Ensuring AR programmes deliver to the bottom line: Part 3

Time to read: 3 minutes

The third post on ensuring AR programmes deliver is courtesy of Eria Odhuba, a founder member of the team and our resident analyst relations guru:

Part one of this series examined why AR programs fail and what you need to do before speaking to analysts. In part two, we provided metrics to consider measuring and questions to consider to maximise AR’s impact. In this final part, we look at integrating your good work with analysts and broader marketing activities. This will ensure everything feeds into your overall business objectives…

Do people REALLY know what they’ll get from the description of your products or services?

Your problem: If you only offer services, this can be one of the hardest things to do correctly. How do you convince prospects to buy from you if it takes time to realise significant benefits? Are you confident that how you have named or packaged what you sell articulates the benefits clients would get if they bought from you? If prospects don’t know what benefits they get from what is on offer, then price is all they’ll use to make purchase decisions. The impact on your bottom line is huge if your competitors package themselves much better than you do. Poor product packaging often happens when marketing and sales teams don’t interact effectively.

How analysts can help: Analysts provide guidance regarding product or service packaging as part of wider marketing efforts. Their unique insight into the various strategies competitors use means they can help build services around your unique perceived benefits (UPBs). They can also show you how to break services down into logical processes that are easy to follow and which, more importantly, clearly show what prospects will get.

Do you know your customers’ lifecycles, and have you changed the way you provide value to them over time?

Your problem: A customer lifecycle is the journey someone makes from initially discovering your products/services to being a client. It is essential to understand lifecycles to manage client relationships effectively and tailor your messages or services accordingly. Marketers must answer the following questions to add value to each stage of a customer lifecycle:

What factors influence initial purchase decisions within specific niches? How does this compare with what competitors offer? Do you know what end results your clients actually desire? What are the market/technology changes impact the continued use or upgrade of specific technologies or services?

Without this information, marketers will struggle to manage each step of a typical customer lifecycle effectively. For example, consider companies that have tried to renew contracts or upsell additional services without appropriately tracking client needs. Tales of woe after deals have been signed are familiar. A lot of this is due to the inability to effectively manage the various stages of customer or partner lifecycles.

How analysts can help: When you’re fighting day-to-day battles and trying to get quick wins to justify marketing budgets, it can be hard to step back. Hard to have a big-picture view of whole lifecycles and the different engagement methods necessary to nurture early prospects or long-term clients.

Getting independent feedback on how best to do so might not be something you have considered. Analysts, especially those with a good knowledge of licensing and contracts, can provide independent advice to companies to help them better manage customer lifecycles. Of course, the products and/or services you provide have to be spot on in the first place. However, given that there is almost always a choice that could be made, marketers should use industry analysts to stop customers from getting fed up and looking elsewhere because their continually changing needs are not being met.

Are you using the right traditional and social media channels to communicate?

Your Problem: Every marketer knows they must communicate through the media channels their prospects and clients use. Whatever media channels you use to generate leads, solidify thought leadership, or remain at the top of clients’ minds, you need to know which ones the analysts use to share information.

For example, you need to see if you potentially lost a deal because of comments made by an analyst via a blog or online forum. The problem here for marketers is the perceived loss of control and the lack of resources to do this effectively. Given the tight budgets many marketing departments have, it can be tough to justify the time and effort. It all comes back to the feedback you collected from clients and prospects

How analysts can help: If prospects/clients are influenced by specific channels that analysts also use, then you need to make sure you engage with the analysts via the same channels (on top of regular briefings) so that you can positively influence their output. Commenting on their blogs and participating in discussions helps you understand analysts’ frustrations with technology vendors. It also means you engage with them more effectively and, hopefully, can convert them into advocates.

AR is often seen as an add-on to marketing and PR activities that is hard to measure and whose budget is hard to defend. Sticking your neck out and planning long-term engagements can be challenging when we are all judged on quick wins.