Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 7, 2012

More importantly, they see smart people from SAP featured in it and that helps everybody. A Step Toward Better B2B Marketing. Proving that this kind of engagement helps make customers more likely to consider the company is the next big hurdle that marketers (myself included) have to cross. What’s Wrong with BrandVoice.

Disintermediation 100

Disintermediation B2B Marketing Marketing Management Paid Search Agency 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. This is why every B2B marketing leader needs a social media participation strategy even if he or she does not intend to actively market through social media. I think we need to parse that decision more. What do you think?

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Allocation 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. This is why every B2B marketing leader needs a social media participation strategy even if he or she does not intend to actively market through social media. I think we need to parse that decision more. What do you think?

Social Media 100

Social Media Allocation Media Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 26, 2009

My job is to learn about how to become a better B2B marketer and to share what I learn with others. To get better, you should think of yourself as part of the emerging guild of B2B marketers in social media. I think of Paul Dunay as one of the model citizens of this online B2B guild. B2B Marketing POSTs by Laura Ramos.

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. They assume that salespeople can’t help them at that point. 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.

FAQ 100

FAQ Custom Publishing B2B Sales Work Management 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

For these reasons, pundits say that Twitter isn’t much use for reaching B2B customers. These days, my audience is B2B marketers and my goal is to help you learn. I have a search column in TweetDeck for “B2B.” Then I click through to see if the content is something that I think B2B marketers might learn from.

Twitter 100

Twitter Broadcasting Social Media B2B Marketing 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

For these reasons, pundits say that Twitter isn’t much use for reaching B2B customers. These days, my audience is B2B marketers and my goal is to help you learn. I have a search column in TweetDeck for “B2B.” Then I click through to see if the content is something that I think B2B marketers might learn from.

Twitter 100

Twitter Broadcasting Social Media B2B Marketing 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

JULY 22, 2011

All of which is a lead-in to this week’s entry, which is what we as B2B marketers can learn from health-care marketing. Many of us in B2B can be proud of how we educate our customers and prospects on the business issues they face—from current regulatory changes to future “sea changes.” In B2B we pride ourselves on knowing our audience.

Work Management 100

Work Management Marketing Management Social Media B2B Marketing 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

I heard a great definition from my former ITSMA colleague Jeff Sands the other day: Sales enablement is helping salespeople be more credible with customers. We all know how sales enablement got started in B2B. Marketers helped salespeople put words to the insanely complex products and services they were trying to sell.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Wiki Marketing Management Internet Marketing 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 14, 2011

I’ve also done research asking B2B marketers how they engage and how they educate their employees and SMEs to engage. Here’s my list of what seem like the right things to do on Twitter so that I feel like I’m being a good member of the B2B marketing guild —i.e., I’ve rolled all that up into an approach that I doubt constantly.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Twitter Social Networks 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 14, 2011

I’ve also done research asking B2B marketers how they engage and how they educate their employees and SMEs to engage. Here’s my list of what seem like the right things to do on Twitter so that I feel like I’m being a good member of the B2B marketing guild —i.e., I’ve rolled all that up into an approach that I doubt constantly.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Twitter Social Networks 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 26, 2010

One of the biggest challenges for B2B social media marketers isn’t creating content, it’s helping others create content. That’s why marketers have to step in and help out. Very few writers are able to get their best thoughts out on paper without some help. Marketers should use them to help inspire their content creators.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership RSS Enterprise Management Thought Leadership 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). What is the next level of social media in B2B and how do you know when you’ve gotten there? Here’s my take (I hope you will help me with your thoughts). This was all about the how.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media PR Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

MAY 1, 2009

That can help, but salespeople and marketers need more concrete reasons to work together. In B2B, both marketers and salespeople know the value of learning about customers’ business issues and needs. Marketing can help. Few salespeople or marketers feel qualified—or interested—in crossing over to the other side.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Cross-Selling B2B Sales Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 6, 2009

Like most marketers, I spend most of my time desperately seeking to understand my target audience (B2B marketers) and delivering content that they find relevant and engaging. We have five different categories for the awards that cover important areas of focus for B2B marketers. It’s a struggle. We humans are wired for stories.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Budget Programs Business 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. Creating an idea network helps demonstrate the importance of ideas to the organization.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

I’m going to share my experiences in helping to build an engine for developing and disseminating good ideas for SAP (with names changed to protect the innocent and guilty alike). First, because I’ve left ITSMA and joined SAP , where I will focus on marketing the good ideas of the many subject matter experts there.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Social Media Twitter 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 21, 2009

Recently, I was asked by a former ITSMA client to help put together a plan for a thought leadership program for a B2B technology company that sells both products and services. Answers to these questions will help drive the structure of the program and provide a foundation for achieving ROI goals.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Network Marketing B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 8, 2010

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. And learning is integral to buying—especially in B2B. A calendar helps marketing plan out the frequency and focus of its output. What is a learning network?

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 18, 2010

For those of us struggling with B2B marketing and all its complexities, this will help clarify some core issues. Tags: Customer Relationships B2B marketing Bicycle Business Business model Competition Customer relationship management Customer Research Cycling Shopping Sporting Goods Sports. Tweet This Post.

Wikipedia 100

Wikipedia Marketing Management Training Conference 100

Chris Koch

MAY 14, 2010

Shameless plug here: My favorite B2B blogger Paul Dunay is going to talk about how Avaya uses social media for customer support at ITSMA’s Marketing Leadership Forum on May 25-26.) We need to create an idea engine within the organization to help SMEs come up with things to Twitter and blog about. Ideas and content.

Organic Leads 100

Organic Leads Social Media Social Marketing Organization 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 25, 2010

First, Paul Dunay (did I mention that Paul is my favorite B2B blogger yet today?) How can we help customers be extroverts? Tags: Customer Relationships Social Media B2B marketing David Weinberger Extraversion and introversion Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality Personality test Psychology Social Sciences. What do you think?

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Media Wikipedia 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 17, 2009

Our research shows that customers don’t think their providers do a very good job of helping them with their business issues. Marketers could help with that problem. And customers have an opportunity to get help and ideas on the issues that are most pressing to them. But there’s more that can be done.

Planning 100

Planning Process Work Management Verticals 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 I don’t think so.

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 B2B Thought Leadership Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 16, 2009

Earlier this year I surveyed B2B marketers about their approaches to corporate blogging. These marketers take a direct role in finding and supporting internal bloggers and in helping them develop content. They encourage subject matter experts to blog, track what they write about, and offer blogging guidelines and help when needed.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Blogger Thought Leadership Word of Mouth 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 16, 2009

And it’s in this sense that Twitter is a goldmine for B2B marketers. The two subject areas I’m most interested in in my role at ITSMA are B2B marketing in general and social media in particular. I immediately started to feel a responsibility to start Twittering links that I think could help others in my position.

Twitter 100

Twitter Web 2.0 Social Media Communities 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 21, 2009

Recently, I was asked by a former ITSMA client to help put together a plan for a thought leadership program for a B2B technology company that sells both products and services. Answers to these questions will help drive the structure of the program and provide a foundation for achieving ROI goals.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Network Marketing Paper 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

Partly that’s a quality issue, but it’s also an issue of B2B marketers taking the publishing analogy too literally. For many B2B companies, idea marketing is a check box on a marketing list. Idea marketing as checklist. What do you think? Tweet This Post.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Advertising Agencies Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 29, 2010

That possibility hit home with me this week as I read Steve Woods’ post about the B2B implications of the iPad. CK Kerley and I went back and forth on this issue as she prepared an excellent piece about how mobile will affect B2B. It has also changed the scope of our content process, as Jon Miller points out here. startups.com).

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

I helped host an ITSMA round table this week and a near universal complaint from our B2B technology clients was how difficult it is to launch new services in a fast, efficient way. Get help in determining the need in the market and pla around with options before going ahead.

Research 100

Research Service Product Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 29, 2010

That possibility hit home with me this week as I read Steve Woods’ post about the B2B implications of the iPad. CK Kerley and I went back and forth on this issue as she prepared an excellent piece about how mobile will affect B2B. It has also changed the scope of our content process, as Jon Miller points out here. startups.com).

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 5, 2010

In B2B, that’s not going to build relationships with customers. First, it focuses the agency on some clear goals—cranking out press releases and getting press mentions—and gives the guard dogs a degree of separation that helps with risk management. The emphasis is on contacting rather than helping. at the expense of helping.

PR 100

PR Press Paid Search Agency Lead Ranking 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 25, 2011

I’m hearing B2B companies tell me that they are starting to make idea development part of the yearly goals of their subject matter experts. Collaboration—both internally and externally—will help embed idea development into the culture. Make ideas part of individual expectations.

Social Media 100

Social Media Organization Peer-to-peer SME 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 6, 2009

I’ve spent the last two days as a guest at Marketing Sherpa’s B2B conference in Boston and the many excellent speakers used publishing metaphors constantly. Marketers can replace offers with survey questions once in awhile to help build an understanding of timely issues to drive future content. Interview the players and the experts.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Planning Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

JULY 16, 2010

Because you are helping them create a waking dream to play with. Tags: Thought Leadership B2B marketing Creativity Dream ITSMA ITSMA Marketing Excellence Awards. 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. Tweet This Post.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

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

Chris Koch

APRIL 10, 2009

Especially in B2B, where the products and solutions are complex and usually need to be adapted/customized in some way, developing the relationship through knowledge helps demonstrate to customers that providers can go beyond the product specification sheet and help them with their business needs. Posted in Uncategorized.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Work Management 100