Ezine add in section January 2009
Ask ITSMA: How Do CIOs Get Their Information About Vendors?
By Julie Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Research and Thought Leadership, ITSMA
Each month, ITSMA receives a number of queries through Ask ITSMA, a resource designed to give program clients 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.
How do CIOs get their information about vendors?
CIOs are getting bombarded with unsolicited emails and cold calls. They don’t like to be rude, but if they responded to every message and every phone call, they would have little time to do anything else.
Therefore, they are very proactive. Every once in a while a cold caller or email message will catch their attention, but mostly they will call you.
They find you by doing extensive research (or delegating the research to their staff) on the Web and by reading the trade press. They also attend seminars, conferences, selected trade shows, and user group meetings for their primary technology vendors. They are looking for new technologies and creative ideas on how to apply those technologies to solve business problems.
In other words, they are looking for thought leadership, not the same old story.
Sometimes it is pure luck. You are at the right place at the right time. In other cases, you can plan to be where the customers will find you. Think about speaker placement, exhibiting at your business partner shows, co-sponsoring value-added seminars with business partners, getting article placements (or at least quotes) in the trade press, and getting your message in multiple locations on the Web, not just your Website. Work the search engines so that your organization pops up on top of topical searches.
Make sure all your messages are integrated and are therefore additive. As you can see, in a world in which the CIOs are proactively finding solutions, marketing is vital.
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Upcoming ITSMA Events
To view all events, please go to http://www.itsma.com/aspfiles/events/calendar.asp.
ITSMA’s 2009 State of the Marketing Profession Address: Making the Right Choices in Uncertain Times
Online Web Briefing
January 22, 2009
8:00 a.m. Pacific – 11:00 a.m. Eastern – 16:00 London (Duration: One hour)
(Free for ITSMA program clients)
http://www.itsma.com/Events/event_desc/09OB01G01.htm
During an economic downturn, marketers need to make the right choices in terms of where to ramp up, where to maintain, and where to scale back—in some cases permanently. Join Dave Munn, President and CEO, and Julie Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Thought Leadership and Research, to hear highlights from ITSMA’s 2009 Marketing Budgets and Trends Survey, learn what choices marketers are making in response to the current economic environment, and gain practical insight and recommendations on how to turn adversity into opportunity.
Recent ITSMA Thought Leadership
What You Need to Know About Marketing Analytics
http://www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/olb081216.htm
It’s critical that marketing improve its ability to analyze data to inform decisions, predict buyer behavior, and forecast trends. This requires a foundation of quality data, collaboration between marketing and finance, and a willingness to experiment before making big commitments to programs and campaigns. In this Online Briefing, ITSMA’s Chris Koch, analytics guru Pat LaPointe of MarketingNPV, and Samir Bagga, Vice President, Global Marketing & Communications, for professional services company Satyam reveal highlights from ITSMA’s survey on marketing analytics and provide insights and best practices in marketing analytics.
Two Extremes That Will Clarify Your Launch Strategy
http://www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/V0045.htm
Product and service launch strategies are framed by two extremes: blow open the market right away with a big marketing push or build awareness slowly over time. Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader calls these extremes “penetration” and “skim.” In this Viewpoint, Fader explains how marketers can use skim and penetration as guidelines for developing the most appropriate campaigns.
Marketing in a Downturn
http://www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/SV4320.htm
ITSMA clients are beginning to feel the effects of the financial markets crisis. Although pipelines remain strong in the fourth calendar quarter, companies are issuing cautions regarding 2009. There is little to no visibility for 2009 customer demand. In response, marketers are changing their strategies and tactics.
How Customers Choose Solution Providers, North America, 2008, Focus Report
http://www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/F014.htm
ITSMA’s 2008 How Customers Choose Solution Providers Study revealed a number of important insights. Through detailed research and analysis of customer buying behavior, we have concluded that marketers need to engage customers earlier than ever before—during what we call the epiphany phase of the buying cycle. Based on interviews with 216 U.S.-based business and IT buyers of business and technology solutions, the report helps marketers better understand the marketing activities that will deliver the desired results at three major stages of the buying cycle: epiphany, awareness, and interest.
Classic Insight
Check out these ITSMA Online Briefings that have been rated highly by ITSMA program clients:
Thought Leadership Marketing for Professional Services: Getting Attention in a Competitive Marketplace
http://www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/OLB070612.htm
Today’s crowded market for professional services puts a tremendous premium on thought leadership. Featuring ITSMA research, a mini case study on how Accenture develops and packages robust points of view, and The Bloom Group’s seven hallmarks of thought leadership, this Briefing will help you successfully leverage thought leadership to achieve differentiation, build awareness, and generate leads.
Account-Based Marketing: Best Practices and Critical Success Factors
http://www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/OLB070213.htm
ITSMA’s Jeff Sands, IBM’s Naomi Wilsey, and Xerox’s Liz Vega copresent this Briefing on best practices and critical success factors for Account-Based Marketing (ABM), a hot new approach that helps companies deepen relationships and increase revenue with key accounts.
