LinkedIn: Do New Offerings Make It the King of B2B?

Picture of a Lion at the Oregon ZooIf 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…]

Are Machines the Future of Marketing?

Watson on JeopardyThe 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…]

Do You Trust Your Content?

TrustLooking 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…]

Banners Don’t Drive Leads in B2B Marketing

Wrong WayIf 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…]

Getting Out of the B2B Lead Generation Trap

TrapsMost 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…]

A Guide to Creating a Thought Leadership Campaign

Desert LeaderSituation: 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…]

5 Signs Your Marketing Isn’t Integrated

"I think you're making a huge MISTAKE!"Integrated marketing is hard.

Every single marketing touchpoint should be working together. Executed well, it is a great example of 1 + 1 + 1 = 5.

However, integrated marketing isn’t an exact science, there is not a simple litmus test that tells you if your marketing is integrated. Often it is easier to spot the signs your marketing is not integrated.

So with that, here are five signs that your marketing is not integrated. [Read more…]

Marketers: Show Your Love

Just for you...There is a disturbing trend in both consumer and B2B marketing: Marketers do not love the people they are marketing to. Behind closed doors, many marketers don’t like or even respect them.

In turn, consumers and B2B buyers have come to dislike marketing. They see email, direct mail, promoted Tweets, Facebook ads, banners and TV ads clamoring for their attention and cluttering their lives without adding any value.

When you look at what passes for marketing, it is no wonder. Many marketers are talking incessantly about themselves with claims so disconnected from reality they make fishing tales sound like true stories.

This trend will eventually destroy your business. Your potential customers will live on without you, but you cannot exist without them. [Read more…]

Does B2B Social Media Work? That’s the Wrong Question

Great Marketing ExampleIt is a common question, and starting point for (normally) friendly debate, in B2B marketing. Does X really work for Y?

  • Does social media work for B2B?
  • Does newspaper work for real estate?
  • Does digital work for pharmaceuticals?
  • Does content marketing work for local businesses?

People that say “no” tend to say it doesn’t work anymore because behavior is changing (newspaper), it doesn’t work because their audience doesn’t use it (social media) or it doesn’t work because it doesn’t reach their audience (content marketing).

Those that say it does work point to case studies or audience research showing usage of the channel is high. [Read more…]

Putting the Conversation Back into Twitter

http Callout BoxSome days it seems Twitter has moved from a social platform to a headline and link platform. I don’t know about you, but I miss the old days of Twitter where people shared insightful thoughts or strangers met through a conversation.

Communicating something useful or interesting in 140 characters was an art, and some practiced it well. This art is already being lost.

Today, 140 characters is just a promotion for 500 more words. [Read more…]