MARKETING ANNUAL REPORT Table of Contents Confidential TAB
MARKETING ANNUAL REPORT
Table of Contents Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Executive Summary By Jodie Shaw, Chief Marketing Officer When it comes to managing the marketing investment for TAB, there are two words that describe what the TBO community expects from the Marketing Department: transparency and results. This Marketing Annual report is written with you the TBO in mind, not only showing you everything that we have completed against the strategic plan, but also the results of each campaign and initiative we have implemented and tested. One of the main goals we set for the 2016/17 period was to deliver more leads to the TAB Business Owner community. The actual goal was to develop lead generation programs that predictably delivered 1 lead for every active TBO by the end of the year. The goal might have seemed simple enough, but Marketing had to overcome a few hurdles to get there. Historically the number of leads generated by Marketing averaged between 30 and 40 per month. This new goal meant we had to essentially quadruple the number of leads generated, with the same budget, and without losing any of the existing programs our TBOs had come to expect from the Marketing Department. Another hurdle we were faced with was the existing landing pages. The conversion rate of existing lead capture pages was poor and the offer to fill out any forms uncompelling. So the first thing Marketing had to do was create landing pages, converting traffic through a compelling content offer. Over the years, TAB has created some great content, from Whitepapers, Pulse surveys, and recorded BOSS webinars. However, the content was either offered freely (without the need to input an email address), did not integrate with each other or in the case of the existing whitepapers, the content was educational and informative but did not drive the reader towards TAB Membership. Much of the first quarter was creating whitepapers and landing page forms for all our existing BOSS webinars. 1 You will see the new whitepapers not only provide interesting and informative content, but also integrate Member case studies and testimonials, along with data from previous Pulse surveys and Member survey results. These new whitepapers are also more graphically appealing. Once these whitepapers were developed, Marketing created a corresponding landing page and started directing traffic toward the page through Google Ad. Words, Linked. In Sponsored Content and Facebook advertising. Almost every week since then we have tweaked the design of the landing or lead capture page, along with testing different types of traffic. We even looked at some of what our competitors were doing online and even mimicked some of their ad campaigns and landing pages. We created new display ads and tested these against our existing ones. I am happy to report we hit our lead generation number in July 2017. The rest of the year will be further fine-tuning these results and lowering the cost per lead, after which we will add each of these landing pages to every territory website, and train the TBO community on how to direct traffic and generate leads locally. This year, we also added Marketing Coaching to the services offered by the Marketing Team. I noticed that despite my very best efforts in training TBOs in the various tactics available to them to market their business locally, many TBOs needed more on one training to fully comprehend and implement the tactic successfully in their marketing. Kara Egizi is our Marketing Coach and we now have three coaching programs (Linked. In, Email and Events) that TBOs can enroll into to gain greater understanding of each tactic, along with minimum expected results when implemented in their region. Linked. In to me, is the Marketing goose laying golden eggs (leads) for TBOs. This year we hired two summer interns to help TBOs enrolled into the program generate membership inquiries and one on one appointments using the 2 -Step campaign. The interns worked with 12 TBOs, connecting with owners, Sending the 2 -Step message, writing Linked. In Pulse Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Executive Summary (con’t) articles and liking, sharing and commenting on TAB content. The results were unsurprising, but validated what we had learned from Linked. In coaching graduates: that one hour on Linked. In equals one meeting request (when you strictly follow the program). Another area that the Marketing Team spent a lot of time and effort improving is campaigns or telemarketing. Since joining TAB, I had heard numerous times that telemarketing is unpredictable. The marketer inside me was curious as to why a relatively “cut and paste” program could have the reputation of major swings in results. What we found was that Telemarketing is actually very predictable – garnering around 2 percent of the list size in Discovery Meetings; however, there were nuances that adversely affected the results. Many TBOs once they have an introduction to one of our telemarketing vendors decide to book their campaigns directly, bypassing TAB’s Campaign Coordinator. The campaigns the Marketing Department has coordinated have been predictable, it’s the ones that the TBO have booked directly that have been less so. My recommendation for all TBOs is if you have a campaign you would like to run, to reach out to Marketing to help coordinate. I think it is important to note that the Marketing Team is a relatively young team, with three of the four team members who look after Member Acquisition marketing with the company for 12 months or less. For these team members, this has been either their first or second marketing role. As the head of TAB’s marketing, I am very proud of the work and the results the team have achieved. Please read through the Marketing Annual report and let me know what you think. I, for one, am extremely happy with not only the volume of work we have accomplished in a relatively short time, but the results we have achieved. This is a perfect leaping off point for the 2017/18 period. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 2
Campaigns By Alexandra Ortiz, Marketing Assistant Some have said that telemarketing is unpredictable, but Marketing found if you follow the process it is predictable. This section will go through all the data that was measured throughout the year: what it means, what can cause differences, what Marketing has put in process to combat the differences, and what is in test or soon to be adopted. The data shows: • The average number of appointments booked each campaign is between 49 and 50. • The average number of hours invested in telemarketing is 148 hours/$4, 736. 00. • The average cost per booked appointment is $95. 00. • 1 appointment is being made for every 3 hours of dialing. We feel very confident about telemarketing in most areas in the US (and other parts of the world), being able to deliver 40 appointments per campaign. Factors we see that cause differences to the above rule are: 1. The list (MUST be refreshed if older than one year). 2. Acts of God – pending or occurring – storms, fire, etc. 3. Markets – Los Angeles and New Jersey as examples. The more built up the region, the harder it is to get people to book and attend set appointments. 4. Minimum investment in the tactic; when we analyzed the results, Marketing found too much flexibility in the telemarketing investment. 5. Political elections, due to many business owners wanted to “wait and see”. Friday (unless for call backs). When a campaign starts during a public holiday, and that holiday falls on a Monday (for example), the following day becomes “like” a Monday as far as connect rates go. 8. List selection, especially now that it is easier to sort lists in Pipedrive. Marketing has observed some TBOs cull their list too aggressively, equating revenue with ability to pay for Membership. Not to say there isn’t a parallel between them, but a $1 m Manufacturer, Wholesaler, Retailer, Service Professional all have very different profit margins. This is especially true with the B 2 B Bucket, which is about 50% of our Membership. Marketing does not often see the list when a TBO books directly with the telemarketing company. Please work with Marketing for list selection before booking the campaign. 9. Linked. In Profiles. Some TBOs have a Linked. In profile that lacks content. Many appointments google who the appointment is with, and some could cancel due to lack of presence and thought-leadership from the TBO (this is a “gut feel” versus “fact”). 10. Lack of integrated marketing, meaning TBOs who do not email at the same time or prior, who don’t leverage their Linked. In accounts, etc. Marketing has put processes in place to combat this: 1. No dialing on a Monday or Friday unless a previous call requested to be called back on those days. 2. Treat days after public holidays as if they are a Monday or Friday. 3. Refrain from booking the same vendor for more than 2 Kick Off Campaigns. This helps with ensuring the better agents are working our campaigns; however, some TBOs book directly so it is more difficult for Marketing to manage. 6. Tax time (for Accountants, primarily). 3 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 7. Public holidays. There is no dialing on a Monday or
Campaigns (con’t) 4. Telemarketing companies are not permitted to call past 4 hours without an appointment without checking with Marketing first. Campaign Data: 5. Confirmation calls (these are more for kept rates). 6. Appointment calendar request process. 7. Tighter accountability management of vendors. 8. Unless a TBO has established business connections, minimum telemarketing investment is 1333 hours or 1800 -2200 names dialed. 9. 80% dialing two weeks prior (remaining 20% first, second week of Field Support). These processes are in test or will be adopted soon: 1. Changing the Kick Off filters to 6 filters instead of the current 3 will hopefully help with the quality of appointments and NO appointments should be booked under $500 K (unless they are Professional Campaign data continued on the following page. Services). 2. Training of operators (creating video training). When the process is followed, Marketing does receive predictable results in Kick Off. Marketing recommends that TBOs outside of Kick Off still work through Marketing, as we can help with list selections and filters, and know which vendor has “too many” campaigns and thus can recommend the next vendor. Please email _Marketing. Support@The Alternative. Board. com to schedule your next telemarketing campaign. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 Campaign Data concluded on next page. 4
Campaigns (con’t) 68% of appointments made were “prequalified”, while 33% of the appointments made were “coaching only”. This means that 68% of prospects booked for an appointment have a revenue more than or equal to $500, 000 per year, while 33% have a revenue of under $500, 000 per year. 5 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Tests By Alexandra Ortiz, Marketing Assistant and Kara Egizi, Marketing Coach Sample Board Event: Carey Mason Overview As a test event with TAB, Carey Mason ran a Sample Board Event on March 15 th and 16 th, 2017, in Boulder, Colorado. This is an overview of the event, the marketing involved, and the outcomes. Because this event was a Sample Board, no sponsor was used. The event ran from 9: 00 am – 11: 00 am on both dates; these morning meetings were used with the aim of capturing attendees before they got too wrapped-up in their business day. Also per standard procedure, telemarketing made 3 passes off the call list, plus a food confirmation call; 149 hours of dialing (1700 names). Results Breakdown of the 3/15/2017 Event in Boulder: • 23 Registered • 14 Confirmed • 9 Shows • 5 Kept RFAs + 1 Guest Advisor Results Breakdown of the 3/16/2017 Event in Boulder: • 25 Registered • 11 Confirmed The Marketing team included telemarketing, a public Event. Brite page, an email drip campaign, postcards, and text message reminders on the mornings of the event. • 8 Shows The event meeting itself was run as follows: • Campaign resulted in 9 booked Discovery Days • Morning of the event 3/15/2017: Text message reminders were sent to all registered no-shows for that day’s event half an hour before start time. • Campaign resulted in 2 Closed Members • Morning of the event 3/16/2017: Text message reminders were sent to all registrants for that day’s event at least an hour before start time. • Food and networking at 8: 45 am – 9: 00 am as attendants arrived. • An approximately 90 minute Sample Board each day. Marketing for the Event The Marketing team created 2 event registration pages on Event. Brite. com, one for each date of the event. Per standard procedure, a postcard was sent to all prospects on the list via Sir Speedy. We are considering using a more “formal” invitation in place of this postcard going forward. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 • 3 Kept RFAs + 1 Maybe Plus: Sample Board Event: John Keener and Barry Gleeson Overview As a test event with TAB, John Keener and Barry Gleeson ran a Sample Board event on March 15 th and 16 th, 2017, in St. Louis, Missouri. This report provides an overview of the event, the marketing involved, and the outcomes. Per procedure, no sponsor was needed for the Sample Board. The event ran from 9: 00 am – 11: 00 am on both dates; these morning meetings were used with the aim of capturing attendees before they got too wrapped-up in their business day. Marketing efforts included telemarketing, a public Event. Brite registration page, an email drip campaign, postcards, and text message reminders the day of 6
Tests (con’t) the event. Barry was not certain, but does not believe Linked. In messaging was used to market this event. The event meeting itself was run as follows: • Morning of the event 3/15/2017: Text message reminders were sent to all registrants for that day’s event at least an hour before start time. • Morning of the event 3/16/2017: Text message reminders were sent to all registrants for that day’s event at least an hour before start time. • Food and networking at 8: 45 am. • An approximately 90 -minute Sample Board both dates. Marketing for the Event The Marketing team created 2 event registration pages on Event. Brite. com, one for each date of the event. Also, John and Barry executed their own email drip campaign. present to observe either day of the event. Timeless Principles Event: Steve Drury Overview As a test event with TAB, Steve Drury ran a Topic Talk based on the Timeless Principles book on April 26 th and 27 th, 2017, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This report is an overview of the event, the marketing involved, and the outcomes. Peoples Bank was the sponsor for this Topic Talk. They provided the event facility and the Marketing team included some of the bank’s handouts in the participants’ packets. Breakfast meetings (8: 45 am – 10: 30 am) were used both days with the aim of capturing attendees before they got too wrapped-up in their business day. The event was marketing to businesses in Colorado Springs within 30 miles of the Peoples Bank venue. Marketing efforts included telemarketing, a public Per standard procedure, a postcard was sent to all Event. Brite registration page, Linked. In messaging, an prospects on the list via Sir Speedy. The Marketing team email drip campaign, postcards, and text message is considering using a more “formal” invitation in place reminders the day of the event. of this postcard going forward. The event meeting itself was run as follows: Also per standard procedure, telemarketing made 3 • Morning of the event 4/26/2017: Text message passes off the call list, plus a food confirmation call. reminders were sent to all registrants who had not Results Breakdown of the 3/15/2017 Event: arrived by 8: 45 am. • 20 Registered • 5 Shows Results Breakdown of the 3/16/2017 Event: • 20 Registered • Morning of the event 4/27/2017: text message reminders were sent to all registrants for that day’s event at least an hour before start time. • Food and networking at 8: 45 am. • Sponsor gave a 2 minute presentation. • 6 Shows Per Barry Gleeson: both event dates yielded a total of 3 appointments made and 3 kept. • Presenter Steve Drury had the participants stand introduce themselves to somebody else who was not sitting at their table. There were no representatives from TAB Headquarters 7 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Tests (con’t) • An approximately 45 -50 minute presentation on Timeless Principles. • A 10 -minute wrap-up/TAB pitch, and Steve offered complimentary 1 -on-1 coaching sessions, as well. • Meeting close. There were several minutes of informal networking. Feedback/appointment forms were collected and free copies of the Timeless Principles books were handed out. Marketing for the Event The Marketing team created one event registration page on Event. Brite. com that included both dates. We also obtained Steve Drury’s Linked. In credentials with his permission, and sent invitations to the event to 1 st connections within a 35 -mile radius of the Peoples Bank venue. Marketing also executed an email drip campaign via Mail. Chimp comprised of a series of 3 emails. The first was sent on Thursday the week before telemarketing started, and re-sent to all unopens on the following Tuesday. The second was sent the following Thursday, and re-sent to all unopens the next Tuesday. Same pattern for the third and final email in the drip campaign. A postcard was sent to all prospects on the list via Sir Speedy. Marketing is considering using a more “formal” invitation in place of this postcard going forward. Telemarketing made 3 passes of the call list, plus a food confirmation call. Results Breakdown of the 4/26/2017 Event: • 23 Registered Results Breakdown of the 4/27/2017 Event: • 16 Registered • 9 Shows • 0 RFAs Held (as of 5/1/2017) • 5 RFAs Scheduled (as of 5/1/2017) Timeless Principles Event: Mike Grover Overview As a test event with TAB, Mike Grover ran a Topic Talk based on the Timeless Principles book on April 26 th and 27 th, 2017, in Valencia, California. This is an overview of the event, the marketing involved, and the outcomes. No sponsor was able to be booked for this Topic Talk. Mike Grover chose the Valencia Country Club for the venue, and the Country Club catered both breakfast meetings (8: 45 am – 10: 30 am). These morning meetings were used with the aim of capturing attendees before they got too wrapped-up in their business day. The event was marketing to business in Valencia within 30 miles of the venue. Marketing efforts included telemarketing, a public Event. Brite registration page, Linked. In messaging, an email drip campaign, postcards, and text message reminders the day of the event. The event meeting itself was run as follows: • Morning of the event 4/26/2017: Text message reminders were sent to all registrants who had not shown up by 8: 45 am. • 14 Shows: 1 from Linked. In, 3 from Event. Brite, 10 from Telemarketing • Morning of the event 4/27/2017: Text message reminders were sent to all registrants for that day’s event at least an hour before start time. • 3 RFAs Held (as of 5/1/2017) • Food and networking at 8: 45 am. • 8 RFAs Scheduled (as of 5/1/2017) • An approximately 45 -50 minute presentation on Timeless Principles. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 8
Tests (con’t) • A 10 -minute wrap-up/TAB pitch. Marketing for the Event Mike Grover created one Event. Brite registration page on Event. Brite. com that included both dates. The Marketing team obtained Mike Grover’s Linked. In credentials with his permission, and sent hundreds of invitations to connect, and then sent invitations to the event to his 1 st connections within a 35 -mile radius of the Country Club venue. Mike Grover also executed an email drip campaign via Mail. Chimp comprised of a series of 3 emails. The first was sent on Thursday the week before telemarketing started, and re-sent to all unopens on the following Tuesday. The second was sent the following Thursday, and re-sent to all unopens the next Tuesday. Same pattern for the third and final email. A postcard was sent to all prospects on the list via Sir Speedy. The Marketing team is considering using a more “formal” invitation in place of this postcard going forward. Telemarketing made 3 passes off the call list, plus a food confirmation call. Results Breakdown of the 4/26/2017 Event • 9 Registered • 3 Shows • 0 RFAs Scheduled (as of 5/1/2017) Results Breakdown of the 4/27/2017 Event • 18 Registered • 5 Shows • 0 RFAs Scheduled (as of 5/1/2017) There were no representatives from TAB Headquarters present to observe either day of the event. 9 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Public Relations By Jodie Shaw, Chief Marketing Officer Public Relations TAB outsources its Public Relations to our PR Agency, The Content Factory (TCF). The way TCF helps get TAB publicity is primarily through 2 channels: 1. Outreaches to the business press, content managers, bloggers and influencers from our Quarterly TAB Business Pulse Surveys • Prestige – Higher public profile of TAB as an industry leader • Traffic – Mentions and backlinks improve SEO, resulting in higher rankings and greater site traffic • Social Media – With four active social media accounts operating seven days a week, the media coverage makes for excellent material to post and share with the community The majority of this year’s press placements resulted 2. Weekly outreaches requesting TBOs provide from direct outreach (not coverage of the press release, comments on reporter’s upcoming stories although that coverage is also valuable). (packaging and pitching those comments from TBOs back to reporters. ) TAB conducts daily web searches for news related to TAB and monitors several Google Alerts. Each time a From August 2016 through July 2017, TAB saw a total of relevant news story is discovered, it is promoted 164 press placements (an average of 3 per week) across through social media, increasing exposure. various business media outlets. To better illustrate how PR outreach and press releases Ongoing PR Outreach result in valuable media placement, look at some of TAB filters through over 100 PR leads a day that come these examples of various publicity received in the past from various subscription services, and through this year. process has developed good relationships with many The Year in TAB Press business reporters. Of these leads, those that are deemed a good fit (based on factors such as the outlet’s This year saw 164 total press placements. Highlights of Google Page. Rant and Alexa rating, as well as the topic select PR wins from August 2016 – 2017: of the story) are organized by expiration date and 1. 24 Pieces Of Advice You Will Never Forget forwarded to a list of facilitators and members who Inc. Magazine have opted to receive PR opportunities. When a TBO responds to the email query, TAB acts as their publicist, crafting a personalized pitch for the journalists in attempts of gaining press coverage for the member as well as valuable mentions and backlinks for The Alternative Board. Why so much Emphasis on PR? Press coverage services multiple purposes including: • Cost Effective Advertising – Due to the perceived credibility of third-party validated press placement, the value of earned media placement is estimated to be worth three times the same space if it was purchased as advertising Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 TAB Tennessee Valley Owner Jim Morris is quoted. 10
Public Relations (con’t) 2. 3 Scenarios That May Signal Problems With Your Cash 4. 5 Tips to Take Your Weekends Back Flow Analysis Inc. American Express Open Forum TAB Member Matt Fielder is quoted and his company, Vinyl Me Please, is linked to. American Express Open Forum is a leading business media outlet with 199 followers on Twitter. The work life balance survey is cited. 5. Hundreds of entrepreneurs deemed one trait the most important for effective leaders Business Insider 3. 10 Reasons To Join A CEO Peer Group Forbes The Alternative Board is listed as one of the most successful organizations offering peer-to-peer learning. 11 The leadership survey is cited. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Digital Marketing/SEM By Julie Jackson, Digital Media Manager Here’s what they look like when searching for the relevant keywords: Starting in January 2017, Marketing began advertising with digital media. This included Google Ad. Words and Linked. In Sponsored Content ads. Since then, we’ve added third-party display ads and “Picture Yourself” ads on Linked. In. Remarketing and Display Ads Prior to these ads, we were averaging 20 -30 Member leads per month. As of July 2017, we reached our goal of hitting 148 leads per month. This is 1 lead per U. S. /Canadian TBO. Google Ad. Words White Papers The White Paper ads have been our most successful lead generators on this platform. We’ve generated 246 leads, spending a total of $14, 171. 32. The cost per lead is $57. 61. However, while the cost per lead is lower, the leads that come in via Linked. In are higher quality. We’re unable to target business owners in Ad. Words, and so the targeting is limited to age and geography. It may also be harder to make the jump from a lead having an interest in Time Management to selling them a seat on a Board. These ads are keyword based, so when a lead searches for “business owner time management, ” they may see our ad with a link to a landing page to download the “How Business Owners Manage Their Time” white paper. Remarketing ads are the ads that follow you around on the web. When you’ve visited our site and then go to another site, you may continue to see these ads follow you. The display ads are banner ads that are shown when searching on relevant pages. They’re only shown on that particular site, and they do not follow you throughout the web. Both Remarketing and Display ads focus are targeted by interest, keywords and which website the lead is on. They show up as an ad at the site of whatever relevant website a lead is visiting. While these both are a bit prohibitive in cost, they do have the advantage of brand recognition and leads are sent to a landing page directly related to TAB Membership, rather than to download an informative piece of content. Please see the next page for a breakdown of the leads costs. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 12
Digital Marketing/SEM (con’t) Remarketing Ads: These display ads are the newest to be added to our Google Ad. Words efforts, and we did see a click-through rate of 0. 31% and a conversion rate of 0. 05%. The total cost was $13, 487, and we got 16 leads. This puts the cost per lead at $842. 96. We will continue making minor changes in budget, targeting and keywords to improve on the above stats. These ads also have the advantage of promoting brand awareness and landing on a lead-capture page targeted to TAB Membership. These focused on the keywords surrounding “business networking. ” Historically, this has been one of our highest-converting keywords. For this round of ads, we did not receive any leads and had a total cost of $645. 53. Linked. In Advertising Sponsored Content For each completed white paper, we’ve created a new sponsored content ad for Linked. In. These posts feature a strong image and link to a lead capture landing page. The newer ads for these keywords were a recent addition, and we will continue to test and measure with keywords, landing page design and budget. We do still feel this is a valuable keyword set to use in digital marketing efforts. Display Ads: 13 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Digital Marketing/SEM (con’t) From January through July, we generated 275 leads from these ads, with a conversion rate of 0. 06%. The average cost per lead is $87. 42. Our next step will be to lower the cost per lead to $50$75 and work to increase the click-through and conversion rates. Why focusing on Linked. In is a good idea: For these ads, we’re able to focus on regions where we have TBOs and on leads who are business owners, CEOs, managing partners/directors, etc. The leads we do generate from these efforts are more qualified than a Google Ad. Words lead. We also did a test with a text ad and landing page that were comparable to a Vistage ad. We only ran this test for a few months, as the conversion (0. 04%) and clickthrough rates (0. 011%) were low. The total spend was $6, 897. 06, and the average cost per lead was $172. 43. To date, we’ve spent $6, 770. 74, with a total of 13 leads. This is a total cost per lead of $520. 83. While this is a high cost per lead, it’s similar to our other display/remarketing ads that promote brand awareness/recognition, with the added advantage that these are targeted specifically to business owners. Leads are driven to a TAB Membership-focused landing page, so the quality of leads is better than with content leads. Linked. In Tests Starting in July 2017, we’re running tests with “Picture Yourself” ads on Linked. In. These ads are targeted to states where we have TBOs, as well as to our other English-speaking markets. They link directly to a landing page that lives on our Linked. In Company page. Programmatic Ads (through a third party) These are ads that are shown to business owners on the homepage of Linked. In. As you can imagine, the cost is higher to advertise on such a high-profile area. We are doing this as a three-month test, and are currently in our final month. Sample ad: Prospects who go to this landing page have the advantage of having Linked. In autofill the form. This helps reduce bounce rates. We’ll report on the success of these new tests once we have more numbers to share. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 14
Digital Marketing/SEM (con’t) Facebook Some key items for boosted Facebook posts are that they have a link to a lead capture landing page, they have a strong visual element and they either reference TAB or our original content. The posts are targeted to areas where we have TBOs and to business owners and Facebook users with entrepreneurial interests. While these posts have generated a few leads, the main purpose they serve is to boost our engagement. Better engagement equals more eyes on TAB posts. Here’s an example of one of the recent posts we’ve boosted: As you can see, more than 25, 000 people were reached with this post. Having a strong engagement and reach means that TAB’s posts are more likely to be seen to relevant Facebook users (e. g. business owners) who would be interested in our content. While the primary goal of ad spend on Facebook is brand awareness and page engagement, we have gotten some leads for our efforts. Since starting to boost posts in mid-2017, we spend a total of $3, 570. 50 and gotten 22 leads, with a cost per lead of $162. 30. 15 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Social Media By Jodie Shaw, Chief Marketing Officer and Julie Jackson, Digital Marketing Manager Our Facebook page sent 1, 105 people to the website since last year, which is an increase of 19. 07%). Linked. In continues to be the most important social channel for TAB. Since last year, we added 3, 919 new company followers, putting our total at 6, 968. The company page sent 10, 280 people to the website. This is an incredible increase of 99. 34% from previous years. We are posting multiple times per day on the company page, often following the content themes laid out on further on in this document. Some of this content is also being used in our digital advertising. We’ve also seen an increase in TBO engagement on our Linked. In page. This is great for getting out the TAB message and creating more brand awareness. To learn more about TBO engagement, see the “Brand Amplifiers” area of this section. Compared to our main competitors, TAB’s numbers are very strong—particularly when you consider our total number of likes vs. their total number of likes. For example, our total engagement number is second only to Entrepreneur’s Organization (91 to our 84); however, EO has 136, 000+ likes to our 1, 210. Facebook For Facebook, we’ve increased our daily postings in the past year from 1 -2 a week to 1 -2 posts per day. This more regular posting schedule helps increase engagement and overall brand awareness. To further those efforts, we also “boost” one post per week. In August 2016, we had 916 “Likes” on the TAB Headquarters Facebook page. Today, we have 1, 211. This number will continue to grow as we continue posting timely and relevant content multiple times per day. It was also continue growing through our advertising efforts. This means that while our Facebook followers are smaller in audience size, they are more engaged. Also, when you examine the posts of our competitors, much of their engagement comes from third-party content (e. g. sharing an article from entrenpreneur. com). TAB Marketing strives to post 80% original or TAB-branded content each week. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 16
Social Media (con’t) Twitter Our Twitter numbers have continued to grow this past year, with our page adding 406 new followers since August 2016. Since that time, we’ve seen 1, 745, 096 organic (not paid for) impressions, 15, 565 total engagements and 2, 634 link clicks. How Marketing accomplished this: Tweeting between 7 -10 times each day, using a mix of links to various TAB pages/blogs, interaction with key influencers, pertinent Twitter chats and industry events. Attending weekly Twitter chats, which leads to new followers, retweets and additional engagement. Sending out weekly social media tips to encourage online community engagement. Identifying and engaging with targeted Twitter accounts to increase engagement and followers. Creating and maintaining targeted Twitter lists. Our page was certified this year (an achievement for a public page), and we’re a strong thought leader in our industry. We also post more frequently than our main competitors. In previous years TAB’s engagement was less than Vistage’s, but thanks to the TAB community’s involvement, we’re now in the lead in terms of engagement and influence. 17 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Social Media (con’t) The Twitter page also sent 4, 829 people to the TAB website this past year, which is a 39. 20% increase over last year. Our overall engagements increased by 46. 4% this year. Brand Amplifier Program One of the ways we’ve focused on increasing social media engagement for TBOs is with the Brand Amplifiers Program. Starting in December 2016, we started tracking TBO engagement with a point system. For “Liking” a post, a TBO gets 1 point. For commenting on a post, a TBO earns 2 points. For sharing a post, a TBO gets 3 points. The point system is set up this way to encourage sharing, which is the strongest form of engagement. We went from having a handful of TBOs regularly engage to nearly 40% of the community. This is a huge improvement! The overall Brand Amplifier will be announced at this year’s conference and will receive an award. The winner averaged 88 points per month, and earned a total of 793 points from December 2016 through July 2017! This is a result of this TBO engaging daily with our posts. 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Da Br an d Am pl ifi er W vid in Le ne v r St esq ev ue e La Dru ur r a y Jo Dru hn ry Do Me ug etz St ep Tam he n es St Ja Va ev m e e le rie Sa s R mp ie le f M ens t ar tin ahl E gg er 0 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 18
Social Media and Website Why engagement matters: Having our community regularly interact with our social media pages is a great way to help spread the TAB message. Social media is grassroots marketing, and having strong engagement is like having a microphone/amplifier for that message. Strong engagement can also help increase our Search Engine Optimization and brand awareness. By Jodie Shaw, Chief Marketing Officer and Julie Jackson, Digital Marketing Manager There are many ways we increased traffic to the website. In the past 12 months, this has included digital advertising (on Linked. In, Google and Facebook) which drives traffic back to a landing page within a site, email marketing, content marketing (promoting content which resides on thealternativeboard. com), guest blogging, PR linking to Pulse surveys and BOSS webinars, to name a few. Web Traffic The focus this year has been in generating leads. In the past year, our website saw an increase of 48. 3% in organic (not paid for) traffic and a 23. 09% increase in direct traffic to the website (compared to previous years). Direct traffic includes visits that result in typing our URL or web address into a search browser. Organic traffic are those visits that arrive through search engines or other sources. 19 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Content By Jodie Shaw, Chief Marketing Officer and Julie Jackson, Digital Marketing Manager We’ve put a strong focus on producing strong, useful content for our TBOs, Member prospects and website/social media audiences. Here’s the top content for the past year and how many times each page was shared via social media. One way to be seen as a thought leader in our industry and to also better our search engine optimization is to get backlinks to our site from other reputable sites. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 20
Content (con’t) Here are the most shared backlinks to the site for the past year. Over the past year, TAB has had guest blog posts published in: Bplans: *5 Eye-Opening Stats that Prove Entrepreneurs Don’t “Get” Social Media Bootstrap Business: *5 Research-Backed Tips for Increasing B 2 B Sales *11 Tips for Creating a Long-Term Strategic Plan *How to Be a Business Owner and Also Have a Life Business 2 Community: *5 Tips for Creating Profit-Driving KPIs In addition to promoting articles written by and about affiliates, TAB has created informative and SEO-rich content for its blog. *How to Create an Employee Motivation Strategy that Actually Works 21 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Content (con’t) Here is a sample graphic we created: We post blogs once a week and they follow the content themes laid out for the year. Here’s what those themes looked like for 2017: Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 22
Bucket List By Jodie Shaw, Chief Marketing Officer On May 4 th – May 7 th, 2017, TAB organized its very first Bucket List Trip for TAB Members. The idea behind the event was to create a once-in-a lifetime trip for our Members by combining business education (in the form of a workshop) together with networking with other TAB Members at a destination or event that many of our Members would like to attend in their lifetime. Our first TAB Bucket List trip was held during the 2017 Kentucky Derby. It included the following on this planned trip agenda: • Special Welcome Reception Registration Gift (lucky horseshoe, Kentucky Derby picture book) Accommodations at Louisville’s Galt House Special onsite host / concierge for TAB Bucket List attendees Cocktail Reception Tickets to the Pegasus Parade Room delivered welcome gift (commemorative Silver Frame and trip agenda booklet) Transportation and lunch at Whisky Tour Whisky tour gift (TAB engraved bottle of Maker’s Mark, two TAB branded glasses inside a personalized wooden box) Private dinner at one of Louisville’s top rated restaurants Timeless Principle Workshop with Jason Reserved grandstand seating at the Kentucky Derby with commemorative swag and food concourse tickets Sweepstakes drawing with Kentucky Hamper for winning horse Prior to the event, TAB Marketing mailed a copy of the event invitation, together with a FAQs document and Board Meeting “Rack Card”. All current Members were mailed a copy of the invitation a week later. 23 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Bucket List (con’t) The total amount contributed to this event by the Marketing development Fund was $10, 000 for the booking website, TBO pre-mailer and handouts, and invitations to all current Members. It is important to note that many of the added extras were paid by Jason as the event host (dinner, gifts). No margin was added by TAB for the cost of registration. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 At the event, we had 14 Members & Spouses attend. A great time was had by all. Future Bucket List Trips will be announced in 2018. 24
Collateral By Julie Jackson, Digital Marketing Manager White Papers Since last year, we’ve created and/or redesigned 7 of the White Papers, and there are 6 more currently in production. These should be completed by the end of the year. Finished How to Build a Strong Company Culture Effective Hiring Employee Motivation Financing Strategies for Small Business Owners How Business Owners Manage Their Time Tapping into the Potential of Social Media Setting KPIs for Business Success In Progress Hiring a Business Coach for Your Small Business TABenos Value of a Business Owner Advisory Board 7 Strategies for Running Successful Family Business Leadership Productivity also act as strong lead generators on both Google Ad. Words and Linked. In. How it Helps Your Business Each white paper provides strong content with actionable advice from TAB Members. Included with the tips is how long the Member has been with TAB. This helps showcase our strong average Membership tenure. We’ve also included information about The Alternative Board, with a link to get more information. To gain access to this content, prospects must enter their contact information. This info comes to the marketing department and then is sent to the TBO nearest the lead. Along with generating leads, producing interesting and helpful content helps position you and TAB as thought leaders in our industry. The majority of these white papers are based on our quarterly Business Pulse Surveys, and they all include advice/tips from Members (from the Tips from the Top newsletter archives). With each new survey, we’ll add another white paper. The “Hiring a Business Coach” and “Value of a Business Owner Advisory Board” include quotes from our Member case studies. These quotes stress the value that the Member has received from being a TAB Member. Why We’re Doing This These white papers are great resources for business owners who are seeking help on a specific topic. They 25 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Collateral (con’t) Case Studies – Member Testimonial Videos Why We’re Doing This One of Marketing’s key objectives for the past year has been to have our Members tell our story—rather than us telling it. To do this, we’ve ramped up production of both written Member case studies and testimonial videos. Our vision is that with the new website development in 2018, we will have a library of testimonials that will feature Members from multiple industries. How it Helps Your Business These testimonials will be key pieces in our content marketing strategy. They will be featured on our new website, in library format, and on our social media channels. This will help with our search engine optimization as well as overall credibility. Once we have our library built up, these will be helpful tools you can take to discovery meetings with prospects. If they have questions or concerns about TAB having value for other business owners in their particular industry, you’ll be able to easily pull up these testimonials to show that TAB can be helpful for an engineer, accountant, manufacturer, etc. When everything is completed by the end of 2017, we will have at least 25 written case studies and 14 videos. We are always taking suggestions for Members who can provide a great testimonial—either written or video, so BOSS Webinars these numbers will continue to grow. In 2016 and 2017, we focused on having our presenters be TAB Members. We do on occasion feature a If you have a Member you think would be willing to Facilitator/Coach or outside vendor/recommendation, provide a case study—either written or video—please but we strive to feature our Members and their email _Marketing. Support@The. Alternative. Board. com to start the process. We ask that the person has been a businesses. Member for at least 4 years. The webinar topics match the content themes used in the TAB Blogs, and we’ve seen strong registration numbers. While there was a slump in the summer (typical for webinars), we had some webinars reach as high as 300 -400 registrants, and our most recent webinar (August 2017) had 107 registrants. This is particularly good for the month of August. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 26
Collateral (con’t) Attendance rate is typically 1/4 - 1/3 of registrants; however, all registrants receive a copy of the slide deck and video recording for the presentation. Why we do this: The webinars are another way for us to provide relevant content to Members, Facilitators and Member prospects. They’re a great way to showcase our Members and their companies, and they’re also a lead-generator for our TBOs. also address and section off any negative reviews. How it works: Marketing sends an email with a link to a review page hosted on TAB’s website. Here’s what it looks like: To promote the webinars, marketing sends out an email to Members/prospects who are opted in to the “Tips from the Top” newsletter. In addition to the email invitation, we also promote the webinar on TAB’s social media pages and have tested a website “popup” to drive registrations. We will continue using these types of popups, testing different content offerings. If a Member clicks on 4 or 5 stars, they’re directed to share a review on either Google, Facebook or Yahoo! Local. These reviews are then posted directly to that site. If the Member clicks 3 stars or less, they’re asked to send in a comment about their experience. They do still have the option to write and post a review; however, most will fill out the form with their comments. Why we do this: The webinars are another way for us to provide relevant content to Members, Facilitators and Member prospects. They’re a great way to showcase our Members and their companies, and they’re also a lead-generator for our TBOs. Grade. Us This year, marketing purchased a subscription to a software called Grade. us. This platform allows us to collect reviews from current and past Members, but 27 This helps us collect strong reviews and address any issues that come from these low-star comments. We’ve emailed former Members, going back five years, asking for reviews. In total, we’ve received 35 reviews or comments and have increased our total number of reviews to 22, with an average rating of 4. 5 stars. Starting in September, we will begin emailing current Members asking for them to do a review as well. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Collateral (con’t) Pulse Surveys In 2017, Marketing completed three new Pulse Surveys on the topics of Company Culture, Business Leadership and Productivity. We’ve focused on improving the infographics created to showcase the survey results. By visiting thealternativeboard. com/toolbox/smallbusiness-trends/, you can see the new three (at the very top) compared to the previous years. full PDF. Marketing then posts these individual graphics on TAB’s social media channels. Tips from the Top newsletter You may have noticed that Marketing has a new design for our monthly Tips from the Top newsletter, e. Tips. This was an effort to make the monthly email more visually appealing and to also match the look and feel of our printed version. Below are both versions, side by side. The print version is on the left. Email Drip Campaigns Along with the infographics, a survey write-up and TAB blog with the results are posted on the website. All of these resources are then used to create new White Papers. These surveys’ infographics are a wealth of information and are frequently cited in business news articles. They allow TAB to stay on top of today’s emerging small business trends. In addition to the full-size infographics, marketing also saves each individual graphic from the Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 This year, Marketing released two new drip campaigns that can be used to nurture leads. The first campaign is the Forbes drip. This campaign is based on an article by Forbes about the value of a CEO peer board. We took each of their 10 reasons and created an email based on that reason. Each email has a link to a lead-capture landing page. The second drip campaign is a series of emails that focus on different topics and advice helpful to small business owners. Each email has a link to a lead-capture landing page and links to original TAB content. Email kegizi@thealternativeboard. com for coaching and more information regarding these campaigns. 28
Coaching By Kara Egizi, Marketing Coach As of this writing, dozens of TBOs have been through coaching sessions for either Linked. In, Email Marketing, Events, or some combination of the 3. We have broadcast the availability of these sessions through the newsletter and direct emails; as a refresher, here’s a review of the coaching content: Linked. In Coaching is divided into 3 sessions – each session is a one hour, one-on-one webinar with screensharing. Please see a quick breakdown of the sessions to the right: *Please note the first step of Session 1 is Linked. In profile review/polishing. We review and audit each TBO’s Linked. In profile on a semi-annual basis; please see the results below from March, 2017 versus July, 2017: Session 1: • Linked. In Profile review/polishing to align with the TAB brand. • Advanced Group Searches to join groups related to small business in your territory. • Advanced People Searches to send invitations to connect to small business owners in a specific territory. Session 2: • Uploading leads from Pipe. Drive into Linked. In (if applicable). • The Linked. In 2 -Step Campaign. Session 3: • Overview/wrap-up, where we discuss your results and the overall experience. . 29 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Coaching (con’t) The feedback Marketing has received from TBOs that have completed the Linked. In coaching sessions is that the processes of sending invitations to connect and executing the 2 -Step Campaign are mundane, repetitive and extremely time-consuming. Here’s the complete data for the Linked. In 2 -Step Campaign as of the end of July: That being said, how would the average TBO feel about having someone handle all that work on their behalf? 2017 Summer Interns: In the summer of 2017, the Marketing Department hired 2 interns to work the Linked. In accounts for 12 TBOs. They were responsible for: Sending invitations to connect Social Engagement (Likes/Shares/Comments) Executing the Linked. In 2 -Step Campaign In just two months, the 2 interns sent out over 20, 000 invitations to connect, resulting in over 5, 000 new 1 st connections between the 12 TBOs! Here’s the complete data for invitations and social engagement as of the end of July: Sound good? Something to note: 6 of the 12 TBOs participating in this program put limits on their search parameters for the invitations to connect as well as for the Campaign, which adversely affected their percentages. Should TAB run this program again next summer, participating TBOs must agree to adhere to our standard and tested search parameters for both processes, thank you! Email Marketing: we currently have protocols on a Forbes Email Drip Campaign and a 26 Emails Drip Campaign ready for Coaching and execution via Mail. Chimp: After the new connections had been made, the interns were able to proceed with the 2 -Step Campaign, the goal of which is to book appointments and hopefully sign Members. In less than 60 days, the interns set over 60 appointments on behalf of the participating TBOs! The Forbes Email Drip Campaign is comprised of 10 emails, 1 sent a week for 10 weeks. This is a “filter” campaign, the purpose of which is to target prospects who will welcome owner-toowner calls. The 26 Drips Emails Drip Campaign is a “nurture” campaign, as each message will contain a response device/call to actions, pushing recipients towards membership. It’s comprised of 26 total emails, with 1 email sent every two weeks. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 30
Coaching and Leads Each Email Marketing Coaching session is a one-on-one hour long webinar with screen-sharing; I serve as the back-seat driver coaching through the set-up. Events Coaching: is also done via one-on-one webinars, but is comprised of 6 Sessions over 6 weeks and culminates in running an actual Event – either a Timeless Principles talk, or a Sample Board. We go through everything from venue selection to the appropriate marketing mix to reminder texts on the day of the Event. *Please make sure you have a Linked. In profile and that it’s polished, current and aligned with TAB. And to enroll in any coaching sessions, please send an email to _Marketing. Support@thealternativeboard. com. By Julie Jackson, Digital Marketing Manager and Alexandra Ortiz, Marketing Assistant Leads As mentioned previously in this report, we started out generating only 20 -30 leads per month, and have successfully increased this to 148, as of July 2017. As you can see in the graph below, there were some ups and downs, and these correspond to changes and tweaks we’ve made while testing/measuring our ads. We’re very excited to have met our goal prior to the 2017 International Facilitator’s Conference. We will continue with our lead-generating efforts and are going to work toward consistently generating at least 148 leads per month, at a lower cost per lead. If you receive a lead from Marketing as a result of our digital marketing efforts, please do keep us posted on the quality of the lead and how far he/she makes it through the sales process. This will help us improve our advertising efforts. 31 Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017
Budget and Expenditure By Jodie Shaw, Chief Marketing Officer The Marketing Fund receives between $25, 000 and $30, 000 on average per month towards the Marketing Development Fund, with an approximate annual contribution between $300, 000 and $360, 000. The Annual Marketing Budget is set based on anticipated contributions from the TAB Community for the upcoming year. Fund contributions and monthly balances can be adversely effected by unfavorable foreign exchange rates (for international contributions), drops in Membership and TBO revenues and TBOs who leave the system (without resale). As presented at last year’s conference, the MDF budget for this period (12 months) was $350, 000. The additional or over budget expenditure was for expenses taken up in this period (in June and July), but will be used in the upcoming 12 months namely Hubspot (our marketing lead management system) and Linked. In advertising campaign. The balance in the fund (unused) as of June 30, 2017 was $155, 000. This was banked over previous years when the entire balance was not previously invested. It is important to note that there are many marketing expenses not billed towards the Marketing Fund – namely wages and associated costs of the Marketing team. Only $3, 500 is billed against the marketing fund per month for marketing wages. The remaining cost of TAB’s marketing team is paid by TAB Boards International. What this equates to in terms of dollars is around $300, 000 per year, or in other words TAB Boards International is matching the dollars contributed into the fund, to pay for the personnel who administer the marketing function of the organization. I mention this because this is both unusual and extremely generous in the franchise world. It also means that your marketing fund contributions are invested in producing collateral, running tests, PR, and advertising. The graph shows where the $388, 206 was invested over the 12 months ending June 30, 2017. While these numbers are as accurate as possible, they are not audited financials. However, each year TAB Boards International, including the Marketing Development Fund, is audited by an external accounting firm and reported in the current Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). These audits are calendar year audits, so half of these funds have been audited, and the other half not. Confidential TAB Marketing Annual 2017 32
Questions? Contact _Marketing. Support@The. Alternative. Board. co m
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