How to Make Field Marketing Feel Loved

We shouldn’t underestimate the importance of field marketers. In B2B, field marketing usually develops local press and analyst contacts; organizes product and services launches at the local level; and works on localized relationship marketing to generate, qualify, and close sales deals for the local sales theater. That is, if they are given free rein to do so. But research by Forrester’s Peter O’Neill found that more than one third of the survey respondents indicated that corporate headquarters manages all marketing budgets and execution. O’Neill, who is VP and Principal Analyst for Forrester, believes that the situation must change. ITSMA’s Julie Schwartz recently sat down with O’Neill to discuss how. Here are some excerpts from that conversation.

ITSMA: Who is the typical field marketer?

Peter O’Neill: Interestingly, because they often are expected to provide solutions expertise during sales activities, many field marketers do not come from traditional marketing backgrounds. Field marketing often is a stepping stone for junior engineers or practitioners that wish to embark on marketing—or even sales—careers. Forrester research shows that 28% of CMOs within technology product vendors are engineers, while another 15% come from sales. So it’s important to make good use of these field marketers while we have them.

Field marketers are the subject matter experts who can communicate the strength of the offered products or services in the language of the buyers in their local markets. And by language, I do not just mean the spoken or written tongue; I also mean an affinity to the business issues being faced by the local customer.

ITSMA: How do you see the role of field marketing changing?

O’Neill: I think field marketers will be their company’s scout on a local basis. Successful field marketing people will acquire social marketing skills and be able to discover prospects with needs in their local markets, probably much earlier than the corporate social media processes will be able to. The local people will assist these prospects in their project investigations and then be involved right through the engagement phase. If solution developers want to discuss products and services needs with these customers, then someone has to be the mediator, combining digital media and person-to-person communication.

ITSMA: What do you see as the best balance between corporate and field marketing?

O’Neill: There are a few things that we see separating the companies that have gotten it right from those who are struggling:

• Establish a process for marketing localization as part of marketing activities
• Create a mechanism for systematically gathering requirements for localization
• Establish guidelines or market tiers to structure market prioritization

To get the details on how to give field marketers the right balance of budget and autonomy, read the ITSMA Viewpoint Globalizing Marketing: How to Sync Headquarters and Field Marketing.

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ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions more effectively. We work with the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services providers to generate increased demand, strengthen customer relationships, and improve brand differentiation. ITSMA annual program clients include business leaders such as AT&T, Cisco, Deloitte, EMC, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and Tata Consultancy Services, among others. Our comprehensive research, consulting, and training on topics including ITSMA Account-Based Marketing℠, Brand Positioning, and Solutions Development provide the insight and experience companies need to improve business results. ITSMA is based near Boston, and has offices in London and Tokyo. Learn more at www.itsma.com.