Commercial energy marketing is about maintaining a drum beat. The most effective campaigns tailor messages to Industry Segment + Utility + Energy Solution. Small teams trying to do this quickly get overwhelemed. Below is an alternative tactical marketing plan optimized for a small team. To improve efficiency, we use templates and repeatable tasks to streamline campaign creation. To improve effectiveness, we simultaneously set up a short term and long tail inbound funnel. My experience is leading small 2-3 person marketing teams, with a $3-5K monthly budget, and an engaged/supportive sales team. Drawing from those resources, we found the following extremely effective: In a nutshell, the plan works like this: W start by identifying a target sector. We figure out messaging that resonates with the sector. We create collateral customized to that sector. We then launch email, direct mail, and cold call campaigns. After that, we spin customized collateral into articles used for a sector specific PR and conference circuit. The process takes 2 months to launch. By month 3 it is on autopilot. Starting in month 3, the marketing team begins prepping a new sector, while outside PR and inside sales finish with the current sector. The best part of the process is it keeps rolling sector after sector, with a small team, without giving up the long tail investment. First, id your sector. This plan is built around tailoring content and distribution to each target sector. Normally, sectors are defined with three elements: Industry + Geographic Area + Energy Solution. See article on How To Define A Sector for more on this. Second, built a list of targets in that sector. The list should be prepped for direct mail and later email. A quick bit of market research should tell you how to frame your UVP and other messaging to resonate with the sector. With this messaging strategy in mind, create: As you move from sector to sector, you’ll need to tailor your content to each new target sector. The key is to develop the tailored content efficiently. To do that: (1) give your MarCom person a short, specific, checklist of materials, (2) draw from existing templates, changing only messaging and imagery as needed. My typical content checklist includes: People always underestimate the effort required to hit “Send” on an email campaign. The best tool I’ve found to reduce the effort is InfusionSoft. Inside Infusionsoft, you can pre-program all of the following: Direct Mail – Mail the case study and/or brochure to everyone on the target sector list. Yes, InfusionSoft manages direct mail plus email. You can even tell it to send an email follow-up X days after the direct mail piece is sent. Email – Set up at least 9 emails to go to each target, over the course of 3 months. Stagger the drip campaign to send 2 interesting pieces for each (1) salesy piece emailed. One easy way to streamline email content: send digital versions of everything you create as emails. This includes the blog posts and direct mail pieces. Once your online foundation is created and your outbound efforts are tee’d up, turn to creating inbound leads through PR in trade press and conferences. This is where the long tail leads come from. Setting Up PR Before developing a PR plan, you first have to figure out the sector’s PR landscape. To save costs, do this research internally. Begin by finding the top trade publications and events. Then, determine which trade pubs take guest content. Make sure to look up their editorial calendar, to find any relevant deadlines approaching. Next, generate a few article ideas. Look at recent conference topics to see what is considered “news” for that sector. The hardest part of PR is getting the article published. This is where $3K to a PR agency can really add value. In other words, my advice is outsource this step. Conference Speaking Opportunities After the trade PR begins, shift efforts to getting invited to speak at industry conferences. Compile a packet with a few of your articles published in trade mags. Send that packet to the conference coordinators. Request information about speaking at the conference. Some will ask you to propose a topic. Others make you pay-to-play. You don’t know until you ask.
The Plan In A Nutshell
Breaking Down The Steps
Step 1: Identify your sector. Build Target List.
Step 2: Develop Messaging & Online Foundation
Step 3: Develop Outbound Collateral
Step 4: Build the Drip Process
Step 5: Sector-Specific PR and Conferences
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