Posted by Tara Robertson on Thu, Aug 26, 2010 @ 01:14 PM
Another recent article written by Mike Kelly, co-founder of TSL Marketing, has received all the buzz in DM weekly. In this article Mike Kelly asks the simple question "Are you boring your prospects" and the answer is... most likely. Let's take a deep dive into what this means through an excerpt from the article:
With all the buzz around “micro marketing” and “one-to-one” marketing over the last decade it still astonishes me to see how many companies rely on a single message to multiple contacts in different functional areas at their prospect companies. Do we really believe that the Finance Director and IT Director have the same agendas?
Many business-to-business marketers seem to have forgotten that you don’t market to companies, you market to individuals. And each has their own specific agenda. Unless you market to them in their language, addressing their specific needs, you will simply bore them.
It is worth using an example to reinforce this. Imagine you market a business-to-business software application and that the buying center for this application is comprised of multiple constituents at a company e.g. the IT Director, Operations Director and Finance Director.
Each of these people will have separate goals and agendas specific to their functional responsibility. The IT Director will be concerned with things like compatibility with the existing IT infrastructure and future-proofing. The Finance Director will be concerned with Total Cost of Ownership and how quickly the company can recoup its investment in your application. The Operations Director may be more concerned about how your application will affect the operational efficiency of the business...
Or click here to read more of this article
Posted by David English on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 @ 07:32 AM
Dave Brown, principle consultant for Ridge Consulting (a sister company of TSL Marketing) recently wrote an article published in ConsultingMag.com on the importance of catching your prospects attention and finding a way to create an uncontested value proposition for your company.
Here is an excerpt from this article:
The Problem
"In all aspects of our work, we constantly switch between heuristic and analytical problem solving techniques: the gut feel and the data gathering. And so do our sales prospects and clients. Yet, in many interactions in the sales process, the tendency is to dwell almost completely in the analytical realm. Most sales presentations, webinars and seminars are data-fueled pitches that fill the audience with all kinds of facts and stats. They start with the “features,” move on to the “benefits,” and end with a crescendo of “advantages.” There’s talk about time to benefit, TCO and ROI.
There are graphs, pie charts and magic quadrants. The analytical input is overwhelming. The audience is seen as passive pawns. Give them the right information, show them how your products or services are faster, better, cheaper and bigger than your competition, and they’ll buy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Chances are that your clients don’t have the time or interest to wade through the information that is being thrown their way. While you’re delivering that well-crafted pitch, your prospects’ attention is probably wandering, fading in and out, depending on their level of interest or concern. This happens to even the best presenters and best-prepared presentations. Why?
You’re hitting your audience at an analytical level, while they’re operating heuristically. While you’re explaining some well researched statistics, they’re thinking: “I get it already! But will it solve my problem? How much will it cost? How fast can I deploy? What are the risks?”"
The Solution
Learn more about how Dave Brown offers solutions through getting into the mind of your prospect. You can read the full article by clicking here.
Posted by Tara Robertson on Fri, Jul 02, 2010 @ 03:15 PM
This October, Marketing Sherpa will be hosting their annual B2B Summit and TSL Marketing is proud to announce our sponsorship of this event. At this event, learn how to:
- Architect a successful social media strategy
- Use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to drive leads
- Accurately score, nurture and measure leads
- Align marketing and sales strategies
- Optimize PPC, SEO, email and landing pages
- Develop strategies to grow your list
- Generate B2B content your audiences will value
- Manage multichannel campaigns
- Market effectively to Fortune 500 companies
- Accelerate leads through the funnel
What makes this event unique:
You'll listen, learn and interact with B2B marketing experts over two days through an intriguing blend of instructional formats, custom tailored to provide value to marketers of all skill levels. Whether you're looking for intensive how-to training, interactive audience-led panel discussions or real-life case studies to add to your arsenal, B2B Marketing Summit '10 has it all. To receive a $700 discount,
More about the event:
The dual coast event dates and locations are:
- Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco, CA - October 4-5
- Westin Waltham, Boston, MA - October 25-26
Click Here to download the event agenda
Join us! We would love to see your there and share some of the top insights for B2B marketing in 2010.
Posted by Norma Shepardson on Thu, Apr 29, 2010 @ 04:06 PM
This coming week TSL Marketing will be sponsoring the MarketingProfs B2B Forum. We are excited for the event, and if you are planning on being there stop by booth 17 to say hello.
These are a few event highlights...
- Get a comprehensive B2B marketing education
- Sharpen your B2B skills overnight
- Use social media to grab more attention
- Learn from your peers in the interactive discussions
If you want to view full agenda for the Forum, click here.
We definitely are looking forward to hosting the Wii station at the Forum, it should be a fun way to see everyone between sessions, seminars, and speakers. If you are planning on attending, stop by and enter the raffle for a chance to win the Wii at the end of the day on Wednesday.
If you are unable to attend the forum, check back in the coming weeks and we will be sure to share some of the new information, marketing trends, and sales advice we will learn about while we are there.
Event details can be found by logging on to the MarketingProfs website, or by clicking here.
Posted by Tara Robertson on Fri, Apr 23, 2010 @ 02:46 PM
TSL Marketing recently presented a FREE webinar highlighting the top statistics found in "B2B TELESERVICES: THE 2009 BUYER’S GUIDE" whitepaper by Aberdeen Group.
You can now download this webinar to learn how best in class companies achieve:
- 90% of overall sales team quota
- 10% YOY increase in revenue per sales rep
- 7% year-over-year improvement of bid-to-win ratio
- 22% annual increase in revenue per sales rep
We are also offering a free copy of this whitepaper. If you are interested in the whitepaper, please click here.
Posted by Tara Robertson on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 @ 01:58 PM
This week we would like to share with you our newest white paper on the IT Predictions for 2010 at no cost (we can call it our valentine to you)! In this paper, you will see a comprehensive picture of the landscape for IT buying and how it will evolve in 2010.
Through this white paper, you will learn:
- Technology trends - the five biggest winners
- Which technologies and sectors will grow, and by how much?
- Which geographies will see growth or contraction?
- How will purchasing patterns change?
- What will CIO priorities be in 2010?
Here is a highlight from the white paper:
"Of the many organizations putting forth predictions for IT purchasing in 2010, the majority of the outlooks are positive. Gartner is predicting that growth in the industry will return, with IT spending looking to rise about 3.3 percent over 2009 levels to about $3.3 trillion."
Posted by Tara Robertson on Fri, Dec 04, 2009 @ 10:48 AM
Did you know that their are only 18 business days left until 2010 begins!! With 2009 almost behind us and what many are calling the "post recession" year right around the corner it is important to take a look at your plan and make sure you are prepared to make an impact.
Ramp up for 2010 using social media
The upcoming year will mark a new decade for selling better, faster, and more efficiently. There will be more opportunities for growth and everyone is going to want to take a chunk of the post recession spending. Most people are working on finalizing their marketing plans for next year and determining what will drive results fast. The answer is simple: Social Networking.
We spent a lot of posts in 2009 talking about social marketing. If you are new to the world of social media, here are some past posts that may be of interest to you:
- Social Networking in less than 1 hour per week
- Top 10 Social Media guidelines for company participation
- Jump on the social media bandwagon
- Twitter Best Practices
If you aren't new to social media but just haven't had the time to network effectively, now is the time to ramp up. 2010 marks a new decade and with it a new time to go to market and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
Posted by Tara Robertson on Tue, Nov 17, 2009 @ 12:57 PM
As 2009 is nearing its end and the holiday's are upon us, determining the best way to go to market for 2010 is on everyone's mind. TSL is in the process of collecting research from various sources to put together this coming years 2010 trend report. We are interested in hearing from you on what you think will be the best way to go to market this January. Here are the top 5 questions we have come across:
- Will Social Media continue to grow at a fast pace?
- Seminars vs. Webinars - what is your preference?
- Are tradeshow sponsorships worth it?
- Direct Mail - why send snail mail?
- Should you use an avatar?
Feel free to answer these questions or ask your own. We would also like to hear your insight as to what you think will be a top trend in 2010. Be sure to leave your name and email address so that we may share our final trend report with you as soon as it is released.
To check out our Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2009, click here
Thanks for sharing!
Posted by Tara Robertson on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 @ 01:06 PM
I recently ran across a blog post celebrating Halloween and social media by use of pumpkin carvings. In lew of the upcoming holiday, I thought I would share these with you. Enjoy!
Overload Whale on Twitter
Source: Scott B. on Flickr
RSS Feed Logo
Source: jsiarto on Flickr
If only I was artisitic enough to carve out a TSL pumpkin! To see more of the pumpkin carvings and social media, check out the original blog post at: http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/halloween-pumpkin-carvings/
Happy Halloween from TSL Marketing!
Posted by Tara Donnelly on Fri, Aug 07, 2009 @ 03:41 PM
This month, TSL Marketing released our second newsletter to the IT community. In these newsletters, we explore top trends in Information Technology and how they relate to B2B marketing. Last quarter we discussed top technologies that were emerging (even through the recession) as well as some of the financial predictions for the remainder of this year. This month, TSL explored a different direction by focusing on some of the top marketing trends that will give you the best "bang for your buck" in these last months of 2009.
Excerpt from this months featured newsletter:
...As we work our way through the last 6 months of 2009, generating leads and increasing sales is top of mind for many. Marketing in is more important than ever, however knowing how to go to market can be a challenge. IT companies are constantly faced with the notion to do more with marketing but aren’t sure of the best way how. Read more by downloading this article and learn what marketing tactics work best for Information Technology companies for the remainder of this year...
We also would like to welcome your comments as to what you are seeing in the market right now.