Less text, more infographics, please

Infographics are one of my favorite forms of content marketing. They provide relevant and interesting information in an easily digestible format, but at the same time an effective infographic requires that a reader "slow down" to absorb the information. I recently came across an infographic that explains the changes in online B2B and B2C marketing. While I could share the same information in paragraph format, I believe you'll find the visual presentation much more useful--and fun.



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Content marketing via video

Videos are one of my favorite forms of content marketing, as they can convey so much information very quickly. Well-produced videos demonstrate thought leadership while sharing the brand message. A video I recently came across accomplishes both beautifully. What I especially like about this video is the unexpected—and memorable—connection to the beached whales. The brand identification is saved until the end, which provides credibility for the overall message, and the content focuses on educating and motivating the viewer instead of selling treatment services. By taking this approach, The Florida House Experience is building trust and engaging its audience. 

What's your story?

Behavioral healthcare is an emotional business. People enter this field not for the fame or the fortune, but rather for the opportunity to make a difference. It's the perfect market in which storytelling can be particularly powerful.

Everyone has a story about why she is in this business, including vendors and the companies themselves. These stories can be the heart of a content marketing campaign to show prospects and remind customers that you're here not just to "get heads in beds" or sell IT software. Good stories are memorable and help foster relationships, which are key to the long selling and referring cycles in the treatment field.

The short video below brilliantly describes the power of storytelling.

The Power of a Business Story: Details from Tim Keelan

Focus on focus groups

Marketers want to better understand prospective customers to craft effective messages. Salespeople need to know which factors help close a deal more quickly. Executives seek insight on strategic direction to guide new product and service launches and/or updates. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to uncover all of this information is through a focus group.

Focus groups provide qualitative research; I wouldn’t recommend them for generating statistically significant hard data. Yet many vendors don’t have the time or resources to develop, deploy, and interpret extensive quantitative findings. Quick but accurate insight into the market may be all that an organization can handle—or perhaps even need—to guide decision making. When this is the case, a focus group is a convenient way to accomplish multiple marketing, sales, and strategic goals.

In my experience, people are honored just by being asked to participate in a focus group. Of course, because of their small size, focus groups must include pre-screened attendees who meet only specific criteria. Identifying the right prospects is just one step; ensuring they show up is another, making participation incentives essential. While someone may be delighted to be asked to participate in a focus group during a conference, he may be less motivated to share his insights after a long flight followed by a morning lecture. Yet offer him a $150 American Express gift card for his time and I have little doubt he will show up!

I’ve been asked whether it’s necessary to have a focus group professionally moderated. If the feedback will be stored and reused extensively, and attendees are required to consider abstract concepts, having a professional onboard makes sense. However, if gathering market intelligence and guidance is the goal, any savvy marketer or salesperson should be able to moderate an hour-long session without much difficulty. Moderating focus groups is an impressive skill to add to a resume, in fact.

With conference season upon us, now is the perfect time to organize focus groups, as national events offer the opportunity to gather perspectives from across the country. Of course, you’ll gain feedback by talking to attendees at your booth, but if you want more in-depth insight consider adding a focus group to your 2013 marketing plans.

Do "happy holidays" e-blasts really accomplish much?

December 21 was e-blast carpet bombing day.

About every 15 minutes I received a message wishing me a happy holidays, season’s greetings, Merry Christmas, happy new year, and other warm thoughts. While I appreciate the sentiments, most quickly ended up in Outlook’s trash without a second thought.

On the other hand, I also have received about two dozen holiday cards through the snail mail during the past month. I have proudly displayed these in my office, and each captured my attention for at least 30 seconds.

There’s a valuable marketing lesson to be learned from these greetings. Happy holidays e-blasts with a picture of a serene winter landscape are not likely to accomplish much. If your goal is to thank an important customer or impress a prospect, a mailed piece will be more effective—if it’s personalized. I’m dismayed by the number of cards I receive with a blanket “From the staff at …” inside and no personal signature or note. Considering the expense involved in purchasing and mailing cards, I’m surprised these companies even bother if they’re not planning to personalize them (Signatures applied by the printer do not count!). 

Although some say there’s no harm done from sending a happy holidays e-blast, I disagree. E-mail marketing is indeed a tactical science, and each e-blast should be considered for its potential value to the recipients—and the potential harm to the sender. That is, if the material delivered to clients, prospects, stakeholders, etc., is not valuable, receivers will be conditioned to dismiss your messages or even unsubscribe. A happy holidays message paired with a special discount code, news about an expansion in the new year, and so on at least provides the reader with something valuable. Although mailed cards often don’t have any messaging beyond the greeting, they do stand out (especially as fewer people send cards) and when done properly (i.e., personalized) convey a warm and fuzzy feeling you’ll likely never convey through an e-blast.

I do believe a happy holidays e-mail can be effective if it is genuine. A well-crafted and sincere thank you and well wishes certainly will warm any heart. The point is that it is personalized, not just stock art without much thought, and hence not an e-blast. Yet to ensure your message isn’t lost in an in-box, I recommend sending it through the mail.

We all want to impress our customers and prospects, and we all do want them to have a joyous holiday season. Yet to stand out in the holiday hustle and bustle, not to mention the onslaught of year-end budgeting and reporting, I suggest conveying your warm wishes in a way that ensures you stand out from the crowd.

How do you stand out?

What makes your company stand apart from your competitors? 

This seems like an easy question, but I have found that most marketers struggle to articulate an answer.

I have spoken to hundreds of treatment center marketing representatives over the years. When I ask how his/her center is different than others, I often hear about a more caring environment, a beautiful campus, experienced clinicians, and so on. These are all great features, but they do little to distinguish one treatment center from another, as all of them are saying the same things.

For example, at a recent lunch’n’learn representatives from different centers pointed to their equine programs as a distinguishing feature. Yet many programs incorporate horses into treatment; this is not a competitive advantage. A representative of one center, however, spoke about work with active military members. Eyebrows raised. People snapped to attention. Bingo—competitive advantage identified.

Identifying a sustainable competitive advantage is sometimes easier said than done, but knowing what it is—and being able to communicate it in 30 seconds or less—is essential to standing out in our industry, whether you represent one of the hundreds of treatment centers or compete for market share in the electronic health record market. In the latter channel, Qualifacts has done an excellent job with its www.MUforBH.com and consultation services for meaningful use. A trade show attendee with a fist full of brochures will hear much of the same thing as he visits booth after booth, but Qualifacts’ consistent emphasis on meaningful use certification provides a distinguishing—and lingering—impression.

Thousands of business school papers have been written about identifying a competitive advantage, and one blog post certainly cannot do the topic justice. Not all competitive advantages will be obvious to the market, and that's OK. Yet in your marketing communications I implore you to consider what makes you different than your rivals and how you are sharing that message—quickly, succinctly, and accurately—to prospects. Your business depends on it. 

"Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals to deliver a unique mix of value." — Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School professor and Cofounder of Monitor Consulting (1)

Reference
1. Thompson, A.A., Jr., Peteraf, M., Gamble, J.E., & Strickland, A.J. (2012). Crafting and executing strategy: Concepts and readings (18 ed.; Franklin University ed.). Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw-Hill/Irwin; p. 134.

Why is marketing 'silent'?

Twenty-first–century marketing is media rich, with interactive experiences now standard for most consumers. Yet one element of B2B advertising that I have not heard much about is sound. Oh, there’s plenty of talk about video, but I have never had an advertiser ask me about using sounds in a campaign. This is surprising, considering that with the slow shift from print to interactive media the power of sound increases exponentially.

Of course, I do remember in the late 1990s when many Web sites had a music player that launched on the home page. I don’t think anyone wants to return to those days! But I am surprised that companies with strong branding focuses do not consider how sound can be a powerful reminder of a brand. The Intel “ba-ba-ba-bum” comes immediately to mind, as does the Windows startup trill.

I’m sure there have been doctoral dissertations on the power of sound to make brand connections, but from a practical standpoint I wonder why IT vendors in the behavioral healthcare space don’t have a special chime when their programs open, or why treatment centers don’t have a particular type of music continuously playing at their booths. This is marketing at its most subtle, but using sound in a campaign costs little and helps reinforce brands. After all, not all marketing needs to be—or should be—an in-your-face-click-here-now experience.

Using sound in B2B marketing is a topic I’m just starting to explore, and I welcome any feedback. In a world swamped with marketing messages, making some meaningful noise just may pay off.