One of the most indispensable tools we use when planning, implementing, and optimizing promotional campaigns and sales systems is a ‘system map.'
Your promotional campaigns and sales systems function within the context of your ‘promotional infrastructure' — the campaigns, sales systems, software, marketing assets, website resources, social profiles, etc. that enable you to convert leads into customers.
We have defined three types of systems that are critical for an effective promotional infrastructure: Lead Generation Systems, Lead Incubation Systems, and Sales Systems.
Every product is different in terms of execution, but these are the key systems that every product should have in one form or another.
A system map is an essential tool for planning, implementing, and optimizing the systems of your promotional infrastructure.
Watch the video below to learn how to map your promotional infrastructure to accelerate growth and profit.
I've also assembled some FREE resources to help you map your own systems. Complete the form below the video to go straight to the download page.
FREE Resources to Help You Map Your Promotional Infrastructure
Complete the form below to get the free resources mentioned in the video…
- PDF of the slide deck used in the video
- System Map Templates
- MS PowerPoint Files including LinkedIN Lead Generation System Example, Prospect Incubator Example, Sales System Example, Blank / Empty Elements
- Tutorial Video Showing How to Edit and Use System Map Templates
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Video Transcript
Slide 1:
Welcome to Mapping Your Promotional Infrastructure — A Framework for Planning, Developing, and Optimizing The Systems You Use to Generate Leads and Convert Them to Customers
My Name is Doug Hudiburg, President and Chief Consultant at HMEi where we help companies develop and optimize their promotional infrastructure to drive growth.
Slide 2:
Let’s start with a bit of context. Today we are talking about your promotional infrastructure. This is the layer of your marketing operations that is responsible for turning leads into customers. In the methodology we developed for working with clients, which we call the Marketing Pathway Operating System (or MPaX for short), your promotional infrastructure is built upon your marketing foundation, which is supported by your business foundation.
The promotional infrastructure layer consists of sales systems, software, marketing assets, your website, social profiles, etc. — everything that enables you to convert leads into customers.
Promotional energy — such as ad campaigns, trade shows, social media, and traditional media to drive prospects into your promotional infrastructure where they are converted to customers.
But ‘conversion’ is not just a single event. Converting a lead into a customer is actually a sequence of multiple conversion events that happen as your lead moves through the buying process.
Slide 3:
In the MPaX system, we use these five statuses to track where a lead is in the sales buying: Suspect, Prospect, Investigator, Evaluator, and Customer.
A Suspect is someone who you think might have a need for your product based on your targeting criteria — such as they fit a certain demographic profile or use a certain keyword. The audience you select for a Facebook ad would be a good example of a group of suspects.
A prospect is someone who has shown interest in your product and who otherwise meets your qualification criteria. Prospects exist on a warmth spectrum from cold to hot based on their readiness to take action. Cold prospects might have a need for, and interest in, your product, but they are not ready to take action. Hot prospects are ready to take action now. Someone who clicks on your Facebook ad would be considered a prospect.
An investigator is a prospect who is actively looking for a solution. They are exploring, gathering information, and sorting out their options. Someone who opts-in for a free report might be considered an investigator.
An Evaluator is evaluating, or ‘trying on,’ your product to see if it will meet their needs. In some cases this is an actual hands-on product trial, but it can also be a virtual evaluation like, say, watching a software demo, or it can be a conceptual evaluation such as reading your sales copy or watching a sales video.
And finally a customer is someone who has purchased your product — this status is easy for most people to define.
Every product is different, of course, in terms of what behaviors, actions, or signals you might use to determine lead status, but these statuses can be adapted to any sales process.
Each change in status is a ‘conversion.’
Improving conversions at any point will help improve sales.
Improving conversion (even slightly) at ALL points generates a major improvement to the bottom line.
That’s why you want to be able to define, track, and optimize conversions between these statuses within your promotional infrastructure.
Slide 4:
Now let’s explore the systems that do the work of creating Customers.
We have defined three types of systems that are critical for an effective promotional infrastructure: Lead Generation Systems, Lead Incubation Systems, and Sales Systems. Again, every product is different in terms of execution, but these are the key systems that every product should have in one form or another.
Lead generation systems convert suspects to prospects. Hot prospects go straight into the sales system and cold prospects need to be incubated.
Prospect incubation systems convert cold prospects into hot prospects. The job of a prospect incubator is to follow-up with prospects to educate and inform them and to maintain contact and top-of-mind awareness so your offer is there when the prospects' needs become more urgent, or a higher priority, and they warm up.
Sales systems convert prospects into investigators, evaluators, and then customers.
Slide 5:
This is the first of three examples I want to share with you that illustrate how we go about mapping our promotional infrastructure systems. What we are looking at is a map of a lead generation system designed to connect with targeted Suspects on LinkedIN and then convert them to prospects.
This campaign targets chiropractic practice owners for a new medical device that treats posture-related neck pain. It is a new concept in therapy, so we know we will only be successful with the ‘early adopters’ within this suspect group.
In this campaign, we develop a target list and send a connection request to each of them. Those who accept are sent a thank you / welcome private message with no sales content at all. Then two days later we send a follow-up PM that pitches the main value proposition for the product and asks if they would like to hear more.
Prospects who respond positively receive a PM with more information and a link that takes them to the front page of the sales system. We also send an email with the same information.
If prospects do not take action, they receive follow-up messages and then are added to our Case of the Month Prospect Incubator, which I’ll cover next.
Slide 6:
This map shows the Case of the Month prospect incubator which is an automated email sequence that automatically delivers one case study every 30 days. The case studies illustrate the dramatic results that can be achieved with the product.
We also intersperse a few direct sales emails that describe key features of the product and invite the prospect to learn more. All messages include a call-to-action and link to the front page of the sales system.
The goal is to educate prospects about the product, build trust and familiarity, and maintain contact with prospects over time so that we will be there when they warm up and are ready to take action.
Slide 7:
The final example is a map of the sales system for the same product. On the left we have purple boxes representing promotional energy driving prospects to the front page of the sales system. The two previous example systems we looked at are highlighted, and you can see that we have other traffic sources represented as well. At this stage, the lead status is ‘suspect.’
When suspects click the ad or email link to visit the Information & Offer page, we consider them prospects. If they complete the form on that page to register and receive more information, they become Investigators.
From there, they can either purchase an evaluation kit, or book a demo. If they purchase the kit, they become an evaluator. The gray boxes represent inside sales activities which include sales demos and customer training.
We also have two specific email sequences that are used for follow-up with unconverted investigators and evaluators.
Finally, evaluators are converted to customers when they place their first order for the standard product.
We find these concepts and these kinds of system maps to be indispensable for our projects. It’s extremely helpful in the planning stage, during development and implementation when you are often trying to communicate with multiple team members, and for conversion tracking & optimization. We know exactly where our conversion points are and we can track the status of all leads in our CRM.
I highly recommend you give it a try. Map your own promotional infrastructure and I guarantee you will love the clarity and efficiency it brings to your promotional efforts.
Slide 8:
I’ve put together some free resources that will help you map your promotional infrastructure. They include a PDF of this slide deck, editable system map templates, and a video showing how to edit and use the system map templates. The templates are easily editable with Microsoft Powerpoint and they include all of the examples I provided today as well as empty elements you can use to create your own maps.
Visit hmeinteractive.com/mapping to get your resources. Give it a try! You’ll see why we don’t do any work on promotional infrastructure without first making a map.