In today’s environment, businesses depend on technology more than ever before.
However, the technology space is an increasingly crowded market, with new providers and technology entering the market constantly. Decision-makers are bombarded on a daily basis and find it hard to differentiate between various brands & products. We will share actionable techniques that you can apply right away to raise above the noise.
1. HIGHLIGHT YOUR KEY DIFFERENTIATOR CONSISTENTLY
How your services are unique may be apparent to you, but may not be obvious to your prospects. Your differentiator has to have high perceived value, should be unique, and should be communicated consistently in all your marketing.
Following are not differentiators - in today’s world, but rather a requirement to be in business:
great customer service
one-on-one attention
passionate and committed
2. CRAFT INTERESTING DISPLAY ADS
Ads should be visually catchy and connect with your services. Using catchy messaging and images in ads helps with brand recall. So when your prospects are ready to make a decision, they think of your brand.
Also, be sure to use retargeting ads, which has two benefits:
your prospects keep seeing your ads, which helps with brand recognition and recall
you are re-engaging and bringing these prospects back to your website when they are ready to take action
Source: TeliaSolutions & Clever.it
3. FREE AUDITS & CONSULTATIONS
Give your prospects a free consultation or audit to add value, start building a relationship, and showcase your expertise while highlighting your differentiation. Offering a free audit and consultation can help your prospects see the scope of the challenge /opportunity and your expertise in identifying issues. You can highlight your free audit on your website, in your marketing outreach, social media, email campaigns, etc.
Ask for a 15-minute meeting to have a conversation before providing the free audit to:
ask any probing questions
prequalify - some prospects will simply not be a good fit and you can send them a whitepaper instead of doing an audit
ensure they have skin in the game
For example, here are a few of our complimentary offers to our prospects:
100 b2b leads
360 marketing audit
4. ACCOUNT-BASED MARKETING (ABM)
Account-Based Marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses resources on a set of target accounts/organizations. We have seen ABM work really well in the technology & cybersecurity space.
The first step is to build an email list based on your ideal client persona. You can get fairly accurate contact information for a good price from Data-Axle.com or SICcode.com. Then connect with decision-makers using multi-channel outreach, which includes email, phone calls, sending marketing collateral through the mail, etc.
Share best practices, links to whitepapers, blogs, videos, etc to showcase your expertise and provide value before asking for anything. Separate your most active audience, so you can communicate with them differently and begin converting them into sales opportunities.
Here are the 3 steps to get started with ABM:
Get organizational buy-in and set goals together
Identify high-priority and high-intent target accounts
Choose the right channels and tools to engage
5. USE PVC SALES METHOD
The PVC methodology connects well with the ABM approach. By following this methodology, you can create an offer that is tailored to the specific needs of your audience and include a strong call to action that motivates them to buy from you.
PVC is an acronym that stands for:
P – Personalization
V – Value
C – Call-to-Action
Here's how the PVC methodology works:
Personalize your offer: Make sure your offer is relevant to the specific needs of your audience. The more personalized your offer, the more likely it is that your audience will take action.
Add value: Your offer must be valuable enough to motivate your audience to take action. Include discounts, bonuses, or other incentives that will make your offer irresistible.
Include a strong call to action: Your call to action should be clear and concise, and it should tell your audience exactly what they need to do to take advantage of your offer.
6. USE INSTANT CALENDAR BOOKING LINKS
Making it easy for potential customers to book their time with you at the very moment they are interested will reduce dropoff and incase booked meetings. Consdier adding a calander link, from websites like Calendly, in your email message as well as your signature.
In addition, you can allow website vistors to book a meeting directly from your website. Here is an example from Enspire360's home page:
7. ENGAGE WITH YOUR COMMUNITY, DIGITALLY
Actively engage with your prospects through social media. Offer useful information, answers, or tips in group discussions. Focus on delivering value and developing relationships rather than selling. Be sure to include your company name and website address in your profile so they can learn more. Link to your blog articles when it’s relevant to the conversation.
8. BUILD EDUCATIONAL CONTENT
Technology & cybersecurity is a highly technical field with prospects doing a lot of research before making a decision. Having informative blogs, whitepapers, case studies, and video series can:
add significant value to your prospects
provide clarity
establish your expertise and authority
Your content can be shared on your website, social media, email communication, blog, etc. You can also co-create content with your successful clients where they can explain the challenges they had and their experience with you.
9. CREATE CONTENT FOR EACH STEP OF THE FUNNEL
Create engaging content for each step of the journey. Your audience is looking for a different type of content depending on which stage of the buying cycle they are on. So create content specific to that stage. For example, someone in the awareness stage is looking for general information whereas someone in the consideration stage will find a comparison chart useful.
On each content page, display contact information and other related articles from the next stage in the funnel.
10. OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE FOR SEARCH ENGINE TRAFFIC
Create content with users in mind and search traffic will follow over time. Don’t try to trick the search engines. Simple things like doing proper keyword research, using those keywords in the content, internal links, and alt tags can all help. Use tools like SEMrush.com and ahrefs.com to help you.
11. FORM REFERRAL PARTNERSHIPS
Build referral programs with referral incentives and reasons they should refer clients to you. Have a web page highlighting the benefits of your referral program with a short signup form. Build deeper relationships with your most loyal partners and customers. Offer generous rewards, special discounts, or referral fees.
12. ENCOURAGE ONLINE REVIEWS
Any new prospect searching for your services nearby will likely look at the ratings and reviews on 3rd party sites. The number of reviews and overall rating are both important. These reviews skew negative because clients with a bad experience are more likely to post a review. To balance, you should encourage your satisfied clients to post reviews as well.
13. HOST VIRTUAL CLASSES
You can host virtual classes or webinars to discuss common issues and challenges or to review new products in the marketplace. You can also discuss some simple steps your viewers can take to safeguard their systems for example. This is a great way to connect, build credibility and have a reason to send an email to your audience afterward. Upload videos to your YouTube channel and share them on social media.
Enspire360 can help you reach a broader audience that needs your services now more than ever. We believe that every brand has a story to tell and we can help you tell your story in an inspiring way so that you can connect with your target audience.
We offer a complimentary 360-degree audit of your website and marketing activities, so you can see exactly what’s holding you back. And we can share all this on a Strategy Call to help you craft your digital strategy. Click here to sign up for a strategy call.