Beth Albin Knabel Strategic Market Analysis
Account Management
Print, Digital, and Visual Communications
e -Portfolio
Summary Twenty-eight years of marketing and management experience in automotive manufacturing and automotive supplier chain, telecommunications, insurance, information systems, and hotels and hospitality—Ms. Knabel is well-practiced at assessing the needs, researching a solution, and producing cost-justified print, digital, and visual communications.
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Marketing Analysis and Brand Strategy Surveys Using the voice of the customer
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Market Plans
Adv
ert wil ise w l p e ros ll an per d oft you en
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Sales Channel Management
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Communications and Promotion Electronic Proposals Technical sell sheets Newsletters E-Marketing: paid search, banner ads, white papers Product brochure and video scripts
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Marketing Analysis and Brand Strategy
Market Surveys, Customer Hot Buttons, Keywords Brand Development
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Successful marketing starts with good data. Data informs decisions on product attributes, tone of advertising, message, media, and frequency of contact. Situation: Commercial real estate entrepreneur identified a business opportunity based upon a market trend and built a Web-based borrower/broker matching system for commercial loans. Marketing challenge: Client had a 3-word tag line that framed the mission of the company and the business model. Yet as a start-up, the business had no recognition in the market and needed a plan to differentiate themselves, get noticed, and grow quickly. Solution: A study of the competition and perceived competition, along with a survey of prospective brokers, shaped the product features, the marketing tools, the digital roll-out strategy, and dictated the type of messages for the integrated follow-up system. Quantitative data and verbatim responses from surveys were used to define the creative approach and the copy points for the print ads and e-mail messages, and to refine the keywords for search engine optimization and banner ads.
Situation: Office furniture dealer bid many jobs but captured less than the desired market share. A study of industry intelligence showed signs of an upturn in leasing and occupancy in the commercial office space market. This client wanted to be ready with innovations and strategic partnerships with architects and leasing companies to bring momentum to its furniture and outfitting business.
Marketing challenge: Client had ads and marketing materials heavily dependent on brand recognition and price discounting. Since office furniture is purchased or replaced infrequently, the slant and message of the ads didn’t answer the real concerns of the buyers nor did the campaign look any different than their competitors. Solution: A survey of prospects resulted in a compact list of concerns and frustrations with buying office furniture. Answers and offers based on these concerns became the basis for the marketing strategy, bundling of equipment and affiliated office furniture services, and delivery standards. Ads and sales scripts were written to defeat any sales objections before they were posed.
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2 Market Plans
Reporting
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Situation: Industry reformation and compliance to the Sarbannes-Oxley regulations broadened the market for an independent regional shredding company. Rather than rely on capturing the business of those ready to purchase right now, this firm needed a system to make sure sales remained steady for several years, and that repeat business and referrals were assured without undercutting price margins.
Analyzing Effectiveness, a visual plan Marketing challenge: Many businesses were now encumbered with the expense and liability of proper document disposal. Educating prospects on quality standards and who in the industry is trustworthy was the strategy applied to fill the sales funnel and keep the firm top-of-mind. Solution: Two simple marketing tracks were planned and marketing tools and scripts were written. In this case, technology was employed to manage costs and make sure marketing pieces were sent in a timely manner.
A simple return-on-investment chart was a helpful tool to understand and focus the efforts of the inside and outside sales force. Variables of lead count, close ratio and revenue were identified, benchmarked, and measured and produced performance insights.
Pre-market surveys indicated that this service firm needed more frequent contact with their prospects and referral partners, yet the marketing budget and staff was stretched thin. By pre-defining the messages, marketing materials, and by automating printing and distribution for the entire year, the firm gained economies of scale, consistent branding and increased their reach.
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Sales Channel Management
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Delivering Digitally Electronic Sales Funnel: Inquiry fulfillment and lead tracking in a worldwide organization had been inconsistent and difficult to track. Sales forecasting was additionally challenging because sales cycles varied from 90 days for services and supplies to 18-months for captial purchases and upgrades.
A sales dashboard system with modules for lead tracking and disbursement, proposal management, sales forecasting, and sales engineering was launched. Several parties had view of the information at the same time. Sales that did not close were also noted with codes so to infom the product development cycle. The ‘workbench’ was helpful to tie marketing efforts to revenue.
Directly
formance Matrix
Advertising Media Per
Data snapshot: When uncertain about which marketing initiative would yield the best results, a decision making matrix was built to analyze the advertising cost and return for each closed sale. Reasonable and conservative assumptions were applied so that net margins would be maintained. Actual yield was tracked each month using the same data matrix tool.
Data mining: This child daycare company had a dozen locations and several revenue centers in each center. Enrollment was reported each week as an aggregate number, but no finer analysis was available to forecast revenue shortfall from month-to-month. By combining all the revenue data in one spreadsheet and keeping month-over-month statistics against capacity, it became evident which units of the business needed managment oversight and which business units needed a more refined marketing focus. Center managers were then rewarded for referrals, retention and overall customer satisfaction.
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Marketing Communications and Promotions
Presentations to Convince Persuade
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HTML newsletters: E-mail marketing lists were compiled from list brokers and industry publications to sell memberships in the VEC network of lenders and buyers. To nurture prospects, a series of six e-mails were written and published in a html template that visually reinforced the company brand. Each e-mail had links to company Web pages and to short forms to request additional information. Reports from the e-mail server tracked delivery rate, open rate, links clicked, and dwell time.
Sales flyers: Often used at trade shows and as leave-behind collateral at cold calls, sales flyers make technical explanations more clear and reinforce product benefits.
Customer profiles: Written to answer the “who else uses your product� question, almost before it is posed. Nothing like a customer profile to reassure a prospective buyer.
Technical newsletters: Communicating technical milestones and project benchmarks to employees and suppliers each month was a challenge for two automotive supplier management teams. Not all employees had access to e-mail, so tabloid-sized newsletters worked well and were cost-effective.
Paid Search: From keywords identified in prospect surveys and organic searches, paid searches assured product visibility on the first page of search results. Both pay-per-click and paid guaranteed position were recommended for the commercial loan broker/borrower network.
Banner ads: Industry megasites sell banner ad space and promise minimum number of exposures based upon documented Web site visitors. Animated banners were developed and ran for several months on the commercial lender Web pages Scotsman Guide, and National Mortgage Broker magazine.
Free Downloads After clicking on the highlighted selection, the visitor was directed to a squeeze page (short informational page before the main Web site) to enter name and valid e-mail address to receive one of several free reports written for this industry.
Product brochure and video script: Expanded services for the financial systems division of Unisys were introduced at a user conference. A user testimonial video was the next tool needed for the product launch. Armed with knowledge acquired while writing the product brochure and prior experience producing industrial television, a videoscript was written with ease to transition interview scenes shot at the user conference with footage from various Unisys facilities and installations.
Corporate brochures: A specialized insurance company benefited from an elegantly executed corporate resume brochure to communicate its long history and capabilites. Marking its centennial year, the company relocated to new offices, and asked for an updated corporate identity package and corporate brochure. Stationary, business cards, sales folders, and building signage were also created in a 4 month timeframe.
236 Honey Tree Lane Lynchburg, Virginia 24502-4683
434•401•5466
knabelva@comcast.net