Crimson works with clients to develop effective vertical marketing strategies to address high margin opportunities with a good return on investment. Our approach includes a client-defined mix of vertical market and industry analysis, definition of messaging and value propositions and vertical go-to-market strategies. Specifically, we:
Identify, qualify and prioritize vertical solutions that deliver the highest return on investment
Profile vertical market ecosystems and identify and prioritize key solution influencers in each vertical industry
Define route-to-revenue strategies that complement industry route-to-market influencers in a specific vertical market
Define partner business models and value propositions that drive compelling customer value, financial ROI and collaborative sales engagement
These steps result in higher quality vertical solutions, saving our clients time and money, and provide consistency, quality and predictability in the vertical solution results.
Crimson Thought Leadership on Vertical Marketing and Industry Analysis
Conducted Mid-Market and Vertical Market Competitive Analyses
Crimson conducted in-depth competitive analyses on our client's key competitors in the area of financial management systems. We analyzed the product and marketing and sales strategies, along with their approaches to the mid-market and specific vertical markets. We provided strategic recommendations and detailed information for sales guides for our client's field sales force.
Developed Vertical Route-to-Market Processes in SMB and Mid-Market Segments
Crimson conducted solution selection, solution ecosystem assessment, and partner identification in the Mid-Market and SMB segments. We identified both requisite criteria for and potential partners with distinct influence over both the customer acquisition and solution definition processes. Among criteria selected were: key partner verticals tapping, evaluation of the application/solution opportunity, market alignment, routes to market, routes to revenue, and partner value proposition. Crimson’s efforts resulted in rapid and effective partner prioritization for our client.
Developed Vertical Route-to-Market Strategy in the European Financial Sector
Crimson conducted partner identification, solution selection and ecosystem assessment in the European Financial Sector. The process of strategy development demanded identifying potential partners with discrete influence over the customer acquisition process. Some of the examined criteria were market and revenue routes, key-partner vertical tapping, application/solution opportunity evaluation, market alignment, and partner-value proposition. The recognition of key partner selection criteria facilitated rapid and effective partner prioritization.
Developed Vertical Route-to-Market Strategy in the Retail Sector
Crimson conducted retail sector solution selection, solution-ecosystem assessment, and partner identification. Outlining key partner selection criteria enabled the rapid and effective prioritization of partners for our client. Criteria included how-to-tap into key partner verticals, evaluation of the application/solution opportunity, market alignment, market and revenues routes, and partner value proposition. These efforts resulted in the identification of potential retail partners with discrete influence over both the customer acquisition process and the solution definition process.
Launched Industry Solutions (Vertical Markets) Effort
Crimson developed the messaging and content associated with our client's initial foray into several vertical markets. We created a team of domain experts in Financial Services, Consumer Packaged Goods, Telecommunications and Energy. This domain expertise enabled us to help our client move very quickly and address the key industry initiatives that dominate the business requirements of these markets.
Performed Product Launch Support for Vertical Markets Entry
For product launch support, we mapped industry pain points across the verticals at the operating system level; aggregated and identified existing knowledge capital per vertical, identified knowledge caps and synergistic initiatives, and developed product work-back plans for each of the six client-defined verticals. We also prioritized the verticals and defined appropriate next steps. As a result, we developed vertical value propositions for readiness and a work-back schedule that ensured that our client's product was more relevant, at launch and beyond, to key vertical industries.
Prioritized Addressable Vertical Industry Markets for New Product Marketing
Crimson performed an analysis of our client's operating system's potential to address several vertical industries, and conducted a prioritization of vertical industry market opportunities. We aggregated the vertical market and internal data, weighted criteria ranking of the relative prioritization of vertical industries addressed via previous product value propositions, and presented the methodology and relative priority of target verticals. These efforts enabled our client to readily identify priorities with a particular focus on its product's potential for adoption and deployment.
Supported Vertical Marketing Strategy Development
Using business process maps, Crimson assisted our client in understanding the business processes within each of their key vertical industries. We determined the partners (SIs, ISVs, VARs, hardware vendors, etc.) with whom our client would need to go-to-market with to create a complete solution. Finally, we developed many of the initial sales tools (whitepapers, Web content, sales presentations, etc.) which enabled our client to speak with line-of-business managers in addition to technical buyers.