I've Got a Golden Ticket!

In my previous postings I have posted from the perspective of an HR professional – a position I held for a number of years prior to joining HRmarketer. This post is from a job applicant’s perspective.

I recently participated in an event that was one of the biggest most ambitious recruitment events in the history of the world. I auditioned to be on a new TV show that will be called The X-Factor. In one day there were by some estimates up to 20,000 people filling out application paperwork, interviewed and sorted - and screening on the “legal right to work”.

And that was only the first of six cities on this particular “recruitment roadshow”!

They publicized the job opportunity using social media. What a great idea, they also created videos answering FAQs for applicants, regarding how to be successful in the screening process.

Hey, it worked for me! I packed some snacks and the words to a song by Billy Joel (Classic!). I stood in line; and waited, and waited (and waited!). At least it wasn’t raining, because we waited for over two hours outside the LA Sports Arena on a rainy morning last weekend.

Bruce Springsteen referred to the LA Sports Arena as "the dump that jumps". I have to agree; the joint was rockin’, rollin’, jazzin’ and jumpin’. People were singing the bathrooms, corridors and, everywhere in between. There were cameras filming the whole process.

The people helping us through the open audition process were basically “recruiters”. We were applying for a job, one that pays five million dollars, but still, a job!

One tip for recruiters – we were treated like cattle, moving through endless lines leading nowhere, it seemed. Why not just tell the applicants, in advance, what the process would be? If it is going to take 8 hours or more to be processed, then tell the applicant!

Another tip - if you are going to ask the successful applicants to come back the next day, then let them know from the start. Some people have a life!

That said, they are to be commended on processing so many people in one day; it was truly amazing. I wonder what talent management software – if any – was used!

Once I finished waiting for my chance to sing, I was taken into a booth on the floor of the arena. There I was, my big chance for fame and fortune, and I did it! Surprise, surprise! I was selected! I had my golden ticket!

Time for paperwork – of course! I was given a contract to sign that covered what would happen if I won the 5 million dollar performing contact! It turns out they have the right to say things that are not true about me. Oh well, I signed it anyway! (I don’t recommend that you recruiters include that particular clause in your pre-employment paperwork!)

It was only then that I was told to come back the next day! Whoops, I work on Mondays. Hey maybe they could have told me that on Saturday! Good thing I work for some very understanding people!

Back on Monday– let’s just say I wasn’t a “good fit” - LOL! Still, not bad for my first time out of the gate!

Oh, well, that’s show biz, as they say!

The B2B Buying Process: Unclog Those Arteries!

Our latest eBook, The Right Mix: A B2B Marketing Allocation Guide, takes a close look at the classic buying process (Awareness | Interest | Information Search & Evaluation | Purchase |Post Purchase Evaluation) and the role that each marketing tactic plays in moving prospects along this continuum.

As we wrote on our last blog post, we realize not everyone has time to read a 55-page e-Book - as good as it may be. So we've carved out the key sections and turned them into a series of blog posts. This post looks at the B2B buying process, Enjoy.

When deciding which tactics fit into your marketing plan and how much money and resources to allocate to each, it helps to take a step back to review the B2B buying process – sometimes called the purchase decision funnel – and the role of each marketing tactic. Here is a simplified version of this process:

Awareness
A prospect must become aware that you exist before anything else can happen. Your marketing messages and calls to action (CTA) have to grab the prospect’s attention. The problem is your prospects are bombarded every day by a multitude of marketing messages. Somehow, you have to find a way to be heard over all of that “noise,” and repetition is an essential first step. Repetition also helps you maintain contact with prospects who don’t need your product or service at the moment but eventually might.

Interest
It’s not enough to merely grab your prospects’ attention. You must also persuade them that your product/service addresses their pain points or serves their needs. This requires effective calls-to-action. It is at this stage of the buying process where you truly generate “leads.” Lead generating campaigns build awareness but they go a step further by encouraging prospects to engage with and respond to your key messages.

Information Search/Evaluation
After prospects decide they need a particular solution, they begin to gather information – often doing so online. The Internet dramatically improves your buyers’ ability to find information and alternatives. HRmarketer’s research confirms that HR decision makers turn to the Internet first when beginning their information searches. Visibility and credibility, therefore, are absolutely essential. The more you are present online and the stronger your reputation as a thought leader, the better you will fair at this stage.

Purchase
When your prospect has decided what alternative they will go with – because it offers the best-perceived combination of goal achievement and minimization of risk – they buy. Be sure to make the purchase (and implementation!) of your solution as seamless as possible.

Post-Purchase Evaluation
The final phase of the buying process is the customer’s evaluation of whether a purchase accomplished its objective. This ultimately determines whether they become advocates of your brand. Remember, their satisfaction is based on perceived results relative to their expectations. Although you don’t have direct control over the post-purchase evaluation, you DO have control over the critical elements affecting it. Smooth implementation, timely sales follow-ups, and effective account service all have a tremendous positive impact on the post-purchase evaluation. The more attentive you remain after the sale is made, the more favorable the review is likely to be.

The Clogged Artery Effect
You cannot force people to change their behavior and quickly jump from awareness to purchase. But you can facilitate behavior change by building awareness, informing and educating, and establishing trust and credibility. This leads to meaningful conversations and, eventually, sales.

Most marketing fails because of bottlenecks that occur along the purchasing process.

We call this the “clogged artery” effect.

And most bottlenecks occur for one of two reasons:

1. Inadequate funding of marketing tactics that support the flow of buyers along the buying process or;
2. Poor marketing / sales processes (e.g., insufficient or non-existent lead nurturing programs).

Fortunately, you have complete control over these.

To learn more download the full eBook (no registration required - just grab the PDF).

B2B and B2C Buyers. Different Animals.

In a recent blog post we announced the availability of our latest eBook, The Right Mix: A B2B Marketing Allocation Guide. The 55-page eBook takes a close look at the classic buying process (Awareness | Interest | Information Search & Evaluation | Purchase |Post Purchase Evaluation) and the role that each marketing tactic plays in moving prospects along this continuum.

For those of have provided such wonderful feedback on the eBook - via email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs and of course, the telephone - thanks! The eBook is certainly interesting and will force you to look at your marketing "spend" in entirely new ways.

But we realize not everyone has time to read a 55-page e-Book. So we decided to carve out some key sections of the e-Book and turn them into a series of blog posts. This post looks at the key differences between B2C and B2B marketing.

To effectively market to human resource professionals, HR vendors must understand the differences between B2B and B2C buyers. Most marketing literature is focused on B2C; unfortunately, many of the principles covered by this literature simply don’t apply to B2B marketing.

B2B buyers are not spending their money on watches they don’t need. And no HR executive I know is going to go online to purchase a six-figure talent acquisition or HR Technology system because of a funny promotional video or a 25% off coupon.

Not gonna happen.

B2B buyers are spending their "company's" money more carefully than ever. Each purchase must solve a real business problem. In many cases, the dollars at stake are so precious that a poor purchase can be a career-ending event. As a result, business buyers use more rational thought when making purchasing decisions. They’re motivated by saving money, increasing productivity, reducing risk, or raising profitability rather than by desire, style and prestige.

This is not to say that a professionally developed brand is not important for a B2B business.

It is.

But putting excessive marketing dollars into building brand awareness does not guarantee success in B2B.

Although the goal of B2B marketing is to convert prospects into customers, the process is longer and more involved. For instance, once a lead is generated, B2B marketers need to focus on marketing tactics that foster relationships and nurture prospects throughout the buying process.

Sometimes marketers must engage with multiple influencers across a variety of departments like IT or Finance. Other times marketers need to “educate” prospects who might not fully understand what they’re buying. Each marketing challenge is a separate touch point in the long, integrated process of the sales cycle.

And unlike the B2C market, most B2B companies - no matter how hard they try, how great their product is or how charismatic their CEO is - won’t ever secure widespread national media exposure no matter how creative their marketing and PR. And outspending the competition doesn’t guarantee profitable awareness.

Bottom line: B2B and B2C marketing are different animals.

In our next post in this series, "The B2B Buying Process: Unclog Those Arteries!" we'll expand on each phase of the buying process and why most HR vendors get stuck on awareness and interest and fail to move prospects to evaluation and purchase.

If you can't wait, download the full eBook now.

Post by HRmarketer CEO Mark Willaman. Join Mark on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Quality HR Content Rules with Google Search Changes. Thank You Google!

Since 2004, this blog has made numerous posts about the important role that quality content (e.g., white papers, e-books, articles, research, etc.) plays in marketing. In October we posted "Content is Still King. Honor Thou King" where we discussed several studies validating that content is a critical component to human resource marketing efforts.

Hundreds of HRmarketer customers can validate how content marketing delivers measurable results (and how effective the HRmarketer.com software is at marketing the HR content).

It's a no brainer.

But not all content is created (or ranked) equally.

At least not on Google anymore.

In May we wrote a critical blog post about "content farms" in response to Yahoo's acquisition of Associated Content (Yahoo Gives Up $100M for More Ad Bait aka Associated Content).

In this post we wrote:

"We think producing great non promotional content is a key marketing and PR strategy for HR vendors. Content can be used to establish an HR vendor as a thought leader in the human resources marketplace, leading to increased online visibility and sales leads. But putting bad content out there just for the sake of generating leads almost always fails - fool me once shame on you; fool me twice shame on me."

So it was with great pleasure we read that Google changed their search engine to favor quality content.

I did a few quick searches this morning and was very pleased to see HRmarketer's already high rankings for our HR Directory, HR Whitepapers and HR Content Library gained even more strength as a result of the Google changes. Cool - quality content works and is valued.

As a result of Google's changes, quality content - and content marketing - will become increasingly more important in the next year for B2B companies like human resource vendors – especially content that engages users and gets them to share it via social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.).

Don't miss out.

And for some quality content on this subject visit our HR Content Library. And don't forget to download and read our latest e-book, The Right Mix: A B2B Marketing Allocation Guide.