Full Sail Partners Blog | Marketing (5)

I recently sat down with Ken Higa, Marketing Director for the Atlanta office of Perkins + Will to learn more about how he approaches budgeting for marketing in professional services. As a trained architect with an MBA, and whose other roles have included Principal and Studio Director, Ken is a very savvy budgeting guy. This article summarizes our discussions related to the historical context of marketing AE services, establishing a more integrated approach to financial management and improving the firm’s ability to track returns on its investments with the help of tools like Deltek Vision.

Hebblethwaite: What was the context behind your interest in finding a better way to budget for marketing?

Higa:  I’ve always been intrigued with the relatively short history of marketing professional services. AIA’s 1909 Principals of Practice forbid architects from doing most familiar marketing activity as another form of “advertising.” No proposals, no job signs, no free work, basically just a firm name and number in the Yellow Pages. That changed in the early 1970’s when the Justice Department sued AIA for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act because of its structured fee schedule. The legal profession also had its own battle in Arizona claiming violations of free speech. Long story short, that got the ball rolling. Things are obviously very different today, and marketing is a very complex strategic function of the successful practice.

Hebblethwaite: Our tools are much better these days too, right?

Higa: Well, yes - both for delivering our work and managing business information. These business tools allow us to plan, manage and leverage our marketing activities more effectively – no matter how big or small the firm is. Embracing those tools is essential for running a successful practice today. Young entrepreneurial designers are recognizing this.

Hebblethwaite: You went back and got your MBA. What kinds of budgeting improvements were you looking for in the roles you’ve occupied?

Higa: The typical way accounting looks at expenses just didn’t tell the whole story. Knowing how much we spent on paperclips and printer ink can’t help me plan the strategic activities that will win work. Marketing costs live in lots of buckets – computers, supplies, vendor services – and it’s hard to fully analyze the return on those individual costs. Using a more activity-based approach allows us to take a more project-focused look at how we’re spending money and time. That project approach actually makes sense to most design principals – and it’s a known methodology in systems like Deltek Vision.

Hebblethwaite: What are some good starter “projects” using this type of approach?

Higa: Start with the premise that you’ll track what you REALLY want to measure. Pursuits/Opportunities will likely be a third or more of your budget. Photography is a common one for architects – the obvious expense of the service plus tracking your staff’s coordination time. Other common examples include conference attendance and public relations. Come up with good pneumonic naming conventions – most people can remember things like “BD” for business development, and it’s easy to pull that up on your timesheet.

Hebblethwaite: Are you able to use this approach for multiple business units or studios?

Higa: Absolutely. You should cross that project list against whatever your firm’s meaningful groups are: Offices, Profit Centers, Studios, Practice Area. These marketing projects then can be used to track real time and real expense just like your revenue-generating projects. That really enables you to get good snapshots for analyzing specific marketing investments and determining their value, like the healthcare studio’s attendance at industry conferences during the past year.

Hebblethwaite: How did you go about convincing your leadership to change the budgeting approach?

Higa: They knew this process would help identify where the real value was (or wasn’t) in certain marketing activities – and educate the staff about the cost implications. They also liked taking accountability for marketing activities to the individual timesheet level. Each person can stop and think, “What marketing activity am I really doing right now?” This helps reduce the tendency for marketing to become a big bucket with a hole in the bottom. I also had to help them understand that we needed to collect data for a period of time before meaningful analysis would occur – that took about a year for us initially.

Hebblethwaite: How do you approach analyzing and sharing information that you’ve collected using activity-based budgeting?

Higa: After collecting data for a while, showing people meaningful information really wasn’t that difficult. I would regularly hear from other principals, “Wow, you know all this stuff?” It helps them realize the cost of their efforts and decisions in a non-threatening way. You have to be careful not to give people all the data all the time. Like any other important business communication, take stock of your audience and determine how they like to digest information. For some, a summary list of bullets is all you need; for others, the prettier the graphic the better. Human interpretation really helps others see meaning.

Hebblethwaite: This approach must need at least a conversational relationship with other departments. What do I do if that’s still an “opportunity” at my firm?

Higa: No question. None of this would be possible without partnerships with accounting, as well as your Deltek experts and firm leadership. One unifying goal is getting the budget in-line with your strategy and annual goals – that helps everyone. When people realize there’s both quantitative and qualitative meaning in this process, they quickly see how they can be involved and contribute. It’s really important to develop some one-on-one relationships to help move things forward. I approached our head Deltek Vision expert and showed him my ideas – he was thrilled and said, “Wow, a marketing person that understands Vision, that’s AWESOME!” Things went very smoothly after that, but someone had to make the first effort. Marketing professionals are typically good at that.

Hebblethwaite: Agreed! So what’s the big takeaway?

Higa: At the end of the day, we’re all people just trying to get our jobs done. Getting the team on the same page about mundane topics like cost analysis and budgeting really helps you focus on what’s important: the strategy you started with, understanding the facts, and making better decisions about future investments and initiatives. It’s a team sport and marketing professionals can be great coaches!

Ken Higa can be reached at Ken.Higa@perkinswill.com and Kevin Hebblethwaite can be reached at khebblethwaite@fullsailpartners.com.

Marketing is tough. Marketers are expected to be jacks of all trades:  Brand manager, technology expert,social butterfly and head collaborator. Yet at the end of the day marketing is often a thankless job. However, the fruits of our labors are often six degrees of separation removed from our actual efforts. We do not directly sell and there is no physical doo-dad at the end of the day that we can point to in order to justify our existence. Enter the world of ‘marketing analytics.’

What the heck are marketing analytics? Marketing analytics are the lifeblood of your efforts. You spend countless hours working on integrated marketing content – blogs, newsletters, infographics, proposals and much more! Yet at the end of the day can you honestly claim to understand the impact of these efforts? Marketing analytics are not only the indicators of our successes but the learning blocks of our mistakes.

Don’t fool yourself! Know what marketing analytics are worth tracking.

Like many things in life, we can often get caught focusing too much on the nice-pretty red herring rather than digging deep and identifying what truly matters. Metrics are no different! Marketers often get caught looking at superficial statistics rather than focusing in on metrics strengthen our business case. To better understand what kind of metrics you should focus on let’s identify the two main data types:

Vanity Metrics | these metrics often look good – and make you feel good – at first glance. Unfortunately, vanity metrics focus on pumping up our ego – not our business. I often equate these metrics to a high school popularity contest: All that matters is how many people sign my yearbook. But don’t be fooled, these metrics are not your friends. So what are some examples of these metrics?

• Total website visits
• Page views
• Number of subscribers or followers

As you can see, these metrics look good at first. But do they actually provide actionable data that allows you to drive your business case forward? The ambiguity of these analytics leaves your marketing efforts reactive rather than proactive.

Action Metrics | meaningful metrics are the bread and butter of your efforts. To be able to leverage marketing analytics to improve your marketing campaigns you must be able to understand the customer behavior represented by these metrics. Using the above high school analogy, these action metrics are representative of the number of people that invite you to their party. These metrics do not only want to know you – they want to hang out with you! Examples include:

• Site behaviors – what are people actually viewing and consuming on your website
• Who is converting; is there a common buyer persona?
• Customer acquisition costs

These metrics actually mean something to your business. They are not only indicative of your efforts, but reflective of your results.

How do we track marketing analytics?

So now that we understand what we want to track we must figure out how to track our desired marketing analytics. Luckily for you, there are hundreds of tools out there. Highlighted below are examples of each type of tool you will want to add to your marketing arsenal.

Content Management System (CMS) | a content management system will allow you to seamlessly optimize all of your integrated marketing efforts within your website. Gone are the days of fumbling with html and css codes. While in the day-to-day trenches of marketing you need the ability to quickly and easily access the living data regarding your marketing campaigns – and this is precisely what a CMS allows you to do.

Examples of CMS include:

• Act-On
• Hubspot
• Marketo

Whatever CMS you decide is right for you, make sure that it integrated with all of your other business systems and processes to provide you with maximum visibility.

Web Analytics Platform | integrating your website with a Web analytics platform is essential for taking the step from analytics-shmoe to analytics-pro. Yes, you already get analytics from your CMS. However, think of a CMS as fast food and a full Web analytics platform as a five-course meal. Your Web analytics platform is your go-to asset when you need the full meat and potatoes of reporting.

Examples of Web analytics platforms include:

• Google analytics
• Mixpanel
• Webtrends

Understanding a full Web analytics platform can be intimidating. Luckily you can often find free training. For example, Google offers a free analytics certification course that you can complete at your own leisure!

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System | what good are all of these marketing analytics if you can’t actually do anything with them? A CRM system will allow you to better understand your leads, holistically track your marketing campaigns and most importantly provide you with the tools needed to build meaningful relationships. Our CRM recommendation for professional services firms is Deltek Vision.

Go forth and spread your analytical marketing wings!

Gone are the days where you fear that your marketing efforts will be glossed over. You now have the tools and knowledge needed to go out and make something of your marketing campaigns! We hope that you take this new found knowledge and prove your resolve by becoming an analytical marketing guru!
 

Have you ever thought about all the information a firm collects on a daily basis? Think about it, every department is collecting information all the time. More importantly, information collected impacts your firm’s strategy and directly correlates to how successful you are at winning and retaining business. So what should your firm be doing with all of this information? The following five concepts answer this question and are the future of marketing for professional services firms. 

1.    Multiple Marketer Personality (MMP) – I disagree with the philosophy that being a jack of all trades is a bad thing. In today's world of marketing, your career depends on the fact that you must juggle multiple tasks at one time and that you can quickly grasp concepts that you may know nothing about. This complex role of the marketer requires us to have a disease called Multiple Marketer Personality (MMP).

How can you tell if you have MMP? One way to tell is your role requires you to understand, decipher and extract data. One of our past articles talks more about this specific requirement that identifies someone who is equally passionate about marketing and savvy with technology to become the Marketing Technologist. Other key symptoms indicative of MMP are understanding how HR, finance and operations impact marketing. Understanding strength and weakness of employee talents, how communication occurs between client and employee, and the ROI of marketing are critical to establishing a firm’s growth plan. A marketing strategy becomes a pipe dream, instead of a realistic strategy, without a good grasp of these areas.

2.    ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’ Says Your iPhone – Mobile is no longer what will happen, it is happening. Having mobile access will no longer be a nice to have, but a necessity. We actually collect and share an infinite amount of information on mobile devices and the cloud is changing the way we conduct business. Can you submit expense receipts or document a new opportunity with a client in real-time on your phone? More and more of our life is on a mobile device and computers are not always available. If your firm is not able to access information on-the-go, you will fall behind your competition. To learn more about mobile CRM, read “Mobile CRM: A Day in the Life of a Business Developer.”

3.    Fusion of Data Tools – What do you get when you have visibility into your entire organization? Inquiring professional service minds would wish to know. Marketing data is so spread out between Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems, website forms, email systems, accounting systems, project management system, etc. that having one place to report is nearly impossible. Moving into the future, firms need to make a conscious effort to connect these autonomous information systems. Marketing automation + ERP integration is the future. Marketing automation tools connect inbound marketing, outbound marketing emails, social scheduling, SEO and lead nurturing. Where ERP connects all business functions, from your Finance, Management Accounting, Project Management, Client Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resources, Inventory and Purchasing. Each can be very powerful alone, but together they become a powerhouse.

4.    Gathering Feedback that Impact Your Client – 65% of a company's business is from existing customers. This means that a happy client equals future revenue, but do you really know what your clients think of your firm? You should and you can. Client feedback tools are changing the way professional services firms manage their clients. Other industries have called them, Voice of the Customer (VOC), Client Experience Management (CEM), and Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM). But professional services firms have different needs and research has found that only 5% of them utilize a customer/client feedback system. Firms no longer have to wait until the end of a project to know that their client is unsatisfied. With client feedback tools, quick two-minute surveys are sent to clients during the life-cycle of the project. This allows your firm to proactively manage your client's expectations by knowing what makes the client happy and also identify things they would like to see changed. As addressed in this blog, “Using Project Feedback to Increase Profitability,” feedback is the key to stopping profitability loss during a project. 

5.    Sharing Firm Knowledge with Social Collaboration Tools – Are you working with a team and still sending out group emails? Stop! Social media changed how we communicate in our private life and it has changed how we communicate in business. Business collaboration tools are designed to ensure that teams work more effectively. No longer do you need to send a group email and worry that you left someone off. Business collaboration tools allow team members to share project related information on one site. They can also be integrated with other business tools, such as ERP and CRM systems, and Outlook. Since business collaboration tools are designed to be user-friendly, they are easy to implement and people are more likely use them. Additionally, business collaboration tools are not just for internal communication, but can also be shared with the client. Interested in how your firm can start utilizing social collaboration, this blog further highlighting the “5 Key Reasons Why Business Collaboration Tools are the Future.”
 
The future of marketing for professional services firms is based on the way we collect, share and use information. Is your firm taking the right steps to get ahead of the competition? Connect with us to discuss more about the future of your firm. 
 
*photo credit: http://www.business2community.com/  

The digital age has revolutionized every aspect of our lives. If you want to know something, simply search for the answer on the internet. Email and social media are now prevalent ways to communicate, and are becoming increasingly effective marketing channels. This revolution has changed how we conduct business. More importantly, the way we market our business evolves daily and has created a new role called the marketing technologist. 

The Impact of More Data

A Forrester Research study found that 96% of CMOs surveyed agreed that the pace of change in technology and marketing will continue to accelerate. As a result, firms cannot rely on mass marketing techniques that provide little return on investment. A wealth of information about your prospects and their level of interest is readily available with the right tools and knowledge. This modern marketing world is becoming more strategic and performance-driven. So with the rise of performance-driven marketing, marketing decisions are based on extremely accurate data. This new era of marketing has given birth to a new breed of marketing professionals known as marketing technologist.

What is Required of a Marketing Technologist?

A marketing technologist is a unique individual that is characterized as analytic and creative. They have a background that is a blend between information technology and marketing. Furthermore, a marketing technologist is the secret to staying ahead the technology curve and your competition. They know how to analyze the data collected from marketing campaigns to gain a deeper understanding of your customers. In fact, they can use this data to determine the level of interest of a potential lead to create a nurturing campaign that guides the lead through the business development process. In addition to creating content and evaluating campaign performance, marketing technologist are tech savvy and understand how new marketing technologies work. This increased ability to collect accurate data in near real-time is the direct result of the digital age and the advent of new technologies.

Why the Growing Demand of the Marketing Technologist

The marketing technology software industry is booming. International Data Corporation (IDC) recently reported that organizations worldwide will spend over $130 billion on software over the next five years for marketing departments alone. Today, having a website and a few social media accounts is the norm for business. Now there is a never ending sea of content management and marketing automation platforms that allows for all types of new creative ways to engage customers. More importantly, these platforms can be integrated with internal CRM solutions to increase marketing effectiveness by:

• Enabling lead nurturing before the sales team gets involved in the sales process.
• Gathering data about potential leads by tracking their web activities, browsing habits, and responses to marketing efforts.
• Prioritizing leads by scoring them based on their recorded activities and recognizing when a lead is ready to be engaged by the sales team.

As more technologies enter the marketplace, the demand for marketing technologist will grow.

The Future of the Marketing Technologist

Even though SHRM, the leading organization for human resources professionals, does not recognize “Marketing Technologist” as a job title, there are job postings on employment websites with similar job descriptions across the country. According to a recent study by Gartner analyst Laura McLellan, CMOs will be spend more on information technology than their counterpart CIOs by 2017. Marketing departments are spending more on technology than information technology departments - that is saying a lot about the future of marketing and is indicative of the future growth of the marketing technologist role. As companies invest more into their marketing technology, having a qualified individuals will be a requirement.

A current trend in many organizations is to closely align the marketing and technology departments to work together as a team. Not because they do not want to hire a marketing technologist, but rather the result of having a limited amount of people to choose from with experience in both marketing and information technology. The title of a recent article posted on Forbes, “The Rise of the Unicorns – Why Marketing Technologists will Rule Modern Marketing” supports this assertion and supports the real growth in the marketing technologist role.