Chris Koch

OCTOBER 6, 2009

One of the great trends were seeing at ITSMA is increased automation of the lead process. But this trend has an unintended side effect: it exposes our content development processes (or lack thereof). That metric is going to be critically important as we automate the lead process because nurturing is marketing’s special sauce.

Planning 100

Planning B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency 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. Create a content development process.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

JULY 31, 2009

It’s time to measure sales and marketing together in that process. Marketing and sales are both part of the same process: raising revenue. Create a unified lead process. He or she emphasizes one revenue generating process that both groups contribute to. Measure CPOD instead. Get adult supervision.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Work Management B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

JULY 31, 2009

It’s time to measure sales and marketing together in that process. Marketing and sales are both part of the same process: raising revenue. Create a unified lead process. He or she emphasizes one revenue generating process that both groups contribute to. Measure CPOD instead. Get adult supervision.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Work Management B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 10, 2014

I know what you’re thinking, “Oh here goes the burnt-out old journalist on a self-righteous rant about the sanctity of his beloved profession” (some prefer not to put journalism in the rarefied company of the medical or legal professions and therefore call it a trade; if you’d seen my SAT scores you’d probably agree). That is marketing.

Branding 100

Branding Brand Identity Intent Positioning 100

Chris Koch

MAY 15, 2012

As buyers do more searching, they are stretching the buying process earlier and earlier, to the point where they may not have a specific product or service in mind when they search. So you’re saying there’s a part of the buying process that doesn’t involve salespeople? What does online search have to do with selling?

FAQ 100

FAQ Custom Publishing B2B Sales Work Management 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

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. They had to do with other things that companies have to do before they can successfully engage in social media.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 7, 2011

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. They had to do with other things that companies have to do before they can successfully engage in social media.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

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. From what I can tell, the internet didn’t disrupt the basic model for the sales enablement process; it just moved much of it online.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Wiki Marketing Management Internet 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. Create a content development process. The key components of the program are: Create a publishing process and calendar.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Network Marketing B2B Sales 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. Create a content development process. The key components of the program are: Create a publishing process and calendar.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Network Marketing Paper 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 22, 2011

Innovation is becoming more external to companies and more social. I think this means that marketing must be ready to take a larger role in facilitating the innovation process and in being the ears to the ground on all the innovation that’s happening externally to organizations out there on the internet. Move beyond brand stewardship.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management Social Media 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

JULY 24, 2009

Two of the companies I spoke to for my report use analytics to determine which marketing tactics are working and which ones aren’t. So you have to start with the bigger process picture. And as I discussed in this post, the qualification process needs to be gradual and non-invasive, what Brian has since christened “micro-conversion.”

Lead Qualification 100

Lead Qualification Marketing Automation Services Lead Ranking Lead Scoring 100

Chris Koch

MAY 20, 2011

Marketers need to facilitate a process for internal development of ideas and for external feedback. Many companies take it a step farther by making idea development part of employees’ annual goals. Marketers need to help create that culture in the company by facilitating the idea process.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Media Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JULY 24, 2009

Two of the companies I spoke to for my report use analytics to determine which marketing tactics are working and which ones aren’t. So you have to start with the bigger process picture. And as I discussed in this post, the qualification process needs to be gradual and non-invasive, what Brian has since christened “micro-conversion.”

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 15, 2010

Assuming CIOs would be willing to accept the pay cut, and smart and determined as they are, I’m certain that few have the talent for or interest in the publishing process. If we automate the processes that matter, the metrics we need will be staring us in the face. What am I paying for? The funnel becomes electric. We’re all PR now.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 11, 2011

Most companies do not yet have closed-loop lead management processes supported by systems, for example. We need to use analytics to quantify and manage how fast we move prospects through the buying process and to increase loyalty and trust after they’ve bought from us. B2C companies have these “wonks” today.

Analytics 100

Analytics Paid Search Agency Marketing Management Loyalty 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 18, 2011

They want more strategic answers, such as whether marketing is increasing the velocity of contacts through the buying process and reducing the time and effort that salespeople need to expend in making a sale. A lead management process gives you the ability to get the right content to the right people at the time they need it.

Work Management 100

Work Management Thought Leadership Marketing Management Paper 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. Companies need to make it worth salespeople’s while to endure the longer sales cycle and lower margins that come with services.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services B2B Sales Consulting Marketing Automation 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 5, 2010

Unless the company they work for is a startup or otherwise desperate for attention, these people tend to be ground down by the risk management aspect of their jobs over time. Much like IT people, they don’t hear much from anyone inside their companies unless something goes wrong. The process is incredibly expensive and inefficient.

PR 100

PR Press Paid Search Agency Lead Ranking 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 22, 2010

And that is a huge change in the buying process. ITSMA’s annual survey of IT buyers found that this year, for the first time, a majority of buyers in the US—and 75% when you include other countries—are using social media in the purchasing process—especially the younger ones. Buyers are removing salespeople from the buying process.

Lead Management 100

Lead Management Marketing Management Automation Marketing Automation Services 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 16, 2009

Being on the corporate site is a good way for bloggers to raise their visibility inside the company and promote their careers. Readers will assume that corporate bloggers will sanitize their opinions and do what they can to promote their companies. Incentives for bloggers. Onsite disadvantages: Suspicion. Content inflexibility.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Blogger Thought Leadership Word of Mouth 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 8, 2009

Worse, the fat that existed in 1999 did not exist last Fall when companies made more big cuts on top of all the incremental cuts we’ve seen over the years. Posted in Marketing Strategy Tagged: B2B marketing, ITSMA, Marketing Processes, Marketing Strategy, social media strategy. What else are you doing to improve marketing?

Practices 100

Practices Best Practices Paid Search Agency Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 10, 2009

See what you think of my answers: How did thought leadership initiatives in companies begin? Thought leadership marketing is based on the academic research publishing model, in which academics created journals built around a peer review process. Why did companies start focusing on it?

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Work 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. Companies need to make it worth salespeople’s while to endure the longer sales cycle and lower margins that come with services. Tweet This Post.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Consulting B2B Sales Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 18, 2009

Giving up control of what is being said about your company is difficult for most marketers. The first hurdle for B2B marketers in developing a social media strategy is presenting a case for why their companies should be involved in social media at all. Social media is different. The focus shifts from messages to conversations.

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Social Marketing B2B Marketing 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 30, 2009

Most of ITSMA’s clients are B2B marketers from big technology companies that sell big, complex products, services, and solutions. This makes sense when you consider what our IT buyers have been telling us for years: that their peers are by far their most preferred and trusted choice for information during the buying process.

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Enterprise Management Media 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

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

One client summed it up by saying that there are two points of resistance in the process of bringing new things to market. The first comes at the beginning of the process—the “why” battle—where everyone takes pot shots at the new idea. That’s why the research process needs to be iterative.

Research 100

Research Service Product Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

One client summed it up by saying that there are two points of resistance in the process of bringing new things to market. The first comes at the beginning of the process—the “why” battle—where everyone takes pot shots at the new idea. That’s why the research process needs to be iterative.

Research 100

Research Service Product Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 8, 2009

Worse, the fat that existed in 1999 did not exist last Fall when companies made more big cuts on top of all the incremental cuts we’ve seen over the years. Tags: Marketing Strategy B2B marketing ITSMA Marketing Processes social media strategy. How are you doing that? What else are you doing to improve marketing? Tweet This Post.

Practices 100

Practices Best Practices Paid Search Agency Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

MAY 14, 2010

We’re seeing companies use social media to bring customers into the product and service development processes to collaborate on new ideas and improvements. We’re seeing companies use social media for customer support. And even small companies can benefit from having a social media council. Governance.

Organic Leads 100

Organic Leads Social Media Social Marketing Organization 100

Chris Koch

JULY 10, 2009

In the epiphany stage of the buying process, we should be offering people great information, not turning them off by trying to sleaze information out of them when they’re nowhere near being ready to buy. Sync your content to the stages of the buying process. Stop collecting this data.

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 B2B Thought Leadership Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 7, 2009

These CIOs tend to be in larger companies and generally serve multiple business entities. Because they have this cross-business visibility, they have the opportunity to become business process experts and use IT to make those processes more efficient and effective. Transformational Leader. Business Strategist.

Planning 100

Planning Segmentation Work Management Gartner 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 7, 2009

These CIOs tend to be in larger companies and generally serve multiple business entities. Because they have this cross-business visibility, they have the opportunity to become business process experts and use IT to make those processes more efficient and effective. Transformational Leader. Business Strategist.

Planning 100

Planning Segmentation Work Management Gartner 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Every company needs a guard dog or two to be around in case of a PR disaster. Think of the traditional PR process as a supply chain with four steps: Subject matter expert identification and preparation. PR works to identify people in the organization who would be good representatives of the company, its value, and its offerings.

PR 100

PR Peer-to-peer Press Public Relations 100