Tech marketing has moved on, says FXMA

Days when IT managers sit at a desk waiting for cold calls are over, according to fast-growing IT marketing agency

The old style of generating demand among IT buyers is dead, according to a technology marketing agency that has amassed 30 IT vendor clients since it launched four years ago.

Founded in 2011 by former Check Point account director Alisha Dattani, "revenue-based" integrated technology marketing agency FXMA now has 50 full-time staff and claims to be growing at 50 per cent year on year. Its clients include Check Point, Cisco and IBM, as well as start-ups such as Halon and Delphix.

Talking to CRN following the firm's opening of its new head office in London Bridge, Dattani (pictured) claimed the industry has undergone a shift in recent years.

"The days of IT managers sat there at their desk, waiting for a cold call through a switchboard, are gone," she said.

With IT managers now mobile, social media marketing can often be a trump card, Dattani said.

"No-one is stuck at their desk anymore and we need to target them where they are," she said. "Why not write a blog that targets someone on Linked In and connect to them through social media? A phone call might come into play but really we are talking about an integrated approach.

"We all need to step up a little and target these contacts through a variety of marketing means, whether that be content, social media or PR. Our whole business is providing these various services in an integrated way to deliver revenue for our vendors and their respective channel partners."

Offering support in 200 languages and with plans to increase its presence in the Middle East and Africa this year, FXMA is particularly strong among start-up IT security vendors launching into EMEA, Dattani said.

These clients can draw on the new London Bridge head office to hold meetings with prospects, she added, although FXMA's decision to move its HQ from Thames Valley to central London was also prompted by the fact many of its blue-chip clients, including Check Point, have done the same.

Darren Antill, who joined FMXA as a non-executive director in the autumn, said FXMA's goal is to reach the CEO, CMO or sales director to ensure its campaigns straddle sales and marketing.

He added: "There are not a lot of integrated agencies – you hire someone for PR, someone to do your website and someone to book appointments. We couple them all together and make them integrated, because the old ad hoc way of doing things one by one doesn't work anymore. I've seen that on the other side of the table when I spent far too much money on those things and didn't see the results.

"The old way of doing things is dead, and it's about trying to establish a new way of doing things in line with what's required in the marketing space."