MARKETING WARPs

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MARKETING WARPs

• Annette Bontke
• Consultant to CPNI
• Tuesday, 13 March 2007

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Marketing Tips

• Define your objectives
• To raise awareness of WARPs
• To identify potential sponsors
• Target your audience
• Potential WARP champions/members
• IT suppliers
• Draft key messages
• Collect metrics to support your campaign
• Identify relevant marketing tools
• Create an action plan with realistic timelines

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The Tools

• Your website
• Flyers/information leaflets
• E-newsletters
• Case studies/success stories
• Workshops/meetings
• Speaker opportunities
• Articles in specialist press
• Press releases
• National/regional/local press interviews
• Networking events

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The Tools

• 1. Your website
• Your website is the window to the exterior, so
  keep the content fresh and interesting,
  up-to-date and make sure your contact details are
  easily found and correct!
• 2. Flyers/information leaflets
• This type of off-line media is still pertinent
  for certain type of marketing goals. Particularly
  ideal for keeping your target audience informed
  with any news, updates or promotions.
• 3. Publish e-newsletters
• Keep the stickiness to your website and your
  audience informed by issuing a monthly
  e-newsletter with recent news, updates, new
  testimonials, etc. This allows you to capture a
  large target audience at the push of a button.
  Also allow people to sign up to newsletters on
  your homepage.
• 4. Write case studies/success stories
• Case studies/success stories cannot be
  highlighted enough as a source of excellent third
  party endorsement. Once you have consent from the
  third party, testimonials can be distributed on
  the website, sold into the press, printed on
  forum flyers
• 5. Plan organise Workshops/Meetings
• Identify relevant themes and arrange a loose
  calendar of workshops in your area/region so as
  to keep a good communications momentum flowing.
  Face-to-face meetings are invaluable for WARPs
  and, although it might not always be possible,
  monthly or at least bi-monthly workshops will
  ensure that the trust factor can be improved
  with every meeting. These dont necessarily need
  to be held in a formal environment, a pub or
  restaurant will also do.

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The Tools

• 6. Speaker opportunities at conferences
• These are an invaluable source and an ideal
  platform to win over potential sponsors/providers
  and to spread the word on WARPs. There are a
  whole raft of conference companies as well as
  well-known IT security firms that host these
  kinds of conferences. Take a look at their yearly
  calendar well in advance and try and book the
  most senior person in your team as a speaker.
  Note that not all of them are free, a fee is
  sometimes payable.
• 7. Articles in specialist press
• Establish a press list pertinent to your sector
  and approach one or more of the editors asking if
  theyd like you to contribute to an article in
  their publication. This can be arranged on a
  monthly or ad-hoc basis, according to the nature
  of the news. Depending on the type of
  publication, this activity is usually free of
  charge not least because you are, in many
  instances, writing the article for the
  journalist.
• 8. Press releases
• If you feel you have come across a newsworthy
  story, ask your PR department (if you have one)
  to draft a press release for possible inclusion
  (press releases are never guaranteed to appear)
  in the relevant press/publication. If it does
  appear, then youve achieved a free piece of
  publicity! Rather than always aim high at
  national publications, dont overlook the
  importance of local newspapers or even local
  radio.
• 9. National/regional/local press interviews
• Equally as important is what the PR world calls
  1-1 press interviews. Ideally, these take place
  when there is a significant story to be told and
  where one journalist from a each of your target
  publications is invited for interviews. Your
  marketing/PR department should put together a
  press pack (which includes the press release, a
  background sheet on your company/school/organisati
  on and any other relevant material) for the
  journalist.
• 10. Networking Events
• Again, much like the workshops meetings,
  arrange informal networking evenings as an
  occasion to
• get together and discuss topics/issues. This is
  another good incentive to build on the trust
• factor among members/users. Take advantage of
  the event and also invite potential sponsors/
• members along to meet existing ones.

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Internal Marketing

• Last but not least, dont forget to market WARPs
  within your organisation.
• How to do it?

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Internal Marketing

• Invite senior management/colleagues
• To a breakfast meeting

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Internal Marketing

• Invite senior management/colleagues
• To a lunch seminar

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Internal Marketing

• Invite senior management/colleagues
• To an after work drinks party

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Internal Marketing

• Make sure to be included in
• Quarterly board meetings

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Internal Marketing

• Circulate your monthly WARP newsletter

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WARPs website

• For further details on relevant marketing
  material, pleases visit the WARP website
• www.warp.gov.uk