Hi there, I’m Tommy the intern at Now|Comms. I’ve been here for a week now and I’ve uncovered so many useful and interesting new things. One BIG thing I’ve learnt is that in any kind of industry, you’re going to get a lot of new languages but when you’re in an industry that works predominantly online, doing everything from coding to photoshop as well as campaign writing, there’s going to be heaps of words and acronyms that sound like total mumbo jumbo. Here is a small collection of words and phrases that you’ll come across frequently that you’re going to want to understand:
B2B & B2C- These 3 letter acronyms stand for ‘business to business’ and ‘business to consumer’. These concepts are pretty self-explanatory, B2Bs are businesses marketing to other businesses, whereas B2Cs are businesses advertising to consumers.
Leads- A lead is anyone who is interested in what you are selling. They can show this interest by sharing their number, email or even social media handle.
BANT- This is not just something we have a lot of on the Now|Comms team! BANT is a methodology which helps you to determine prospects. It stands for:
Budget- how much is your client willing to spend?
Authority- who is the decision-maker?
Need- does the client have a problem YOU can solve?
Timing- how urgent is the problem?
Using these methods you can determine whether or not a prospect is worth your precious time.
LinkedIn- This is one that most people will know about but still need a rundown of how it is used in marketing. LinkedIn is a platform in which people looking for employment or who are looking for certain clients can go to find what they want.
It’s possible to advertise to specific roles (for example if you had a product aimed at HR managers you could send advertisements to those people). You then pay for every open or download your ad gets until you reach your budget. This means that only the people that you want to see your ad will see it, and you only have to pay for the people who actually show interest in your service.
Whitepaper- A whitepaper is a persuasive and in-depth report on a specific topic (e.g 10 ways you can get the most out of your clients). Not a blog post nor a product pitch, whitepapers can take up to a few months to write, as they are full of detail and must be from 6-50 pages long.
Webinars- A webinar is a live online event in which a seller demonstrates their product. Potential leads can watch and interact through means such as live chat boxes or Q&As. They are very useful as they allow viewers to get a demo of the service whilst being able to share opinions or concerns.
Infographics- An infographic is a way of portraying information and statistics through graphic design. They usually resemble posters and use graphs, images and text to show the information they wish to portray.
Trade shows- Trade shows are a way for B2B companies to market to one another. Think of a market- lots of stands and stalls where people sell and buy. Now replace people with businesses and you get the general idea. Companies set up stands and try to get as many leads as possible. They tend to be a weaker method of selling as leads may not follow up on their initial interest, and spending lots of money on a trade show to advertise to a limited amount of people is not as effective as a LinkedIn campaign.
SEO- Three-letter acronyms are something you may notice come up frequently in marketing jargon. This one stands for search engine optimisation. Basically, it is the process of getting more unpaid traffic from a search engine. This can be done in a variety of ways, but usually involves the editing of your website in order to look more appealing when scanned by the search engine.
The Funnel- The funnel, funnel-y enough, is a term used to represent the flow of clients through your business. The funnel starts off broad and is where people who are in the initial stages of the buying process enter. So for example, someone may have a problem that they wish to solve, but don’t know what they should buy to solve this issue. Further down the funnel is where those who know what they want, they might know the type of product or service they’re looking for, and at the very bottom is those who are ready to purchase.
So as you can see, there’s tons of terminology to twist your tongue, but everything has a simple explanation, and this is no different!
Whilst I’ve tried my best to summarise some of the key points, there are loads of other more detailed insights on the Now Comms website. We’ve just put out a guide on how to use BANT effectively right here https://www.nowcomms.com/bant-guide/ , so don’t do anything before you’ve read that. I’ll see you there…
Tommy the intern