Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 13, 2009

Despite all the breathless hype about social media these days, what I hear most from B2B marketers is frustration. For many companies, this translates into a wait-and-see approach to social media. For these companies, there is little reason to twitter into the wind. I think that’s the right decision—up to a point.

Social Media 100

Social Media Allocation Media Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 13, 2009

Despite all the breathless hype about social media these days, what I hear most from B2B marketers is frustration. For many companies, this translates into a wait-and-see approach to social media. For these companies, there is little reason to twitter into the wind. I think that’s the right decision—up to a point.

Social Media 100

Social Media Allocation Media Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 2, 2010

This may be the ultimate question in B2B, especially as we struggle to integrate social media into the overall marketing mix. Let’s face it, even if it was possible to curl up in front of the fire with a glass of wine and our B2B products and services, no one would do it. It’s the same in B2B. This company understands my pain.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership B2B Marketing Marketing Budget Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

MAY 21, 2010

That price is personal information, company information, and buying intent. It’s like the difference between someone asking for your e-mail in exchange for a white paper versus them asking for your salutation, your company size, when you are going to buy, your mother’s maiden name and on and on ad nausea. come at a price.

Privacy 100

Privacy B2B Marketing Lead Ranking B2B 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 13, 2010

The information from a social site like this changes how journalists can write about a huge company like HP. So what can we take away from all this as B2B marketing professionals? Here are a few thoughts: We must monitor what’s being said about our companies online. What do you think? What else do we need to do? Tweet This Post.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media SME B2B 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 7, 2012

The guy who manages the platform at Forbes, Lewis Dvorkin, (if he also created the platform he’s a freakin’ genius) recently wrote about its power to disrupt traditional journalism , citing my new employer, SAP, as one of the companies that sometimes get more hits for the stuff it posts than Forbes’ own journalism. My Current Project.

Disintermediation 100

Disintermediation B2B Marketing Marketing Management Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 26, 2009

In my last post, I hope I convinced you why you should establish a personal presence in social media even if your company hasn’t done so yet. My job is to learn about how to become a better B2B marketer and to share what I learn with others. I think of Paul Dunay as one of the model citizens of this online B2B guild.

Social Media 100

Social Media Social Marketing B2B Marketing Personalization 100

Chris Koch

MAY 15, 2012

We all know the increasing importance of ideas in B2B marketing. Every B2B company has subject matter experts (SMEs) who are working with customers to solve problems and have deep backgrounds in customers’ processes, industries, and functions. Besides creating idea networks, B2B companies also have to become publishers.

FAQ 100

FAQ Custom Publishing B2B Sales Work Management 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

This week I was asked to speak on a panel about social media to a group of B2B marketers in financial services. But they call it “financial services” for a reason: They have all of the same struggles as technology services companies—with the added complication of tons of regulatory requirements. Marketers can handle all that stuff.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Peer-to-peer 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

This week I was asked to speak on a panel about social media to a group of B2B marketers in financial services. But they call it “financial services” for a reason: They have all of the same struggles as technology services companies—with the added complication of tons of regulatory requirements. Marketers can handle all that stuff.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Peer-to-peer 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

In truth, customers have never listened, except in a few cases of companies with the budget muscle to pound the tagline into customers’ heads over and over again though mass marketing and TV. In B2B marketing, we’ve never been given the right to tell customers what to think, much less the budgets to pound a tagline into their minds.

Social Marketing 100

Social Marketing Tactics B2B Thought Leadership Enterprise Management 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

In truth, customers have never listened, except in a few cases of companies with the budget muscle to pound the tagline into customers’ heads over and over again though mass marketing and TV. In B2B marketing, we’ve never been given the right to tell customers what to think, much less the budgets to pound a tagline into their minds.

Social Marketing 100

Social Marketing Tactics B2B Thought Leadership Enterprise Management 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 8, 2011

I was thrilled to run a social media workshop this week with a large B2B technology and services provider (and ITSMA member). The great thing about the experience was that this company is already doing social media. This company has established a highly visible presence in social media—indeed, it has won an award for it.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Paid Search Agency PR 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 16, 2010

In our survey, we asked, “In your company, is marketing the catalyst for social media being used by others in the company (product development, HR, etc.)?” Marketing as a percentage of revenue for technology services companies is at an all-time low—less than 1%. But one finding sticks out. Marketing owns social media management.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Social Marketing 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 11, 2011

There’s lots of talk out there these days about the need for a technology guru within the B2B marketing department. Most companies do not yet have closed-loop lead management processes supported by systems, for example. B2C companies have these “wonks” today. So we need some important systems installed in the short-term.

Analytics 100

Analytics Paid Search Agency Marketing Management Loyalty 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

I’ve been working with my colleagues at ITSMA on another survey on social media for B2B marketers that I hope you’ll take by going here. B2B marketing lays the path to a sales discussion and supports relationships with existing customers. Why B2B marketers hate social media (christopherakoch.com). Related articles by Zemanta.

Social Media 100

Social Media Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy B2B Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 2, 2011

Companies are having success pulling in fans by linking to charitable cases. You’re just warming up to social media campaigns because you work for ITSMA and these are the companies who won your contest. I’m a content guy and I think thought leadership is the best way to build nurturing relationships with contacts in B2B marketing.

Social Media 100

Social Media Campaigns B2B Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 2, 2011

Companies are having success pulling in fans by linking to charitable cases. You’re just warming up to social media campaigns because you work for ITSMA and these are the companies who won your contest. I’m a content guy and I think thought leadership is the best way to build nurturing relationships with contacts in B2B marketing.

Social Media 100

Social Media Campaigns B2B Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Every company needs a guard dog or two to be around in case of a PR disaster. PR works to identify people in the organization who would be good representatives of the company, its value, and its offerings. to prepare them to be public representatives of the company. I’m not saying we fire all PR people. Gatekeeper. Visibility.

PR 100

PR Peer-to-peer Press Public Relations 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

One of the reasons that companies used to like to advertise in publications like Fortune and BusinessWeek and in trade magazines like CIO was that they could associate their companies with the smart content that these publications produce. For many B2B companies, idea marketing is a check box on a marketing list.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Advertising Agencies Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

MAY 20, 2011

on the Savvy B2B Marketing Blog entitled How to Gain Real Traction with Thought Leadership, I talk about how marketers need to create an idea network within their organizations to spur their subject matter experts to start thinking. Many companies take it a step farther by making idea development part of employees’ annual goals.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 11, 2010

What happens when you stake the value of your contribution to the company on something that you’ll never do as well as someone else? Maybe if you’re selling Apple iPads, but if you’re selling complex B2B services and solutions? Seems doubtful. Related articles by Zemanta. Why Marketing and Sales Need an SLA (myventurepad.com).

Lead Generation 100

Lead Generation Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 25, 2011

Some management consulting companies have the commitment to ideas baked into the culture—you simply will not survive as a consultant if you do not create ideas that lead to new IP. Some companies get pretty formal about this, creating invitation-only SME councils with entry requirements. What do I mean by an idea organization?

Social Media 100

Social Media Organization Peer-to-peer SME 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Lately, I’ve been talking to B2B marketers about the content delivered by these thought leaders and asking, What defines good thought leadership content? There’s little point in doing thought leadership if it’s something that the company can’t follow through on. Some time back, I blogged about the attributes of a thought leader.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Best Practices Case Study 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Lately, I’ve been talking to B2B marketers about the content delivered by these thought leaders and asking, What defines good thought leadership content? There’s little point in doing thought leadership if it’s something that the company can’t follow through on. Some time back, I blogged about the attributes of a thought leader.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Best Practices Case Study 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 25, 2010

First, Paul Dunay (did I mention that Paul is my favorite B2B blogger yet today?) What if you post a thread on a topic that your company doesn’t want you talking about? What if you wind up looking like an idiot in front of your peers and embarrassing yourself and your company? Image via Wikipedia. What do you think?

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Media Wikipedia 100

Chris Koch

JULY 31, 2009

In working with companies to develop lead management programs, Brian has found that the most successful companies have a CEO who does not try to parse marketing from sales and assign credit/blame to each. Get adult supervision. He or she emphasizes one revenue generating process that both groups contribute to.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Work Management B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 30, 2010

I’m going to be moderating a panel on this question (among others) at next week’s MarketingProfs’ B2B Forum in Boston. I’m sure that there will be opportunities and reasons for B2B to advertise on these things eventually, but that’s the easy part. I think that’s how we have to view mobile apps for B2B marketing.

Mobile Marketing 100

Mobile Marketing Mobile Advertising Paid Search Agency Wiki 100

Chris Koch

MAY 6, 2011

Since social media leave digital footprints, companies create complex algorithms to come up with simple answers to measuring social media influence. I see successful marketers getting their companies to set two reference points to measure influence across all their marketing programs: Who we are. Who we want to be. What do you think?

Social Media 100

Social Media Social Marketing Work Management Media 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

I won’t be focusing on B2B marketing in the broadest sense anymore; I’ll be narrowing things to idea marketing (and the role that social media play in it). I don’t know of another marketing term that gets so much hate mail.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Social Media Twitter 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 22, 2010

We should care more about lead management automation in B2B marketing. What is stopping your company from creating an automated lead management process? Tags: Lead Management Marketing Automation Automation B2B marketing Forbes Google ITSMA marketing Sales Social Media. No, there’s something bigger going on here.

Lead Management 100

Lead Management Marketing Management Automation Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

JULY 10, 2009

Now that may be due in part to the fact that most B2B marketers have only recently begun using Web 2.0 Indeed, some B2B early adopters are seeing 10-15% of their lead totals generated through social media, according to this survey by DemandGenReport. Check out the B2B Marketing Zone. In our recent Web 2.0 What do you think?

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 B2B Thought Leadership Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JULY 16, 2010

I can’t name the specific companies because we’re still in the midst of the judging process, but it doesn’t really matter because the stuff is so innovative. Another company is using automated algorithms to seek out and deliver targeted customer and competitive intelligence to salespeople—on a daily basis! Can you please suggest some?

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Wikipedia 100

Chris Koch

MAY 1, 2009

In B2B, both marketers and salespeople know the value of learning about customers’ business issues and needs. Marketing develops an institutional memory that can help salespeople create shortcuts by identifying what has worked in the past and what has not, what resources may be appropriate, and what company assets exist that can help.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Cross-Selling B2B Sales Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 8, 2010

In the course of hundreds of interviews with companies over my career, the “yes but we’re different” mantra was a familiar refrain. There is only one objective in social media and it is common across all companies—even across the infamous divide between B2B and B2C: Create learning networks. Not in our businesses, though.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

We all know how sales enablement got started in B2B. These words, mostly in the form of brochures, specification sheets, and boilerplate PowerPoint slides, helped salespeople—especially those new to the company—get a conversation going with prospects. Sales enablement used to mean brochures. If so, why? Tweet This Post.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Wiki Marketing Management Internet Marketing 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 5, 2010

One company’s mobile application is tied to a wiki-based sales enablement website that lets salespeople generate actions and updates and get updated information from the road. Why B2B marketing will become more visual, vocal, and mobile (christopherakoch.com). But not until then. What do you think? Related articles by Zemanta.

Wiki 100

Wiki Urgency Marketing Mobile Marketing Content 100