Tony Zambito

FEBRUARY 28, 2016

When it comes to the state of B2B content marketing and engagement, this proverb is on the mark. According to a recent study by Track Maven , one among a few on this topic, shows both B2B and B2C marketers have increased their publishing of content in 2015 by as much as 35 to 40%. I am not sure it is a paradox. A Main Culprit.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Content B2B Sales 100

Tony Zambito

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

Meaning marketers today must account for how to adapt to behavioral shifts caused by the omnipresence of digital and online information. The digital transformation is causing many CMOs today to reevaluate exactly what content marketing may mean to their overall marketing strategy. Or of late – content marketing campaign effectiveness.

Buyer Personas 0

Buyer Personas Planning Paid Search Agency Content 0

Tony Zambito

MAY 5, 2021

Without researching and interviewing people about this moment in history and about Winston Churchill, such a terrific story could not come together. The results can often be brand storytelling and content that fails to connect and is meaningless to an audience of buyers. 2 – Goals Drive Their Pursuit.

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Buyer Personas Storytelling Brand Identity Branding 198

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 31, 2016

The explosion of content in the digital world is an unprecedented phenomenon just a few could have predicted twenty-five years ago. Content is ubiquitous in all phases of life and in business. In fact, it is getting harder and harder to find a slice of time where content is not invading precious personal or business space.

Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Ideal Customer Profiles Leads Lead Marketing Qualified Leads 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

They are based on qualitative ethnographic research over a period of time. ” Oftentimes though referring to buyer profiles hastily completed for specific content campaigns. Where informing insights are once again gainfully sought. Analytics are helpful in informing where updating is needed.

Buyer Personas 228

Buyer Personas Terms and Conditions Interactive Marketing B2B Sales 228

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 2, 2011

  Let’s recap the significant buyer trends noted so far in this series: Buyers are overwhelmed with content and desire experiences. This article looks at how buyers are seeking to further their intelligence on challenges and goal achievement and how organizations can model intelligence seeking versus content mapping. 

Trends 100

Trends Buyer Personas Lead Ranking Content 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 8, 2011

  Marketing becoming the home for content strategy and sales enablement finding its’ home in sales.    Although content marketing and sales enablement are relatively new concepts from a long-term view, I believe the long-term cultural differences are still in play. .    What’s going on? . 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Content Marketing Content Buying Cycle 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 13, 2015

Content Deluge Is Counter-Productive. Nobel-prize winning research in the fields of psychology and sociology have proven people, and buyers within organizations, are not fully rational when it comes to decision-making. Marketing leaders enamored with content marketing in an overzealous manner should take note of this element.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Lead Ranking B2B Sales Research 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

Employing the use of buyer research and buyer insights to go beyond. A role or job-description buyer profile or buyer persona will leave you ill-informed. Qualitative buyer research is a way to gain insights into how buyers are thinking as well as feeling. And make your buyers even more unrecognizable.

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Buyer Personas Digital Transformation B2B Sales Interactive Marketing 220

Tony Zambito

MARCH 6, 2016

There is a big problem when it comes to B2B customer research. According to various studies over the years (by credible institutions such as Harvard) regarding market and customer research, approximately 80% or better of B2B customer research is conducted to reinforce current assumptions about customers.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Ideal Customer Profiles B2B B2B Sales 100

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 4, 2015

Respond with content and media that fits into the new world of digital commerce. Yet, as CMOs invest and allocate more to content and digital media, the returns are not occurring as hoped. Various studies have shown buyers continue to find as much as 60-to-75% of content to be non-relevant. Understanding The Problem.

Direct Marketing 100

Direct Marketing Buyer Personas Allocation Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

A recent survey by B2B Marketing, in conjunction with the UK-based agency Tomorrow People, indicated only 38% of marketers considered their content to be “very customer-centric.” They are archetypal representations of behavioral groups (based on qualitative research with real people) and the goals that drive their usage and choices.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Ideal Customer Profiles B2B Marketing Paid Search Agency 100

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 14, 2018

The journey concept has spurred a mountain of marketing advice-oriented content related to stages and time. For example, how many articles have there been about “aligning content to the stages of the buyer’s journey” in the last few years? An image of someone with a backpack going hiking seems to be one that is used often.

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Marketing AI Buyer Personas Top of Funnel Digital Marketing Funnels 174

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 23, 2016

The primary course of conversation in the past few years for CMO’s and their marketing teams has centered around customer centricity, customer experience, and content marketing. We have also seen organizations struggle with how best to adapt to new market dynamics related to customer behaviors and the role of content in reaching customers.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy Work Management 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

Buyer Trend: Overwhelmed By Content. During the past two years, we’ve seen a significant rise in focus on content and how content is the new marketing.    While some may debate that content marketing is messaging in new clothing, it is now a competency that marketing executives need to assure getting right. 

Trends 100

Trends Content Wikipedia Custom Publishing 100

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 3, 2016

72% of the respondent stated they were using buyer personas for content marketing and messaging while 45% stated they were using for assessing market challenges and problems, as well as, address overall marketing strategy – an increase from 28% the previous year. Some of the results and changes from the previous year are encouraging.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Correlation Effectiveness Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Tony Zambito

JUNE 6, 2017

The following buyer insights interview gives a sense of how human-centered versus data-centric alone understanding can lead to better-informed decision-making: “I stumbled onto something by walking by our customer service center. Their customers and buyers themselves. I decided to listen in on some calls and ask questions.

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Marketing AI Paid Search Agency Buyer Personas Companies 214

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 26, 2015

In recent studies by IBM and other research studies on CEO sentiments, customer insight and understanding are identified as a top focus for CEOs. Resulting in a 3D view of buyers, which can help inform strategies related to each. Buyer Research Intent Requires Change. A case in point is the term “buyer’s journey.”

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Paid Search Agency Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Tony Zambito

MARCH 6, 2017

B2B companies may have to come to grips with the fact they are living in their own digital information bubble. Inside the bubble, intelligence is gathered to support predefined expectations around CX, account-based marketing, buyer’s journey, content marketing , content conversion rates, etc.

Digital Transformation 253

Digital Transformation Buyer Personas Lead Ranking B2B 253

Tony Zambito

MAY 31, 2017

What was true then and is as true today, is the need for information and insights into accounts. When ABS (account-based sales) first came into existence, it began with needs assessments and led to the collection of information on teams, hierarchy, divisions, decision-makers, approvers, etc. Common Thread.

Account Based Marketing 211

Account Based Marketing ABM Digital Transformation Paid Search Agency 211

Tony Zambito

MAY 17, 2010

Similarly, the world of B2B Marketing and Content Marketing must contend with parity.    Businesses continue to be in receipt of multiple waves of marketing messaging, email marketing, demand generation, pay per click, and many new forms of social networking oriented content. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Marketing B2B Content 100

Tony Zambito

AUGUST 14, 2016

Information Overload by Jenny Chisnell. And, more importantly, truly informs on customer strategies. As a means to help inform overall customer strategy. Applying this quantifying approach to content development spun the numbers even higher. Buyer Personas Lost In Data Overkill.

Buyer Personas 102

Buyer Personas Ideal Customer Profiles Profiling CMO 102

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 8, 2015

Yet, I am concerned that the true goal-directed and qualitative research essentials of buyer personas are being missed by CMOs, CSOs, and their teams. There has been much content propagated on buyer personas. In 2015, we have seen greater usage and the introduction of cloud-based platforms designed to automate buyer persona management.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Customer Surveys Ideal Customer Profiles Organic Leads 100

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 25, 2012

For decades, B2B sales and marketing has relied on business information of the likes of Hoovers , Dun & Bradstreet , and others. Business information also plays a role in providing B2B with a level of company profiles and firmographics data about organizations within markets.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Allocation Peer-to-peer 100

Tony Zambito

FEBRUARY 5, 2017

In the past five years, the often-unquestioned hymnal has been that to succeed in today’s digital world, businesses must produce content. Produce high-quality content, yes. According to various statistics on the Internet, we are living in a world where every minute over 200 million items of online content is produced.

Digital Transformation 50

Digital Transformation Buyer Personas Broadcasting Leads 50

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 22, 2015

Here are seven elements CEOs and their teams must develop in order to make informed decisions to achieve growth: 1 – Research, Analytics, And Insights. Companies today will need to develop an integrated view of customer research. It does not suggest all information can fit on one page.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Lead Ranking Buy Research 100

Tony Zambito

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Here is a portion of what he said: “As more buyers wait to engage with sales and as more companies, in order to attract potential buyers, open up their content, the need to meet your audience’s needs before you know who they are is likely going to be one of the next revolutions we see.”. Research and Insight. Smart Content.

Demand Generation Agencies 100

Demand Generation Agencies Wikipedia Demand Generation Buyer Personas 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 12, 2011

Without question, while B2B Marketing is focused on developing its new prominence in the early stages of the buying cycle via content strategy and content marketing, B2B Sales is caught flat-footed on how to adapt to changing buyer behaviors.  Image via Wikipedia.   This can be done on two levels. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Sales B2B Buying Cycle 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 29, 2012

Yet, depending on these same reports from the several research organizations benchmarking such effort, companies who perform effective lead nurturing enjoy a better than 25% higher return on their efforts than those who do not. Their information needs do not necessarily align or map one-to-one to a linear view of buying stages.

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Lead Ranking Leads Lead 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 6, 2020

What I do know is that much of what I see is just redundant information about our buyers. With the focus on activities that buyers engage in, such as what content is being accessed and how often. . Nothing new in a way that helps us.”. Why can this happen? Hierarchy Gets in The Way.

Organization 183

Organization B2B Buyer Personas Fulfillment 183

Tony Zambito

OCTOBER 18, 2015

When the Internet came along, we began to see a seismic shift in how buyers gathered information and made decisions. As time progressed in the early decade of 2000 to 2010, reliance on the sales representative for product and solutions information began to diminish.

Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Ideal Customer Profiles Profiling Buyer Personas Marketing Management 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 23, 2017

For example, many companies tend to adopt different labeled marketing approaches each year, whether it be content marketing, customer experience, account-based marketing, or the many others that have cropped up. While many companies have engaged in one or all three critical areas, the struggle is in creating a cycle that informs.

B2B Marketing 227

B2B Marketing Planning Buyer Personas B2B 227

Tony Zambito

JULY 18, 2011

  His macro views on how business models are shifting from push to pull is important to buyer personas because they change the context by which buyer personas are researched and created.    Social buyer persona development must change to be more about informing on listening competency than messaging competency.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Lead Ranking Ideal Customer Profiles Opt-out 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 11, 2011

  In a previous article, Buyer Personas Require Qualitative Research and Contextual Inquiry , I mentioned that buyer persona development is at its’ core a research methodology grounded in the practices of qualitative research and contextual inquiry.  .  Here is where buyer persona development can be of help. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Segmentation Buy Work Management 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

  Buyers at first seemingly consuming information at a rabid thirst pace while other buyer groups demonstrating content fatigue and rejecting content outright. Buyerology Trend: Think Experience Creation Versus Content Creation (buyerpersonainsights.com).   We know, to a degree, what buyers are doing. 

Trends 100

Trends Planning Buy CMO 100

Tony Zambito

AUGUST 2, 2011

The Science of Buyer Persona Research. Buyer persona research has been and will always be about understanding buyer behaviors and perceptions.    The actual persona itself, the archetype created, is a representation derived from researching buyer behaviors and is meant to be an interpretative tool. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Viral Marketing Ideal Customer Profiles B2B Sales 100

Tony Zambito

JULY 6, 2011

As an individual with a background in marketing and sales, I began to think of how this could be a process to help make informed decisions not just about users but also buyers.    The latest trendy term of content marketing has even resulted in buyer personas being characterized as content profiles. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Peer-to-peer Ideal Customer Profiles Psychographics 100