INBOUND ACCELERATOR

Allow me to date myself a bit. Obviously, if I’m offering insights into 15 years of owning my own marketing firm (plus my years with other agencies and in-house before that), I’ve been around a little while, though 20 years, or even a bit more, truly doesn’t feel like all that long.

Until, that is, I think about the changes in how we do, well, almost everything, as it relates to telecommunications.

If you’ve been following the Inbound Accelerator for a while, you know we believe in the power of information, especially data gained through marketing research surveys, to fuel compelling marketing and public relations content.

Data provides the backbone for storytelling that helps brands communicate their message, and it applies as much to a consumer-focused industry such as higher education as it does to B2B marketing for companies like West.

Integrated marketing and public relations rely on balancing a content triad — using earned, owned, and shared content to reach audiences and drive awareness, lead generation and sales. So how do you maximize the “earned” component to access audiences without spending money on advertising?

For B2B businesses, particularly in information-, knowledge- and technology-heavy industries, the answer is in high quality thought leadership articles placed with trusted industry media. That is the approach JONES and QPS took to gain the global CRO (contract research organization) valuable exposure without a huge investment in paid advertising.

While I love sharing recent successes of my clients (such as these top-notch PR and marketing efforts by QPS and West), it is also rewarding to look back and reminisce about some of my first clients, and how what I learned then is still guiding my strategies today.

Enterprise software is one industry I’ve worked in for years, and which has provided some of my most exciting moments, including helping to launch one of the first SaaS (software as a service) businesses, before the acronym became known and understood.

As an agency offering integrated public relations and marketing solutions, we only succeed if our clients succeed. And that is why I love sharing success stories, something I plan to start doing regularly here on the Inbound Accelerator. I know there are things my readers can learn from hearing about what has worked well — in some cases, extremely well — for our clients.

Every industry has individual nuances in marketing tactics, techniques and needs. And while nearly every B2B market is also filled with industry-specific knowledge and vocabulary that marketers must understand in order to create credible content, when it comes to businesses in the life sciences sphere, the need for expertise and immersion in the field is even greater.

Life sciences, as a field, encompasses a wide range of businesses, most of which support the infrastructure that enables the healthcare system, from medical device manufacturers, to pharmaceutical companies, DNA research, and the contract research organizations that take on drug discovery, pre-clinical and clinical trial research for pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

It can be tempting to think of all B2C marketing as being the type of impulse decision to which you can appeal with an emotion-driven campaign showing happy, strong, cool people. Not everything is as simple as a refreshing soft drink on a hot day or a pair of shoes that totally make the outfit.

At JONES, we have experienced the side of B2C marketing that requires engaging consumers with useable and useful information, understanding that larger investments have a longer sales cycle, and that especially now, with the world in our pocket, consumers research a wide range of products before making their final decision. The lessons we’ve learned through marketing financial services, higher education, personal electronics and even nutritional supplements for endurance athletes can be applied to a wide range of other B2C products and services.

While marketing as a science and art may rely on a few universal rules and standard tactics, each industry presents nuanced needs and challenges. B2B marketing, particularly in the enterprise software industry, is a unique environment where gimmicks just don’t work.

How do I know? I’ve been deeply involved in the software and technology industries most of my career as a corporate communications team member, an agency representative and as an agency owner. I’ve learned a lot about enterprise software and how to effectively market it (or to market a technology company by positioning it for acquisition) along the way.

Did you know that the average client-agency relationship in the marketing and PR world is 3.2 years or less? That’s really not much time when targeting strategies and campaigns that can extend for months and generate results years down the road. And with turnover that rapid, it means that the average agency is spending a lot of time prospecting and trying to land new contracts to replace the ones that are closing.

(Sources: The Drum and Bedford Group Consulting)

What would happen if the energy dedicated to finding new accounts was instead focused on building relationships that maintain the clients you already have and increase the likelihood that the contacts you have in those businesses may bring you even more business in the future?

2019 marks 15 years since I took the leap and founded the first iteration of JONES.

Since 2004, we’ve seen the introduction and nearly universal adoption of Facebook, YouTube and smartphones — and all the changes in buyer behavior that go along with them — which has changed the marketing and PR field tremendously.