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Product marketing

The Rubicon Agency
In Digital lead generation, Enterprise demand generation, Marketing resources, Proposition development

Vanilla technology videos

Vanilla technology videos blog header

As a marketing content asset, video can be uniquely powerful and effective. But don’t assume the medium will compensate for deficiencies in the message.

If the plot is thin, the characters are wooden, or the ending is disappointing, your investment in a video production could fail to see a decent return at the marketing box office.

Think of the technology marketing video like a film genre and you can begin to see how best to approach production. As a genre it may not have the mass audience and populist appeal of a romantic comedy or a sci-fi blockbuster but it can follow some similar basic rules for success.

Analyse almost any movie you’ve seen and you’ll realise there’s a tried and tested method to the plot. It begins with establishing ‘normality’ for a single protagonist or a group of people before introducing an event or situation with the potential to change the norm and present the main character with a challenge. From there, we see a journey through events and encounters (with twists and turns for added interest) and finally a resolution which usually changes one or more of the characters and/or their world.

So, how does this have any relevance to a video for a Wide Area Network solution or a cyber security portfolio? Well firstly, characters and protagonists are involved- in the form of business and technical decision makers. These are the people who are about to be presented with a challenge to their ‘norm’. The challenge arises from whatever is being marketed. The plot continues with twists and turns usually in the form of user scenarios, product or solution comparisons, testimonials and cameo appearances from experts. And finally, resolution is offered in the form of a call to action.

Of course, all of this is simply a playful way to say that the plot is critical to any technology marketing video. And without the right content and contributions to support the plot, you can end up with the equivalent of an arthouse movie playing to an empty house.

With a good plot, and production values that don’t try to create Star Wars from a Blair Witch budget, the technology marketing video can educate, motivate and activate influencers and decision makers with an immediacy and clarity that can often be difficult to achieve with other marketing content assets.

And..cut!

Take a look at our quick guide to discover how content can be more ‘killer’ and less ‘filler’.

The Rubicon Agency
In Digital lead generation, Enterprise demand generation, Marketing resources, Thought leadership

White paper: white noise?

White paper: white noise - blog header

The white paper has taken on a ‘grey’ hue since it was first introduced by Winston Churchill in 1922. Apparently, business is to blame – with marketers extending its original remit whilst adding it to a growing armoury of content assets.

Technology marketing can gain real advantages from including a white paper within an integrated campaign or programme. As a content asset, it can fulfil a unique role but only if some basic rules are followed in order to avoid the white paper simply becoming ‘white noise’.

A white paper shouldn’t be a product pitch. Neither should it try to combine the detailed product information of a backgrounder with an industry-wide perspective or thought leadership. It has to be authoritative – with facts, figures, examples, comparisons and quotes.

White papers should be found at the academic end of the marketing content library with a high degree of expertise backed by solid research and fully documented with references. If that means they can be a little bit ‘boring’, requiring two or three reads to fully understand, that usually means the balance is right.

Getting the quality and balance right requires time, especially when you factor in technical, legal and brand approval. Breadth and depth is essential, and anything less than six pages could be deemed lightweight. Tight deadlines and white papers aren’t a good combination but they can be afforded longer lead times if the need is identified early enough in campaign planning and they’re offered as a downloadable fulfilment piece later in the delivery schedule.

White papers perform a unique role in establishing credibility, trust and preference when they help to clarify an issue, solve a problem or help to guide a decision. And as downloaders are usually further into the customer buying cycle, they can be positioned at a critical point in the sales funnel.

Take a look at our quick guide to discover how content can be more ‘killer’ and less ‘filler’.

The Rubicon Agency
In Event & experiential marketing, Marketing resources

Tips to avoid becoming a social pariah in tech marketing

Tips to avoid becoming a social pariah blog header

Have you ever started a conversation with someone at a social occasion only to realise that it’s either running out of steam; is too one-sided; or takes a turn that you or the other party is not prepared for?

In technology marketing terms, that’s how social campaigns or programmes can sometimes unfold.

Take for example the campaign that bursts into the digital equivalent of a low-key cocktail evening. Wearing an outfit that screams ‘look at me’, it proceeds to work the room with the promise of scintillating conversation and insightful anecdotes. Whilst the guests are slightly taken aback they may be willing to engage with the new arrival if only to lighten what could be an otherwise uneventful gathering. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the usurper is either drunk on their own self-importance or is simply a crashing bore. The room is soon emptied as guests beat a hasty retreat to waiting taxis.

Top social tips for technology marketers

Let’s rewind. How could this scenario have been better? Advice for our social pariah could include:

In an era where time is precious and ‘productivity’ is the watchword on many boardroom agendas, surely keeping things to the point and getting the important information across as succinctly as possible should be the goal.

  • check that it’s the right venue
  • don’t gate-crash
  • dress appropriately
  • start a conversation if it can be sustained
  • take the conversation in different directions
  • think laterally and creatively
  • ask questions and show interest
  • get fresh input to grow the conversation

Finally, when enough food and drink has been consumed and the buffet is beginning to look stale, it’s probably best to leave and plan for the next successful social gathering.

Take a look at our quick guide to discover how content can be more ‘killer’ and less ‘filler’.

The Rubicon Agency
In Digital lead generation, Event & experiential marketing, Marketing resources, Thought leadership

Webinar wasteland

Wasted Webinars blog header

In the marketing cannon, webinars are an interesting proposition. On face value, it’s a great medium for a crash course on a subject which combines demos, expert opinion and commentary, coupled with the traditional PowerPoint slideware. What’s not to like? Most of us would rather voyeur at our screens for an hour than trawl the internet or read white paper after white paper in an effort to uncover the gems of information that we can otherwise be spoon-fed via a webinar.

With so much potential, it’s not surprising to see that marketing departments are keen to take advantage of our webinar expectations.

Gone in 60 minutes

It’s almost a given that once you decide to produce a webinar (regardless of subject matter) that it will last an hour. After the initial introductions, house rules and agenda (which if marketed correctly should already be obvious in the lead generation part of the campaign), you’ve already burnt through the first 10 minutes. Add the traditional, and very choregraphed Q&A’s at the end and that’s 20 minutes of the hour that could have be shaved from the length.

In an era where time is precious and ‘productivity’ is the watchword on many boardroom agendas, surely keeping things to the point and getting the important information across as succinctly as possible should be the goal.

Case study cop out

Another staple of the webinar is the good old case study. The chance for the webinar owner to showboat customers that have bought and benefited from their technology. In theory, this section should provide real insight which can include watchouts and potential added audience interest and value.

The reality though is that these examples are often over-sanitised and thus offer very limited value to the webinar participant. Devoid of budget allocations, lead times, tangible monetary savings or quantitative productivity gains, case studies merely become a beauty parade of brand names and or an exercise in customer ego stroking.

All mouth, no trousers

The final, and probably the most infuriating tactic webinar marketers use to attract both volume and quality of audience, is the topic headline. Employing the mantra that ‘every day is a school day’, participants register for these online events with the expectation that they will discover something fresh. Razzamatazz headlines, high-calibre speakers and stellar brand case studies all help to convince the participant that the subject matter is going to be innovative, revelationary and… new. Alas, many webinars promise a lot but deliver little – dusty content is repackaged and rolled out, case studies are devoid of actual insight and thought leadership material is revealed as thinly disguised sales pitches.

Take a look at our quick guide to discover how content can be more ‘killer’ and less ‘filler’.

The Rubicon Agency
In Enterprise demand generation, Marketing resources, Sales enablement

Unenabled sales delivery

Unenabled Sales Delivery blog header

The road to sales nirvana is often a bumpy one. Punctuated with budgetary roadblocks and the occasional RFP speedbump means that coaxing prospects into a sale can prove problematic.

Once these obstacles have been successfully negotiated, sales teams are responsible for steering prospects in the direction of choosing their companies offering as opposed to the competitions. Enter the role of sales enablement materials.

A well-crafted sales toolkit can deepen relationships, increase order value and accelerate the purchase process of prospects. That said underprepared, underequipped and underwhelming sales enablement content can put stop a sale dead in its tracks.

Here we look at 8 common sales enablement mistakes that could side-swipe your best laid plans.

Speed limits apply

By default, there is an over-reliance on product content – the main thread relates to technical features with little/no business value for sales to latch on to. The sales presentation maybe about speeds but the journey towards closing the deal a slows to a crawl.

Roundabout ahead

Understanding of the product/solution is critical to any sales conversation. Lack of crisp articulation and differentiated description of what’s being sold – and to whom, means the conversation goes around in circles without any clear direction about where the technology could take you.

Risk of grounding

Armed with the trusty sales presentation, the pitch to the customer is bound to be ‘on the money’ but with little/no articulation of use cases or product visioning there is a real chance that the sale could end up beached.

Warning low bridge

Lack of aspirational and or business messaging for ‘those upstairs’ could result in your pitch hitting a glass ceiling in terms of value, buy in and ultimately funding which could put the sale in jeopardy.

Dead end

Talking with the product blinkers on could close the sale of point products but failure to express the inherit value of solution within whole portfolio could limit the length of journey you take with the prospect.

Diversion in place

Having a clear engagement roadmap to enables sales teams to structure content depending on the level of relationship with the prospect. Failure to do so will result in unexpected or unwanted diversions out of their comfort zone with irrelevant or premature solicitation of content.

Queue caution

Doing nothing isn’t an option although limited or staccato outreach, conversation and ‘by the way’ communication to prospects may cause the sale to hit a proverbial traffic jam, or worse still take an alternative route with one of your competitors.

No U-turns

Sale opportunities often mature organically, although failing to bridge the messaging gap between your sales conversations and existing/relevant thought leadership material when the opportunity arises could be a missed trick. As the nurture process continues there is no time to throw the conversation into reverse in an attempt to help bolster your credentials.

Take a look at our quick guide to discover how content can be more ‘killer’ and less ‘filler’.

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