Innovate to differentiate in an online world.

• Author: Mullings, Colette
• Position: Affiliate News and Notes

Differentiation. Innovation. Abstract themes that framed many of the discussions at this year's PSMG annual conference. Neither is easy to achieve, but one thing is for sure: the online environment represents a huge opportunity for differentiation through innovation, not least because the newest techniques for engendering brand awareness and response are being pioneered in the online space, often in sectors other than professional services. But how prevalent are these techniques in the professional services sector? What's their true potential? What risks do they bring? And just how pertinent are they in helping us professional services marketers to promote our brands, to generate leads and to nurture new business?

We are not going to answer all those question in a 1,200 feature. Not least because we don't know all the answers. But what we would like to do is give you a few of the insights that we gained during the workshop we ran on online communications at the PMSG annual Conference, and to impart some pointers based on our experiences of the online space.

During the workshop--"Online Communications: The Phantom Menace?"--we tested our assumptions with regard to the key areas of online communication. We asked the twenty participants (a cross-section of professional services marketers and consultants) whether their organisation was using one of several online communications channels. The responses panned out as below:

Web site 100% Email marketing 70% Online advertising (banners/PPC) 70% Online subscriptions 35% SEO 20% Wikis 20% Podcasts 5% Intelligent templates 0% We wonder what the response would have been if a group of B2C marketers was posed the same question?

What the scorecard shows is that there appears to be a gap between the numerous options available in online marketing, and their take-up by the professional services sector; either through lack of awareness (unlikely), lack of resources (more likely), positive opt-outs by firms who decide it is not a path worth pursuing or difficulty in achieving the right buy-in from the right people at the right time. Perhaps it's all these factors combined.

Whatever the reasons, it's time the sector got tooled up. Yes, judicious choices do need to be made in selecting those media that combine impact with the ability to control the message, in campaigns that can be readily integrated with those marketing channels that firms and their clients are most comfortable with. Yes, it is easy to cast...