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Professional Services Marketing Blog
What’s Your Online Marketing Priority?
By Sean McVey
Imagine you are the VP of Marketing Communications at a major supply chain management software company. Your job is to figure out how to get the most out of your firm’s marketing dollars. You know online marketing has a place, but you really don’t know where to focus. Do you hire a social media guru? Do you invest in video? SEO? A blog? The possibilities are really endless… but your budget isn’t. So how do you spend?
Kirsten Watson from Kinaxis was in this very situation. And after a long digital journey, she now finds herself leading one of the most successful online marketing teams in the technology industry. With an estimated 35-40% of the firm’s leads coming from the web, there’s no question Kinaxis has found a formula for success.
While chatting with Kirsten, I began to realize how important prioritization is to her strategy. Today, Kinaxis deploys a number of online marketing tactics, but the firm began by focusing on a just a few foundational techniques. After mastering those techniques, they gradually expanded their repertoire.
The High Growth, High Value Technology Company
By Lee W. Frederiksen, Ph.D.
Suppose you want to build a high value professional services technology firm. How would you go about it? That’s the question that Mike Daniels took on at a recent presentation to the Association for Corporate Growth.
Now, you may not be familiar with Mike’s bio, but you are probably familiar with some of the organizations he has helped build. He started his career at DARPA, the government entity that has brought you such key technologies as the Internet, video conferencing and stealth technology. He has also been involved in a range of technology success stories at standout companies such as SAIC and Network Solutions. To say that he has created billions of dollars in company value is no understatement.
What principles drive Mike’s success? I was fascinated to discover how closely his personal experience paralleled the results of our research into high value professional services firms.
Here are his 4 keys to building a high value technology firm:
A World Gone Mobile: Professional Services and the Changing Online Landscape
By Aaron Taylor
On Tuesday, Cisco released its 2011 Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update. Admittedly, a lot of the information in this report is for communications technology professionals. But don’t let that turn you off. There are some interesting implications here for professional services firms and the future of their websites.
Here are two key findings and my takeaways.
Social Media and Your Professional Services Marketing Mix
By Lee W. Frederiksen, Ph.D.
It seems that just about every conversation I have with a professional services CEO these days eventually turns toward social media. Now perhaps it’s because I’m a social media butterfly (those of you who know me can stop convulsing with laughter now). No, I think it’s because social media is a topic so pervasive in the press (business and popular) that we feel like we’re missing out if we don’t embrace it.
As leaders of our firms, we should be… well, leading. Then along comes this phenomenon — time intensive, intimidating, and not clearly related to important business outcomes. Is it just an expensive waste of time? So we talk amongst ourselves, looking for something solid to grab on to.
Well here’s something solid. A new study on Integrating Social Media into the Marketing Mix was just published by ITSMA. If your not familiar with ITSMA, it’s the association focused on marketing IT services. The survey is comprehensive (277 slides!), but I want to focus on just a handful of take-aways.
CEOs Weigh in on Government 2.0 at Obama Administration Briefing
By Beth J. Bates, New Media Special Correspondent
On January 14, the Obama administration held a series of events to support its campaign promise to use technology to make government more transparent. A selection of executives and CEOs, largely from the tech sector, were paired with government officials and asked their opinions on how technology could be better used to streamline government programs.
Among those in attendance was Craig Newmark, founder of Craig’s List and Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer. The administration is pushing for the use of new technology in an effort to improve the efficiency of antiquated government processes using technology similar to the private sector.
Cloak Yourself in Credibility
Lee W. Frederiksen, Ph.D.
“Cloak yourself in credibility.” That’s the advice Arun Gupta offered to start-up companies trying to gain traction with Venture Capital firms when he participated on a panel at the annual Venture Capital Outlook conference presented by Potomac Tech Wire last week. A partner in Columbia Capital and a very active player in the tech and services arena, Arun knows a thing or two about venture capital. And his comment is obviously right on point for firms seeking venture funding.
What struck me about his advice is how relevant it is to all professional services firms. You see, venture firms are betting on entrepreneurs to solve difficult problems. The same could be said of professional services buyers and the firms they hire. Credibility is the coin of the realm in both cases.