Chris Koch

MARCH 4, 2011

This cartoon making the rounds online captures the frustration journalists have with their online plight--and reveals the opportunity B2B marketers have to fill the content gap. But if you step back and think about where the real opportunity is for B2B marketers, it is idea marketing. Marketers always struggle with what to do next.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Advertising Agencies B2B Marketing Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

MAY 14, 2010

Social media creates the need for marketing to lead within the organization. I’m really excited about this because it’s rare for a function like marketing to get an opportunity to lead the entire organization. The entire organization needs to get involved in social media and marketing needs to lead that effort. Anything to add?

Organic Leads 100

Organic Leads Social Media Social Marketing Organization 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 13, 2010

But we’re in the era of social media now, so there are breadcrumbs in the forest that lead us to a fuller explanation of who Slater is and why he did what he did. Following the trail of bread crumbs leads us to a caring, thoughtful person. So what can we take away from all this as B2B marketing professionals? What do you think?

Social Media 100

Social Media Media B2B SME 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

Here are some recommendations based on a cross-section of social media policies from B2B companies, including social media policy examples from some leading B2B companies. Here are links to the best examples of B2B corporate social media policies that I found: Cisco. Sources: Kent Huffman, Cisco, HP, IBM, Intel, SAP, Sun.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Guidelines B2B 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

NOVEMBER 7, 2012

A Step Toward Better B2B Marketing. Living in a country that leads the world in promoting freedom, compassion, and honesty (hope it continues to be the US–I’m beginning to have my doubts). And some of it is, to my taste anyway, pure link bait (links that we’re sending to Forbes rather than SAP). But hey, I’m a known crank.

Disintermediation 100

Disintermediation B2B Marketing Marketing Management Paid Search Agency 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. Social doesn’t happen in B2B without a culture change. When we surveyed B2B marketers last year, 50% said they do not have a social media policy. But you can’t tweet a 50%-off coupon in B2B.

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. Social doesn’t happen in B2B without a culture change. When we surveyed B2B marketers last year, 50% said they do not have a social media policy. But you can’t tweet a 50%-off coupon in B2B.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

JULY 10, 2009

We’re starting to see social media have a positive impact on driving traffic to websites and on lead generation. Increased lead generation” was farther down the list—24% are seeing it. Now that may be due in part to the fact that most B2B marketers have only recently begun using Web 2.0 But is that lead totally useless?

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 B2B Thought Leadership Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JULY 31, 2009

I’ve had some good conversations this week with ITSMA’s Julie Schwartz and with lead management guru Brian Carroll and we all agree that in the broadest sense, measuring marketing misses the point. Create a unified lead process. So we should just stop. Measure CPOD instead. Get adult supervision.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Work Management B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 29, 2010

Even the most basic lead scoring mechanism raises the price of content as buyers consume more of it—i.e., 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.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 29, 2010

Even the most basic lead scoring mechanism raises the price of content as buyers consume more of it—i.e., 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.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

JULY 31, 2009

I’ve had some good conversations this week with ITSMA’s Julie Schwartz and with lead management guru Brian Carroll and we all agree that in the broadest sense, measuring marketing misses the point. Create a unified lead process. So we should just stop. Measure CPOD instead. Get adult supervision. What would you add to this list?

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Work Management B2B Sales 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. The trust leads to a more personal relationship and hopefully, a purchase. Tweet This Post.

Social Media 100

Social Media Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy B2B Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JULY 24, 2009

I’ve been working on a report for ITSMA clients this week about analytics and it got me thinking about the proverbial bigger picture of B2B marketing. I haven’t seen a better articulation of what marketing should be doing in B2B than Brian Carroll’s marketing funnel concept. Universal lead definition. Lead scoring.

Lead Qualification 100

Lead Qualification Marketing Automation Services Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

Chris Koch

JULY 24, 2009

I’ve been working on a report for ITSMA clients this week about analytics and it got me thinking about the proverbial bigger picture of B2B marketing. I haven’t seen a better articulation of what marketing should be doing in B2B than Brian Carroll’s marketing funnel concept. Universal lead definition. Lead scoring.

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Marketing Automation Services 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. I think B2B marketing groups need the same emphasis–and that need will never go away once the systems are installed.

Analytics 100

Analytics Paid Search Agency Marketing Management Loyalty 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. A simple entry point leads to deeper and deeper related content. Idea marketing as checklist. Themes send a signal to the organization.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Advertising Agencies Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 5, 2010

And they both lead to content that benefits from being mobile. Creating a mobile application that leads to static content on a website isn’t going to build much interest or loyalty because there’s no real urgency to connect. Why B2B marketing will become more visual, vocal, and mobile (christopherakoch.com).

Wiki 100

Wiki Urgency Marketing Mobile Marketing Content 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. These are the key components: Install a lead tracking and nurturing system. Get agreement with sales on a sales-ready lead. What do you think?

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Network Marketing B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 2, 2011

I’m a content guy and I think thought leadership is the best way to build nurturing relationships with contacts in B2B marketing. Marketing automation vendor Eloqua released a SlideShare entitled 10 ways to “solve” Facebook for B2B. Can campaigns coexist comfortably with a thought leadership lead nurturing strategy?

Social Media 100

Social Media Campaigns B2B Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 2, 2011

I’m a content guy and I think thought leadership is the best way to build nurturing relationships with contacts in B2B marketing. Marketing automation vendor Eloqua released a SlideShare entitled 10 ways to “solve” Facebook for B2B. Can campaigns coexist comfortably with a thought leadership lead nurturing strategy?

Social Media 100

Social Media Campaigns B2B Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

MAY 1, 2009

For example, the trend towards creating a closed-loop lead generation and nurturing process between marketing and sales is a positive step, but it seems like a bridge across the chasm rather than a true route to collaboration. In B2B, both marketers and salespeople know the value of learning about customers’ business issues and needs.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Cross-Selling B2B Sales Thought Leadership 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. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t assume, as we do by default, that ours are much different from anyone else’s.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Media 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.” I think we do this pretty well in B2B.

Work Management 100

Work Management Marketing Management Social Media B2B Marketing 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. These are the key components: Install a lead tracking and nurturing system. Get agreement with sales on a sales-ready lead. What do you think?

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Network Marketing Paper 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 6, 2009

One of the great trends were seeing at ITSMA is increased automation of the lead process. If we now have a system measuring how long it takes marketing to nurture a lead until it is sales ready, we will now also have a measure of whether the nurturing period increases or decreases over time. We accomplish this feat through content.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Planning Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

JULY 16, 2010

Coppola was just leading me by the hand through his vision of the Godfather (and I’m really grateful that he did, don’t get me wrong). The trick is to do it in a way that leads to constructive thinking. Tags: Thought Leadership B2B marketing Creativity Dream ITSMA ITSMA Marketing Excellence Awards. Use empathy. Tweet This Post.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

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

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 6, 2009

One of the great trends were seeing at ITSMA is increased automation of the lead process. If we now have a system measuring how long it takes marketing to nurture a lead until it is sales ready, we will now also have a measure of whether the nurturing period increases or decreases over time. We accomplish this feat through content.

Planning 100

Planning B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 16, 2010

That means that if we are to keep up with our competitors, we’re going to have to take the lead on developing a strategy not only for marketing with social media, but for getting the rest of the organization involved as well. But the real successes I’m hearing about in B2B use social media to support and extend more traditional tactics.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Social Marketing 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. 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.

Social Media 100

Social Media Organization Peer-to-peer SME 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 15, 2010

The impact of our content will be visible if that content is linked to an automated, closed-loop lead process. Getting agreement with sales on a sales-ready lead is critical. Advanced Lead Nurturing Tactics with Ardath Albee (slideshare.net). You don’t even need to involve IT anymore. Buyers become approachable. Tweet This Post.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 9, 2010

Here are a few to consider: Lead a niche. Tags: Blogging B2B marketing Blog LinkedIn marketing Social Media social media management Subject matter expert. But most likely, there are already other experts out there who are more expert and write better than your SMEs. In this case, just showing how smart they are won’t cut it.

SME 100

SME Aggregators Blogger Social Media 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 16, 2009

Earlier this year I surveyed B2B marketers about their approaches to corporate blogging. Gaffes by independent bloggers generally don’t lead back to their employers. Tags: Blogging Marketing Strategy B2B marketing blogs Marketing Processes social media strategy social media technology. Their strategies take two basic approaches.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Blogger Thought Leadership Word of Mouth 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 5, 2010

The pressures on the guard dogs lead to a lot of problems: The emphasis is on risk avoidance. In B2B, that’s not going to build relationships with customers. Tags: Marketing Strategy PR Strategy B2B marketing Business Journalism Journalist Press release Promotion Public relations Risk management Web Design and Development.

PR 100

PR Press Paid Search Agency Lead Ranking 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. We’re optimists at heart, and we like to trust that past success will lead to future success. Stop relying on human nature.

Research 100

Research Service Product Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

MAY 15, 2009

sessions are with marketers from big B2B technology companies and I often experience deep cynicism, even anger, from people who question whether web 2.0 taking off generally, and ITSMA research showing increased uptake by their peers in B2B. Most of my web 2.0 has any value for marketing. I present the usual stats showing web 2.0

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 Peer-to-peer Paid Search Agency Stats 100