B2B Marketing Traction

APRIL 23, 2015

'Google changed their search engine algorithm to favor mobile friendly websites. But don’t let a web developer or SEO vendor sell you a bill of goods as a solution. Here’s what you need to know. Google announced this algorithm change early – a few months ago – letting website owners know that they would begin to favor mobile friendly websites in the search results starting on April 21.

Google 100

Google Mobile Advertising Budget Programs Mobile Marketing 100

B2B Marketing Traction

APRIL 21, 2015

'Everyone wants to sell their technology services and products to CIOs, but many CIOs are expert at avoiding solicitations. Here’s what you need to know to market successfully to CIOs. I read with interest a Wall Street Journal blog post by Rachael King that references the research of Joe Peppard, a professor at the European School of Management and Technology.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Planning Marketing Management Cross-Selling 100

B2B Marketing Traction

APRIL 13, 2015

'There’s a big difference between what B2B marketers are using in their marketing programs and what is effective. Here are three things you need to act on to increase your marketing results. A survey conducted in 2014 called the 2015 B2B Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends in North America by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs provided lists of what tactics B2B marketers used and what they found most effective.

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Customer Surveys B2B Marketing B2B 100

B2B Marketing Traction

APRIL 9, 2015

'Deciding what kind of content to include in your B2B eNewsletter isn’t easy. It’s a challenge to stand out when your prospects’ email inboxes are overflowing with hundreds – maybe thousands – of emails begging for their attention. I have found that the eNewsletters I like include a combination of interesting and valuable content.

Work Management 100

Work Management B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership Planning 100

B2B Marketing Traction

APRIL 1, 2015

'Email marketing is easy, right? You decide on a message, create the email using one of many email programs, send a test for review and, when it looks good, hit send! Right? Wrong. A few days ago I got an email from a company announcing their name change. I didn’t recognize the company, and I didn’t recognize the sender. I scanned the email subject line, introduction, body content and signature line, and I still had no idea what the company did.

Email Marketing 100

Email Marketing B2B Marketing Planning B2B 100

B2B Marketing Traction

MARCH 20, 2015

'Too many business people jump right into tactics when it comes to marketing. They think that all they need to do is get the word out about a product or service and people will buy. Build it and they will come! But this is why a lot of marketing – and a lot of businesses – fail. Executing marketing tactics before you’ve analyzed whether or not there is a target market that wants or needs your product is like putting the cart before the horse.

Analysis 100

Analysis Tactics B2B Marketing Planning 100

B2B Marketing Traction

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

'With all the news and hype about content marketing these days, you would think it’s one of the most effective marketing tactics for B2B marketing, if not the most effective. But, it’s not. I spent quite a bit of time going through the results of a recent survey of B2B Marketers by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and Marketing Profs sponsored by Brightcove.

Tactics 100

Tactics B2B Marketing Effectiveness Planning 100

B2B Marketing Traction

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

'You send a regular eNewsletter, but are you getting results? Read this post to find out how to increase the return on your investment in time and money on your newsletter. 1. Set clear objectives for your eLetter. What do you want to accomplish with your eLetter? You can achieve many different objectives with an email newsletter. Provide news about your company and employees?

B2B 100

B2B Click Rate Newsletter Work Management 100

B2B Marketing Traction

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

'Hosting a Twitter chat can offer a great marketing benefits or turn into a total failure. Here are some of the things to consider when designing your new Twitter chat. My niece is a music therapist and the founder of Maine Music & Health. She does her own marketing, and recently mentioned that students from a class she teaches keep reaching out to network with her, and she thought a Twitter chat might be a good way to connect and share information.

Twitter 100

Twitter Web 2.0 Planning Social Media 100

B2B Marketing Traction

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

'Is it time to update your website in WordPress? Here are twelve steps and the corresponding skill sets that you need to make your project a success. WordPress website updates are easy, right? You just choose a template, install it, and tweak your existing content to make sure all is working, right? Wait, hold on a minute! Too many marketing people are pitching WordPress websites as easy and claim that they can handle the whole project.

Marketing Websites 100

Marketing Websites Work Management Marketing Management Template 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 24, 2014

'Learning to use Twitter can be perplexing, because it has it’s own language and coding. In this blog post I provide answers and how-to’s for the six most common questions B2B companies have about getting started on Twitter. 1. What is the difference between a # (hashtag) and the @ (at) signs? The answer is that hashtags are used to tag your tweet with a keyword that clues readers in to the topic of your tweet.

Twitter 100

Twitter Web 2.0 B2B Conference 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 21, 2014

'If you’re not getting analytical reports on your marketing results, it’s time to re-evaluate your marketing provider. I saw the greatest expression recently while reading an article by Kate Kaye in AdAge , “ This ad industry is awash in agencies doing jazz hands. ” What the author means is that still, in this day of big data and analytics, too many agencies are still just doing a dog and pony show when it comes to talking about results.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Paid Search Agency B2B Marketing Marketing Management 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

'For those industries where the list of competitors seems too large to research and your research budget is small or non-existent, there are cost effective ways to analyze the competition. You can survey your customers to find out which competitors were included in their review. But you can also do an easier and more cost-effective online search to see which competitors come up at the top of the search results and focus your analysis on them.

Analysis 100

Analysis Verticals Planning Customer Surveys 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 11, 2014

'It’s easy to add an update on LinkedIn and Facebook, right? Not so fast! The mechanics seem easy, but making your update effective (eye-catching, compelling, and engaging) is not as easy. Here’s how to do it right. 1. Include an image or photo with your update. Everything is more visual on social media. The proof of this is in the explosion of Pinterest and Instagram.

Linkedin 100

Linkedin Facebook Web 2.0 Tips 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

'The behavior of today’s B2B buyer means that marketing needs to go far beyond what it did in the past. Marketing must not only attract new prospects but also provide information and content for sales to convert them to customers. The need for marketing to work with sales is more important than ever. Recent surveys show that as much as 57% of the buying decision is done before buyers contact sales ( CEB Study of 1400 Customers ).

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Sales B2B Marketing B2B 100

B2B Marketing Traction

OCTOBER 31, 2014

'I was just reading an article about SEO, and it hit me. B2B marketers (any marketers, for that matter) need to market like a bunch of babies. We need to market like babies, because after a few years, we can begin to think we know it all. Dave Davies makes this point about SEO “experts” in his excellent Search Engine Watch blog post, ‘Which Update?

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Consulting SEO 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JULY 31, 2014

'Blogging drives traffic to websites and generates leads. So, hey, let’s jump in and do this. Right? Wrong. To succeed in blogging (and in the bigger universe of content marketing), you need a strategy. Your strategy must identify your target audience(s), your topics, your target keywords, the tone or voice of the blog, frequency of posting, desired results and how you will measure results.

Marketing & Strategy 100

Marketing & Strategy B2B Blogger Guidelines 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JULY 23, 2014

'With the proliferation of the new “content marketing,” writing skills for online marketing are more important than ever. And, if you learned to write before or in the early days of personal computers, you may have some habits that no longer work for today’s online marketing world. Recently I’ve been working with clients to generate content in the form of blog posts and webpages for their websites.

Social Media 100

Social Media Paper Internet Marketing Display 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JULY 16, 2014

'You’ve probably heard the saying, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” In business to business (B2B) marketing now more than ever, there’s a lot of hammering going on – and a lot of noise out there – because marketing tactics keep changing. I see many vendors approaching B2B marketing with the “tool du jour,” because they hear something new is the next best thing.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Trade Show Paid Search Agency 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JUNE 27, 2014

'I recently published one of my most popular blog posts on the Business 2 Community blog and was happy to see that it was widely shared and liked by readers. Happy, that is, until “the comment.” A person who says they are also a “B2B Marketing Consultant” wrote a comment that was dismissive of my entire post and, in my opinion, snarky in tone.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Class Consulting 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JUNE 25, 2014

'Now more than ever your customers matter. Not only for revenue from ongoing sales, but importantly for brand advocacy. Since today’s buyers rely on the recommendations of other buyers to decide what product or service to purchase, your customer’s recommendation of your brand means more than it ever did before. The customer’s satisfaction with your product and service is a key factor to their recommendation, but there are other aspects of their brand experience that make a diff

Loyalty 100

Loyalty Brand Identity Branding Customer Satisfaction 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JUNE 23, 2014

'Many B2B marketers get so caught up in new lead generation, their marketing and communications to existing customers can fall by the wayside. Now we have more tools to stay in front of our customers, keep them engaged and increase their loyalty. Here are five ways to improve your marketing to your customers. 1. Remove any friction in your customer’s experience with your brand.

Loyalty 100

Loyalty B2B Marketing Planning B2B 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JUNE 6, 2014

'My answer to the question, “How long should my blog post be?” has always been, “As long as it takes.” I took to the web to see if others think differently, and what I found surprised me. Most seem to concur that a good post answers a question or completes a thought or opinion with supporting information and is as long as it needs to be.

Opinions 100

Opinions Blogger Stats Paid Search Agency 100

B2B Marketing Traction

APRIL 4, 2014

'If you’re just now thinking that it might be a good time to invest in SEO, you should proceed with caution. SEO developed slowly over time, but as an “industry,” it’s now in decline. In the early nineties, Search Engine Optimization or SEO had a slow start, typical for new technology. When I first started working on SEO in 1998, there were a dozen or more search engines – it was a fragmented industry.

SEO 100

SEO Product Cross-Selling Buzz 100

B2B Marketing Traction

MARCH 28, 2014

'Photo from Flickr by stevensnodgrass, Some Rights Reserved. In the early nineties I was inspired by an ad agency with which I worked to start my own marketing business. I made the decision to begin a consulting company focused on providing marketing solutions and founded New Incite in April of 1997. Seventeen years later, here are some of the things I love about what I do. 1.

Consulting 100

Consulting Work Management Marketing Management Paid Search Agency 100

B2B Marketing Traction

MARCH 14, 2014

'Photo on Flickr by MonomoyTheatre, Some Rights Reserved. This week I got a call from a sales man with a direct solicitation to bring him into a business situation I’m working on. The call got me thinking about how the sales function – as we knew it – is dead. The sales man called and said something like, “You mentioned your client, and I have some ideas for them.” I was silent, waiting for the ideas.

Cold Calling 100

Cold Calling Internet Marketing Social Media Inbound Marketing 100

B2B Marketing Traction

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

'Flickr photo by Ivete Tecedor, Some Rights Reserved. Adding the simple words “Thank You” to your business and marketing communication can go a long way. Unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more rare to hear these words. According to Dave Kerpen, author of Likeable Business , those who are grateful have less depression, envy, and grief.

Marketing Strategy 100

Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy Advertising Agencies Lead Scoring 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JANUARY 16, 2014

'The role of the CMO has changed dramatically in the last six years as companies struggle with new buying paradigms and increased competition. Here are the top skills an effective Chief Marketing Officer must have to produce marketing results. I met with several marketing professionals last night to discuss a pending CMO search. It was a very interesting conversation, and it got me thinking about the breadth and depth of skills today’s CMO has to have to effect change and growth for their

CMO 100

CMO Marketing Analytics Tools Paid Search Agency Work Management 100

B2B Marketing Traction

JANUARY 14, 2014

'Photo on Flickr by shock264, some rights reserved. Your website is often the first impression prospective customers have of your company and brand. It’s important to make sure that this first impression is positive, and doesn’t drive your prospects to your competitor. How well your website works also affects search engine performance. In Google’s recent algorithm changes, how quickly your website loads makes a difference, as does the depth of your webpage structure.

Marketing Websites 100

Marketing Websites Landing Pages Mobile Marketing Display 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

'A recent study showed that Inbound Marketing generates 54% more leads than outbound marketing campaigns. Sure, more leads sound great, but how do you make sure they are qualified? The study was done by a Digital Asset Management firm named WebDAM. The findings included the following: 78% of CMOs believe custom content is important for future marketing.

Inbound Marketing 100

Inbound Marketing Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

'Flickr Photo by HeavyWeightGeek Some rights reserved. How do you measure your online marketing performance? How do you know if you need improvement, and how to improve your online marketing? There are many analytic applications that you can use to track the technical details of your online presence. The most commonly used is Google Analytics. If your website does not have this free tracking program installed on it, I highly recommend that you add it.

Conversion 100

Conversion B2B Marketing Marketing Analytics Tools Lead Scoring 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'Today more thank ever, buyers want a human experience from the brands and businesses they buy from. This is true of both the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) environments. I read with interest a recent B2B Magazine interview with Rick Segal, Chief Practice Officer at the B2B agency gyro. In it Segal ( who said that B2B marketing was dead in 2010 ) talks about how the new model of marketing involves engaging with individuals on a very human level.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing Planning B2B Advertising Agencies 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

'Now more than ever B2B marketers must focus on their existing and prospective customers. Here are four key things you need to focus on your customers in your marketing plan for next year. Know your customer. Find out what makes them tick. Write a creative marketing persona that describes each type of customer that buys your product or service. Distribute these personas to everyone who touches customers in your company and make sure they understand what they mean.

Planning 100

Planning Marketing Plans Paid Search Agency Touchpoints 100

B2B Marketing Traction

NOVEMBER 8, 2013

'A long time ago I heard a marketing expert tell an audience of marketers to think of Twitter as an online radio show. On this online radio show called Twitter, your broadcasts are free. I thought this was a great description. It tied what at the time appeared to be a weird new social media platform that only allowed 140 character messages to a marketing medium that we know – the radio.

Twitter 100

Twitter Broadcasting Social Media Advertising Mediums 100

B2B Marketing Traction

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

'Doing business today requires transparency, which builds trust with your customers and partners. It leads to increased business, since people buy from people they know, like and trust. Last night I attended Peter Coffee’s Annual Tech Update at the AITP Chapter meeting in Los Angeles. He talked about the many revolutions technology is creating (see the list at the end of the post), and many affect marketing.

Transparency 100

Transparency Trust Marketing B2B Marketing Ad Building 100

B2B Marketing Traction

AUGUST 2, 2013

'Recently a few comments from different sources converged about how B2B marketing is boring. I believe it doesn’t have to be. It’s up to us B2B marketers to lead the way to un-boring B2B campaigns. The number one key to un-boring B2B campaigns is thoroughly understanding the target audience. Who are your customers? I’m not talking demographics (age, income, education, etc.) or merely psychographics (attitudes, behaviors) here.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Psychographics Ideal Customer Profiles 100

B2B Marketing Traction

AUGUST 1, 2013

'Now that you’ve attracted qualified leads to your website or social media profiles, how do you keep them engaged? The newest marketing approach is lead nurturing , where you bring along or grow leads into customers using great content and marketing technology. Here’s a great infographic from marketing automation company Pardot that shows how lead nurturing works… Embedded from Pardot.

Sales Qualified Leads 100

Sales Qualified Leads B2B Marketing Lead Nurturing Leads 100