The Art of Selling Space ReduxBy Makiko AraDirector of Digital Mediahttp://totalproductmarketing.com

Twitter Event #sellingspace@totalpm

makiko@totalproductmarketing.com

Growing the Cloud and Hosting Industry

How do we make the cloud easier to

access and manage?

How do we connect to our buyer better?

How do we convince our buyer

that the Cloud is secure and stable.

The Marketing Pains of the Cloud and Hosting Industry

A Very Crowded Market• Providers tend to look and sound the same

Growth by Referrals• Regular marketing hasn’t been necessary

Lack of Resources• Budget and Team

Common Marketing Traps...

• Too much emphasis on functionality• A race to-the-bottom• Lack of creativity

B2B buyers are human. You are still selling to a Consumer on the other side of the screen. Decisions are not 100% objective.

… How Do Customers Buy Hosting

• Reactive not proactive

• There’s Amazon, GoDaddy, Rackspace and everybody else...right?

• Difficult to quantify and measure the differences

Everybody is secure, right?

I’ve been burned before.

Who can I trust?

`

So the worst thing you can do...

Focus too much on functionality!

B2B Buyers Make Decisions Based on Emotions

The traditional marketing strategy for technology branding has looked like this:

Time, Money, Energy, Resources Spent

#1 Functional: > 90%#2 Economical: < 10%#3 Emotional: < 1%

B2B decision making is largely irrational, so consider the consumer’s needs before your offerings.Mohanbir Sawhney, Professor of Technology at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management

See No Difference in Functionality

http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/promotion-emotion-b2b.html

QUESTION:Do you see a real difference between suppliers and value the difference enough to pay for it?

14%

NO86%

What if you…• Focus on Emotional Benefits

• Be unique and tout your specializations (be best of breed) and relate to the buyer

• Employ creativity and use your limited marketing dollars wisely

• Create the anticipation of professional and personal rewards

The Mind of the New (B2B) Buyer

A new breed of B2B buyer• Consumes content like water• Extremely self-sufficient for research• Extremely impatient and impulsive• Values trust and referrals

But...

The new breed of B2B buyer is still emotional creature that despite great attempts to cover it up in the form of ROI

analyses, hosting provider comparison matrices, technical evaluations and the like… is often driven by

FEAR. (the unknown, wrong decision, failure)

And other emotions that connect...Trust, Security, Competition, Belonging, Control, Freedom, Leadership, and even Guilt.

The 3 Benefits That You Must Convey

A B2B technology brand should convey 3 benefits to its B2B Buyer as part of their positioning message.

FUNCTIONALBENEFIT

ECONOMICBENEFIT

EMOTIONALBENEFIT

But Playing On Emotion is Not New

Remember these ads:

“10 out of 12 Healthcare Companies Use Oracle”

Why Add Emotion to Your Marketing

The emotional brain processes sensory information in one fifth of the time our cognitive brain takes to assimilate the same input.

http://blog.bufferapp.com/science-of-emotion-in-marketing

People feel first, think second

Trust is more valuable than data.

Leverage the ETC Marketing Model

EMOTIONALBENEFITS

TRIGGERS WITHASSOCIATION

CONTENT OFVALUE

#1: Promote Emotional Benefits

Sell on emotion. What does your product help the customer accomplish. How will they feel?

Why Add Emotion to Your Marketing

http://blog.bufferapp.com/science-of-emotion-in-marketingCase study following 1400 advertising campaigns measuring the

economic success of campaigns sorted by emotional content.

EMOTIONAL COMBINED RATIONAL

31% 26% 16%

#2: Triggers with Association

Using memorable triggers in your marketing to remind buyers of what makes you remarkable.

Triggers Help Buyers Remember You

www.geico.com

Exciting and Remarkable Content

www.willitblend.com

High perceived value content EQUALS

High perceived value of products, services & company

#3: Create Content of Value

Lawn Mowing

Child Care

Medical Clinic

Cos

t of S

ervi

ce

Complexity of Service

Janitorial

Courier

Insurance

Accountant

Consultant

Hosting

Customer’s Expectations for Quality of Marketing Content

Leverage the ETC Marketing Model

EMOTIONALBENEFITS

TRIGGERS WITHASSOCIATION

CONTENT OFVALUE

Insurance - A Parallel IndustryHosting and Insurance Industry

● Protecting our business and livelihood● Highly competitive industry● Commodity providers, premium providers and specialists● Disaster recovery has the same implications● Competitive research usually done on the web

What Can We Learn?● Marketing to emotion● The Insurance Agent is the trusted advisor● Off the shelf plans with customization● Established brands firebomb. Newer players enter with a

specialized angle.

Conclusion:Your Take Home Action Plan

5 ETC Things You Can Do Today

Visuals and photos that reflect the emotions and experiences of your prospective customers.

Piggyback on your customers’ brands and associated value, in a meaningful way. What they stand for, you will stand for.

Example photos

Specialize. Admit you’re not good at everything and focus on what you are good at. Sharpen your message. Make it meaningful.

Example photos

If you are selling support and specialized solutions, incorporate photos of team members as part of your brand. This is an easy but often over-looked way to connect at a human level with your customers.

Create a Jargon dictionary of commonly used words in your sector and remove them from your material. Use real words that resonate with the buyer.

A

CB

8 … 7 … 6 … 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

?

1. Use visuals to depict the emotions of your buyer

2. Piggyback on your clients’ associated value

3. Focus on your specialization

4. Use photos of your staff to connect to your buyer

5. Remove jargon and use real words

5 ETC Things to do Today

Bonus Take-Away

Create customer-focused products as a starting point for discussion for selling.

Why Productize Your “Custom” Product

• Kill the “We can do anything” message.• Hone in on your strengths and play those up.• Specialize. Specialize. Specialize.

The product provides insight into how you service your clients.Address the pain points. Be the trusted advisor.

The Product as a Starting Point

Emotions Drive Buying Decisions

Trust is More Valuable Than Data

Emotional Benefits• Motivate action through emotion

Triggers with Association• Be memorable with triggers

Content of Value• High perceived value content = High perceived

value of company

Total Product Marketing

Makiko Ara, Director of Digital Mediamakiko@totalproductmarketing.comCall 1.855.646.86621.855.6.GOTOMARKETwww.totalproductmarketing.com