B2B Marketing, Digital Media and Marketing Strategy
“Overall, a 30% increase in positive Tweets is four times more effective in driving sales than a 30% increase in existing above-the-line advertising.”
That is an impressive statistic, quoted directly from a Twitter infographic and attributed to a study by Deloitte. With the inclusion of a big name audit and consulting firm doing a study of 100 different game releases, it has all of the marks of credibility.
Unfortunately, it isn’t true. [Read more…]
It’s true. When people share too much, we tune them out. We only half-listen, or we just walk away.
In social media, we do the same thing. We skim over the update from the chatterboxes, not giving them the same attention as updates from others we see less frequently in our stream.
Here is the problem: As an individual building your own personal brand or as a marketer, you have taken the advice to share other people’s content to heart. In a bad way. [Read more…]
Picture an old town.
There is a town square, a general store, a watering hole or two in the town center and homes scattered beyond.
People know each other. More than that, they rely on each other. They gather together in large groups in the town center and in small groups in outlying homes.
Now a new family moves to town. They build a specialty store at one end of main street with an apartment above. They are certain their store will quickly become the key gathering spot in town. [Read more…]
Advertising is dead (again). The latest killers are the social media and content marketing stars.
Not so fast.
Marketing is a spectrum. At one end might be the experience someone has using your product or service as you intended. At the other might be a tiny mobile banner or a transit bench on a side street.
Advertising isn’t dead. Comparing different parts of the marketing spectrum is like comparing visible light to X-rays; “better” is entirely dependent on your purpose. [Read more…]
B2B content marketers are hiding behind false excuses for their content marketing challenges.
According to Curata’s survey, now nearly a year old, B2B content marketers’ biggest challenges are limited budget (27%), limited staff (25%) and creating enough new content (21%). (source)
In the Content Marketing Institute’s 2013 benchmarks (released in October 2012, in addition to content they mastered time travel), the top challenges are producing enough content (64%), producing the kind of content that engages the audience (52%) and producing a variety of content (45%).
Only 39% report a lack of budget. At the very bottom of the list are lack of buy-in/vision (22%) and finding trained content marketers (14%). (source) Similarly, the Curata survey shows only 7% say senior level buy-in is their biggest challenge.
The content marketing community is misleading itself. The real root problems aren’t producing enough content, limited budgets or staff, particularly as only 14% have problems hiring! [Read more…]
Banner ads work. Banner ads don’t work. Banner ads are just wallpaper.
It doesn’t matter what your opinion is of banner ads, someone out there has a study that will agree with your position.
However, as online publishers develop new “higher impact” online ads, recently published results should serve as a warning to both publishers and advertisers::
Don’t allow ads to come between your audience and the content they are looking for. [Read more…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]