Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Women hold a strong place in Iroquois society, leading individual clans within tribes, helping determine chiefs, and holding veto power over treaties and declarations of war (the Iroquois declared war on Germany in both world wars). Focus metrics and incentives on long-term retention.

De-duplication 100

De-duplication Paid Search Agency Companies Wikipedia 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 6, 2009

The number of entries we receive in each category and the quality of those entries give us a sense of marketers’ shifting priorities from year to year and reveal general strengths and weaknesses of the profession (for example, we’re great at sales enablement and demand generation; we suck at metrics—just not in our blood, it seems).

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Budget Programs Business 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

I heard a great definition from my former ITSMA colleague Jeff Sands the other day: Sales enablement is helping salespeople be more credible with customers. Marketers helped salespeople put words to the insanely complex products and services they were trying to sell. What do I mean by sales enablement? But then the internet came along.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Wiki Marketing Management Internet Marketing 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 23, 2009

For example, what if your brand or offering uses a generic term like “Service Oriented Architecture”? This is helpful during important periods like new offering launches or in the aftermath of a crisis. This helps you decide which blogs you’d like to do outreach with, for example. Determine share of attention.

Social Media 100

Social Media Tools Media RSS 100

Chris Koch

JULY 28, 2010

And the brand or the issue that the brand wants to promote (say cloud computing, for example) remains the focal point of the blog rather than a particular personality. There is also less disruption when a blogger leaves the fold.

Blogger 100

Blogger Wikipedia Work Management Social Media 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, many assume that a higher level of buying intent will get them more goodies, so they say they are ready to buy when they aren’t.

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, many assume that a higher level of buying intent will get them more goodies, so they say they are ready to buy when they aren’t.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring B2B Thought Leadership Mobile Advertising 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 12, 2010

They are focused on lifetime customer value and are willing to incur short-term costs in order to build long-term loyalty and satisfaction—Nordstrom and Amex are a couple of B2C examples. FedEx is an example, having invented the guaranteed overnight shipping model. Apple is the most obvious example here ( Sony used to be).

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Thought Leadership Work Management 100

Chris Koch

MAY 1, 2009

For example, the trend towards creating a closed-loop lead generation and nurturing process between marketing and sales is a positive step, but it seems like a bridge across the chasm rather than a true route to collaboration. That can help, but salespeople and marketers need more concrete reasons to work together. Marketing can help.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Cross-Selling B2B Sales Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 25, 2011

For example, one company required that its council members hold at least one patent before they’d be invited. Collaboration—both internally and externally—will help embed idea development into the culture. Recognition from peers means a lot to subject matter experts. Make ideas part of individual expectations.

Social Media 100

Social Media Organization Peer-to-peer SME 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 26, 2010

One of the biggest challenges for B2B social media marketers isn’t creating content, it’s helping others create content. That’s why marketers have to step in and help out. Very few writers are able to get their best thoughts out on paper without some help. Marketers should use them to help inspire their content creators.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership RSS Enterprise Management Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 3, 2014

The NBA’s stats.NBA.com website, which houses player and team statistics from the league’s 67-year history, has helped double time spent on NBA.com while generating more than 9.5 More than 36 million people from the U.S. and Canada spent an average of 8.7 billion page views last season – an all-time record for the site.

Planning 100

Planning Paid Search Agency Work Management Marketing & Strategy 100

Chris Koch

APRIL 9, 2010

For them to be successful, we need to help them establish their voices in a blog. If they are focused on developing new offerings, for example, this is a natural voice for them. A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how to get others to blog. But it’s not enough just to support bloggers. Iconoclast.

SME 100

SME Aggregators Blogger Social Media 100

Chris Koch

JULY 16, 2010

For example, in the three categories I’ve looked at so far (there are six categories altogether), we have one company using analytics to predict customer buying patterns (and this ain’t diapers or laundry detergent, ladies and gents—we’re talking six-figure jumbles of complex products and services here). One example stands out for me.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Wikipedia 100

Chris Koch

MARCH 4, 2011

That drives publishers to produce a lot of short content designed to reach the broadest possible audience (at least one online story about Apple per day for a technology pub, for example). Does that help clarify what to do next? Half your ad dollars wasted? Try all of them. And this potential windfall isn’t limited to new prospects.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Advertising Agencies B2B Marketing Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

MAY 14, 2010

We need to create an idea engine within the organization to help SMEs come up with things to Twitter and blog about. Someone who helps identify smart ideas and people within the organization and makes decisions about how to develop them. We shouldn’t just turn employees loose without helping them learn about the tools.

Organic Leads 100

Organic Leads Social Media Social Marketing Organization 100

Chris Koch

FEBRUARY 12, 2010

The most powerful example of one of these personally branded blogs is Web Strategy by Jeremiah, by Jeremiah Owyang , an analyst who left Forrester prior to the policy change. Another example is Experience: The Blog, by Augie Ray, who is Owyang’s replacement at Forrester. I have no doubt that Forrester is a powerful, valuable brand.

Social Media 100

Social Media Forrester Media Transparency 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 16, 2009

These marketers take a direct role in finding and supporting internal bloggers and in helping them develop content. They encourage subject matter experts to blog, track what they write about, and offer blogging guidelines and help when needed. Earlier this year I surveyed B2B marketers about their approaches to corporate blogging.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Blogger Thought Leadership Word of Mouth 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. Answers to these questions will help drive the structure of the program and provide a foundation for achieving ROI goals. Here are my thoughts on the big pieces.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Network Marketing Paper 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. Answers to these questions will help drive the structure of the program and provide a foundation for achieving ROI goals. Here are my thoughts on the big pieces.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Network Marketing B2B Sales 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 22, 2010

Here are some metrics, mostly for blogs, that help build engagement with customers and prospects. For example, being listed on the blogroll of a highly respected blogger, analyst, or journalist not only generates traffic; it also establishes you as an authority among the people who care most about the subject you’re blogging about.

Social Media 100

Social Media ROI Lead Ranking RSS 100

Chris Koch

JULY 10, 2009

In my experience, IT prospects tend to lie about their titles and their level of interest because they’re afraid that they won’t get the best content or treatment if they admit that they’re trapped on the help desk instead of wielding that big stick of decision-making. But is that lead totally useless? I don’t think so.

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 B2B Thought Leadership Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 5, 2009

For example, when certain models of Ford’s Explorer experienced tire blowouts, Ford delayed taking action with customers, blaming the tire supplier for the problems. They expected Ford to respond immediately to their requests for help. Striking the right tone.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Companies Work Management Ethics 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 16, 2011

Cookies help us learn more about our website visitors, but you won’t learn nearly as much about the spending patterns of B2B executives through web cookies as you do with B2C buyers. Obviously, this is less of an issue in B2B than B2C. Privacy is a concern in B2B, too.

B2B 100

B2B Privacy Click Rate Internet Marketing 100

Chris Koch

AUGUST 16, 2011

Cookies help us learn more about our website visitors, but you won’t learn nearly as much about the spending patterns of B2B executives through web cookies as you do with B2C buyers. Obviously, this is less of an issue in B2B than B2C. Privacy is a concern in B2B, too.

B2B 100

B2B Privacy Click Rate Internet Marketing 100

Chris Koch

JANUARY 8, 2010

You need to build an internal network that focuses on identifying internal thought leaders and building alliances with external academics and customers who can help develop and test ideas. A calendar helps marketing plan out the frequency and focus of its output.

Social Media 100

Social Media B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Media 100

Chris Koch

JUNE 26, 2009

For example, I have a column that does a running search for “B2B.” So for example, if you decide to follow me (@ckochster—Twitter names always have the @ in front of them), you can use TwiPing to show you all the people who follow me. For example, we just happen to have an ITSMA group on LinkedIn that you can join.

Social Media 100

Social Media Social Marketing B2B Marketing Personalization 100

Chris Koch

NOVEMBER 5, 2010

First, it focuses the agency on some clear goals—cranking out press releases and getting press mentions—and gives the guard dogs a degree of separation that helps with risk management. This means that metrics are based on merely making contact and shoveling crap out the door rather than helping influencers meet their goals.

PR 100

PR Press Paid Search Agency Lead Ranking 100

Chris Koch

DECEMBER 18, 2009

As more buyers participate in social media, and as the tools and possibilities for collaboration continue to improve, social media is becoming an indispensable channel for marketers to help buyers find one another and market to them. But social media is by no means a silver bullet.

Social Media 100

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

Chris Koch

JULY 22, 2011

Here are some examples: Educate the customer—or don’t. We help ease them into the idea that they need our services and solutions to solve these problems so that the experience of spending all that money feels a little less like stepping off a cliff. But healthcare sure could use some help on the marketing front.

Work Management 100

Work Management Marketing Management Social Media B2B Marketing 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

I helped host an ITSMA round table this week and a near universal complaint from our B2B technology clients was how difficult it is to launch new services in a fast, efficient way. Get help in determining the need in the market and pla around with options before going ahead. Here’s a typical progression: Competitive intelligence.

Research 100

Research Service Product Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

I helped host an ITSMA round table this week and a near universal complaint from our B2B technology clients was how difficult it is to launch new services in a fast, efficient way. Get help in determining the need in the market and pla around with options before going ahead. Here’s a typical progression: Competitive intelligence.

Research 100

Research Service Product Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

The best example of this that I can think of is IBM’s Smarter Planet. Rather than just shoving readers’ muzzles in the bucket of surveys and white papers, we lead them there with some short, clear, visual themes that are focused on issues that matter to customers rather than on silly ad tag lines or collages of the logo.

Thought Leadership 100

Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Advertising Agencies Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 6, 2009

Marketers can replace offers with survey questions once in awhile to help build an understanding of timely issues to drive future content. All good journalism comes from expert insight and real-world examples. Most magazines do annual reader surveys to ask subscribers what they think of the magazine and what could be improved.

Planning 100

Planning B2B Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency Thought Leadership 100

Chris Koch

OCTOBER 6, 2009

Marketers can replace offers with survey questions once in awhile to help build an understanding of timely issues to drive future content. All good journalism comes from expert insight and real-world examples. Most magazines do annual reader surveys to ask subscribers what they think of the magazine and what could be improved.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Planning Thought Leadership Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Of course, devising those incentives, putting them in place, and driving the cultural change necessary to make them stick is a maddeningly complex process that helps keep consultants and academics in business. Yammer is one great example of this. Information. This is the one that’s actually within marketers’ control. Tweet This Post.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services Consulting B2B Sales Paid Search Agency 100

Chris Koch

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Of course, devising those incentives, putting them in place, and driving the cultural change necessary to make them stick is a maddeningly complex process that helps keep consultants and academics in business. Yammer is one great example of this. Information. This is the one that’s actually within marketers’ control.

Marketing Automation Services 100

Marketing Automation Services B2B Sales Consulting Marketing Automation 100