Dear Sir [it's always a man, dontchakno?]

Thank you for asking me to comment on how I could help your company improve its business development, incoming leads pipeline and sales pipeline.

The following comments apply not just to you, but to a large nubmer of corporates whose websites have never been updated since launch.  Please don’t take it personally.

Website – this was a perfectly acceptable website for three or five years ago. Static, full of information, but never-changing and not seeking to engage in discussion with a visitor.

Although much of the content can be re-used, the marketing plan needs to be redesigned around moving the whole marketing communications from monologue to dialogue. Your current website talks AT the customer.  The new marketing mode is all about having a chat, a conversation and through that demonstrating your product, your expertise and your solution for their problem.

This theme of moving from monologue to dialogue runs through all the suggestions I would make for you.

So a short list of things to consider:

• Newsletter
• Blog
• Customer reviews
• Surveys / polls
• Forum
• Linked In page
• Podcast interviews
• Participation in groups relevant to your industry sectors – Ning, LinkedIn
• Participation in writing answers to questions relevant to your subject matter expertise – Linked In Answers, Yahoo Answers, Wikio

Take a look at this client website [insert here]. I spent some time working with them on their social media marketing and generating incoming leads for the sales team.

It is a simple site, but there are up to date news and events information, reviews, links to articles in other magazines. It could be improved – but there’s new content, dated and visible.  That helps with Google rankings, search engine optimisation for natural search and creating the impression that there are real people working at your company.

All of which, together, help to make your company visible on other peoples websites, indexed regularly by Google (makes your SEO findable) and participating or leading conversations that are pertinent to your niche area of expertise. You ‘hang out’ in places online where conversations start and where you can speak to show off your knowledge and product range.

B2B marketing hasn’t changed. It is still about being known, demonstrating expertise and connecting with the right people. What has changed is the way in which this is done online and how that integrates with your offline sales and marketing work.

I hope I haven’t frightened you off irretrievably, but please let’s talk.  But if we don’t, you can be sure I’ll be spending my time with an organisation that is so frightened of losing its market that it is prepared for a radical marketing and sales overhaul.

Lots of love

Becky

P.S. I meant it when I said not to take it personally.  You aren’t alone.  You arent’ even late to this party.  I suspect you aren’t even in the last 50% of organisations to make this change.  There is still time to be a winner.

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