How to structure an IT marketing plan using the RACE Framework

How to use the RACE Framework for IT marketing planning

As a technology company, it’s important to use the most up-to-date IT marketing methods to reach your key demographic and generate maximum revenue.

The RACE Framework focuses on how to improve your IT marketing across the full customer lifecycle, from creating awareness to build an audience, encouraging interaction and lead generation, to purchase and through to customer loyalty.

REACH > ACT > CONVERT > ENGAGE

The RACE Framework is used in IT marketing as a planning system. It is a structure that covers the paid, owned, and earned inbound marketing activities to encourage purchase.

The initial IT marketing planning stage should:

• Include an integrated digital strategy as a roadmap for future growth
• Define the resources needed to implement the strategy
• Improve your customer focus by segmenting your audience through digital media
• Develop your online content to grow leads and sales and create a more engaging brand

We’ve got marketing strategy solutions for your IT or tech company. From startups and small businesses for multinationals and enterprises, the RACE Framework will empower your to define the scope of your marketing activities and easily measure and improve your performance to boost your ROI.

REACH for IT Marketing:

Reach involves building brand awareness on other websites and offline media to generate increased traffic to your website by using, for example, microsites and social media. It is important in IT marketing to generate quality visits to your website through:

• Boosting inbound visibility through SEO, affiliate marketing, and social media
• Paid promotion through, for example, Google Ads and social media
• A planned customer acquisition plan
• Measuring the number of unique visits, value per visit, and followers, comparing social media influence to your main relevant social networks
• Tracking month-on-month and year-on-year changes so these changes can be identified, enhanced, or corrected as needed.

Take a look at 27 Ways to Increase Traffic to your Website from backlinko for further tips for generating quality visits to your site.

Your target market is looking for ways to solve the problems that they are facing. When they find the content that they need that addresses these problems, this is where the relationship begins. This can be achieved through:

• Tech blogs
• Social media posts 
• Creating web and landing pages that provide valuable solutions to your customer’s problems 
• Implementing keywords into your tech content

Here’s an example of a tech blog by online community Econsultancy, which is meeting customer needs through providing content relating to topics such as E-commerce, customer experience, innovation and trends, and product pages and merchandising.

ACT for IT Marketing:

Act is about encouraging interactions in your IT marketing and involves two main marketing techniques: 

1. Improving your content strategy 
2. Improving the digital experience on your website to persuade site visitors to take the next step when they initially reach your site or social channel.

The aim is to generate leads by getting named contacts to disclose their contact details in response to receiving something of value, such as a downloadable technology guide, eBook, or white paper, in return for their contact details. Marketing automation provider, Force24, provides a variety of downloadable customer guides in its Content Library.

Once you have generated leads, you should nurture the customer relationship through the provision of relevant solution-based content which will nurture them into becoming leads.

Marketing tools to aid in conversion include:

• Tech specific landing pages
• Calls to action (CTAs)
• Forms
• LiveChat and virtual messaging
• Customer Relationship Management

CONVERT for IT Marketing:

This is about using communications techniques to increase conversion to sale in your IT marketing, which will often include both online and offline channels. 

The key planning activities and deliverables you should use to manage the Conversion part of RACE include the effective use of:

• Big data and pipeline management
• Lead nurturing
• Email marketing
• Lead scoring

Your e-mails, for example, should include relevant CTAs and your lead nurturing campaigns should be progressing them through the customer journey until finally, your lead converts to become a customer. Take a look at Learn Hub’s 15 Great Call to Action Examples That Simply Work for how to create a compelling CTA.

ENGAGE for IT Marketing:

Engage is aimed at building a long-term relationship with your buyers to build customer loyalty in order to boost customer lifetime value. Email marketing, social media communications, and website content for existing customers are key techniques that can be used in your IT marketing to support Engage. 

To retain your customer’s interest, you should provide them with valuable content, ask them questions to continually understand what their challenges and problems are, and provide them with what they need to be successful with their products or services. The more satisfied your customer is, the more likely they are to purchase from you and be ambassadors of your brand.

Tools that will help you with the Engage part of your IT marketing include:

• Online surveys and interviews
• Tech content produced exclusively for existing customers
• Providing priority tickets to your tech events
• Implementing workflows to ensure that you manage and follow up on tasks
• Keep conversing in person, over the phone, and virtually

To ensure that you keep track of the effectiveness of your IT marketing, you should measure:

• How many repeat purchases you are delivering in different tech product categories and how this contributes to lifetime value
• How many customers are satisfied with their experience and will recommend you, for example, measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• How many customers recommend you through, for example, referral programs or through social media shares.

When using the RACE Framework to plan your IT marketing, you should establish which phase your prospective customer is in. Their position in the customer journey should dictate the type and relevance of the communications that they receive. 

Our tools and templates support marketers and managers to plan, manage, and optimize their tech and IT marketing strategies. Use the RACE Framework to implement new tactics to improve your customer journeys at each stage of your marketing strategy to drive the results you need.

Find out how to apply the RACE Framework across your IT or tech company’s marketing strategy. Smart Insights can support you to set and achieve your growth objectives, increase profitability, and accelerate your business’ vision through digital marketing.