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. From our research we see that marketing tends to own social media for the rest of the organization.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Social Marketing 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. I say this even after discounting ITSMA’s recent research showing that marketers don’t see social media as being very effective components in their marketing strategies.

Social Media 100

Social Media Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy B2B Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 17, 2009

Our research shows that we may have found something: account planning. But sales is under all kinds of pressure these days and we’re finding that many salespeople simply don’t have the time—or the inclination—to do real in-depth research on their accounts. Research is one of marketing’s greatest strength.

Planning 100

Planning Process Work Management Verticals 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

ITSMA research shows that 66% of buyers seek information themselves rather than waiting to hear from providers. 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.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

ITSMA research shows that 66% of buyers seek information themselves rather than waiting to hear from providers. 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.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

MARCH 19, 2010

Trouble is, we’re finding in our research that most companies stop here. Offline research and segmentation are important pieces of this effort. Gather research. First, here’s what we do as part of monitoring: Track conversations about your company. You need to know what’s being said about your company online. Tweet This Post.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

Assuming that you’ve done the necessary research to understand your target audience, that change can be on a personal, organizational, or industry level. Among those who parse ideas, most split the pie in half between two types of ideas: Aspirational. These are the ideas that prompt buyers to think about change.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Loyalty Case Study 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

Assuming that you’ve done the necessary research to understand your target audience, that change can be on a personal, organizational, or industry level. Among those who parse ideas, most split the pie in half between two types of ideas: Aspirational. These are the ideas that prompt buyers to think about change.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Loyalty Case Study 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

A study by Yahoo Research found that 50% of tweets are generated by an “elite” group of 20k users and that those users tend to follow one another rather than branching out—what many refer to as the social media echo chamber. 99% of the time, they’re sharing links to content—blogs, research papers, news stories, etc.—that

Twitter 100

Twitter Broadcasting Social Media Advertising Mediums 100

Chris Koch

MAY 1, 2009

Our research on Account-Based Marketing has revealed a few such tasks: Customer understanding. In B2B, both marketers and salespeople know the value of learning about customers’ business issues and needs. Posted in Sales and Marketing Collaboration Tagged: B2B marketing, ITSMA Research, Marketing and Sales Collaboration.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Cross-Selling B2B Sales Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

A study by Yahoo Research found that 50% of tweets are generated by an “elite” group of 20k users and that those users tend to follow one another rather than branching out—what many refer to as the social media echo chamber. 99% of the time, they’re sharing links to content—blogs, research papers, news stories, etc.—that

Twitter 100

Twitter Broadcasting Social Media B2B Marketing 100

Chris Koch

JULY 31, 2009

ITSMA research has long showed that when we do it at all, we do it poorly. Both marketing and sales should work together to reduce CPOD because that’s what really matters in terms of marketing’s contribution to the business. It’s time to declare marketing metrics a failure once and for all. Stop apportioning blame.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Work Management B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 10, 2009

Thought leadership marketing is based on the academic research publishing model, in which academics created journals built around a peer review process. The most famous business incarnation of this model is the Harvard Business Review, which began publishing in 1922. Is it only focused in knowledge intensive industries?

Thought Leadership 100

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

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 30, 2009

We found that usage of social media among IT and business buyers of technology rose 50% over last year and finally pushed to majority status—55% said they use social media as part of the technology buying process in 2009 versus just 37% in 2008. Sounds like a business case for investment to me. This has big implications for marketers.

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Enterprise Management Media 100

Chris Koch

JULY 31, 2009

ITSMA research has long showed that when we do it at all, we do it poorly. Both marketing and sales should work together to reduce CPOD because that’s what really matters in terms of marketing’s contribution to the business. It’s time to declare marketing metrics a failure once and for all. Stop apportioning blame. Tweet This Post.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Work Management B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 23, 2012

ITSMA research shows that buyers want the whole menu of content—not just a white paper here or a video there. It’s an important part of social media management. Let’s face it, there are some B2B executives who wouldn’t read a white paper even if you threatened them with lima beans (what, you like lima beans?

Paper 100

Paper Social Media Social Marketing B2B Marketing 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 18, 2009

In a recent post, I offered some hard research data to support the growing importance of social media to B2B. B2B customers tend to be high on the executive ladder and are usually reluctant to discuss their business strategies in public forums. Tags: ITSMA Research Social Media B2B marketing social media strategy.

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Social Marketing B2B Marketing 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. Research shows that people unlike brands on Facebook nearly as often as they shut off other channels and for all the same reasons: “too frequent, irrelevant or boring communications.”.

Facebook 100

Facebook B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership B2B 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 28, 2011

Forrester Research is testing both sides of this argument. But Owyang didn’t just post on his own blog; he also posted on a Forrester blog that was created around his business line. It’s a kind of co-branding strategy: individual analyst, line of business, and company brand all have equal billing at the top of the blog.

Personalization 100

Personalization Forrester Brand Identity Branding 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 13, 2009

ITSMA research shows that there are other ways to reach these people that are much more effective than social media, such as small, thought leadership-based events, content-rich websites that are optimized for search, and robust reference programs, to name a few. I think we need to parse that decision more. What do you think? Tweet This Post.

Social Media 100

Social Media Allocation Media Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 13, 2009

ITSMA research shows that there are other ways to reach these people that are much more effective than social media, such as small, thought leadership-based events, content-rich websites that are optimized for search, and robust reference programs, to name a few. I think we need to parse that decision more. What do you think? Tweet This Post.

Social Media 100

Social Media Allocation Media Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 22, 2010

In our research we’ve also seen consistently over the past few years that two-thirds of buyers prefer to research their buying options themselves rather than waiting for vendors to contact them. Indeed, research by Forbes and Google found that 80% of C-level executives perform at least three web searches per day.

Lead Management 100

Lead Management Marketing Management Automation Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 29, 2010

For example, there is no way that the typical Webinar is worth as much as an in-depth research report, yet we make buyers give us the same amount of information for both—we charge them the same price. For example, research shows that Europeans value their privacy more than Americans—meaning that their information may cost you more.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 29, 2010

For example, there is no way that the typical Webinar is worth as much as an in-depth research report, yet we make buyers give us the same amount of information for both—we charge them the same price. For example, research shows that Europeans value their privacy more than Americans—meaning that their information may cost you more.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

Aberdeen Research has found that salespeople that share information with each other make more money than those that don’t. Yet as more salespeople start using social media, the link will become more obvious. Sharing information in a way that doesn’t overly sap productivity (hard to do before social media came along) raises all boats.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Wiki Marketing Management Internet Marketing 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 5, 2009

If, for example, a company responds to a crisis by aggressively marketing itself to replace lost business without addressing the crisis or its impact, the company’s brand image will suffer. Use research to understand the context. In times of crisis, research with the following groups is especially important: Customers and prospects.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Companies Work Management Ethics 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 11, 2010

The perceptions that marketers send nothing but junk leads to sales and fail to measure the impact of those leads on revenue have been hurting marketers’ relationships with salespeople—and the business—for at least a decade. But can we ever say that marketers will become the leading contributors of leads that wind up as closed business?

Lead Generation 100

Lead Generation Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Sales Qualified Leads 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Most journalists have discovered social media as an important research tool. And research shows that even the stodgiest C-level executive does at least three web searches per day. Make sure they have business profiles on the different networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.). This is the new role of placement PR.

PR 100

PR Peer-to-peer Press Public Relations 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 18, 2011

Interesting research from Edelman shows that there has been a decline in trust in “people like myself” and “regular employees.” Social media are growing up. The initial thrill of connecting to a bunch of peers that we’ve never met is giving way to the desire to get something useful out of those connections.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Thought Leadership Social Media Storytelling 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 25, 2011

I confirmed something I’ve been hearing in my research on idea marketing over the past month: idea marketing requires a deep commitment not just from marketing but from the entire organization. Let’s look at some attributes I’m seeing I’m my research: Show commitment to idea development from the top.

Social Media 100

Social Media Organization Peer-to-peer SME 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 research confirms it.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management B2B Marketing B2B Thought Leadership Marketing Management 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

I’m hearing a lot from clients and researchers about how vast swaths of salespeople need to be eliminated as companies transition from selling products to services and solutions. With customers able to do so much research online, the way to get in the door these days is to have information that isn’t readily available elsewhere.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Consulting B2B Sales Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

I’m hearing a lot from clients and researchers about how vast swaths of salespeople need to be eliminated as companies transition from selling products to services and solutions. With customers able to do so much research online, the way to get in the door these days is to have information that isn’t readily available elsewhere.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services B2B Sales Consulting Marketing Automation 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 7, 2012

I agree (journalism’s future will be determined by its ability to create a business model that pays better than the current one: giving away content for free and charging way too little for ads), but I think he missed the more important disruptive power that platforms like BrandVoice really do have: to disintermediate traditional marketing.

Disintermediation 100

Disintermediation B2B Marketing Marketing Management Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 6, 2009

The publishing model is also relevant because as a business model, it is dying—especially for trade magazines. Demand for that content hasn’t gone away however, and companies that can provide an adequate alternative will grow their businesses more than those that can’t. Research the reader. Diversify content.

Planning 100

Planning B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 6, 2009

The publishing model is also relevant because as a business model, it is dying—especially for trade magazines. Demand for that content hasn’t gone away however, and companies that can provide an adequate alternative will grow their businesses more than those that can’t. Research the reader. Diversify content.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Planning Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency 100

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.”. We know that in B2B, customers and prospects respond best to ideas, news, research, and how-to—not sales pitches. We can do it with content. Tweet This Post.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Thought Leadership Work Management 100