Putting Yourself in the Right Place at the Right Time
Event-driven marketing or trigger marketing is nothing new to consumer marketers. Emails arrive from florists and confectioners before Mothers Day and we expect sun screen and beach towels to be in shop windows in May. They are events when consumers change weekly buying patterns to buy something out of the ordinary and can be prepared to spend more.
So how can the business marketer apply these tricks to his business brand? The key is look beyond the personal and to strike during events in the company's life rather than the managing director's.
There are key events in a corporation's life when new circumstances will see companies step out of their usual buying patterns and change purchasing habits.
1. Merger & acquisition activity - a company buys or merges with another company, triggering a change in its purchasing habits as it buys in services to help it cope with the change of merging or absorbing the new corporation.
2. Company welcomes a new manager to the team - the new hire needs to make their mark and will often fire some old suppliers and bring in new partners with fresh ideas. Now is the time to get your business card into the hand of the new manager to make sure they put you on the pitch list.
Be relevant
But what is the advantage of tying your communications into a key event at the company? Firstly, it makes your communication relevant to the prospect. You can grab their interest in the first line by talking about them and their company's situation. Instead of telling them how good you are, you can explain how your company's expertise can help them; either by removing a problem from their in-tray or by taking their business forward. Remember, in a time of change the company may not have all the experience it needs to deal with new issues that are being thrown up. This is when it looks to outsource and when, by being in the right place at the right time, you can win business.
Be targeted
Firing a supplier, selecting a new one and briefing the new supplier requires effort and most people take the view that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And as anyone who has ever done cold-calling and appointment setting will tell you, it is difficult to penetrate that mind-set. But by contacting companies when they are likely to be looking at changing suppliers, you can increase your new business success rate.
Spend your resources wisely
By taking the targeted approach, you are not spending big sums on brochures, corporate gifts and postage. Plus by targeting fewer companies you can put your best resources into following up every lead. How much of your budget can you save by not paying telemarketers to phone company directors who are not in any mood to change suppliers?
Research & Sourcing for Event Targeted Marketing
You can find news of company events such as M&A activity or new appointments in the business press and it is easy, although time consuming, to research the contact details for yourself. Or you can buy in these services for a few hundred pounds a year. Electric Marketing monitors 80 newspapers, trade magazines and websites to identify the companies undergoing significant change, research the contact details of the key players and send you a summary every month with all the information you need to start making calls, e-marketing and writing letters introducing yourself.
Services include M&A News with details of 30-40 companies every month who are undergoing mergers or have acquired companies. It gives you the details of the executive directors and senior managers; the people who are likely to be buying in services: managing director, marketing director, HR director, finance director, IT director, legal director. At just £149 for an annual subscription, it is the cheapest information for event targeted marketing campaigns available. See M&A News for more information.
Electric Marketing also offers a service detailing new appointments in companies. If you are targeting marketing directors, look at Consumer Marketing Appointments, a monthly list of marketing managers and marketing directors who have taken up a new marketing post in the last ten weeks. The appointment of a new marketing director often changes corporate purchasing habits. Every new director wants to make his his presence felt around the board table and show his boss that he is worth the new salary. Old retainers may find themselves re-pitching and this is an opportunity for new agencies to present themselves. Be it a marketing director looking to move the £10m advertising account or a brand manager taking a fresh look at the brand packaging, the new director is in a mood for change and this is an opportunity for you.
Electric Marketing's New Appointments series offers monthly lists of leads featuring new HR directors, new finance directors, new IT directors, new training and learning managers and new chief executives, each providing a regular supply of fresh leads for your new business team to work with. See these pages for more information:
Appointments in Finance & Management
Marketing Appointments - Consumer
Marketing Appointments - Business-to-Business
New Directors
New Financial Appointments
New HR Appointments
New IT Appointments
New Training Appointments