Tweet Download this free e-book now: The Top 10 B2B Marketing Mistakes. and How to Avoid Them , a Crowdsourced E-book compiled by Dianna Huff. My colleague, Mac McIntosh, and I asked our respective networks to send us the top ten B2B marketing mistakes they see other marketers making. From email to social media, people expressed their opinions — and often quite passionately. The Top Three Mistakes? No marketing strategy. Website not optimized. Wasting lead opportunities. Are the results surprising? Yes and no. You can find reams of blog posts, reports, articles, etc. Wrong messaging. MORE >>

Social media gurus tell you to have a strategy. “Not having a strategy&# was the #1 marketing mistake people listed on the survey Mac McIntosh and I did (the upcoming e-book will list the other nine). I’ve parroted this advice from the gurus. “You must have a strategy before you begin social media,&# I say at my talks. But here’s the deal. I’ve been wrong. Dead wrong. Strategy, when it comes to social media, is overrated. Strategy makes it sound like the water is deep. Jump into the lake from the diving platform and you’ll need to figure out how to reach the shore. MORE >>

August, 2010. Published by Dianna Huff. Volume 10, Number 8. Welcome! I've been asked to speak about developing content for Search Engine Marketing New England (SEMNE) as well as to develop a course for the Online Marketing Institute on the same topic. Coming up with content ideas is often an insurmountable hurdle for people. When I recommend that companies develop a content strategy, I often hear, "But what do we write about?!". The first step is to develop a "beat" in much the same way a reporter or journalist covers a certain aspect of an industry (think Walt Mossberg of the WSJ). Waaaa!". MORE >>

In May I conducted a Facebook campaign: 31 Tips in 31 Days for Generating Website Leads. As I posted elsewhere, I got this idea from Constant Contact ; they did a similar campaign in February where they posted social media tips. liked the idea of posting tips — especially “graphical” tips. I’ve noticed in my own personal feed that graphics and photos get more Likes, comments and shares than plain text posts. My campaign was pretty simple. culled through my blog posts, e-books, e-newsletters and old presentations and came up with 31 tips. Engagement is tough for B2B. MORE >>

Tweet Bloggers (well-known and not so well-known) are prime influencers in your market. Although a blogger may not use your product or service, he or she may track influential trends, companies and events. Get on a blogger’s radar — and follow a few simple rules — and you can easily build a relationship and garner some favorable press. So how do you win the ear of influential bloggers in your market? put this question to Mary Sullivan of SHIFT Communications , a PR firm with offices in Boston, San Francisco and New York. What methods have you tried to win the attention of bloggers? MORE >>