Marketing Interactions

OCTOBER 24, 2021

Every year, Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs release their latest B2B marketing research. This year the report includes a chart of current B2B content marketing challenges. Let’s look at 4 content marketing challenges and how you can defeat them. Many of them aren’t content writers—nor do they want to be.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing Content Marketing Planning B2B 100

Marketing Interactions

APRIL 14, 2019

Marketers say one of their biggest challenges is creating content that engages and compels their buyers. The future will not only depend on engagement, but on continuous, content-driven conversations that result in buying decisions in your favor. Content-Driven Conversations Rely on Nuance. Dry content won’t cut it.

Conversion 86

Conversion Marketing Automation Services B2B Trigger Marketing 86

Marketing Interactions

JANUARY 9, 2022

B2B content doesn’t create a sum of knowledge as one-off random acts of content. To create influence, your B2B content needs oomph, conviction, and purpose. And let’s not forget the beauty of relevance dialed in to match the context of your ideal buyers. I’ve written about the need for B2B content to have a point of view.

B2B Thought Leadership 62

B2B Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Content 62

Marketing Interactions

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Content marketing has been an ongoing practice for B2B marketers for more than a decade. Marketers are spending a boatload of money, time and effort producing and distributing content to their audiences. But for many buyers, the B2B content they encounter is out of context. Lack of Context in B2B Content Kills Engagement.

Work Management 96

Work Management Marketing Management B2B Thought Leadership B2B 96

Marketing Interactions

DECEMBER 21, 2021

For some reason, B2B marketing content tends to lean more toward academia than literary license. Much of the content produced is dry, mechanical, and, well, academic. We think our content must exude professionalism because we sell complex, high-ticket solutions to businesses. Emotion in B2B marketing content is more subtle.

B2B Marketing 80

B2B Marketing B2B Content Paid Search Agency 80

Marketing Interactions

APRIL 21, 2017

One of the biggest values that come with content marketing operations maturity is the ability to say “no” to ad hoc content demands. As B2B marketers have adopted content marketing, many have found themselves on the hamster wheel of content production. But publishing content is not content marketing.

Content Marketing 60

Content Marketing Planning Marketing Management Paid Search Agency 60

Marketing Interactions

MAY 23, 2018

When I was asked to review Kapost’s latest benchmark on B2B content operations strategy, I jumped at the chance. Content operations as a standard practice is still a pretty new concept for many B2B organizations, and I was curious to see how it was going. B2B Content Operations Are Making Progress. I’m admittedly a data hound.

Advertising Benchmark 83

Advertising Benchmark Marketing & Strategy B2B Content 83

Marketing Interactions

MAY 21, 2018

As our ability to collect data grows, so do the different ways we can measure content performance. It’s hard to inform anything about your content marketing strategy with such low results. Yet, we seem content to continue to send email campaigns with mediocre performance. Don’t Let Your Content Become a Dead End.

Webinar Metrics 74

Webinar Metrics Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy Dwell 74

Marketing Interactions

APRIL 11, 2019

I’ve been actively involved in content marketing for 20 years. There’s something new to learn every day and content marketing feels like it’s taken over marketing. I remember back when just putting up a blog post once or twice per week was a novel approach to content marketing. The Evolution of Content.

Peer-to-peer 53

Peer-to-peer Content Enterprise Management Broadcasting 53

Marketing Interactions

MAY 23, 2018

You’re creating content—lots of it. If the trend holds steady—which B2B marketers indicate it will—you’ll create even more content next year. Content has become almost as much of a product as the actual products and solutions your company provides to your customers. And content is the versatile weapon of choice.

Top of Funnel 67

Top of Funnel Paid Search Agency Companies B2B 67

Marketing Interactions

DECEMBER 29, 2016

Using content for marketing in B2B companies has caught on with a fervor that continues unabated. And, even though only a small percentage of B2B marketers say they are consistently effective with it, most of them will produce more content next year. And now their sights are set on scale for B2B content marketing.

B2B Marketing 81

B2B Marketing Content Marketing B2B Content 81

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 27, 2021

Creating compelling and engaging content. Creating content for specific stages of the buying process. Proving the ROI from content marketing. Here’s the kicker for me > Despite the above challenges reported, two-thirds of marketers say they’re using buyer personas to inform their marketing strategies and content development.

Buyer Personas 111

Buyer Personas B2B Ideal Customer Profiles Account Based Marketing 111

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 23, 2017

In this post, I’ll discuss how the details of a buyer persona inform a content marketing strategy. And, you’ll find that speaking to her will be relevant to many in the target audience because her story is based on the commonalities discovered during the persona creation process. “A 9 Components of a B2B Buyer Persona. Orientation.

Buyer Personas 64

Buyer Personas Marketing Strategy Marketing & Strategy B2B Marketing 64

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 23, 2017

While 89% of B2B marketers have embraced content marketing, only 37% have a documented content marketing strategy, and only 22% say they are extremely successful with their overall approach to content marketing. One of the key foundational elements to a content marketing strategy is a buyer persona.

Buyer Personas 74

Buyer Personas Enterprise Management B2B Marketing Marketing Strategy 74

Marketing Interactions

JULY 18, 2021

Despite marketers’ best intentions, nearly half say delivering personalized and relevant content is a top business challenge. However, personalization remains a priority for B2B marketing executives, with 52% planning to increase spending on content marketing and personalization technology to get this right.

B2B Marketing 75

B2B Marketing Personalization B2B Planning 75

Marketing Interactions

JULY 31, 2022

I’m thinking about the differences between what your buyers experience with your content and brand (outside), and what it takes to create successful buyer-driven experiences (inside). Without strategy, all you have are random acts of content. Content should be helpful for both customers and buyers…everyone consuming it.

B2B 75

B2B Buyer's Journey Gartner B2B Sales 75

Marketing Interactions

OCTOBER 15, 2021

Marketers produce or oversee/govern much of the content used across the customer continuum, including for brand awareness, demand generation, ABM, sales outreach and follow-up, customer engagement, social media, events, advocacy programs, and more. There needs to be one orchestrator of brand narrative: messaging, content, and story.

B2B Marketing 131

B2B Marketing Lead Ranking B2B Paid Search Agency 131

Marketing Interactions

JULY 25, 2021

Hyper-relevant. But here’s my real problem with hyper – marketers haven’t mastered relevance, personalization, targeting, or experiences in their original forms. Is this an example of hyper-relevance? Hyper-personalized. Hyper-targeted. Hyper-everything in B2B marketing! What is it with all the hyper? Well, at least in theory.

B2B Marketing 69

B2B Marketing B2B Paid Search Agency Buying Cycle 69

Marketing Interactions

JANUARY 25, 2022

But, unless your B2B content marketing strategy and programs sucked last year, taking a clean slate approach is not the best idea. This means your content marketing strategy needs to follow suit. Balancing Internal Changes with Content Marketing Strategy. And everyone’s favorite: Budgets get slashed! Outside – in.

B2B Marketing 69

B2B Marketing B2B Budget Programs Marketing & Strategy 69

Marketing Interactions

OCTOBER 8, 2020

One of the assumptions that marketers and sales reps make when people show interest in your website, content, or booth at a virtual summit or trade show is that they’re buyers. Put simply, sales reps have a huge opportunity to engage buyers in better conversations supported by relevant content.

Buy 77

Buy B2B Peer-to-peer Work Management 77

Marketing Interactions

JANUARY 3, 2022

Unfortunately, many marketing campaigns provide the same content to both buyers and customers. Therefore, the same content isn’t useful for both contexts. What if they’re not using some of the features and functions – then educational content would apply, right? As well as show them that the content really isn’t for them.

B2B 69

B2B Paid Search Agency Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 69

Marketing Interactions

OCTOBER 5, 2022

Toward the effort of improving customer experience, investing in new content and creative (42%) is a top priority. Another benefit is you can also use these assets for net-new account content—with the participants’ permission. The customer retention programs you design deserve great and relevant storytelling.

Ideal Customer Profiles 62

Ideal Customer Profiles B2B Marketing Enterprise Management Work Management 62

Marketing Interactions

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

The process of Q&A drives momentum based on addressing how context shifts with each new intake of relevant information that helps your buyers advance their thinking. This one is critical for buyers given the overwhelming amount of content available on every topic—not to mention the conflicts in information they must untangle.

B2B 75

B2B B2B Sales Webinar Metrics Buy 75

Marketing Interactions

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

For example, when an account hits a certain intent score AND has reached a set account/lead score, fire off content that extends from the topic they just engaged in with you. Not one, but a series of content oriented to end stage interest, such as evaluation factors, questions to ask, reasons your customers bought from you, etc.

Intent Data 124

Intent Data Intent B2B Marketing B2B 124

Marketing Interactions

MARCH 7, 2022

Content Ideas for Lost Opportunity Engagement. Competitor Content: Just bear with me… If you have a competitor publishing great, relevant content that speaks to a reason you lost an opportunity, such as lack of differentiation, here’s your opportunity to show why you’re a better choice—without dissing the competition.

Ideal Customer Profiles 88

Ideal Customer Profiles B2B B2B Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer 88

Marketing Interactions

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Timing of touches and developing targeted content for each buyer stage/interest are the top two issues at 49% and 48% respectively. Also, ask them what they found most valuable in their interactions with your company during the process—from the content they viewed to their conversations with your sales reps. The topics it covered.

Ideal Customer Profiles 80

Ideal Customer Profiles Buyer Personas Marketing Analytics Tools B2B 80

Marketing Interactions

MARCH 22, 2022

Here’s why BANT is no longer relevant for today’s buyers: Budget: Years ago, budgets were pre-planned and pretty much held firm. At the pace of change today, is qualifying based on budget relevant? Buyers will disqualify themselves if we make the right content and information available. Emotion plays a key role here.

Work Management 62

Work Management Marketing Management Ideal Customer Profiles Sales Qualified Leads 62

Marketing Interactions

APRIL 18, 2019

When you’re working on mapping out your content marketing strategy, start with the action you want them to take and then back into it. And that results in well-constructed buyer personas that give you the depth you need to create content that resonates. Relevance is in the eyes of your audience. And that’s not you.

Buyer Personas 119

Buyer Personas Buying Cycle Case Studies Case Study 119

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 20, 2021

Sales thinks marketing messaging is, well, too “marketing like,” so they replace it with the casualness of personalized conversation for face-to-face meetings—including those conducted virtually—which can result in lost context and relevance, depending on the buyer’s experience with the brand, and via which channels, thus far.

B2B 62

B2B Marketing Management Customer Satisfaction B2B Sales 62

Marketing Interactions

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

A buyer-driven experience is based on relevance, context, choice, and simplicity. The way you frame the information/content you share with them has an impact. Do they change lanes often trying to gain an advantage, or are they content to stick with the same lane as traffic ebbs and flows around them?

B2B 69

B2B Peer-to-peer Gartner Top of Funnel 69

Marketing Interactions

AUGUST 8, 2021

At best, they aren’t even relevant until people have done the hard work of solving the change management problem so they can choose to become buyers. It’s not about volume of content viewed, but which content. What context does that content indicate? They are sales-driven, not buyer-driven.

Buy 62

Buy Work Management Lead Ranking Marketing Management 62

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 4, 2017

Our customers have shown high engagement with these content assets; what can we create to continue the story or fill in the gaps to help them solve this problem? This includes personas, messaging, stories, content marketing programs, sales enablement programs, and more. Simplified Content Decisions . It’s that simple.

Account Based Marketing 64

Account Based Marketing ABM Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 64

Marketing Interactions

AUGUST 1, 2021

Relevance is an imperative. Then you can look at how your positioning feeds a story that’s relevant to your market. Swirl brand and demand together for a more compelling, consistent, and relevant story that covers the bases—at whatever stage buyers, prospective buyers, and customers find themselves.

Demand 69

Demand B2B Marketing Brand Identity Branding 69

Marketing Interactions

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

So, they’re not considered relevant while B2B buyers are dealing with early discovery about the change process they must complete before they can buy anything. And the consistency of relevant and timely engagement will be surprising and welcome enough to get your relationship off on the right foot.

Ideal Customer Profiles 62

Ideal Customer Profiles Account Based Marketing B2B ABM 62

Marketing Interactions

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

What content, tools, or resources can you provide to generate excitement and anticipation for using your solution? Interactive content and personalization are two tactics that are high on marketers’ goals lists. Buying a new product or solution is about change management. Sending a welcome email is great, but nowhere near enough.

Marketing Funnels 87

Marketing Funnels Top of Funnel B2B Marketing Work Management 87

Marketing Interactions

AUGUST 15, 2022

This reality just screams for simplicity, context, and relevance from vendors—both marketers and sellers. How will they know who to trust with all that? And all this needs to happen for them while they are still doing their day jobs. But many don’t want that responsibility and they often don’t know what they don’t know but should know.

Buyer Personas 75

Buyer Personas Ideal Customer Profiles B2B Gartner 75

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 13, 2021

The content isn’t for you. How many times have you had an exec tell you to do something (create content, change your messaging, etc.) The only thing that matters is what’s relevant to them. Campaigns are a marketing construct that’s no longer relevant. This one is a never-ending source of frustration.

B2B Marketing 174

B2B Marketing B2B Gartner Purchase Intent 174