1st Edition

Taking Technology to the Market A Guide to the Critical Success Factors in Marketing Technology

By Ian Linton Copyright 2012

    With intensifying competitive activity and continuing budget constraints, technology marketing teams are under pressure to be more accountable and deliver measurable results that demonstrate an effective return on investment. To add to the complexity, the market for technology products and services is global, with continuing growth in both developed and developing territories. Taking Technology to the Market provides a practical guide to the critical success factors in marketing technology. It uses a project-based approach, providing comprehensive guidelines for key strategic and tactical marketing programmes. The book will help you improve your chances of developing a winning marketing programme by providing essential steps to success and insight into best practice. Individual chapters provide self-contained guides to planning specific marketing tasks. The range of tasks covers the most common challenges facing marketing teams in technology companies. The book will help you understand the key success factors for overcoming a range of marketing challenges and give you the tools to put specific programmes into action quickly and effectively. The technology sector is a global business characterised by short product cycles, rapid change, longer-term customer relationships, complex decision-making processes, high levels of collaboration and partnership with customers and the supply chain, diverse channels to market and an emphasis on the value of information. These factors make the marketing of technology products and services a distinct discipline within the overall marketing spectrum to which Taking Technology to the Market is the definitive guide.

    Introduction; Chapter 1 Position the Company; Chapter 2 Understand Your Customers; Chapter 3 Develop a Long-Term Product Strategy; Chapter 4 Offer a Customer-Focused Service Strategy; Chapter 5 Operate a Flexible Pricing Strategy; Chapter 6 Broaden Capability Through Collaboration; Chapter 7 Make Knowledge a Differentiator; Chapter 8 Manage the Market; Chapter 9 Develop Effective Channels to Market; Chapter 10 Maintain a Culture of Innovation; Chapter 11 Make It Easy To Do Business; Chapter 12 Manage the Sales Cycle; Chapter 13 Enhance Marketing Management;

    Biography

    Ian Linton is a professional writer with over 20 years' experience of marketing and marketing communications programmes for global technology clients including AT&T, IBM, ICL, Cisco, HP, Dell, NEC, McAfee, HP, Worldpay, Siemens and Mercury as well as a wide range of other organisations in the business-to-business sector. These companies are recognised for demonstrating best practice in marketing, and readers will be able to draw on the author's insight into their success. Ian is the author of 22 published business books, mainly on continuing professional development in marketing and customer service. Ian Linton's books are practical action guides, rather than academic in treatment, written in a style that is accessible to non-specialists, as well as marketing professionals.