When I saw the first bullet in the summary for this survey done in collaboration between Selling Power and Richardson I couldn't help but download the Content Marketing and Sales Effectiveness report. For, if nearly 50% of sales reps and 35% of sales managers don't understand the content strategy, there's a problem.
In my work with B2B companies, I spend a lot of time on the phone with salespeople while doing research for the creation of buyer personas and the development of content strategies that dovetail with sales objectives. One of the questions I always ask is for the salesperson to define what they consider to be a qualified lead.
I saw a post the other day where the author recommended that marketers create a marketing persona and a social media persona - like these are two separate things. I've heard marketing teams talk about social media as an aside. I hear SEO bandied about in relation to getting found, but without a mention of the content that's being published....
I see a lot of stuff said about content that makes me wonder. There's so much noise about content marketing that it's hard to know what to believe. Some of it looks good on the surface, but when you start to dig in it doesn't. Some of it holds up.
I recently read a post written by Brian Carroll of MECLABS. An excerpt caught my attention as this is a problem I see often. He was discussing a finding in Marketing Sherpa's 2013 Email Marketing Benchmark Report that found only 15% of marketers reported they have dedicated resources to produce content for each stage of the buying process.
I've been on a number of calls recently with companies that want to break into a new market. They think that content marketing may be the key, but are uncertain if they're right, as well as how to approach this new direction. Content Marketing is definitely a key strategy.
Many B2B companies think that their website must serve every type of customer they have-every flavor of persona. I'd ask you to step back a moment and think about your website audience. Just because your company serves a range of people, titles, and roles, doesn't mean that they all use your website-or ever will.
In my last post I wrote about some of the ways Marketers could benefit from LinkedIn in relation to the report Jill Konrath and I released recently, Cracking the LinkedIn Sales Code. Today, I'd like to write about some opportunities that surfaced during our analysis of the data that point to the need for sales enablement that can help your...
Jill Konrath and I recently released a report, Cracking the LinkedIn Sales Code, that details what we learned from a survey of 3,094 salespeople about their use of LinkedIn as a sales tool. As a marketing professional, I found the responses fascinating and began thinking about how the data crosses boundaries to inform the marketing side.
Now that we're a few months into the new year, it seems appropriate to take a stand about the payoffs of sticking with solid content marketing strategies. The beginning of the year is when a lot of B2B companies look at what they want to accomplish this year as a clean slate.
The rise of the term Native Advertising seems to be causing quite a stir. This may very well be in creating a label that's inherently in conflict with itself. The main problem is with the word "Advertising." However, the concept of "Native" is headed in the right direction in regards to addressing context for audiences, rather than the unwanted interruption...
Many of the projects I do for companies start with buyer personas. After all, it's a logical place to start as it's next to impossible to develop a content strategy without a keen understanding of the people involved in buying complex B2B product offerings. But I'm noticing a trend I hadn't foreseen.
When alignment is discussed in marketing, the usual application is to sales and marketing alignment. This has been an ongoing conversation for nearly as long as I can remember. And I've been in the business environment for quite a while. The issue that comes up for me is that there are some alignment issues before we can even get to...
Brand positioning is becoming critical as more B2B marketers turn to content marketing across a range of channels to cultivate standoffish, self-service buyers. Your corporate positioning should be used as the backbone for your content strategy. This is what will hold it all together to ensure consistency and keep your storylines on track-no matter the channel in use.
Lately, I've been receiving calls from B2B sales executives in search of how to use content to drive pipeline momentum. Many of their companies have marketing teams that are doing good work. Their websites include customer-centric content, they have active blogs with posts contributed from across the enterprise, their social media accounts show a good ratio of other people's content...
I'm still speaking with a lot of B2B marketers who draw a hard line in the sand at the sales handoff. Each time I hear the disinterest and see them disengage, I cringe a bit. Well, a lot. Comments vary, but often include flavors of: It's not my job.
I'm a huge proponent of listening to what prospective B2B buyers and "companies" say and do online as an indication of how to create content that better engages them. But several things have drawn my attention lately that make me wonder about the veracity of people's behavior and their expressed sentiment.
I first heard this term "buyer persona backlash" from Jason Stewart of Demandbase during today's webinar with Craig Rosenberg. And, I didn't like it. They were sharing the results from the 2013 Account-based Marketing Survey. Before I get going, I want you to know that Jason and I are buddies.
I'm starting to see customer retention, up sell and cross sell getting a bit more attention from B2B marketers these days. From account-based marketing programs to targeted microsites and nurturing programs, marketers are finally looking to increase the value of their existing customer portfolios. And I like where they're looking.
I've been doing a lot of content audits lately. Boy are they an eye opener! When you have to sit down and read a slew of content from one vendor in a short timeframe, it can be exhausting. But I always learn a lot of great stuff from the immersion.
The 2012 Customer Engagement Study, conducted by IDG Enterprise and released at the end of September, focused on learning more about the role content plays in an IT Decision Maker's buying process. A validation for the role of content: Enterprise IT Decision Makers engage with an average of 10 content assets during their buying process.
I've been writing a series of posts lately trying to dispel B2B Marketing Buzzwords. This isn't exactly a buzzword, but it's becoming a problem and should be a source of embarassment for those who do it. Yes, this is a rant. You've been forewarned... You know who I'm talking about?
I'd like to take pause to question how marketers are using the term "buyer's journey." This also applies to buying process, buying cycle, sales cycle, etc. If you've been reading my blog lately, you know I've been on a bit of a quest to get marketers to stop and think about what the terms we use every day actually mean....
I've been a bit of a journey to explore B2B marketing buzzwords. Today's focus - at the suggestion of Eric Wittlake - is the buzzword: Relationship. Relationship is formally defined as a connection between people - emotional or otherwise. A relationship can be thought of as a dependence, affinity, or kinship.
Recently, I've felt compelled to take on some B2B marketing terms that make me a bit nuts as their meanings become blurred through the casual way we're using them. I've taken on engagement and conversation, and now I've got a twist going about relevance. Be Relevant! Design content that's relevant to your audience!
