ITSMA Newsletter Add-Ins 2010-02-08
ITSMA’s Revised Marketing Framework
We recently put the finishing touches on an interactive version of our marketing framework, which includes in-depth definitions of the various pieces. The framework explains the four processes necessary for marketing to help drive business results and highlights the three foundations of marketing that cut across all processes and all stages of the buying process. You can see the framework on our Website. Roll your mouse over the different sections to see more detail. You can also download your own PDF version of it. Has your organization developed the necessary expertise in all the key marketing processes? Find out!
Ask ITSMA: A Concise Definition of Social Media?
By Chris Koch, Director of Research and Thought Leadership, ITSMA
Each month, ITSMA receives a number of queries through Ask ITSMA, a resource designed to give members a quick and easy way to get insight on important services and solutions marketing questions they face. In this column, we will publish some of our favorite questions, along with excerpts from our replies.
Q: We’re encountering a lot of confusion internally on how to define social media. Can you help?
A: At ITSMA, our definition of social media is simple:
“Conversation and community through sharing.”
Sharing is really the currency of social media. By sharing our expertise, experience, and research with others through social media, we build trust and relationships that help create leads and sales. For marketers it can be hard to shift from the old patterns of selling-oriented messages to a softer, more relationship-based approach. But we must try. The more good, focused ideas and how-to content (both our own and others’) we share with customers and prospects through social media, the more loyalty we build. We just need to be patient. Social media is new for us and for our buying audiences. But it will gradually become integrated into all aspects of our marketing.
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| Do you have a sales or marketing question? Visit Ask ITSMA to access our experience, insight, and research results. |
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Upcoming ITSMA Events
To view all events, please go here.
Social Media: Obstacles & Objections
Inner Circle Event
February 23, 2010
6–9 pm GMT
Elena’s L’Etoile, London, UK
(By invitation only to select ITSMA members)
At this Inner Circle Meeting, we will be joined by Henry Clifford-Jones from LinkedIn, and together we will consider some of the obstacles and objections marketers must address when introducing and/or integrating social media into their wider marketing activities—from within marketing; from within other departments; and from senior management.
ITSMA Featured Research
How Customers Choose Solution Providers, 2009:The Importance of Personalization, Epiphanies, and Social Media
Heightened scrutiny and lengthy decision cycles are changing the effectiveness of various marketing and sales tactics. The key to success lies in understanding changing buyer behavior at each stage of the sales cycle and using that knowledge to craft the right marketing programs and vehicles to deliver better results. These are some of the insights from the 2009 ITSMA How Customers Choose research, conducted in partnership with Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC).
Recent ITSMA Thought Leadership
ITSMA’s Top Ten Marketing Ideas of 2009
ITSMA clients voted for these ideas with their computer mice. These are the ideas contained within ITSMA research documents that were downloaded most often in 2009, in order of popularity. We’ve created a special report with excerpts from these most-popular research documents, which you can download for free.
How to Format White Papers for Readability
Formatting is critical for pulling readers in and imparting value, even when they don’t read every word of your white paper. Here’s how to do it right.
Leveraging Reference Programmes to Help Customers Choose You
An effective client reference is one of the most influential factors in the sales cycle. In this Online Briefing, Paul Smitherman explores how to enhance the sales and marketing life cycle of value-based case studies and create strong propositions and programmes using client referral to drive sales. In addition, Patrick O’Halloran from Orange Business Services offers a case study examining Orange’s approach to reference management.
Lawson Global Support: How to Use Research to Develop Improved Offerings
If research is to serve as a reliable guide for making major changes to offerings, companies need to consider all the pieces of the business that will be affected by the decision and factor them into the research. In this ITSMA Case Study, we outline the research process that software provider Lawson used to ensure that there would be no doubts about the future direction of its support and maintenance offerings.
Getting Closer to Customers: Winning Strategies for Engaging Senior Executives
In this tough economic climate, we could be seeing the demise of high-end hospitability programs. Consequently, marketers need to rethink their client relationship-building programs, from user group meetings to advisory councils to reference programs to hospitality and senior-level events. In this Online Briefing, ITSMA’s Julie Schwartz and Katie Espinola address the questions that get at the heart of how to improve relationships with senior executives at your most important accounts.
