How to sell to marketing departments
I’ve been presenting to many new clients this year and I’ve been struck by how well the SEO parts of the proposals resonate with them. I meet with a variety of clients on a regular basis, and for the most part there is always someone from the marketing department there. In the past I’ve found it difficult to sell to marketing departments, but if I structure my presentation through the framework of SEO then the representative from marketing becomes a zealous advocate for my services. My usual advocates have been in either their IT or design department, never in marketing.
To sell to marketing departments, structure your presentations this way:
- Describe how you are going to the people to the site with SEO (appeals to marketers)
- Describe the graphic look and feel of the site (appeals to designers and marketers)
- Describe the platform and database choices (appeals to IT)
- Describe deliverables and scheduling (appeals to management)
- Describe customer loyalty efforts and provide partial recap of the sites SEO capabilities (appeals to marketers and management)
The marketing folks love it, and the technical and creative folks do not seem to mind the shift in emphasis from my usual selling point (technical proficiency) to search engine optimization. It’s the same product of course, but just with different points emphasized.
I recently discussed this with a friend. We came up with the notion that SEO functions as the perfect bridge between the technical aspects of marketing and the technical parts of building web sites. It’s the language both web developers and marketers can understand and value. In the past marketers have been delegated out of leadership roles in web projects. As of even a few years ago the marketing folks were there just to write the copy. Now they’re equal partners and SEO gives them a seat at the table. There has never been more of a chance to sell to marketing departments than the present time.
To recap, to sell to marketing departments, start and finish your presentations with mentions of search engine optimization. It will prove to the marketer that you not only are willing to speak their language (with a technical accent) but share their priorities.
Editor’s Note
This blog post originally appeared on the Profit Awareness Blog – as that app is up for sale, it has been consolidated into the main Digital Tool Factory blog.
Tags: Business
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Written By Steve French |
[…] And if you were interested in how to explain seo to clients, you will like this other post on how to sell to marketing departments. […]