What MinHash joining Salesforce could mean for marketeers

Today's announcement's on Salesforce acquiring MinHash got me thinking and reading up on the acquired business. I haven't used MinHash before so the more I read up the more I started thinking how great this particular acquisition can be. I have been using Salesforce for a while for leads management, marketing communication and campaign tracking. While I do struggle with the access level that my IT team's allocates, the tool in itself is the best way to get the sales team to follow-up my leads. So, here goes my thoughts on what MinHash joining Salesforce could mean for marketeers.

First, let me ask you this - have you met AILA? Those who haven't had a chance to get acquainted with this lovely lady she is the go-to-source for those looking to create intelligent marketing campaigns. Ask her and she would say she is the 'AI driven marketing media maven you have been looking for'.

Did you know: In Indian street slang, mostly used in Mumbai, 'aila' is often used to denote an 'exclamation point' - can be used in both positive and negative connotation.

Image credits: www.minhash.com

AILA is MinHash's artificial intelligence marketing assistant. MinHash describes the service as 'AILA detects fast growing topics across 1000s of media sources and helps marketers respond quickly, pulling together data in all forms - text, images, hashtags and urls, automatically crafting them into a campaign with a relevant theme, unique messaging and the right audience*'. 

For me a service like this means an easy, intelligent and relevant way to create new campaigns. While the examples for AILA presented in the website currently have a B2C bent, the B2B possibilities are crazy-exciting. That's why my world becomes so much simpler (and fun) when Salesforce and MinHash combine forces.

Here are the top reasons why I think this is a match made in marketing heaven - 

1. Minimal platform integration and coding challenges - Those who work with Salesforce email template design know that they need either a decent html coding capability OR, need to integrate with Marketo or, similar platforms. Pssst- I never did like Salesforce's existing letterhead, custom, html, etc. etc. options! And, on top of that I have to now get access to 2 or, 3 different platforms, figure each of them out, get my IT to link it all up and then Alt+Tab between all those screens to get all this running - exhausting to say the least. 

2. Impactful A/B testing, intuitive design and more effective analysis - B2B campaigns, specially those that use email marketing as a tactic, are hard. We are forever focused on avoiding spam, getting higher open rates,  getting folks to click on that call-to-action button and download/view/signup to whatever we are selling (white papers/webinars/videos/free sign ups/ events ). With AILA there can be an intuitive and real-time feedback on what worked for you in past, what are the best practices across the industry and the region, and suggestions even on what kind of content would get you the results you are seeking. Imagine getting instant stats telling you that your past campaign had a 35% open rate with how-to webinars getting 75% more eyeballs and a free trial presented through a button which says "No Downloads Needed" will be 90% more successful for the audience group you are looking to engage. While I am pulling  numbers out of the hat for this example, it is really easy to see how effective this would be for B2B marketeers.

3. Great content for all your external brand touch-points - MinHash learning engine uses algorithms that ingest media and applies phrase detection to extract messaging that is both trending and unique to a campaign. Crawlers discover images and messaging from your website, Pinterest, and other social channels to compose into a creative that resonates with your message and the audience*. Basically - content that self-selects, self-generates and self-improves. What this means for you and me is a one-stop marketing platform that not only delivers emails to our selected audience and then track the ROI, but also helps us make effective digital marketing creatives, provides suggestions on best website layouts, constantly learning from how each element is performing as well as makes a business' social presence all the more engaging.

MinHash's website says that their service won't be available from Jan 21, 2016. All I can say is that I can't wait to see what Salesforce will bring out for us.

As always, happy to hear from you. Are there any other benefits or, any possible pitfalls that you see from this acquisition?

*as described on MidHash website

Facebook for B2B Marketing - Beyond Branding, Towards Lead Generation

Larger cover photos, photos in news feed and such changes to Facebook are forcing companies to be more visual and dynamic. In fact, nearly 50% of the items shared on news feeds are visual. Friends Feed, Music Feed, Photos Feed, and Following Feed - all are giving the user more control on what information they see and when they see.

If we look purely from a B2B perspective - Facebook for advertising and brand promotion? Yes. Brand engagement? Yes.  Thought leadership? Yes. Content disbursement? Yes.

But, how do we generate leads via Facebook? And, how do we calculate its effectiveness for B2B marketing?

I came across a  very interesting infographic on "Which platform to reach out - Linkedin or Facebook for B2B". According to this, 41% of all B2B companies that used Facebook for marketing acquired new customers this way. Below is a snapshot of the tactics used on Facebook. We see that stats are suggesting there is potential for generating business (49% lead generation).

Measuring B2B Marketing Success on Facebook

One can use the following metrics to judge the business' performance on FB.

• Content Engagement = Engagements or, interactions / post
• Content Reach = Percentage of followers who have seen your post
• Lead Generation = Number of people signing up or, registering / Total number of page views

Generating Leads via Facebook

• Have a company page, not just individual profiles - This allows potential customers to interact with the brand
• Fan-gate your page but, go beyond 'Like' - Fan-gating refers to requiring viewers to click on 'like' to view your profile/page. But, one must remember it's all about engaging. The aim should be to score high on Content Engagement
• Incorporate sign-up forms for accessing restricted content/ giveaways/ contests -This is a good way to get that customer information 
• Calls-to-action and back-links to your website - Gives you more hits on company website and encourages viewers to interact more
• Integrate Facebook widgets into other channels -  Whether it’s an e-campaign, or an invite to an event, by integrating Facebook widgets you give the viewer a chance to share your content with his/ her network- Voila! Improved Content Reach
• Use Facebook Ads -  Such ads allow you to target your content at specific audience, thereby increasing the effectiveness. You will be able to view the click-through rates and analyze ad effectiveness. If you link this up to a sign-up form you will also be able to get the viewer's information. A good example would be sharing your latest e-book on strategies for CIOs through Facebook premium ads.
• Promote your Posts/ Sponsor a Story - This is a great way to get more people to see your posts. More views translate to higher percentage engaging with your content

A good way to ensure your marketing efforts are not going to waste on Facebook and that you are leveraging the forum to its optimum potential is by leveraging PMDs or Preferred Marketing Developers. They are  social experts that build apps on Facebook and help you manage ad campaigns, measure performance and develop effective marketing strategies for Facebook. 

In short, they make life and Facebook marketing simpler for you.

Venue & Logistics - Why Focus on this Event Checklist?

I write this especially with the B2B business in mind. Of course, the learnings are applicable in a large number of scenarios.

Photo by freedigitalphotos/cooldesign

You have a seminar to organize. You have discussed with sales and you know the key topics that you want to talk about. You have your speakers identified and the sponsors (if required) looped in. But, all the preparation will be in vain if you haven't got the right venue locked in.

I have just completed the planning for a large event for my organization and with every event my belief in why the venue is the most important criteria is reinforced. Quite simply, if your venue is in a far flung area or, if it is in a hotel/ property not well known then you might have just lost out 30% of your expected audience. No one wants to spend an hour plus on the road just to listen to you or, come to a run-down seminar hall with logistical nightmares!

I keep 2 things in mind while short listing venues for an event -

• Goal of the event - Is it a networking event or, a forum to disburse information about the product? Is it a business meet or, a technical outlet? If it is a business networking meet then an evening out in a good hotel with food and cocktails is the way to go. You must have a pleasant ambience, light entertainment, and an open bar does not hurt. I generally prefer a cluster type seating (banquet seating) for such kind of events. However, if it a technical  outlet then a theater type seating facing a podium with good audio visual facilities is required.
• Location proximity to your invitation list - Do a detailed study of your invitation database and the companies. The best way to do this is to map out where each company is located and choose a venue depending on where your majority is based out of. Proximity always makes it easier to lure the audience to the venue.

Once you have your location finalized the logistics comes into play. Here's my broad checklist:

3 weeks before the event Minimum and maximum capacity of the hall Seating format - theater/ banquet/ boardroom Menu for the snacks and breakfast/lunch/dinner Bar list Available audio visual equipment Selection of giveaways/ gifts, if any Creation of banners and creatives Availability of a podium and stage, if required Selection of entertainment for the event

1 week before the event Delivery of the giveaways Readiness of the banners and hall placement finalized Promotion material readiness - brochures, flyers, feedback forms Begin reminder calls to the invitation list Finalize the host for the event Placards for the stage, if required Finalize the photographer

A day before the event Registration sheet Run through of the venue Speaker presentations loaded on to a common laptop Generator backup Filler music for the start of the event and the networking session, if any Check for fire exits, to be included in the host's speech Stationary for the audience Briefing the photographer Check the catering readiness Ensure availability of Wifi, printer, fax machines, if required

On the day of the event Placing of registration desk Bowl to collect business cards Placing of promotional material Check projector system and microphones Quick check of table decorations, seating, table cloths, bar stand, food counters Dry run through with the host and entertainment

 What other items are must for such a checklist? Do share! 

Do B2B Marketers Hibernate Come Christmas, New Year and Financial Year-end?

A friend who works for a telecom company raised this question to me just yesterday. Day after day for months without fail, just like an alarm clock, we get bombarded with mails which share product updates, thought leadership articles and event invites. And suddenly, just as Q3 comes to a close, all you get is a seasons’ greeting card. Given this, how can one grouse someone for asking if we are hibernating?

Unlike B2C marketing, where the merry season brings with it sales, discounts and crazy promotional tactics, B2B marketing suddenly takes a back seat. And rightly so! What’s the point in jamming someone’s mailbox when they are either holidaying or, preparing for year-end results or, are knee-deep in planning their next year’s strategy?

These 2 months (15-Dec onwards till mid-Jan and the whole of March), as most have found, are most effective for strategy revisiting. There is less dilution of your concentration and the year-end is a perfect opportunity to analyze what worked and what did not. This is, of course, not to state that B2C marketers do not carry out these activities. 

While defining ‘What will my brand speak about next year?’ it will do us good to visit:

1.       “What worked and what did not?”

2.       “What are the key messages we will talk about”?

3.        “Are my people aligned right?”

4.       “Which channels will be most effective for me?”

5.        “What kind of budgets will I need?”

You will notice that I have put budget-consideration as the last step and that’s the way it would be in the ideal scenario. Unfortunately, this is not the way most organizations see it. B2B marketing is often considered an overhead and changing that mindset will not happen overnight. In the meanwhile, keeping a larger number in mind and then breaking it into different activities and channels might be a good idea. One could always revisit the overall number, towards the end, for tweaking and fine-tuning.

‘So what’s the game plan?’ - B2B Marketing Plan for Newbies

When the opportunity to create a ‘Product plan’ came to me the very first time I had the look on my face which clearly reflected my thoughts (at least that’s what my senior colleague said)….”Hmmmmm I think I will throw 4 emails, 2 events and a webinar together and voila the plan is done!”. 

Of course it doesn’t take a real genius to figure out that it’s not all that simple. So here are my newbie learnings in a nutshell. 

When one is faced with the challenge of creating a game plan – a full fledged global cross-channel campaign – especially for a B2B product, one simply can’t put those 4 emails, 2 events and a webinar together and say “I think this is the best way to take this product to the market”. While the MBA classes had taught the same thing to me, somehow translating it to the real life scenario is well a completely different experience. So start with the basics – an opportunity study is the best thing to do. I don’t mean go out carrying a survey questionnaire and stopping Tom, Dick and Harry to share their thoughts (I agree that for a B2C market this might be the only way, so don’t beat me over it), but rather understand your market from these angles:

· Global and regional – What is the current market size? What are the predicted future trends? Don’t worry – these things are quite easily found. Google – the world’s best invention. 
· Your ‘Target prospective clients’ strategy – Have a broad target segment in mind. Is the offering a cross-vertical product? Is the business targeting a particular segment or will the product be for any company, irrespective of its size? Will each segment’s need be same? 
· End customers perspective – It’s not enough to research the above two and slap them onto a powerpoint presentation. You need to establish how this product will affect your customer’s customer. If you do not have an end-to-end framework established, if you cannot convince the prospects that the product will enable them to gain their customers trust and build a relationship then you might just have failed before you started. 

 Once the dynamics of the market are clear and you have an understanding of the business’ objectives – the revenue projections from product, any particular regions planned for short-term and the long-term – you will need to define what marketing’s objectives will be. 

The key thing to remember is never to spread yourself too thin. No plan can achieve it all at the first go. Break up the objectives into logical sections – you may want to direct only particular regions in first year or, particular customer segments. The main thing is this should tie in with the organization’s business objectives. 

The last step, and perhaps the most important one, is identifying the marketing strategy – 
· What is the key messaging that will be used for your targeted sections? – This can be a common messaging or can even differ depending upon what your opportunity study has told you 
· What is it that you hope to achieve – What is the intent – is it awareness or, opportunity generation or, both? 
· Define the marketing approach – Will you talk about the value the product will bring to market to each of the segments? Will you showcase success stories to strengthen your proposition to build awareness or, will you use thought leadership?

After this it is simply a matter of deploying the most effective channels – yes, those 4 emails, 2 events and a webinar! The key thing being knowing what works where. The best thing to do would be study how your competitors are marketing their products – which influencers are they tying up with or, which events are they showcasing their wares. Set-up your Gantt charts and then define the budgets. 

And here, I am going to end with a slightly controversial statement. Having a ‘Budgets-then-Plan’ point of view will restrict the scope of your reach. Of course budgets are important. However, once you have the key activities you will like to undertake in mind, you can scale them up or down to suit the available budgets. This approach allows you to have a more long term perspective rather than ‘Do it now and get it over with’.