Tony Zambito

APRIL 5, 2011

The new buyer experience economy has resulted in shifting the economic value of many sales and marketing tactics over the past couple of years.    One approach whose value is on the rise is that of Lead Nurturing.  The approach taken towards lead nurturing could make a huge difference. 

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Planning 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 29, 2012

"Sales Checking For Leads" © All Rights Reserved Kenny Madden. Depending on which reports you may read when it comes to lead nurturing, approximately 60% or more of B2B businesses do not have a formalized lead nurturing program. Which begs the question: why are companies slow to adopt to lead nurturing?

Lead Nurturing 100

Lead Nurturing Lead Ranking Leads Lead 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 20, 2015

These facts from the 137 respondents, from a variety of roles primarily in marketing, shows a strong correlation between the use of qualitative research and the effectiveness of buyer personas. Documentation Leads To Effectiveness. This is telling in the sense that buyer personas are still being “siloed” in marketing.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Research Studies Demand Generation Agencies 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

.  This past election made me think about parallels to the ongoing debate that surrounds sales and marketing alignment.    As if the state of sales and marketing has an imaginary aisle like the House on Capitol Hill.    Marketing’s role has been primarily one of PULL. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Paid Search Agency Buying Cycle Lead Ranking 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

Optimizing revenue growth is by far the toughest assignment for sales and marketing today.    Buyer Silo View : An underlying theme in the sales and marketing alignment debate has been the problematic issue of silo thinking each area can engage in.  Image by jackanapes via Flickr.

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel AIDA Buyer Personas Terms and Conditions 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 4, 2011

  They have helped companies to gain insights into market opportunities, find out why challenges exists, depict buying processes, and how to map critical sales and marketing strategies to the goals of buyers.  The Importance of Buyer Personas to Lead-to-Revenue Management. The Design of Content Marketing.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Research Ideal Customer Profiles Demand Generation Agencies 100

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 30, 2011

One of the interesting outcomes of the rise of Social Media , Demand Generation , and Content Marketing in 2010 was the increasing use of the term audience development.  In the new world of content marketing, the idea of thinking like a publisher has taken root.  Image via Wikipedia.   How? 

Social Media 100

Social Media Social Marketing Buyer Personas Planning 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 16, 2012

For many in marketing and sales, the march continues towards the attempt to develop tactical plans that will connect them to buyers. Whether they relate to demand generation, content marketing, sales enablement, and more, efforts are being made to make adaptations to changing buying behaviors. Buyer Designed Systems.

Sales Management 100

Sales Management Top of Funnel Planning Demand Generation 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 2, 2011

This is the sixth article looking at buyer trends that will influence marketing and sales in the near and foreseeable future.  Buyers are on a quest to be demand fulfilled.   These global, economic, technological, and market conditions are changing the very nature of how people search and what they learn. 

Trends 100

Trends Buyer Personas Lead Ranking Content 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 23, 2010

   Organizations today in their pursuit to get more leads, grow more revenue, and close more deals can lose sight of the fundamental process of listening to customers and being attentive to nuance changes in their goals.    Consistency in listening to customers and determining their goals is the hallmark of excellence.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Wikipedia Ideal Customer Profiles Social Media 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 5, 2010

Sales will require development of meeting buyer demands for an experiential interaction with sales that is more than just a focus on relationships alone. Companies will begin to invest more heavily in attaining buyer and market insight that reveal buyer goals, target buyer personas, and mapping of buyer journeys. 

Trends 100

Trends Buyer Personas AIDA Buyer's Journey 100

Tony Zambito

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

  This rethinking raises questions as well as the dialogue today on the effectiveness of the traditional functions of sales, marketing, support, and customer service.     Viewing what each function is capable of in isolation and missing the harmonizing around the buyer experience. 

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Buyer Personas Marketing Automation Services Buyer's Journey 100

Tony Zambito

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

.  Compounding these challenges is the rapid transformation underway in the buyer-seller relationship brought on by the advent of digital marketing and social media technology.  Alignment : The issue of sales and marketing alignment has been written about extensively over the past few years. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Buying Cycle B2B Lead Ranking 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 17, 2010

.  Creating a national following that rivaled some of the best marketing and advertising prowess dreamed up by Madison Avenue.    The New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, and Chicago Bulls all have had dynasty years which extended their marketing advertising reach far beyond their geographic regions.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Marketing B2B Content 100

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 5, 2011

A tough assignment for B2B marketers today is getting a handle on how buyers progress through the buying and selling cycles.    Understanding what buyers are doing in the lead generation to sales cycle gap is proving to be a competitive difference maker. .  Every story has to have a beginning. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Lead Ranking Work Management Buying Cycle 100

Tony Zambito

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

  This rethinking raises questions as well as the dialogue today on the effectiveness of the traditional functions of sales, marketing, support, and customer service.     Viewing what each function is capable of in isolation and missing the harmonizing around the buyer experience. 

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Buyer Personas Buyer's Journey Digital Marketing Funnels 100

Tony Zambito

JUNE 13, 2011

.  In the social age, influence or perhaps more correctly, social influence, has become the centrality of the social buyer’s mindset towards taking steps leading to a buying decision.    This, in fact, is creating a tension point between marketers and buyers today.    Organic. .    Organic.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Peer-to-peer Planning Viral Marketing 100

Tony Zambito

MARCH 20, 2011

The chorus appears to be getting louder and louder on content marketing in bloggersphere, digital media, and traditional media.    In this case, should CMO’s be looking at content marketing or content strategy as the first order of business on the agenda? .  Prevent Demand Generation Failure with Buyer Personas.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Marketing & Strategy Buyer's Journey Content 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 10, 2011

  Adding further to the complexity of this issue is that company’s today are struggling to keep pace and adapt their marketing and selling teams to the rapid pace of modified buyer behavior.   Have they provided the right level of training to marketing and sales on how to adapt to the social buyer persona? 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Organization Buying Cycle Buyer's Journey 100

Tony Zambito

MARCH 22, 2010

Today’s executives, particularly in sales and marketing, are facing increasing pressure to come up with game plans to engage the buyer.   The challenge post-Great Recession is how to engage with buyers in meaningful ways to drive demand and top line revenue growth.   It can come to mean a sub segment of an overall market.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Planning Segmentation Case Studies 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

In the global business and digital world of today, and particularly in B2B markets, a monumental shift is occurring in our percepts of buyer behavior and buyer strategy.    Both offer illuminating perspectives that will cause us to think differently.

Design 100

Design Buyer Personas B2B Thought Leadership Lead Ranking 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 17, 2011

These strategy areas include content strategy, social marketing, marketing automation, social selling, demand generation, and buyer experience marketing.  .  This is especially true when you consider there are several important strategic areas evolving at a rapid pace.

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Buying Cycle Buyer's Journey Demand Generation Agencies 100

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 25, 2011

  Sometimes they become more memorable than the lead actors or actresses themselves.    (On Thursday January 27th, I will be presenting at the CustomerThink Thought Leadership Summit on Digital Marketing.    Supporting Roles. One of my favorite categories in the Academy Awards is that of supporting roles. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Psychographics Paid Search Agency Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Tony Zambito

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Many B2B Marketers today are faced with the daunting tasks of connecting with buyers in new ways and using new mediums that are still in infancy. The shelf-life expectancy of some of the new approaches is yet to be known; making investment and resource decisions for leaders in B2B Marketing a road filled with risks.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking B2B Marketing Buyer Personas B2B 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 8, 2011

The raging waters of the sales and marketing alignment debate continues to make its’ way through the halls of corporate America.    Marketing becoming the home for content strategy and sales enablement finding its’ home in sales.  Image via Wikipedia.   What’s going on? .    What’s going on? . 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Content Marketing Content Buying Cycle 100

Tony Zambito

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

  It is puzzling to see that companies continue to “arm” their sales and marketing organizations with scripts.    Online Education : we are hearing much these days about content marketing, content curation, content creation, and the likes.    Social media can represent such a source for education. . 

Social Media 100

Social Media Peer-to-peer Buy Media 100

Tony Zambito

AUGUST 3, 2011

  Leading up to this final part, part 1 through 4, I covered some of the misconceptions, impact of the social age, what changes were needed, and the establishing of a new role and framework.    Depending on the complexity of markets, products, and services, it can be even more. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Organization Viral Marketing Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 18, 2011

  This phenomenon is causing turmoil in the rank and file infrastructure of B2B Marketing and B2B Sales.    Obviously, content marketing comes to mind here.    We are just beginning to understand social influence on a generational level and by certain professions.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Buyer Personas B2B Thought Leadership Lead Ranking 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 6, 2012

This is part 5 and final article of a series on the challenge of targeting SMB markets and how the use of buyer-based modeling and buyer-based marketing help organizations to grow their SMB customer base. Engaging today’s SMB buyer will take profound changes in how organizations market to and sell to this important growth segment.

SMB 100

SMB Buyer Personas Lead Ranking B2B Sales 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 19, 2010

  Thanks to Lou Dubois from the Customer Collective for his editorial and moderation guidance and for the gracious subtle hints by Stephanie Tilton of Tenton Marketing.    I like the term digital age because it is a way of including all things such as social media, mobile, digital marketing, and even the iPad! 

Top of Funnel 100

Top of Funnel Trends Conversion Buyer Personas 100

Tony Zambito

JANUARY 2, 2011

  These same B2B leaders searching for the key to finally achieve marketing and sales alignment that has proven to be elusive year after year.  These four steps will help to accomplish creating a buyer orientation and get out of the rut of thinking only in the neat compartments of sales, marketing, or support. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Buyer's Journey B2B Sales 100

Tony Zambito

JULY 10, 2011

  Much of marketing and sales still operates the same way today from this frame of reference.    Simply stated, the defined role of marketing and sales for the past century has been to be the deliverer of information and to persuade.    The buyer has stages leading to a purchase decision. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Top of Funnel Peer-to-peer Marketing Funnels 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.  Content Marketing and Sales Enablement Must Get Married (buyerpersonainsights.com).

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas B2B Sales B2B Buying Cycle 100

Tony Zambito

DECEMBER 12, 2010

   Gaining insight into what types of multi-media formats buyers respond to can lead to effective digital and social media marketing strategies.    In the future sales will be less about the execution of process but more about how they can offer buyers a unique buying experience.

B2B Sales 100

B2B Sales Buyer Personas Multi-Channel B2B 100

Tony Zambito

MAY 2, 2012

While there is much focus given to demand generation, content marketing, lead generation, lead management, and opportunity pipeline management, recent significant changes in buyer behaviors calls for serious examinations of whether organizations are attracting the right buyers. Are Buyers Really Hiding?

Organization 100

Organization Lead Ranking Buyer Personas Lead Nurturing 100

Tony Zambito

APRIL 12, 2011

  Content Curation : In B2B marketplaces, and those specialized markets that content tends to be industry specific, offering content curation can be an avenue for buyers to engage with an organization.    This can attract new potential buyers to engage on a level they haven’t before. 

Buyer Personas 100

Buyer Personas Word of Mouth WOM Curation 100

Tony Zambito

MARCH 23, 2011

The good old days, for some sales and marketing people, were the days huddling up for the big presentation.  Image by TheeErin via Flickr.   All bent on creating the slide deck of all slide decks to wow the prospect. 

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Network Marketing Buy Education 100