B2B Marketing, Digital Media and Marketing Strategy
Question everything you hear, see or read.
Yes, everything.
The only thing you can rely on is your own understanding and knowledge, developed through your own investigation and experience. [Read more...]
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No one makes a million dollar decision based on one white paper, one email or one Google search.
The buying process may take 12 to 18 months. 20 different people may be involved in the decision. Peers, consultants and analysts will provide their input.
It is called a complex sale for a reason, but B2B marketers keep trying to fit it into a simplistic measurement framework: where did we get that lead? [Read more...]
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At a recent conference, I returned to my room to a bag full of tchotchkes from sponsors. Most went straight into the trash.
Filling my hotel room with cheap junk is not a good way to make me think fondly of you or your product.
When you are marketing a marketing service to marketers, the bar is even higher than it is for most B2B marketers. Your marketing will be seen as an indicator of the quality of your marketing service. [Read more...]
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B2B advertisers generally target smaller, harder to define audiences than consumer advertisers, which puts a major premium on effective targeting in B2B advertising.
However, many B2B marketing groups are continuing to use the same targeting options they mastered in print and direct mail, simply applied to newer digital marketing tactics.
Today, B2B marketers have many new options available. Below are 7 options and potential providers for each one. [Read more...]
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If you are in B2B advertising, you cannot ignore LinkedIn. With great reach (#22 US site in January 2013 according to ComScore), extensive profile data actively maintained by the audience and granular targeting options, LinkedIn is a powerhouse in the world of B2B advertising.
So when LinkedIn introduces a new advertising option, as a B2B advertiser, you need to pay attention. Here are two new offerings LinkedIn introduced in the last quarter that seem to have slipped under the radar of most B2B marketers. [Read more...]
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The idea that someday the CEO or Head of Sales will click a few buttons to set objectives, budget and timing and a machine will create and execute a marketing plan seems pretty far-fetched.
When IBM’s Watson can tackle healthcare issues, marketing advice from machines doesn’t seem so unlikely anymore.
As marketers, we will soon be the managers of the machines that are managing our marketing. Are you ready? [Read more...]
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Looking at most B2B marketing, the answer is clearly “no, you don’t.” You do not trust your content to tell your story, grow your audience or sell your solutions. Instead, you put your trust in your outbound marketing and sales process.
Don’t trumpet your content as your communication king, as the key way you connect with your audience, if the real way you connect with your audience comes after they fill out a registration form.
Your content is like the teen that still needs a chaperone, you aren’t willing to send it out on its own yet. And that is ok! [Read more...]
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If your goal is to deliver leads that you can tie back directly to your marketing investment, do not make banners the core of your enterprise B2B marketing program. Period.
Lead generation is still one of the top objectives of enterprise B2B marketers and many B2B publishers continue to propose banners as a way to deliver leads.
Publishers that continue to do this are doing a disservice to marketers that don’t know better and are losing the respect of those that do.
Banners don’t drive leads. Remember that. [Read more...]
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Most B2B marketing organizations miss the biggest opportunities to impact their business because they have not identified the right goals.
Why isn’t business coming out of your ears?
Dig into that question, ask why of every answer or assumption you come up with, and you will eventually get to the root challenge and the basis for goals that can move your business forward.
It is easier said than done. [Read more...]
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Situation: Your B2B company is not seen as a thought leader in your industry. You have been asked to develop a campaign to establish your company as a thought leader and become one of the leading voices within your industry.
Normally I am opposed to the idea of thought leadership and campaign being used together.
However, establishing thought leadership is a common objective and many B2B marketing organizations continue to work within a campaign framework. Ideal or not, many B2B marketers need solutions that deliver real recognition as thought leaders within a campaign structure. [Read more...]
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I am a digital and B2B marketer with a background in analytics and online media. Based in Portland, Oregon, I run the media group at Babcock & Jenkins.
Views expressed are my own.
