The biggest target segment for marketers today isn’t GenX, GenY, or Baby Boomers; it’s small-business owners. While iPhone, YouTube and MySpace have dominated the front page of our front pages, the business section is filled with the efforts of large enterprises and startup companies alike to appeal to the vast small-and-midsize-business category, known as SMBs.
More than ever — and more than any other single business type — the SMB sector is producing a tremendously large and fast-growing impact on our economy. Large
The document debunks the myth that CIOs of SMBs are the primary decision makers for IT purchases. It summarizes that:
1) Most SMBs have fewer than 1,000 employees and lack dedicated CIO roles. IT decisions are made by generalists and department heads with influence over annual IT budgets of $800 billion worldwide.
2) IT purchases in small SMBs are influenced by friends and family, while medium and large SMBs rely on VARs, MSPs, and IT staff for recommendations and purchases.
3) To effectively market to SMBs, tech companies should engage IT professionals instead of solely targeting rare CIO roles, as these professionals have influence over or make
IBM Global Chief Marketing Officer Study - Oct 2011Tom Humbarger
These are the results of IBM's first-ever Global CMO Study that was issued in October 2011.
"More than 1,700 CMOs from 64 countries
spoke face to face with us for an hour. We believe it is the largest survey of its type ever conducted. It clearly speaks to a broad awareness of how our roles have evolved over the past decade."
More info at www.ibm.com/cmostudy
In an era of the disruption of traditional advertising and the ever growing digital media channels, brands have the opportunity to connect directly with their audiences online and through social media.
Advertisers are re-locating their budgets from traditional advertising to content media.
2012\'s Biggest Marketing Challenges and How to Overcome Themgregmgaffney
The document summarizes the findings of a study conducted by IBM that interviewed over 1,700 Chief Marketing Officers from around the world. The three main findings of the study are: 1) CMOs see delivering value to empowered customers, fostering lasting customer connections, and capturing value and measuring results as the three key areas for marketing to improve. 2) CMOs feel unprepared to handle the high levels of complexity they expect over the next five years, especially in managing data explosions, social media, proliferation of channels and devices, and shifting customer demographics. 3) Most CMOs are struggling to prove return on investment of their marketing activities and quantify their impact on the business.
IBM Retail | The future of the Consumer Products IndustryIBM Retail
The market dynamics for the Consumer Products industry are changing rapidly and drastically. Explosive population growth, increased urbanization, an evolving customer base, and global climate and natural resource issues are creating both significant opportunities and daunting challenges. Learn the 6 capabilities of a winning CP company in the 21st century.
The document summarizes the key findings of IBM's 2011 Global CMO Study, which involved interviews with over 1,700 CMOs from around the world. The study found that CMOs see four main challenges facing marketing: the explosion of data, social media, proliferation of new channels and devices, and shifting demographics. However, CMOs from high-performing companies address these challenges differently than others by focusing on customer intimacy, mining new digital data sources, and fostering relationships over just transactions. They also aim to develop a clear corporate character for their organization.
White paper can be downloaded in many languages at this link:
http://ibm.com/cmostudy
Agenda:
Introduction Swimming, treading water or drowning?
Chapter One Deliver value to empowered customers
Chapter Two Foster lasting connections
Chapter Three Capture value, measure results
The CMO Agenda Get fit for the future
The document summarizes the findings of a study conducted by IBM that interviewed over 1,700 chief marketing officers from around the world. The study found that CMOs see four main challenges ahead: dealing with the explosion of data, the rise of social media, the proliferation of new channels and devices, and shifting consumer demographics. However, CMOs feel underprepared to handle the impact of these changes, especially the data explosion and rise of social media. To succeed, CMOs will need to focus on understanding individual customers, fostering meaningful customer relationships, and quantifying the financial impact of their marketing efforts.
The document debunks the myth that CIOs of SMBs are the primary decision makers for IT purchases. It summarizes that:
1) Most SMBs have fewer than 1,000 employees and lack dedicated CIO roles. IT decisions are made by generalists and department heads with influence over annual IT budgets of $800 billion worldwide.
2) IT purchases in small SMBs are influenced by friends and family, while medium and large SMBs rely on VARs, MSPs, and IT staff for recommendations and purchases.
3) To effectively market to SMBs, tech companies should engage IT professionals instead of solely targeting rare CIO roles, as these professionals have influence over or make
IBM Global Chief Marketing Officer Study - Oct 2011Tom Humbarger
These are the results of IBM's first-ever Global CMO Study that was issued in October 2011.
"More than 1,700 CMOs from 64 countries
spoke face to face with us for an hour. We believe it is the largest survey of its type ever conducted. It clearly speaks to a broad awareness of how our roles have evolved over the past decade."
More info at www.ibm.com/cmostudy
In an era of the disruption of traditional advertising and the ever growing digital media channels, brands have the opportunity to connect directly with their audiences online and through social media.
Advertisers are re-locating their budgets from traditional advertising to content media.
2012\'s Biggest Marketing Challenges and How to Overcome Themgregmgaffney
The document summarizes the findings of a study conducted by IBM that interviewed over 1,700 Chief Marketing Officers from around the world. The three main findings of the study are: 1) CMOs see delivering value to empowered customers, fostering lasting customer connections, and capturing value and measuring results as the three key areas for marketing to improve. 2) CMOs feel unprepared to handle the high levels of complexity they expect over the next five years, especially in managing data explosions, social media, proliferation of channels and devices, and shifting customer demographics. 3) Most CMOs are struggling to prove return on investment of their marketing activities and quantify their impact on the business.
IBM Retail | The future of the Consumer Products IndustryIBM Retail
The market dynamics for the Consumer Products industry are changing rapidly and drastically. Explosive population growth, increased urbanization, an evolving customer base, and global climate and natural resource issues are creating both significant opportunities and daunting challenges. Learn the 6 capabilities of a winning CP company in the 21st century.
The document summarizes the key findings of IBM's 2011 Global CMO Study, which involved interviews with over 1,700 CMOs from around the world. The study found that CMOs see four main challenges facing marketing: the explosion of data, social media, proliferation of new channels and devices, and shifting demographics. However, CMOs from high-performing companies address these challenges differently than others by focusing on customer intimacy, mining new digital data sources, and fostering relationships over just transactions. They also aim to develop a clear corporate character for their organization.
White paper can be downloaded in many languages at this link:
http://ibm.com/cmostudy
Agenda:
Introduction Swimming, treading water or drowning?
Chapter One Deliver value to empowered customers
Chapter Two Foster lasting connections
Chapter Three Capture value, measure results
The CMO Agenda Get fit for the future
The document summarizes the findings of a study conducted by IBM that interviewed over 1,700 chief marketing officers from around the world. The study found that CMOs see four main challenges ahead: dealing with the explosion of data, the rise of social media, the proliferation of new channels and devices, and shifting consumer demographics. However, CMOs feel underprepared to handle the impact of these changes, especially the data explosion and rise of social media. To succeed, CMOs will need to focus on understanding individual customers, fostering meaningful customer relationships, and quantifying the financial impact of their marketing efforts.
This document discusses how telecommunications providers can become more customer-centric to gain a competitive advantage. It begins by noting the highly competitive nature of the telecom industry and pressure on providers from new entrants. It then discusses how most providers currently take a product-centric approach rather than being customer-centric. The document introduces the concept of calculating customer lifetime value to measure customer profitability and determine where to invest resources. It provides an example calculation of lifetime value for a triple play customer. Shifting to focus on customer performance and calculating lifetime value can help providers improve retention rates and revenue.
New Sourcing Strategies: The role of Outsourcing and Homeshoring in Contact C...EightyTwenty Insight
Are Mixed Model Operations an opportunity for contact centres to access skills,
capabilities and lower costs in harsh times? Or an overly complex solution which risks
damaging service and brand?
The challenges faced by organisations with large-scale contact centre operations have
recently become more acute and complex and the balance between cost containment
and customer needs has never been more difficult to achieve. Web 2.0 (consumer to
consume) behaviours will reduce the amount of contact and make the remaining quality
of interactions even more vital to customer retention. More radical thinking is required to
achieve this balance. The Contact Centre has to have Board level support and
organisations have to think more like their customers. Alternative Sourcing Models and
new technology (often hosted) will need to be embraced to keep pace.
Even the largest companies will benefit from partnering with external providers as
technology becomes the key driver of value and savings. Outsourcing, Shared Services
and Homeshoring pose less risk and offer real value and will continue to grow but
companies must get smarter about how to exploit them to their full potential. Sourcing
strategies need to be better thought through and become more sophisticated if these
alternative models are to be fully exploited.
This paper provides an informed and independent view on the evolution and value of Outsourcing and the Mixed Sourcing Model in contact centre operations, particularly in light of the current, urgent need to reduce costs and the rapidly changing consumer demands. It further highlights many of the current Contact Centre trends and issues, both strategic and operational, and focuses on the use of Alternative Service Delivery Models (ASDM’s) such as outsourcing and home-shoring in meeting these challenges.
Insights on How to Run a Credit Union: Blending new technologies with traditi...NAFCU Services Corporation
Hear from five thought leaders as they discuss the opportunities and obstacles facing the financial services industry today as it moves firmly into the digital age.Chris Swecker of Swecker Enterprises covers the current state of fraud in banking and explains how data can be used to mitigate it; Jim Goodnight, SAS CEO, explains how a high-performance banking technology framework can provide the next answer to key business questions; Jim Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of SAS, shares his insights on why understanding customers' needs will be critical to thriving in the current economic climate; Nobel Laureate Myron Scholes and Alastair Sim, Senior Director of Global Marketing at SAS, address past risk management techniques and how they should evolve. Learn more at http://www.nafcu.org/sas
The document discusses the importance of small businesses to the U.S. economy and wireless carriers. It notes that there are over 30 million small businesses in the U.S. that employ over half of American workers. Wireless technology has become crucial for small businesses to operate efficiently. The document outlines a plan for a wireless carrier to target small businesses by focusing on value through pricing and device options, network coverage and reliability, and community engagement.
The document discusses the importance of small businesses to the U.S. economy and wireless carriers. It notes that there are over 30 million small businesses in the U.S. that employ over half of American workers. Wireless technology has become crucial for small businesses to operate efficiently. The document outlines a plan for a wireless carrier to target small businesses by focusing on value through pricing and device options, network coverage and reliability, and community engagement.
In these days of brutal budget cuts, hard-won sales often come with a hefty price tag
attached. The cost of sale for a number of the top 100 financial technology companies
has escalated to up to 70% of all revenues and potentially well over 100% of new
revenues. E2W analyses the true impact of tighter budgets on traditional sales and
marketing strategies and asks how vendors can adapt their approach accordingly.
IBM Sametime 8.5.2 provides enhancements that support the evolution to social business. Social business leverages new forms of communication like social networking and builds trusted relationships to increase sales and brand advocacy. It also drives operational effectiveness by allowing faster responses to opportunities. Sametime is positioned as the real-time social platform to enable the asynchronous and real-time interactions required by social business. It provides simple unified access to presence, messaging, meetings and social connections. A case study shows how one organization drove innovation, cost control and growth through their social business collaboration platform.
This document discusses business models and business plans. It explains that a business plan is meant to convince investors, while a business model is a shared mental model that guides a business. The document outlines elements of a business model framework including vision, value proposition, market reach, activities and resources. It then describes an exercise for workshop participants to design business models for potential e-business opportunities.
The value of information systems to small and medium sized enterprisestHari Rajagopalan
This document summarizes a research study that examined the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) establish legitimacy and attract customers. The study conducted interviews with SME founders and potential customers to understand their perspectives on how ICT signals affect perceptions of firm legitimacy and purchase decisions. The results indicate that customers compare the ICT information provided in SME sales pitches to their expectations about appropriate technology use. Violations of these ICT expectations can negatively impact perceived legitimacy and the likelihood of a purchase. The study provides insights into how ICT can symbolize legitimacy from both the founder and customer viewpoints.
To avoid becoming a "dot-bomb", organizations must carefully evaluate their internet strategy by addressing key issues. They must consider how their brand, management, operations, and equity will be impacted. Specifically, they need to determine if their brand naturally extends online, if management has the needed skills, if systems can support online operations, and if outside capital is required. Organizations must also understand the strategic implications an online channel may have on their existing channels to avoid conflicts that can dissatisfy customers. Failure to properly evaluate these issues can lead organizations to pursue online initiatives without a sound strategy, wasting cash and losing shareholder support.
E Business Integration. Enabling the Real Time EnterpriseJohan Blomme
The document discusses the transition to the real-time enterprise and the importance of integration, collaboration, and personalization. It notes that businesses must replace industrial-age strategies with real-time processes based on information. To compete in the new economy, companies must focus on customer experiences and knowledge across the entire value chain. Real-time data integration and business intelligence are essential for enabling personalization, predictive analytics, and a proactive, customer-centric approach.
IBM - Delivering Performance Through Continuous Transformationrtawse
IBM has successfully transformed its business over the past decade through continuous transformation. While many of its peers have struggled in the economic downturn, IBM has increased its share value by 15% since 2008 by investing in new markets, acquisitions, and aggressively reducing costs. IBM embraced globalization, applied strategic initiatives across its portfolio, and established an operating model and culture that has allowed it to adapt while improving performance. Key elements of IBM's transformation included capturing higher-value business, investing for growth, shifting to a more productive operating model, and applying shared values and performance management.
Media transparency: are you getting enoughGLUE2020
1. The document discusses media transparency and rebates (known as Agency Volume Bonuses or AVBs) in the advertising industry. It notes the complexity of the current rebate system managed by agency holding groups and the lack of transparency it provides advertisers.
2. It provides an overview of how different advertisers react to the issue, from complete denial to demanding all rebates back. However, it notes the legal complexities regarding agency contracts and ownership of rebates.
3. The document proposes a 10-point action plan for advertisers to improve transparency, including clarifying agency roles, defining rebates, negotiating rebates centrally, and ensuring cash/value is returned and reported properly. The goal
Importance of High Availability for B2B e-CommerceSteve Keifer
This white paper explains how B2B e-Commerce technologies have become so critical to manufacturing and retail companies that further investment is required in high availability architectures.
There are four types of entrepreneurship:
1. Small business entrepreneurship which makes up the majority of businesses and employs half of non-government workers. These entrepreneurs focus on profitability and feeding their families rather than rapid growth.
2. Scalable startup entrepreneurship which aims to change the world through rapid growth and attracting venture capital. These make up a small percentage of businesses but attract most risk capital.
3. Large company entrepreneurship where established companies pursue disruptive innovation through acquisitions or internal development to respond to market changes, though culture makes this difficult.
4. Social entrepreneurship which solves social problems through products and services, with the goal of improving society rather than profit or market share.
The universe began about 14.4 billion years ago.
The Big Bang Theory states that, in the beginning, the universe was all in one place.
To know more, see the presentation.
This document provides an overview of business development and entrepreneurship basics presented by Tony Redpath and Allyson Hewitt of MaRS Discovery District. It discusses starting a business, including motivation, resources needed, and business model. It also covers types of organizations like consulting, services, and products. Additionally, it summarizes forms of financing including debt, equity, grants, and hybrid models. Finally, it discusses risks for startups and social ventures seeking financing or support.
There are many ways to classify entrepreneurs based on the type of business, stage of development, motivation, technology used, capital ownership, gender, age, area, and scale. Entrepreneurs can be business owners, traders, corporate managers, farmers, first or second generation business owners, purely profit-motivated or induced by incentives, technical or non-technical focused, private or state funded, operating at large, medium, small, or tiny scales, or focusing on spiritual, social, or educational missions. An entrepreneur organizes resources to establish and profitably operate a business venture, driving economic development through industrial growth.
The document summarizes the formation and early history of Earth and life:
1) Around 4.6 billion years ago, Earth formed from a cloud of dust and gas left over from the creation of the Sun.
2) Life first emerged around 3.8-2.5 billion years ago in the form of primitive microbes like cyanobacteria and archea.
3) The first soft-bodied animals appeared around 543 million years ago, marking the end of the Proterozoic Eon and the beginning of complex life on Earth.
This document discusses how telecommunications providers can become more customer-centric to gain a competitive advantage. It begins by noting the highly competitive nature of the telecom industry and pressure on providers from new entrants. It then discusses how most providers currently take a product-centric approach rather than being customer-centric. The document introduces the concept of calculating customer lifetime value to measure customer profitability and determine where to invest resources. It provides an example calculation of lifetime value for a triple play customer. Shifting to focus on customer performance and calculating lifetime value can help providers improve retention rates and revenue.
New Sourcing Strategies: The role of Outsourcing and Homeshoring in Contact C...EightyTwenty Insight
Are Mixed Model Operations an opportunity for contact centres to access skills,
capabilities and lower costs in harsh times? Or an overly complex solution which risks
damaging service and brand?
The challenges faced by organisations with large-scale contact centre operations have
recently become more acute and complex and the balance between cost containment
and customer needs has never been more difficult to achieve. Web 2.0 (consumer to
consume) behaviours will reduce the amount of contact and make the remaining quality
of interactions even more vital to customer retention. More radical thinking is required to
achieve this balance. The Contact Centre has to have Board level support and
organisations have to think more like their customers. Alternative Sourcing Models and
new technology (often hosted) will need to be embraced to keep pace.
Even the largest companies will benefit from partnering with external providers as
technology becomes the key driver of value and savings. Outsourcing, Shared Services
and Homeshoring pose less risk and offer real value and will continue to grow but
companies must get smarter about how to exploit them to their full potential. Sourcing
strategies need to be better thought through and become more sophisticated if these
alternative models are to be fully exploited.
This paper provides an informed and independent view on the evolution and value of Outsourcing and the Mixed Sourcing Model in contact centre operations, particularly in light of the current, urgent need to reduce costs and the rapidly changing consumer demands. It further highlights many of the current Contact Centre trends and issues, both strategic and operational, and focuses on the use of Alternative Service Delivery Models (ASDM’s) such as outsourcing and home-shoring in meeting these challenges.
Insights on How to Run a Credit Union: Blending new technologies with traditi...NAFCU Services Corporation
Hear from five thought leaders as they discuss the opportunities and obstacles facing the financial services industry today as it moves firmly into the digital age.Chris Swecker of Swecker Enterprises covers the current state of fraud in banking and explains how data can be used to mitigate it; Jim Goodnight, SAS CEO, explains how a high-performance banking technology framework can provide the next answer to key business questions; Jim Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of SAS, shares his insights on why understanding customers' needs will be critical to thriving in the current economic climate; Nobel Laureate Myron Scholes and Alastair Sim, Senior Director of Global Marketing at SAS, address past risk management techniques and how they should evolve. Learn more at http://www.nafcu.org/sas
The document discusses the importance of small businesses to the U.S. economy and wireless carriers. It notes that there are over 30 million small businesses in the U.S. that employ over half of American workers. Wireless technology has become crucial for small businesses to operate efficiently. The document outlines a plan for a wireless carrier to target small businesses by focusing on value through pricing and device options, network coverage and reliability, and community engagement.
The document discusses the importance of small businesses to the U.S. economy and wireless carriers. It notes that there are over 30 million small businesses in the U.S. that employ over half of American workers. Wireless technology has become crucial for small businesses to operate efficiently. The document outlines a plan for a wireless carrier to target small businesses by focusing on value through pricing and device options, network coverage and reliability, and community engagement.
In these days of brutal budget cuts, hard-won sales often come with a hefty price tag
attached. The cost of sale for a number of the top 100 financial technology companies
has escalated to up to 70% of all revenues and potentially well over 100% of new
revenues. E2W analyses the true impact of tighter budgets on traditional sales and
marketing strategies and asks how vendors can adapt their approach accordingly.
IBM Sametime 8.5.2 provides enhancements that support the evolution to social business. Social business leverages new forms of communication like social networking and builds trusted relationships to increase sales and brand advocacy. It also drives operational effectiveness by allowing faster responses to opportunities. Sametime is positioned as the real-time social platform to enable the asynchronous and real-time interactions required by social business. It provides simple unified access to presence, messaging, meetings and social connections. A case study shows how one organization drove innovation, cost control and growth through their social business collaboration platform.
This document discusses business models and business plans. It explains that a business plan is meant to convince investors, while a business model is a shared mental model that guides a business. The document outlines elements of a business model framework including vision, value proposition, market reach, activities and resources. It then describes an exercise for workshop participants to design business models for potential e-business opportunities.
The value of information systems to small and medium sized enterprisestHari Rajagopalan
This document summarizes a research study that examined the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) establish legitimacy and attract customers. The study conducted interviews with SME founders and potential customers to understand their perspectives on how ICT signals affect perceptions of firm legitimacy and purchase decisions. The results indicate that customers compare the ICT information provided in SME sales pitches to their expectations about appropriate technology use. Violations of these ICT expectations can negatively impact perceived legitimacy and the likelihood of a purchase. The study provides insights into how ICT can symbolize legitimacy from both the founder and customer viewpoints.
To avoid becoming a "dot-bomb", organizations must carefully evaluate their internet strategy by addressing key issues. They must consider how their brand, management, operations, and equity will be impacted. Specifically, they need to determine if their brand naturally extends online, if management has the needed skills, if systems can support online operations, and if outside capital is required. Organizations must also understand the strategic implications an online channel may have on their existing channels to avoid conflicts that can dissatisfy customers. Failure to properly evaluate these issues can lead organizations to pursue online initiatives without a sound strategy, wasting cash and losing shareholder support.
E Business Integration. Enabling the Real Time EnterpriseJohan Blomme
The document discusses the transition to the real-time enterprise and the importance of integration, collaboration, and personalization. It notes that businesses must replace industrial-age strategies with real-time processes based on information. To compete in the new economy, companies must focus on customer experiences and knowledge across the entire value chain. Real-time data integration and business intelligence are essential for enabling personalization, predictive analytics, and a proactive, customer-centric approach.
IBM - Delivering Performance Through Continuous Transformationrtawse
IBM has successfully transformed its business over the past decade through continuous transformation. While many of its peers have struggled in the economic downturn, IBM has increased its share value by 15% since 2008 by investing in new markets, acquisitions, and aggressively reducing costs. IBM embraced globalization, applied strategic initiatives across its portfolio, and established an operating model and culture that has allowed it to adapt while improving performance. Key elements of IBM's transformation included capturing higher-value business, investing for growth, shifting to a more productive operating model, and applying shared values and performance management.
Media transparency: are you getting enoughGLUE2020
1. The document discusses media transparency and rebates (known as Agency Volume Bonuses or AVBs) in the advertising industry. It notes the complexity of the current rebate system managed by agency holding groups and the lack of transparency it provides advertisers.
2. It provides an overview of how different advertisers react to the issue, from complete denial to demanding all rebates back. However, it notes the legal complexities regarding agency contracts and ownership of rebates.
3. The document proposes a 10-point action plan for advertisers to improve transparency, including clarifying agency roles, defining rebates, negotiating rebates centrally, and ensuring cash/value is returned and reported properly. The goal
Importance of High Availability for B2B e-CommerceSteve Keifer
This white paper explains how B2B e-Commerce technologies have become so critical to manufacturing and retail companies that further investment is required in high availability architectures.
There are four types of entrepreneurship:
1. Small business entrepreneurship which makes up the majority of businesses and employs half of non-government workers. These entrepreneurs focus on profitability and feeding their families rather than rapid growth.
2. Scalable startup entrepreneurship which aims to change the world through rapid growth and attracting venture capital. These make up a small percentage of businesses but attract most risk capital.
3. Large company entrepreneurship where established companies pursue disruptive innovation through acquisitions or internal development to respond to market changes, though culture makes this difficult.
4. Social entrepreneurship which solves social problems through products and services, with the goal of improving society rather than profit or market share.
The universe began about 14.4 billion years ago.
The Big Bang Theory states that, in the beginning, the universe was all in one place.
To know more, see the presentation.
This document provides an overview of business development and entrepreneurship basics presented by Tony Redpath and Allyson Hewitt of MaRS Discovery District. It discusses starting a business, including motivation, resources needed, and business model. It also covers types of organizations like consulting, services, and products. Additionally, it summarizes forms of financing including debt, equity, grants, and hybrid models. Finally, it discusses risks for startups and social ventures seeking financing or support.
There are many ways to classify entrepreneurs based on the type of business, stage of development, motivation, technology used, capital ownership, gender, age, area, and scale. Entrepreneurs can be business owners, traders, corporate managers, farmers, first or second generation business owners, purely profit-motivated or induced by incentives, technical or non-technical focused, private or state funded, operating at large, medium, small, or tiny scales, or focusing on spiritual, social, or educational missions. An entrepreneur organizes resources to establish and profitably operate a business venture, driving economic development through industrial growth.
The document summarizes the formation and early history of Earth and life:
1) Around 4.6 billion years ago, Earth formed from a cloud of dust and gas left over from the creation of the Sun.
2) Life first emerged around 3.8-2.5 billion years ago in the form of primitive microbes like cyanobacteria and archea.
3) The first soft-bodied animals appeared around 543 million years ago, marking the end of the Proterozoic Eon and the beginning of complex life on Earth.
Small and Medium Businesses feel the desperate need for adopting IT, yet no single vendor solution seems to serve their plight. Does this call for an entirely different service model?...
- IT will play a significant role in helping small and midsize businesses weather the economic downturn by helping them cut costs and improve productivity.
- A Microsoft survey of small business specialists found that over half expect the same or higher IT spending from SMBs in 2009, though many also expect lower spending levels. SMBs are focusing on reducing costs by cutting staff and IT expenses.
- Virtualization and server consolidation are seen as top cost-saving technologies, while cloud computing and mobile solutions are areas where SMBs' interest exceeds current investment levels. Security, productivity, and business intelligence tools also remain priorities.
- Small business specialists anticipate assisting SMB customers primarily by helping reduce costs. Areas like backup, virtual
The document outlines SMB Group's top 10 technology trends for SMBs in 2016. These include SMBs that connect business and technology seeing more success, more self-employed workers driving competition among business tools, and SMBs beginning to explore opportunities in IoT, cloud computing, mobile solutions, CRM, analytics, process automation, and new services from tech vendors using big data.
How Thinking Small Can Mean Big Things for Your BusinessFonality
This document discusses how online collaboration tools have empowered small and midsize businesses (SMBs) to compete against larger companies. It argues that SMBs can streamline their efforts and outpace rivals by choosing collaboration tools wisely from the many options available. However, challenges remain, such as collaboration tools being scattered and difficult to use, and companies being separated by geography. Unified communications solutions that combine features like email, conferencing and customer relationship management into a single interface can help SMBs overcome these challenges and collaborate more effectively at a lower cost. This allows SMBs to leverage their agility to outmaneuver larger but less nimble corporate competitors.
The economic downturn has been impacting companies' results for several years now. In this study, Magenta Advisory took a look at how digital business can help companies to get ahead of their competitors before the economy starts its rise again.
Cloud computing allows small and medium enterprises to access automation applications remotely, helping them streamline operations without heavy investments. This reduces costs and prevents attrition from impacting businesses. Custom software often fails for SMEs due to lack of understanding between users and developers, but cloud-based SAAS applications follow standard procedures and can be implemented quickly. SAAS is beneficial for both businesses and software companies. Social media marketing is also an important strategy for SMEs, but requires careful planning to build communities and share original content, rather than directly selling products.
The document debunks the myth that CIOs of SMBs are the primary decision makers for IT purchases. It summarizes that:
1) Most SMBs have fewer than 1,000 employees and lack dedicated CIO roles. IT decisions are made by generalists and staff within small IT departments.
2) Understanding the scale and needs of SMB segments (1-10 employees, 10-250, 250-500, 501-1000) is important for targeting marketing correctly.
3) Influencing IT staff who provide recommendations to management is key, as they can prevent vendors from reaching actual decision makers. Focusing solely on CIOs risks missing the majority of SMB opportunities.
How can today’s retailers keep costs low and maximise margins, but at the same time grow market share, find new customer touchpoints and create better customer experiences? It’s a huge challenge – but, as this white paper will show, recent shifts in technology are creating huge opportunities for retailers to achieve these goals.
Emerging digital media—from social networks to mobile advertising—have brought us to a breakpoint in marketing communications. Marketers are no longer crafting only one-way brand messaging but also curating interactive conversations with consumers online. In this context, chief marketing officers realize that 50 years of marketing-management approaches must dramatically change. A new BCG study explores how companies are tackling the new marketing realities. There is no single organizational model, but patterns suggest how companies could strengthen their digital capabilities.
The document discusses how new digital media like social media, mobile advertising, online video, and digital displays are transforming marketing. It finds that marketers are increasingly shifting budgets to these new digital channels, though television still accounts for most spending. Successfully navigating this changing landscape requires marketers to improve internal digital capabilities, make thoughtful spending tradeoffs across channels, and take an experimental approach to building strategies.
The marketing landscape is undergoing significant changes due to new digital media such as social media, mobile advertising, and online video. This has increased the complexity marketers face in planning campaigns and allocating budgets across various channels. Most marketing executives expect to increase spending on digital media in the coming years but television will still receive a majority of spending. Successful companies will build strong internal digital capabilities while maintaining flexibility to adapt to ongoing changes in the industry.
The marketing landscape is undergoing significant changes due to new digital media such as social media, mobile advertising, and online video. This has increased the complexity facing chief marketing officers and requires a new approach to marketing. Most companies plan to increase their spending on digital media over the next few years while still relying on traditional television. However, successfully navigating this new environment will depend on building strong internal capabilities and experimenting with different strategies.
The CMO Imperative - Tackling New Digital RealitiesBoris Loukanov
The document discusses how new digital media like social media, mobile advertising, online video, and tablets are transforming marketing. It finds that marketers are increasingly shifting budgets to digital while still relying heavily on television. Building capabilities for digital requires planning budgets, developing internal skills, making outsourcing decisions, and navigating agency relationships. There are no perfect answers but an emphasis on flexibility and experimentation is important for adapting to ongoing changes in the marketing landscape.
The marketing landscape is undergoing significant changes due to new digital media such as social media, mobile advertising, and online video. This has increased the complexity facing chief marketing officers and overwhelmed traditional marketing approaches. Marketers now need to focus on transparency, authenticity, and engagement through interactive communications. As a result, companies are reshaping their budgets and building new digital capabilities. Determining the right approach requires experimenting with digital strategies and maintaining flexibility.
The document discusses how mid-sized companies can use data to compete with digital giants. It provides the example of a fictional furniture retailer, Edison's, that was struggling during the pandemic. Edison's analyzed its customer and sales data to identify profitable versus unprofitable customers. It realigned its resources and customer service around retaining and attracting profitable customers. As a result, Edison's profits increased significantly. The document concludes that mid-sized companies can leverage their unique strengths, collect and analyze customer data, and implement data-driven strategies to compete effectively even against large digital competitors.
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Small is big: The big differences in marketing to smaller businesses
1. Small
big
is
The big differences in marketing to smaller businesses
2. T
he biggest target segment for marketers today isn’t or fewer employees, and only 0.3 percent of U.S. companies More than ever...the SMB sector
GenX, GenY, or Baby Boomers; it’s small-business have 500 or more, although the latter category accounts for half
owners. While iPhone, YouTube and MySpace have
dominated the front page of our front pages, the
of all employment. SMBs clearly are a prime market for both
enterprises and entrepreneurs, with firms having fewer than
is producing a tremendously large
and fast-growing
impact
business section is filled with the efforts of large enterprises 100 employees accounting for more than $1.3 trillion in annual
and startup companies alike to appeal to the vast small-and- payrolls. Sangeev Agrawal, an analyst from AMI Partners, which
midsize-business category, known as SMBs. provides strategic consulting to SMBs, affirmed to Airfoil Public
More than ever — and more than any other single business Relations, “Small and medium businesses are growing more
type — the SMB sector is producing a tremendously large and than enterprises now. The interest of all the (IT) vendors in SMBs
fast-growing impact on our economy. Large companies have has increased, and even smaller vendors are focusing a good
grown by strategically adopting and shaping technology as well amount on SMBs compared to five or even three years ago.”
as globalizing their supply chain. These same factors, however,
have promoted the success of small businesses, as well. Big businesses begin to think small on our economy.
Innovators today have easy access to the technology tools Recognition has dawned in the business world that, not only
they need to transform bright ideas into brilliant products the needs of SMBs, but also the way they learn about new
and services. Moreover, even a tiny group of garage-based products, the way they make decisions, and the way they
engineers, creative professionals or consultants can compete operate their businesses, are very different from the concerns
globally on a level playing field with their largest competitors of large enterprises.
— often at a fraction of the overhead cost. As a result, large companies — and SMBs themselves —
Small businesses long have been the primary source of new have begun building products and services that fit the specific
jobs in America, contributing about 50 percent of the nation’s needs of small businesses, especially in the technology arena.
gross domestic product, according to the Small Business Admin- • Microsoft’s Small Business Server brings together the
istration. Innovation has its foundation in small companies, and specific functions that SMB owners need to work from both
entire supply chains of SMBs spring up when an innovation takes their offices and their homes.
root. According to a report from Georgetown University Adjunct • A new Microsoft IP-based office phone system, called
Professor Derek Leebaert, small businesses produce 13 to 14 Response Point, was created to allow small businesses to
times more patents per employee than do large firms. call anyone by pushing a single button and using voice-recog-
The surprising news is that, while many SMBs do continue nition technology, and to add phones to a system with just a
to flourish and impact the economy as they become increas- few mouse clicks.
ingly larger organizations, data from the U.S. Census Bureau • PayPal’s Website Payments Pro enables SMBs to accept
indicate that it’s the smallest of the small businesses — online payments in a secure fashion and at an appealing cost.
sometimes referred to as “micro businesses” — that may be • Best Buy has developed a specialized unit called Best Buy
the most influential within America’s grassroots. for Business that targets the particular equipment, network-
Only 10.7 percent of all firms in the United States have 20 ing and software needs of SMBs.
2 3
3. • Dell has dedicated a section of its e-commerce site to small Advertiser, Hawaii’s largest paper. The Wall Street Journal, previ-
businesses, offering computers, servers and other equip- ously the exclusive icon of large, public companies, now publish-
ment that are most appropriate for the requirements and es not only a small business section but also the Startup Journal,
budgets of smaller companies. a massive Web site with advice and news for entrepreneurs.
• YouSendIt.com has created an innovative way to deliver The journalists who cover small business in these types of
SMBs no longer are simply part extremely large files (up to 2 GB) online in just minutes, and
it’s targeting business professionals (such as architects,
publications see a number of ways that the concerns of SMB
owners differ from those of large corporations. Marton Dunai, a
marketing
of the overall
graphic designers, media producers and others) who operate small-business reporter for California’s Contra Costa Times, notes
in an SMB environment. the implications of these differences recently in discussions with
• OnForce.com allows SMBs across America to find, evaluate Airfoil. Dunai asserts that small businesses are more sensitive to
and hire IT technicians in their own localities to install, upgrade price than are larger firms, but they also favor suppliers in their
and repair office-based technology. own geographic area, “both to better communicate and to better
Increasingly, large companies now are creating a small-busi- be able to fix things that go wrong.” They often will choose a
ness segment within their marketing channels, spending dedicat- supplier who already knows their business, rather than one with a
pie but, rather, a prized ed public relations and marketing dollars to focus on the needs of
small businesses. SMBs no longer are simply part of the overall
better overall offer, Dunai says. As a result, marketers who focus
their communications on proximity and length of service to clients
slice of the marketplace. marketing pie but, rather, a prized slice of the marketplace. may fare better than those who simply promote low prices.
Furthermore, according to Dunai, “mass marketing doesn’t
New attention from news media work all that well” with SMBs. He advises that vendors carefully
The same type of evolving attitude toward SMBs applies to consider the local market and competitors. “‘Know thy market’ is
publishers of leading newspapers and magazines. No longer much more important with small businesses, and consequently
is small-business news simply sprinkled across the business to anyone doing business with them, than in the corporate
page. The growing importance of SMBs to the economy is world,” he says.
reflected by the fact that many print outlets have begun writing Dunai’s warning against mass marketing is supported from a
separate sections devoted to small business, with reporters media perspective by Airfoil Senior Vice President Tracey Parry,
covering the small-business beat as a specialty. who suggests there really is no clearly defined list of the top ten
The old gray lady, housed in the global center of big business, publications read by small-business executives. Rather, they
The New York Times, recently added a small-business section gain most of their information from vertical trade media and
on its Web site, covering topics such as management, innova- peer references.
tion, entrepreneurship, careers and legal matters. It carries “Our anecdotal research, as well as a considerable amount of
entrepreneurial news from Inc.com, tips from AllBusiness.com, primary research, shows that SMBs look to other businesses in
and its own advice on starting and running a small business, their industry as a key source of information,” Parry says, “and
among other features. the best vehicle for that resource is trade magazines. Further-
USA Today runs an extensive small-business section in its more, editors and thought leaders within those magazines are
online edition, as do The Boston Globe and even The Honolulu defining the news in their industry for the general media.”
4 5
4. Parry notes, as well, that the Web sites for trade magazines general manager of the small business unit of San Mateo,
are becoming more robust and that industry-specific bloggers California-based SuccessFactors, notes that the majority of
are gaining greater credibility. small businesses want the same functionality and processes in
their operations as larger businesses have, but they don’t have
Where small businesses seek advice the funds to buy them.
Trade media are one resource for small businesses trying to “Any company marketing to small and midsize businesses
resolve their “pain points.” Others were highlighted by secondary should avoid trying to push stripped-down versions of enter-
research compiled by Airfoil from the Small Business Admin- prise-size products and services, where reduced functionality
istration and other sources. This data indicate 52 percent of is apparent,” Davenport says. “Instead, they should define and
small-and-midsize-business owners turns to individual mentors develop small-business versions that meet the specific needs
for advice, while nearly an equal proportion, 51 percent, relies on of smaller-business people. This is what Microsoft has done
social networks.
Entrepreneur magazine Editorial Director Rieva Lesonsky
with its Small Business Server. It’s what American Express has
done in negotiating discounted airfares for small businesses
SMBs...want to compete
asserts that the three top ways that small businesses get
information about technology are word of mouth, magazines
that don’t have the sway of larger corporations. It’s what we
do at SuccessFactors in hosting a special package of perfor-
on a par with larger
and the Internet. She was surprised to discover, in fact, that a
lot of word of mouth comes from college alumni associations
mance and compensation software for small companies that
want the HR capabilities of larger firms but can only afford to
enterprises and work to
do so based on their
innovations.
to which these entrepreneurs belong. spend a few dollars per employee on these resources.”
Trade associations are another important related resource, On the other hand, eCommerce Best Practices Editor Scott
with 44 percent of SMBs seeking advice from these groups. Koegler remarks, “Small businesses have discretionary income
Even more important are such trusted advisors as family to spend without limitations.” They do not have a purchasing
members, accountants, lawyers and peers. department to hold them to a purchasing policy, he points out,
In fact, “trust” is the common thread that SMBs hang on to “so they are open to influence, which may be good or bad.”
with all these sources — word of mouth from friends, college
groups, their own industries’ specialists and advisers who have Advice from Airfoil’s SMB practice
proven to be reliable in the past. The extensive experience of Airfoil Public Relations in marketing
Therefore, marketing to these trusted sources — professional to SMBs, both on behalf of large enterprises and for offerings of
advisors, industry trades, associations and the like — may other small companies, has generated a number of observations
prove to be an effective strategy to gain their endorsement for and best practices for working with an SMB customer base and
products or services. the media that cover these companies. These tips from Airfoil’s
SMB practice group provide a framework for building a market-
Dealing with small-business owners ing effort to the small-and-midsize-business sector.
Those who want to market directly to SMBs should keep SMBs do not want to be viewed as startups or small
several points foremost in their thinking when designing their businesses. Rather, they want to compete on a par with larger
offerings and approaching the SMB owner. Shelly Davenport, enterprises and work to do so based on their innovations.
6 7
5. They are great fans of e-commerce because, online, they can tion. Airfoil has found the most important ongoing pain points
Brand trust grows with
compete as equals with anyone, anywhere.
One of the most significant differences between small and
for SMBs are finding new customers, increasing revenue and
reducing operating costs — similar to the problems of busi-
familiarity and hands-on
large businesses is the specialization of employees — or lack nesses of any size. But whereas these factors may impact the
thereof. Small businesses don’t have the luxury of sharply rate of growth of a larger company, they often determine the
message
A marketing limited job descriptions — each employee likely wears many
hats and badges. Therefore, SMBs have less flexibility regarding
very survival of an SMB.
SMBs want to avoid risk. They want reliability with guar-
what they can commit their attention and availability to. antees, transparent pricing, simplicity and strong customer
For example, small-business owners usually don’t have time to service. These points all should be part of any SMB message.
go to a conference for a day to try out new products or services; Don’t “dumb down” the message in an attempt to simplify it,
and if they have the time, they may not be able to afford the but rather tell SMB executives what the impact of your
travel expenses. So marketers should bring their offerings to offering will be and how you will make it easy for them to
to SMBs must be the SMB’s doorstep. That’s what Microsoft literally did with its adopt, use and maintain. “What’s in it for me” should be the
Microsoft Across America program, in which a dozen trucks were target message.
straightforward, identifying outfitted with the latest Office applications and operating systems
for SMBs. The trucks then went to sites in cities throughout the
Focus less on how a product or service works, but instead
describe how you will implement your offering for the customer.
a pain point and providing United States to allow SMB owners to try hands-on demonstra-
tions of a variety of software in just a few minutes’ time.
Services must be turnkey and easy to understand, learn and
deploy. SMBs aren’t interested in tools or instructions; they want
a direct solution. A related caution is to avoid promoting a product or service to
SMBs through special events. These businesses don’t have time
to know how you will carry out your solution for them.
Avoid “teasers” and other formats that require an SMB
to spend in the field. If you can’t bring your innovation to their owner to read a string of messages over a period of time.
desk in person, do so online, with Web-based guides to running Straightforward content is the most successful.
their businesses more effectively. Offer downloadable tips in Also avoid buzzwords, many of which emerge from the
the form of advice pages, or produce an e-newsletter that those ranks of large companies as a shorthand that SMBs neither
who provide you permission can pick up easily from their e-mail. understand nor care to learn.
Be certain to segment your customer base so you are Focus on the ROI. Small-business owners are very savvy in
presenting the most impactful message to the various sectors relation to spending, because every dollar they lay out for one
of your audience. Know your customers really well, understand product means they have less ability to invest in other areas.
what’s most important to them currently, and lead with the So they weigh the return on their investments carefully.
product or service feature that resolves the SMB owner’s Customer testimonials should be part of every communication
top-of-mind issues. program aimed at SMBs, demonstrating how a local business
SMB owners don’t have a lot of time to wade through in the target market is benefiting from the product or service.
marketing materials and convoluted arguments. A market- “Customers are your greatest communication asset,” Parry
ing message to SMBs must be simple and straightforward, declares. “Recruit them in advance of approaching the media
identifying a problem or pain point and providing a direct solu- and your market.”
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6. Media aspects of targeting SMBs Industry analysts can be important to success in marketing to
A story in The Wall
Media play an important role in serving as a conduit, filter
and interpreter for reaching SMBs, and media sources can be
SMBs, but in a more indirect fashion than for large enterprises.
When an analyst mentions a product or service in an analyst Street Journal is
reaching
crucial to a company’s marketing success. Awareness generated
through media coverage, for instance, can provide a substantial
report, those comments often are picked up by major media,
leading to broad news coverage that can persuade regional less effective in
boost to a local or regional direct-marketing program and to and trade media to enhance their own coverage of the offering.
networking with local groups. In this way, analyst support can build advocacy for a product
SMBs rely more than large businesses on traditional types without the target audience’s having read the report firsthand.
of media outlets — newspapers, radio and TV, along with the The Web site of the SMB can play an important role as its own
Web sites for these media. Generally, they don’t have time to media outlet as well as an e-commerce resource. Therefore,
sort through, find and read blogs, even though many blogs are services designed to support and mine information from that site
can generate interest across the SMB marketplace.
SMBs than is coverage in
interested in SMBs. It is important, however, for SMBs to have a
presence on community-directory portals that offer links to local
The point of sale
the local newspaper or on
products, services and companies.
A big story in The Wall Street Journal is far less effective in
reaching small businesses than is coverage in the company’s
In short, those who market to small businesses would be well
advised to answer the questions, “Why now?” and “What are
the early-morning TV news.
local newspaper or a story on the early-morning TV news. Since the implications of not buying now?” Remember that each
most SMBs are focused only on a regional market, regional media SMB owner must choose between buying a new product or
are more important to them than are large national publications. service and upgrading capital equipment, hiring additional
Moreover, most SMBs don’t have the budget required to invest in support, expanding facilities or in many cases, their own
obtaining national coverage in the first place. Nor are they likely to bonuses. Every investment, therefore, is weighed in terms
be able to generate the kind of news that would sustain national of cost versus increased capability.
coverage over time to elevate their marketplace presence. SMB owners are rarely interested in hearing about ease
AM radio is a hot medium for SMBs. Broadcast networks such of administration or other technical features. They simply want
as USA Radio, along with industry-specific programs that also to know why the product is important. Does it save a certain
are aired over the Web, are popular with SMBs because they amount of time, which they can translate to a given amount of
can become better educated about new products and services dollars? What’s the ROI?
without the time and expense involved in attending an event. Marketers must understand the immediate crisis or pain
Expert reviews of products rank higher for small-business point confronting the SMB owner. This may vary by geography
owners than do general user reviews, asserts Jupiter Research or business sector, but marketers must determine the top
analyst Sonal Gandhi. Just as the SMB owner calls on a issues that keep the owner awake at night, then focus on one
professional for evaluating his or her financial condition or of them, and communicate its value in dollars and sense terms.
legal obligations, he or she is looking for professional advice Thousands of companies are doing exactly that, which is
before buying a product or service. why small is big — and growing larger.
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