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

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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…]

Does B2B Content Marketing Really Help Buyers Buy?

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In B2B marketing organizations, content marketing aims to help buyers buy. Right?

Content marketing provides the information buyers need to determine the type of solution they need, develop internal support for a change, create a short list of providers and address objections, all while positioning your company as a trusted resource.

Wow, that sounds amazing. But is your content really what stood between a prospect and a purchase?

I had the opportunity to speak with Sharon Drew Morgen a couple times recently. Each time I came away thinking we can do so much more. [Read more…]

The Future of Marketing Is Extreme

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Louder. Bigger. Sexier. Shocking

And just maybe: More Useful

We are inundated by marketing today. In a bid to stand out in the sea of marketing competing for our attention, marketing continues to move to the extremes.

The future will push the boundaries of what we accept and expect in marketing. Here are just a few ways marketers will push the boundaries in the coming years. [Read more…]

3 Ways To Use the Value of a Like or Follow

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Dan Zarella and Hubspot gave the “what is your social media audience worth” pot a good stir last week.

It doesn’t matter if you like Hubspot’s formula or not (at least not for this article). One day many businesses will put a value on their social media audience, if it is in the form of monthly impact to their business or the average value of an audience member.

Then what? How do you use the value of a like, follower, circler, or similar to improve the value of your marketing and your business? [Read more…]

Will Jet Engines Ever Be Social?

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What would a jet engine say if it was on a social network?

The CMO of GE talked about this in a video earlier this year at Dreamforce. Wow, what a question. To think, soon your refrigerator, car and, yes, jet engines may be part of your social network.

But as devices join you on Facebook, Twitter or other social platforms, are they really becoming social? [Read more…]

A New Way To Connect Twitter To Lead Generation

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B2B marketers are so anxious to generate leads from social media they are turning Twitter into a list for cold calls and mass email blasts.

In the last couple weeks, two companies have emailed or called me because I follow influential sales and marketing accounts on Twitter.

There is nothing social about this! Marketers are just turning social into a source of email or telemarketing lists for mass outbound marketing.

Here is a better way, along with actual results, that companies can use to drive leads through social media. [Read more…]

Marketing Automation’s Next Frontier: Madison Avenue

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Marketers have invested in marketing automation, content and, in many cases, creating complex business rules to determine what content and message to deliver when.

This represents a significant investment but, for many companies, the application has been limited to emails and landing pages.

The real value is in the rules and logic used to deliver the right message at the right time. The next evolution in marketing automation will be extending the application of these rules across the full spectrum of digital and addressable marketing channels. [Read more…]

Why B2B Marketers Are Slow To Invest In Data

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Join #B2BChat on Twitter every Thursday at 8:00 PM EasternGood data is essential for B2B marketing organizations to excel. Sirius Decisions research indicates that good data can increase revenue driven through marketing by 70%. It isn’t hard to believe, just ask any B2B marketer that has tried marketing to a bad prospect list.

Despite the positive impact data can have, B2B marketing organizations have been slow to embrace new sources and types of data.

In a recent #B2Bchat about new data available for B2B marketers, participants shared a number of concerns or barriers to using new data. [Read more…]

Why Inbound Marketing Will Cost More

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Joyful SimplicitiesInbound marketing leads, according to Hubspot, cost 62% less than leads from outbound marketing. But don’t expect that cost advantage to last.

One of two things is happening:

  1. Inbound isn’t really more cost effective. Maybe Hubspot’s sample is biased or methodology is bad, but for whatever reason, the 62% isn’t true.
  2. Inbound really is more cost effective today and early adopters are reaping the benefit.

If reports of inbound marketing’s cost effectiveness are wrong, then inbound today may be far more expensive than Hubspot’s research indicates. If not, it will be soon. [Read more…]

B2B Marketing Has a Perception Problem

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Do you care if potential prospects see your services as high value or a complete rip-off? Of course you do.

This is about the perception each individual has about you. This is about your brand.

Perceptions are created by experience with your products, service and people, through what other people say about you (even competitors) and through your own marketing.

No one buys from a company they distrust or pays a premium for a solution they see as a low cost provider.

However, in B2B, the value of perceptions have been set aside, in favor of the new holy grail of B2B marketing: lead generation. [Read more…]