Extending the Life Cycle of Your Organization’s
Services Marketing and Business Development Activities

by William K. Pollock

Reverse Logistics Magazine, Edition 15

There are two humbling truths of which all good services marketing managers are aware:

• One, just because the organization offers a comprehensive suite of service products does not necessarily mean that the market will beat a path to its door; and
• Two, if it tries to market its services solely through a series of individual, “one-off” marketing and promotional “events” it will end up spending a great deal of money, over a long period of time, for a largely ineffective effort.

That is why it is so critical to maximize the impact of every individual marketing, promotional and business development activity into a singular campaign that not only works today, but also sets the stage for supporting future campaigns and activities as well. However, the key to building an effective services marketing campaign is not only dependent on how much money the organization spends, but also on how well it leverages each of its otherwise individual marketing and promotional activities into a more cohesive and well-orchestrated marketing and promotional “package.”
For example, over the course of a year, many organizations conduct a large number of individual marketing and business development activities, typically including (Figure 1):

• Making sales calls, or using direct mail, e-mail or telesales to reach new market prospects;
• Advertising in targeted industry trade publications that reflect the targeted audience of potential services purchasers and/or influencers;
• Sending out press releases to announce new products or services, contract “wins,” strategic alliances, acquisitions, company appointments and other company-related news items;
• Exhibiting at industry trade shows, such as the Reverse Logistics Association’s Conferences and Expos;
• Writing articles for major industry trade publications (such as Reverse Logistics Magazine);
• Making speeches and/or case study presentations at key business and industry conferences;
• Conducting, or sponsoring webcasts on key issues relating to services;
• Sponsoring a services industry benchmark report; and
• Performing other marketing and business development related activities and events.

While each one of these activities, in isolation, is at least somewhat productive in getting the message out to a specific, targeted prospect base, the organization will likely not benefit from any cumulative marketing and promotional impact, or “punch,” that could be otherwise provided by a more formal and structured effort. Further, there would be no real longer-term residual marketing and promotional benefits likely to result from such a series of “one-off” activities. In other words, each of these individually conducted activities would have its own, fairly short, “shelf life” that, once the “event” is over, the message “dies” along with the event.

But, this doesn’t have to be the case.
If an organization’s principal marketing and promotional activity during the course of the year is exhibiting at the Reverse Logistics Association’s annual Conference and Expo and, perhaps, one or two other services-related trade shows, it would be a mistake to assume that by focusing 100% of its attention to these conference-related activities, it is going to set the services world “on fire.” While it is inarguable that the overall impact of the organization’s presence at these shows will be positive, there are still many other related pre- and post-conference activities that, if executed as part of a longer-term “campaign,” can significantly increase the overall outcomes of its participation.

For example, solely by exhibiting at the same one or two conferences year-after-year, the organization may find itself merely “networking” each year with the same individuals who had visited their booths the year before. Every year, many of these same visitors may stop back at the booth, so the organization can provide them with their annual “fix” of putting a “face” together with a “name,” handing out its new and slightly revised marketing collateral, and telling them one more time why its services are better than everybody else’s. This, even by itself, is by no means a bad thing, but it is essentially little more than annually “preaching to the same choir” with virtually the same materials.

However, by leveraging its schedule of trade show participation into a more broadly defined and aggressive “campaign” of marketing and promotional activities, the organization can substantially increase the impact of these former “one-off” activities. One way to accomplish this is to use the annual Conference and Expo as the “focal point” of a longer-term marketing and promotional effort.

As an example, instead of merely “appearing” each year at the scheduled shows, (i.e., manning the booth, presenting demos, and handing out marketing literature) the organization can easily turn its Conference appearances into a nearly year-long marketing and promotional “event” by executing the following complementary actions over an extended period of time:

Pre-Conference Complementary Activities

• Sending out pre-Conference notices, or “alerts,” to past Conference attendees, past booth visitors, customers, prospects and portions of the association’s membership base (via direct and/or via e-mail) to announce not only the next upcoming show, but future show appearances as well;
• Sending out press releases that combine the announcement of an upcoming conference appearance with the pre-announcement of a new service product, customer support capability, strategic partnership, contract “win,” etc. (i.e., with the “official” announcement to be made at the show);
• Sending out direct and/or e-mail “coupons” for customers/prospects to pick up (or download) a complementary copy of a relevant “white paper” or research report at the booth; and
• Others (such as continuing Conference promotion via company website announcements, press releases, special promotional events, etc.).

At-Conference Complementary Activities

• Making a pre-scheduled press announcement at the Conference (e.g., The Reverse Logistics Association often works with its exhibitors to arrange for a joint press release/news announcement to be made at its annual Conferences);
• Handing out copies of article reprints, executive reports, Benchmark Reports and other printed matter that contain more than just promotional materials; and
• General networking, and full Conference participation and involvement (e.g., Conference Sponsor Program, Reverse Logistics Magazine contributor/advertiser, etc.).
  
  

Post-Conference Complementary Activities

• Following up with booth visitors by sending them additional copies of articles, handouts, Benchmark Reports, etc. that may not have been available at the booth; and, similarly, sending non-attendees copies of the most relevant booth handouts that they would otherwise not have had an opportunity to pick up;
• Sending out advance notices/ “alerts” of the next series of upcoming shows and conferences where the organization will be exhibiting;
• Including the “tag lines” “Look for us at the Reverse Logistics Amsterdam Conference and Expo in June 2009” or “A Reverse Logistics Conference Exhibitor since 2005” in all of its printed marketing collateral as well as on the website; and
• Generally preparing to do it all over again for the next series of shows.

As you can imagine, there are many ways in which to transform a one-time Conference event into a three-, six- or even 12-month marketing and promotional “event.” The pre-Conference complementary activities can begin as early as three months prior to the show, and the post-Conference complementary activities can last up to a year or more. While the Conference itself may only last two or three days, there is no reason why the cumulative, long-term impact of your participation at the show should not last one year or more.

The same concept that extends the life cycle of an organization’s trade show appearances into a year-long marketing event also works equally well with other marketing and promotional activities, such as any of the complementary activities described above. Just like the answer to the age-old question of “which came first, the chicken or the egg?,” it does not really matter where you start – what matters is that you do it all together in a well-planned and highly integrated manner, and that you do not waste a marketing opportunity by forcing each individual activity to work by itself.

In services marketing and business development, there is definitely a positive cumulative impact gained by making all of your activities work together in getting the message out; “surrounding” the market with meaningful, and not just self-promotional material; and coordinating everything to benefit from as long an overall life cycle as possible. The most successful organizations are those that truly understand the value of making all of their marketing, promotional and business development activities work together in an orchestrated manner. They have already learned that the cost of “one-off” marketing and promotion is much too hard to either justify or sustain in today’s services economy.

William K. Pollock is Vice President -Principal Analyst at Aberdeen Group, the leading provider of fact-based research focused on the global technology driven value chain. Bill presently heads up Aberdeen’s Services Practice, with the prime responsibility of identifying and analyzing the cutting edge issues that drive the global services sector. Bill may be reached via e-mail at bill.pollock@aberdeen.com.