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By Sean Henri @SeanHenri / +SeanHenri

Marketing Playbooks:Syndicating Best Practices Across The Organization

Just because you have the latest tools &

technology doesn’t mean your team knows

how to use it.

Playbooks provide a way to help marketers

learn more effective ways to meet their goals:

Strategy - Knowing how to structure multi-touch

campaigns that support a customer-driven

buying cycle.

Enhancement - How to optimize campaigns,

programs and tactics.

Execution - Use of technology to execute

marketing strategy.

Measurement – Process for understanding

results & learning insights for future activities.

Why do you need them?

Playbooks extend the use of best practices

across the organization and standardize the

delivery and development process of

campaigns.

Common Features:

An Overview – short description of the play.

When appropriate, this can also include a visual

depiction of the program and sequence of

communications.

Bundled Package – All forms, templates &

documentation needed to request and deliver

the information needed to create the play are

assembled together in a single location.

Accessibility – Playbooks will be hosted on the

portal in a “Best Practices” library so all can

access.

Development frameworks – A definition of how

to build and test the play using templates.

The Benefits: Improved conversion rates,

improved response time, fewer errors, better

Marketing Playbooks

Playbooks should align to common scenarios

or marketing “needs”, such as:

I need to…

Launch a new product

Generate new leads for an existing product

Accelerate my pipeline

Promote our participation at an upcoming

tradeshow

Cross-sell/Upsell/Renew

Grow customer loyalty

Other…

Marketing Playbooks

These “needs” should then connect to the “play”.

Some examples include:

Lead Nurturing

Top of Mind nurture/drip

Educational nurture/drip

Re-engagement nurture/drip

Competitive Switch nurture/drip

Promotional nurture/drip

Training nurture/drip

Sales Acceleration nurture/drip

Cross-Sell/Upsell nurture/drip

Event/Event Follow-up nurture/drip

SEM

New customer acquisition

Remarketing & Remarketing Nurture

Etc..

Marketing Playbooks

66

Drip Campaign PlaysCommon programs for lead nurturing or “drip” campaigns

Mass Email Email Nurturing

One-to-Many One-to-One

HTML Email Rich Text Email

Manual Deployment Automated Deployment

Measurement at campaign

level

Measurement at campaign

level, and individual level.

Generic Subject Line Personalized Subject Line

Comes from PerkinElmer Comes from Sales Rep

Path is pre-defined Path is “Chose Your Own”

Mass Email vs. Email Nurturing

Lead nurturing, also called drip marketing, is one

of the most powerful and sought-after features of

a marketing automation system.

Automated lead nurturing is the process of

sending a series of content via email, display &

social that will trigger based on a person’s

behaviors or a preset time interval.

Key Points:

• Think

beyond the

inbox! Use:

AdWords

Remarketing

Social

Retargeting

Dynamic

Content

Lead Nurturing Playbooks

Type Main

Objectives

Nurture Play Description

Pre-MQL Generate Leads Simple 3 Step The perfect “starter” campaign.

Advanced 3 Step A multi-channel version of the 3-step.

3-2-1 Identifies your hottest leads first.

60-Day Perfect for longer sales cycles.

Pre-Post-Event Engage event attendees more efficiently.

Cross-Sell / Up-

Sell

Bundle solutions for higher contract value.

Top-of-Mind Maintain awareness until the timing is right.

Reviving Cold

Leads

Waking-The-Dead Tempt your cold leads to give you another look.

Sales

Qualification

Purchase

Software

Trial Nurture Ensure users get the most value from their free trail.

Recycle Sales Support Competitive Lead-

Nurture

Keep yourself a notch above the competition.

Welcome

Campaign

Increase the likelihood of renewal.

Reconstituted Sales Support Dead-Deal Increase urgency and overcome obstacles when

opportunities stall.

Lost-Deal Just because you’ve lost, doesn’t mean you can’t win

them back.

This is a simple nurture designed to take a

prospect to a sales ready state within a short

period of time. This works best for products

with a shorter sales cycle.

Entry:

Inbound: SEO, SEM & Social

Outbound: Internal List, Rented List

Content: Webinar Registration, Whitepaper

download

Treatment:

A prospect receives a series of 3 emails after a

trigger event, such as a form submission or a

series of website visits tied to a specific offering.

To decrease implied relationship between the

program and the contacts actions, the emails

commence two days after the event. The delay

between emails increases as the program

progresses.

Required Assets:

3-5 pieces of content (PDF’s, articles, or videos)

Positioning & Messaging, Target Audience, Value

Pre-MQL: Simple 3-Step Nurture SLA: 5 Business Days

Key Points

• Highlights

assigned

reps contact

information

• Assets

provided

directly. No

registration

forms

required.

• Assets are

tangible via

screenshot

Pre-MQL: Simple 3-Step Nurture

The Play

Inputs:

Start

Clicked?

Yes

No

Send Email

Assign to User

Clicked?

Yes

Send Email

Assign to User

Clicked?

Yes

No

Send Email

Assign to User

MQL MQL MQL

Disqualified

Example Content:1. Entry: White Paper2. Awareness: Application Note3. Consideration: Case Study4. Close: Brochure5. Exit: Webinar or event invite

6 No 62

An accelerated version of the simple 3 step

nurture, which uses dynamic content and

remarketing to accelerate the path to sales

readiness.

Entry:

Inbound: SEO, SEM & Social

Outbound: Internal List, Rented List

Content: Webinar Registration, Whitepaper

download

Treatment:

A prospect receives a series of 3 emails after a

trigger event, such as a form submission or a

series of website visits tied to a specific offering.

To decrease implied relationship between the

program and the contacts actions, the emails

commence two days after the event. The delay

between emails increases as the program

progresses.

Required Assets:

3-5 pieces of content (PDF’s, articles, or videos)

Positioning & Messaging, Target Audience, Value

Pre-MQL: Advanced 3-Step Nurture SLA: 5 Business Days

Key Points

• Requires

budget and

additional

creative for

re-

marketing

ads.

• Highlights

assigned

reps contact

information

Pre-MQL: Advanced 3-Step Nurture

The Play

Inputs:

Start

Clicked?

Yes

No

Send Email

Assign to User

Clicked?

Yes

Send Email

Assign to User

Clicked?

Yes

No

Send Email

Assign to User

MQL MQL MQL

Disqualified

Example Content:1. Entry: White Paper2. Awareness: Application Note3. Consideration: Case Study4. Close: Brochure5. Exit: Webinar or event invite

6 No 62

New prospects are often a blank slate for

marketers. These are individuals who have

raised their hands – for example, by filling out a

short form to download a piece of content – but

have not yet shared much information about

themselves or their companies.

Entry:

Inbound: SEO, SEM & Social

Outbound: Internal List, Rented List

Content: Webinar Registration, Whitepaper

download

Treatment:

A prospect receives a series of 3 emails after a

trigger event, such as a form submission or a

series of website visits tied to a specific offering.

To identify those closest to sales readiness, stage

3 content is deployed first, followed by stage 2,

and then stage 1.

Required Assets:

3-5 pieces of content (PDF’s, articles, or videos)

Positioning & Messaging, Target Audience, Value

Pre-MQL: The 3-2-1 SLA: 5 Business Days

Key Points

• Requires

budget and

additional

creative for

re-

marketing

ads.

• Highlights

assigned

reps contact

information

Pre-MQL: The 3-2-1

The Play

Inputs:

Start

Clicked?

Yes

No

Send Email

Assign to User

Clicked?

Yes

Enter Stage 2 Drip

Clicked?

Yes

No

Enter Stage 1 Drip

MQL

Disqualified

Example Content:1. Entry: White Paper2. Close: Brochure3. Consideration: Case Study4. Awareness: Application Note5. Exit: Webinar or event invite

6 No 62

Stage 3 Email Stage 2 Email Stage 1 Email

Perfect for carrying stage 1 prospects through

to MQL status, the goal is to keep prospects

engaged and interested in your product or

service while they move through the buying

cycle, often over the space of many months.

Entry:

Inbound: SEO, SEM & Social

Outbound: Internal List, Rented List

Content: Webinar Registration, Whitepaper

download

Treatment:

A prospect receives a series of 3 emails after a

trigger event, such as a form submission or a

series of website visits tied to a specific offering.

To decrease implied relationship between the

program and the contacts actions, the emails

commence two days after the event. The delay

between emails increases as the program

progresses.

Required Assets:

3-5 pieces of content (PDF’s, articles, or videos)

Pre-MQL: The 60-Day Nurture SLA: 5 Business Days

Key Points

• Requires

budget and

additional

creative for

re-

marketing

ads.

• Highlights

assigned

reps contact

information

Pre-MQL: The 60-Day Nurture

The Play

Start

Clicked?

No

Clicked? Clicked?

No Disqualified7 No 7

3-2-1 Email Stage 2 Email Stage 1 EmailInputs:

Yes

Send Email

Assign to User

MQL

Yes Yes Yes

Clicked?

No

Clicked? Clicked?

No Disqualified7 No 7

4

3-2-1 Email Stage 2 Email Stage 1 Email

Yes Yes Yes

Clicked?

No

Clicked? Clicked?

No Disqualified7 No 77

3-2-1 Email Stage 2 Email Stage 1 Email

7

Yes

Send Email

Assign to User

MQL

Yes

Send Email

Assign to User

MQL

During the trial phase, an indisputable case for the value of

the solution needs to be established to the buyer.

Marketing Automation helps to streamline communications

with prospects during the trial period, and to keep sales

aware of trial progress.

Entry: Inbound: SEO, SEM & Social

Outbound: Internal List, Rented List, Lead Score

Threshold

Content: Free Trial Offer & Activation

Treatment: Trial downloader receives activation email with resources

such as a how-to-video, guide, and support contacts. A

sense of urgency is created by indicating expiration date.

A series of emails offering additional support resources

keeps the user engaged. If the trial user has not utilized

their trail after a set period, a support email or call is

extended to identify issue. If some, but not all milestones

are met, extend trial. If none, return to pre-MQL nurture.

Required Assets:

1-3 pieces of content designed to attract trial users, 1 to

close deal

Support & training material, or support community

Positioning & Messaging, Target Audience, Value Prop

Sales: Free Trial Nurture SLA: 14 Business Days

Key Points

• For best

outcome,

MAP must

be

integrated

with

solution

• Prospects

in trial

excluded

from other

communicat

ions

• Those who

do not

purchase

should re-

enter a Pre-

MQL

Nurture

Sales: Trial Nurture

The Play

Inputs:

Start

Clicked?

Yes

No

Hit milestone?

Yes

Hit milestone?

Yes

No Disqualified

Example Content:1. Entry: Video Overview2. Engagement: Resources, Support Community3. Close: White paper / ROI CalculatorTiming:• Email cadence should be driven

by trial timeframe

6 No 61

Welcome Email Resource Reminder Sales Inquiry

Hit milestone?

Yes

No

Sales Check-In

6

Purchased?

Yes

No

Sales Welcome

6 Extend

Ideal buyer?Non-Ideal Buyer

14

Trial-Sign-Up

6

Create Your Own: Icon Gallery

Use the icons to build your own

playbook

Inputs:

Start

Clicked?

Yes

No

Send Email

Assign to User

Clicked?

Yes

No

Send Email

Assign to User

Clicked?

Yes

No

Send Email

Assign to User

MQL MQL MQL

Disqualified