One change that dramatically improved B2B marketing results

Slice of a TractorYou can’t rely on your own data.

Your prospects spend the vast majority of their time doing everything except opening your emails, visiting your site or viewing your content.

Despite the magic of marketing automation and the ability to collect information on every mouse movement on every page of our sites, we only get a tiny window into the lives of our prospects. And that tiny window can turn out to be very misleading. [Read more…]

Three Data Opportunities B2B Marketers Are Missing Today

Rolls of DataFor all of the discussion of data in marketing, and Big Data in 2014, most B2B marketers are showing they are inept when it comes to actually using data to improve the majority of their marketing.

Yes, B2B marketers are doing a few things well when it comes to using data:

  • B2B marketers are increasingly adopting marketing automation and using past behavior to deliver more relevant content.
  • Ads are (occasionally) targeted and relevant to discrete audiences, using retargeting or through data providers like Bizo.
  • B2B marketing performance is being carefully tracked and optimized based on reported results.

Sound ok? Before you give yourself a pat on the back, this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg! [Read more…]

B2B Lead Generation: The Cost of Publisher Programs

B2B Lead Generation Cost [Infographic Thumbnail]Need leads? It will cost you. Between $35 and $65 per registration according to statistics recently published by Madison Logic. And that is if you are just targeting a broad function, like “marketing” or “technology.”

Do you want a specific industry? Level of seniority? Geography? The more targeting you need, the more expensive those leads become. That’s a safe rule of thumb, and the data from Madison Logic bears it out (stats in the infographic below).

Over a series of three articles on B2B lead generation, we will look at types of programs or providers, how to measure the success of publisher lead generation programs and things you can do to improve the results from your programs. [Read more…]

3 Steps to Using Data in an Imperfect Data World

Archery target with arrows around the edgeData is reinventing the online advertising market. Today, algorithmic media buying is one of the fastest growing areas in online advertising and without data, it wouldn’t even exist.

This isn’t just a consumer advertising trend, increasingly B2B advertising is being driven by data as well.

However, the problem with online data is it is inherently dirty. Collected from registration forms, browsing behavior or appended offline data sources, collecting online data is an imperfect process at best.

So what is the smart way to use dirty data to improve your advertising? Glad you asked.

Here are three steps that will guide both media and creative. [Read more…]

B2B Email Lists: How Publishers Use (or Abuse) Your Email

In B2B marketing, and particularly in enterprise technology marketing, publishers lean heavily on email lists for lead generation programs, including whitepaper and webcast promotions.

B2B email lists also still command high rental rates ($300+ CPMs are very common). Both directly or indirectly, email continues to be an important vehicle for B2B publishers.

But when you rent an email list, purchase an ad in an email newsletter or run a lead generation program with a publisher, do you know how much the publisher has used (or abused) their email list? [Read more…]

Content Syndication Options for B2B Lead Generation

Lead generation continues to be a top objective for B2B marketers and content syndication is primary offering from publishers.

Definitions:

  • Content syndication refers to distributing content through publishers and requiring registration in order to capture contacts.
  • Leads in this post refer to contacts captured through a registration form, in line with the way B2B publishers label their programs.

As demand for B2B lead generation programs increases, new providers are springing up, sporting slick new websites, massive email databases, lower costs and brand new approaches.

As the landscape changes, here are some of the benefits and drawbacks [Read more…]