Marketers Only Get One Chance to Make a First Product Impression

Posted on June 4, 2012 by kaonmarketingguru

First impressions are formed within 7 to 17 seconds of meeting someone and 55% of a person’s opinion is driven by physical appearance. I wonder if that statistic also carries some weight for product launches? If so, finding the right innovative marketing technology to tell your product story a.) quickly, and b.) effectively, is imperative.

Making a lasting impression doesn’t necessarily mean having a sexy product. It means utilizing innovative marketing tools that will target someones intellectual, sensory and emotional connections, so that a product will truly stand out.

It is also important to make sure that the same engaging experiences are available anywhere a prospect would encounter a product (i.e. website, trade show, sales meeting, briefing center, etc.) to establish a brand consistency at every point of entry into the product buying cycle.

Photo-realistic, 3D Product Models–which look and behave exactly like the actual products–allow companies to present engaging and effective demonstrations of even the most sophisticated  or complex products, offline and online. Customers can view them from every angle, explore options and features (open drawers, etc.) – controlling their own, customized experiences based on personal preferences.

Marketing technologies like this, that put customers in the ‘driver’s seat’ create an amazing first impression as individuals engage with the product to clearly learn how it would solve their business challenge. The hands-on ‘practice by doing’ virtual product demonstrations accelerate retention rates by upwards of 75%, making the first product impression a memorable one.

As a marketer, you only get one chance to make a first impression, so make sure you are utilizing innovative tools that will drive success.

Posted in 3D Products, Marketing Guru | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Marketers Are Driving Sales Enablement Tools, at the Request of CEOs

Posted on May 21, 2012 by kaonmarketingguru

Sales enablement has become a very hot topic this year. So much so that in March 2012 Forrester Research held a Technology Sales Enablement Forum: Bridging The Strategy-To-Execution Gap, in San Francisco.

Forrester touts that to produce sales growth, sales departments must cut costs, improve productivity, and accelerate cross-selling; which all requires a fundamentally different enablement approach from what’s typical today.

CEOs are reigniting their growth strategies while pressing their organizations to do more with less  – and marketers are now responsible for executing on the corporate vision.

So what can marketers do to be a HERO to both their CEO and Sales team? They must utilize a sales enablement tool that takes into account the following…

  • Mobility: Select a tool that will allow your entire sales and partner channel to access content anywhere, anytime
  • Engagement: Create an interactive sales experience that engages prospects and makes them an active participant in the buying process
  • Customization: Develop marketing content that can be personalized for each intimate sales presentation
  • Differentiation: Find a demonstration tool that highlights your uniqueness and enhances your product presentations (workflow, process, features, functions)
  • Consistency: Message consistency is imperative to brand recognition. Create sales content that can be reused EVERYWHERE sales encounters a customer (websites, trade shows, sales meetings)

Cost efficiency and sales effectiveness are the two most important results you can achieve with any sales enablement tool. That’s why it is imperative to outline ways in which your new tools will save the company money (eliminate product shipping costs with virtual 3D product models) and continuously monitor the changes to your sales cycle, to create justifiable benchmarks of success.

What sales enablement tools have made you a marketing hero?

Posted in Marketing Guru, Sales Tools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

B2B Marketers Top 3 Problems

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Gavin Finn

I’ve been fortunate to attend (and be an invited speaker at) several industry conferences and events this year, and it seems to me that there are some interesting threads that have emerged. In speaking with marketing executives from a wide variety of industries, they have elucidated their primary challenges, and I have distilled these down to the top 3 common problems:

1. Complex solutions are difficult to explain. Marketing executives see one of their prime responsibilities as arming the sales teams (and all market-facing people in the company) with a compelling and consistent way to succinctly articulate the core differentiators that set their solutions apart. Today, however, the explanations and presentations are too complex, too long, and too linear – reducing their effectiveness, and leaving the audience with a lack of clarity in understanding the company’s differentiation. Its is necessary to find a way to simply articulate the primary benefits, advantages, and features of every solution, even the most complex.

2. Marketing budgets continue to decline, but the marketing challenges continue to expand: more geographic distribution; more complexity in the sales/distribution channel; larger product/solutions portfolios; greater global competition, to name a few. It is simply not possible to use traditional methods or tools to accomplish the key marketing objectives with these limited marketing budgets. (Oh, and by the way, social media marketing is simply NOT the silver bullet that can solve this problem.)

3. Inconsistency in the message, depending on who is presenting or demonstrating products and solutions to customers. One medical device manufacturer recently remarked that they counted 64 different powerpoint presentations that their sales team was using – not just minor variations, but completely different messages. Ensuring that everyone in a market/customer-facing role understands and can articulate the correct and relevant differentiation message is paramount. Delivering sales enablement tools that help to control the message (not the salesperson) is a critical challenge.

Do these problems/concerns resonate with you?  What are your top 3 marketing challenges?

Posted in CEO Corner, Sales Tools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment