Red on Marketing Blog

What won’t fly in that 2009 marketing plan

Everyone is supposed to be nailing down their plans for 2009 marketing efforts. What should go in yours?

let me inLet’s start with tactics to be wary of: Today executives resist cold-calls. People are using their Flash-challenged Blackberries to look at websites. And does anyone open promotional snail mail anymore? (Here come the angry emails from direct marketers…)

Other questions you may be pondering this season, and my ideas on finding answers:

Question: should we sponsor conferences?

… Should we fork over thousands to sponsor conferences? Should we pay $30,000 for space at that trade show? Or will we get through to people more often and for less money, if we focus on calling prospects directly? Should our CEO start a blog, or is that a fad that’s already fading?

Suggestion

1. Check out this blog’s Archive.

B2B Lead Generation Guide2. MarketingSherpa publishes a B2B Lead Generation Guide ($697 – sold out as of 9/16/08) that has data and guidelines that will help you make a good call on these questions. It’s got step-by-step instructions from beginning to end of lead generation campaigns; 150 case studies, tactics, and how-tos; 60 stats, data charts and eyetracking heatmaps; and 158 creative samples.
Study: B2B ad context matters.”

Question: is PPC a good marketing strategy?

… Should we take the plunge into pay per click ad programs or banner advertising? Can that really fill our lead pipeline and drive growth?

Suggestion

1. Check out this recent blog post, “

MarketingSherpa’s 2008 Online Advertising Handbook + Benchmarks2. If you know you’re ready to add this tactic, you can find such answers in MarketingSherpa’s 2008 Online Advertising Handbook + Benchmarks ($397). It has objective data and samples that shows what works and what’s a waste of time.

Question: is email marketing effective?

… Should we switch to RSS because so much email is blocked now by corporate firewalls? Or does it still have the great bang for the buck qualities that it used to?

Suggestion

1. First check your email efforts agains the free checklist I’ve published, “Top 10 Email Marketing Mistakes

2009 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide2. Stay tuned for a new resource out next month, the 2009 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide.

 (price not yet available – probably around $400). 

Question: why no leads from our website?

… Should we pay for updates to our website? Why does our website get a lot of traffic, but no one ever responds to us through our site?

Suggestion

1. Try to identify problems and fix them using the free checklist I’ve published, “Better website ROI: a 12-point checklist.”

2. Read the MarketingSherpa Landing Page Handbook ($497) for help rectifying any problems.

Question: scrap our website, or upgrade it?

… Should we start over to rebuild our website, in order to start showing up on Google results when clients look for us online?

Suggestion

1. Read the free article I’ve published on this, Effective Search Engine Optimization for how to tell when you’ve got a site that convinces human visitors and search engines that you’re the real deal.

2. Get ahold of MarketingSherpa’s new Search Marketing Benchmark Guide ($397) if you can (it’s a bestseller). It tells you what will work and what’s a waste of time, based on extensive research and with tons of examples you can copy.

Question: should we do webinars?

… Should we keep working on webinar registrations? Or are CIOs sick and tired of getting invitations to online seminars?

Suggestion

1. Assess how many new valuable contacts you gained last year as a result of doing webinars, and multiply that by the average value of such a contact.

2. Get a leg up with the MarketingSherpa Business Technology Benchmark Guide. It tells you what over 10,000 business technology buyers said and what 934 marketing professionals said, through 216 charts, tables, and eyetracking heatmaps.

I offer alot of free advice on this site… in past blog posts and the B2B Central area. But you may need more. The sort of information you’ll get in Sherpa guides can save you a whole lot of wasted money, effort, and credibility.

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Topics: Performance Lead Generation