Chris Koch

MARCH 12, 2010

Rooted in Michael Porter’s timeless work in business strategy, Treacy and Wiersema took it a step further with their three “value disciplines.”. These are companies that go out of their way to build close customer relationships. Social media that connects one live event with the next one lets us continue to build the relationship.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Thought Leadership Work Management 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

I’m also hoping that the excitement (and the needs of social media consultants and authors to drive their businesses) will not drive us to distraction. 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.

Social Media 100

Social Media Marketing & Strategy Marketing Strategy B2B Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 29, 2010

Relationship. But it’s less familiar to lower-level buyers, who are only beginning to calculate this piece as the economics of social media open up the privileges of relationship from cheesy tchotckes at trade shows to online social networks. Account history. For example, 99.9% Mobile raises the price. startups.com). Tweet This Post.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 29, 2010

Relationship. But it’s less familiar to lower-level buyers, who are only beginning to calculate this piece as the economics of social media open up the privileges of relationship from cheesy tchotckes at trade shows to online social networks. Account history. For example, 99.9% Mobile raises the price. startups.com). Tweet This Post.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 5, 2011

So I think B2B businesses should have a Facebook page that shares whatever content the company is already producing. Relationships, right? And I just don’t see what’s good about Facebook for creating relationships in B2B. I’m not saying that B2B companies shouldn’t be on Facebook. I think every company should be on Facebook.

Facebook 100

Facebook B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership B2B 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 15, 2010

Today, more salespeople are able to have business and strategy discussions with customers and take the time to listen to their needs. Businesses are asking if you’re not doing all these things you used to do anymore, why should I give you more budget? Marketing needs a better relationship with IT.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

MAY 15, 2012

Please tell me if you think the following does the job: Relationships are what matter in selling. Relationship selling skills matter more than ever. They are looking for inspiration and guidance on the business problems they face. And I’m not sure that salespeople share the same passion for ideas as we do.

FAQ 100

FAQ Custom Publishing B2B Sales Work Management 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 7, 2009

When I covered CIOs for 13 years at CIO Magazine, I found that it was very difficult to generalize about the profession, beyond a handful of universal problems such as alignment with the business and the complexities and the voracious needs of the IT infrastructure. Business Strategist. And that has big implications for marketers.

Planning 100

Planning Segmentation Work Management Gartner 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 11, 2010

This was the gist of a very controversial assertion made by a senior marketer from a very well known B2B technology company during dinner at our ITSMA Marketing Leadership Forum (download highlights from the ITSMA Marketing Leadership Forum) when he said: “An overemphasis on leads is damaging our relationship with sales.”. Seems doubtful.

Lead Generation 100

Lead Generation Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Leads 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 12, 2009

We all like to share relevant, credible content through social media, and until now, most of that content has come through traditional media sources—mostly print publications that are pretending to have a viable business model online. Our traditional business model for media is imploding. The destructive side of revolutions.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Paid Search Agency Viral Marketing 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 2, 2010

Tags: Blogging Customer Relationships Social Media B2B marketing Business LinkedIn marketing Subject matter expert Technology Thought Leadership Twitter.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership B2B Marketing Marketing Budget Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 16, 2010

And to business people, that all represented value. Salespeople and businesspeople could see the talent and creativity in the ads and brochures, relationships being made at the events, and the business cards in the fishbowl. And we have to use other tactics that, in and of themselves, build trust and relationships with buyers.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Social Marketing 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Creating business impact. Passion for building stronger businesses. Or have these companies decided that they are going to stop trying to sell themselves in a couple of hackneyed words and instead do it through relationships and experience? Building a world of difference. Building tomorrow’s enterprise. Experience certainty.

Social Marketing 100

Social Marketing Tactics B2B Thought Leadership Enterprise Management 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Creating business impact. Passion for building stronger businesses. Or have these companies decided that they are going to stop trying to sell themselves in a couple of hackneyed words and instead do it through relationships and experience? Building a world of difference. Building tomorrow’s enterprise. Experience certainty.

Social Marketing 100

Social Marketing Tactics B2B Thought Leadership Enterprise Management 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 22, 2010

And finally, the trade press and general business media are dying. Put another way, we have to use content to establish a relationship with buyers where our salespeople can’t. And we have to continue to build that relationship over time until those buyers are ready to talk to us.

Lead Management 100

Lead Management Marketing Management Automation Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 7, 2009

When I covered CIOs for 13 years at CIO Magazine, I found that it was very difficult to generalize about the profession, beyond a handful of universal problems such as alignment with the business and the complexities and the voracious needs of the IT infrastructure. Business Strategist. And that has big implications for marketers.

Planning 100

Planning Segmentation Work Management Gartner 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

They hold back because they know that they need the full support, commitment, and participation of the business in social media. The business case doesn’t exist for social media; but it does for idea marketing. At the earliest stage of the buying process, marketing owns the relationship with buyers. 30% said yes.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

They hold back because they know that they need the full support, commitment, and participation of the business in social media. The business case doesn’t exist for social media; but it does for idea marketing. At the earliest stage of the buying process, marketing owns the relationship with buyers. 30% said yes.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

APRIL 10, 2009

The most famous business incarnation of this model is the Harvard Business Review, which began publishing in 1922. Even in industries with low information intensity in their products—coin-operation laundry franchises, for example—there was a trade magazine offering information about how to improve business practices.

Thought Leadership 100

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

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 29, 2009

Even if we believe deeply in the power of social media, we all have that gnawing feeling deep in our guts that says that there’s little reason for a busy, intelligent person to want to receive frequent updates about our brands when those brands produce complex services and products with two-year sales cycles. The answer is we don’t.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership Marketing Management 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

We need to create a mix of these two types of thought leadership content to maintain strong relationships with their target audiences. At any moment in time, C-level executives are looking for answers to two questions: What should I be doing right now? What should I be preparing to do in the future?

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Loyalty Case Study 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

We need to create a mix of these two types of thought leadership content to maintain strong relationships with their target audiences. At any moment in time, C-level executives are looking for answers to two questions: What should I be doing right now? What should I be preparing to do in the future?

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Loyalty Case Study 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 18, 2009

B2B companies have fewer, more complex customer relationships and are often conservative and protective of those relationships. B2B customers tend to be high on the executive ladder and are usually reluctant to discuss their business strategies in public forums. With good reason.

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Social Marketing B2B Marketing 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. Or will the campaigns just distract us from the need to do the hard work of a consistent relationship building strategy? I’m not a slut, I’m a snob. Actually, I’m not a slut. I’m more of a snob.

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. Or will the campaigns just distract us from the need to do the hard work of a consistent relationship building strategy? I’m not a slut, I’m a snob. Actually, I’m not a slut. I’m more of a snob.

Social Media 100

Social Media Campaigns B2B Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 19, 2010

Asking for information helps deepen social media relationships. That, in and of itself, helps build trust and stronger relationships with audiences. By having your influential SMEs help introduce them to one another, you can help build a stronger relationship. Gather information by asking questions. Get people together.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

MARCH 26, 2010

And while marketers can create some social media content, they can (and should) rely on their subject matter experts (SMEs) to create most of the stuff that’s going to build trust and relationships with customers. Pick topics that matter to your customers and your business and ask your SMEs to create content for those topics.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership RSS Enterprise Management Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 13, 2009

For these target executives, peer relationships are everything, but for now anyway, most of those relationships are happening offline. Develop a strategy for responding to customers and influencers who talk about your company or relevant business issues. 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

For these target executives, peer relationships are everything, but for now anyway, most of those relationships are happening offline. Develop a strategy for responding to customers and influencers who talk about your company or relevant business issues. I think that’s the right decision—up to a point.

Social Media 100

Social Media Allocation Media Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 16, 2009

To someone her age, the concept of following immediately conjures up the issue of personal relationships—who you hate and who you like—and status—who is popular and who isn’t. Thankfully, adults have another context for developing relationships: communities of learning. Follow to learn. An entrée to the cocktail party.

Twitter 100

Twitter Web 2.0 Social Media Communities 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 11, 2014

The example I’m about to give focuses on the fact that if you think of sports fans as business customers, they are the most loyal in the world. See if you agree about this post that I worked on with my colleague Rob O’Regan: “Professional sports teams have two problems that most businesses will recognize.

Loyalty 100

Loyalty Eye-Tracking Mobile Marketing Stats 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 21, 2011

At ITSMA , we’ve been busy preparing for our annual State of the Marketing Profession briefing next Tuesday. We have individual salespeople making calls and we have marketers establishing deeper relationships with existing customers through intimate channels like reference programs and customer advisory councils.

Social Media 100

Social Media Budget Programs Paper PR 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

For centuries, publishers had an uneasy, co-dependent relationship with advertisers. Most CIOs wouldn’t mind being green, but their businesses evaluate them on cost and efficiency. All of our talk about marketers becoming publishers is incomplete. We can’t just become publishers, we also have to become advertisers. Let me explain.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Advertising Agencies Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 5, 2010

In B2B, that’s not going to build relationships with customers. The agency must go through the guard dogs to get permission for the subject matter experts to speak, then they must get the attention of the busy interviewee, then they must coordinate with the busy executive and the external parties to make it all come together.

PR 100

PR Press Paid Search Agency Lead Ranking 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 8, 2011

The organization views social media as important to relationship building. I’ve yet to see a B2B company have any success in social media that doesn’t have a social media policy, at least some training, and an informal social media center of excellence. Social media is integrated with traditional marketing.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Paid Search Agency PR 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Make sure they have business profiles on the different networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.). Twitter’s viral relationship model means that your subject matter experts can build up their networks of influence much faster than through a press release. Consequently, they know everybody’s business but don’t intervene unless asked.

PR 100

PR Peer-to-peer Press Public Relations 100

Chris Koch

MAY 1, 2009

In B2B, both marketers and salespeople know the value of learning about customers’ business issues and needs. Marketers can use those contacts to start building a larger context—the business issues that cross functional, corporate, and vertical boundaries. And both know how to gain that understanding. But it makes sense to collaborate.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Cross-Selling B2B Sales Thought Leadership 100