.0” world, this approach no longer works. Now, Marketing needs to think more like an experienced sales person – identifying the key buying influencers and understanding their responsibilities, business needs, interests, and even how they like to consume information.  Here’s a helpful blog post that describes the process of defining buyer personas.  http://www.b2bbloggers.com/blog/how-to-create-buyer-personas/

In the B2B world, when marketing organizations take on this task, they often start from very generic buyer personas:  economic buyer, technical buyer, and user. But for those of us selling into the capital markets, that’s not enough. We need to develop content that targets people based on roles, departments, and business types. Are you targeting traders? They want quick, high level content that gets right to the point. Do you need to communicate with CTOs and architects? They want more detail about implementation. High frequency trading shops have different needs than phone-based agency B/Ds. Front office has different needs from back office, and they consume information differently.

Once you have your buyer personas defined, focus on developing content specifically targeted to those audiences. The way to deliver relevant content is by understanding who you’re trying to reach and what they care about. The beauty of buyer personas is that they enable you to get inside the head of your prospects and walk in their shoes

The marketers who do this the best are the most effective in demonstrating thought leadership and positioning their firms as market leaders. Firms who ignore this approach do so at their own peril.

Warm regards,

Candyce

 

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Sales 2.0: Helping Sales “Observe the Future and Act Before it Occurs”

August 6, 2010 By Candyce Edelen 1 Comment

Check out today’s Trader Magazine quote of the day.

Bernard Baruch is quoted. He is clarifying the true definition of “speculator” as someone “who observes the future and acts before it occurs.” He goes on to point out:  “First, one must get the facts of a situation or problem. Second, one must form a judgment as to what those facts portend. Third, one must act in time–before it is too late.”

That’s a perfect description of the responsibility of a sales person. Sales has to listen with the purpose of clearly understanding the prospect’s situation BEFORE we propose a solution. Then, like Baruch points out, we must “act in time – before it’s too late” and a competitor picks up the business.

The challenge most of us face is getting in the door with the right person to be able to have the right conversation at the right time in order to understand the prospect’s situation and act in time.

There has been a lot of hype around Sales 2.0 – how it can revolutionize sales effectiveness. This is where it’s able to make the most difference:  by allowing a sales person to observe what a prospect is doing online, support the prospect’s buying behavior, and reach out at the right time, when the prospect is sales-ready.

Marketing has not traditionally played a role in discovering individual leads’ situations and needs. But Sales 2.0 and Marketing 2.0 tactics, such as lead nurturing and marketing automation can enable more of this, allowing marketing and sales teams to collaborate more closely, engaging with, observing and listening to individual prospects and customizing messaging and sales strategy to address the needs uncovered.

Warm regards,

Candyce

 

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The New Tech Universe and the Marketer’s Evolution (Opinion)

August 4, 2010 By Phil Donaldson 2 Comments

I was made aware of a blog on marketing by way of Twitter this morning. When I went to check it out, today’s entry solicited opinion on what the current state of technology means to the marketer. The question provoked me to give this response:

The current evolution of technology aids in facilitating conversation and building relationships. As the largest database in the world, the web provides a universe of information and experiences. Within each galaxy, people gather based on common interest and need.

Within the sales and marketing galaxy, emerging automation technologies such as Marketo, Eloqua and Salesforce expedite process, helping to refine initiatives like lead nurturing, lead qualification and so on. The social media cloud increasingly serves the purposes of those seeking to network with others and conduct research. Developing mobile technologies extend the information experience universe, keeping users connected. All this makes for a profound level of knowledge and opinion exchange on both technological and sociological levels.

As with any new development, a new set of paradigms emerges which demand a change in one’s thinking and process. For instance, a more informed sales prospect requires an approach way beyond mere branding. The marketer and customer are now in closer contact than ever before. Building relationships through lead nurturing and lead recycling requires a shift in focus from push messaging to information exchange and thought leadership initiatives, from the rhetoric of sales to the need of the customer. One new challenge that arises is building relationships that inform the development of custom content. Lots and lots of it. As a result, marketers have a much higher level of responsibility than simply creating a killer ad campaign. Our new mandate changes from being entertainers to educators, from distant monologist to trusted advisor.

We are at an exciting point in the evolution of marketing and sales. The discussion is lively. Now that the proverbial bee is in your bonnet, I’d like to hear from you. What are your thoughts on the matter?

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