Digital B2B Marketing

MARCH 28, 2012

I have had it with “research” about the content formats B2B buyers prefer at each stage of the buyers journey. Instead of focusing on content formats by stage, marketers need to focus on the information that is needed at each stage in the buyers journey. The purpose of your content is to deliver information.

Buyer's Journey 100

Buyer's Journey Trade Show Content B2B Sales 100

Digital B2B Marketing

JUNE 2, 2011

Answer: Early stage research and creation of a consideration set. Question: Would it be better if prospects where aware of your company when they started the research process? Current information is critical when I’m looking to stay abreast of the industry. Research can be stage zero content. No Investment Required.

Buying Cycle 100

Buying Cycle B2B Thought Leadership Content Hubspot 100

Digital B2B Marketing

AUGUST 23, 2012

Your lead scoring is excluding a valuable segment of your audience and you have the information you need to identify the issue! Explicit provided information, such as a timeframe to purchase, role in the purchase process or existing solutions. Let’s look at lead scoring, personas, and the connection that needs to be made.

Lead Ranking 100

Lead Ranking Lead Scoring Peer-to-peer Leads 100

Digital B2B Marketing

APRIL 29, 2014

Then we will look at the research that points to an upcoming challenge to the growing native publishing market. An uninspiring repetition of the information we already have. According to recent research from Chartbeat , native published content (or what they call native ad content) is suffering from low quality.

Advertising Agencies 100

Advertising Agencies Advertisements Advertising Advertorials 100

Digital B2B Marketing

DECEMBER 20, 2011

An Average Market Participant Your company is known to a few, but the audience doesn’t recognize you for your research or perspective. A Company Recognized for its Research or Insight You have a distinct advantage if your company is already recognized for its research or content.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Lead Generation Webcast 100

Digital B2B Marketing

APRIL 4, 2013

In marketing, and particularly in B2B marketing where we have fewer sources of reliable information, we are all looking for new opportunities for our business. Question Research. If new research says B2B buyers rely on social media, dig into the survey.

Advertising Agencies 100

Advertising Agencies Sample Marketing & Strategy Paid Search Agency 100

Digital B2B Marketing

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

Sirius Decisions research indicates that good data can increase revenue driven through marketing by 70%. Nearly every provider is willing to share this information and has ways to illustrate the quality or accuracy of the data. The real question is if there is enough information to improve your marketing.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing B2B Barriers Validation 100

Digital B2B Marketing

JUNE 23, 2011

The biggest factor driving the changes in today’s buyers is the accessibility of information technology has enabled. In the past, your prospect held the budget cards and you held the information cards. Today, buyers hold the budget cards and the information cards. This change has turned demand creation upside down.

Peer-to-peer 100

Peer-to-peer Planning Mobile Marketing Budget Programs 100

Digital B2B Marketing

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

According to research, buyers only engage with companies directly during the last 40% of their research process. When you insist on registration, you are in effect telling prospects: We don’t want to be involved in the first half of your research. We are only willing to engage with you on our terms and timetable.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Marketing Automation Services PR Social Media 100

Digital B2B Marketing

MAY 17, 2011

Marketers need to move beyond today’s content for contact information exchange and embrace new ways to drive demand and capture more interested and qualified contacts. Ardath Albee has a great example of buyers driving the new research process in The Contagious Content Challenge. The Marketing Tactics that will Dominate.

Lead Generation 100

Lead Generation Sales Qualified Leads Generation Leads 100

Digital B2B Marketing

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

According to research, buyers only engage with companies directly during the last 40% of their research process. When you insist on registration, you are in effect telling prospects: We don’t want to be involved in the first half of your research. We are only willing to engage with you on our terms and timetable.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Marketing Automation Services PR Demand Generation 100

Digital B2B Marketing

FEBRUARY 28, 2012

Research and observation tell you where your audience has been and what they have been interested in. Here are statements I was hearing regularly just two years ago: B2B decision makers don’t use search engines, their team provides all the information they need. Of course not!

Twitter 100

Twitter B2B Marketing Internet Marketing Course 100

Digital B2B Marketing

JULY 3, 2012

Three weeks ago I published Three Reasons Content Curation is Overrated , my reaction to research published on eMarketer and advice we frequently see about curating content in order to establish thought leadership. As long as you continue to be a better way for those people to get the information you share, you will keep their attention.

Curation 100

Curation Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Thought Leadership 100

Digital B2B Marketing

JANUARY 5, 2012

On websites, they are improving information architecture to make the content, information and products they offer easier to find. Recommendation engines allow companies to surface the best product or information, based on your history, profile and activity from other customers or visitors.

Amazon 100

Amazon Ideal Customer Profiles Paid Search Agency Social Networks 100

Digital B2B Marketing

MARCH 25, 2011

Curating content reduces the burden of original content creation , allowing marketers to pull from the best information available for their audience, regardless of source. With so much content and so many great sources, simply sharing great information (as if it is simple) isn’t enough. Don't dismiss research for gut.

Curation 100

Curation Activities Media B2B Thought Leadership 100

Digital B2B Marketing

AUGUST 16, 2012

Instead of making information easier to consume, many infographics make it harder to understand the information they present or even outright mislead. In particular, look at the environment key below and map that information in the infographic. If it isn’t informative, useful or entertaining, just stop.

Segmentation 100

Segmentation Statistics Internet Marketing Social Media 100

Digital B2B Marketing

OCTOBER 4, 2012

A recent research result from ITSMA and Vision Edge Marketing is eye opening. For additional information on selecting metrics see Online Advertising Metrics: A Simple Framework The Pitfall Too often, marketers skip Step 2 at the strategic planning phase. Analytics is the foundation for marketing driven by data and insights.

Marketing Management 100

Marketing Management Planning Sales Qualified Leads B2B Marketing 100

Digital B2B Marketing

OCTOBER 6, 2011

These are the prospects that have identified you and are spending time researching you already. Their research activity and purchase indicators are all happening in your blind spot. Publishing Hubspot is a great example of a company becoming an information source in a category.

Lead Scoring 100

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Peer-to-peer Leads 100

Digital B2B Marketing

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

Lead generation has been driving growth and innovation at other technology publications, with CMP TechWeb (Information Week), IDG (CIO, ComputerWorld) and TechTarget all investing in improving their lead generation offerings in recent years. What About Other Publishers?

Lead Gen 100

Lead Gen Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 100

Digital B2B Marketing

AUGUST 25, 2011

What is the critical functionality, information and entertainment you provide? Filed under: Mobile , Rants , Research. Is our website ok for everyone, or do we need to create a desktop version? This is my favorite question. This cuts through the app and mobile site banter and gets to the heart of the issue.

Mobile Marketing 100

Mobile Marketing B2B Marketing Internet Marketing Twitter 100

Digital B2B Marketing

OCTOBER 6, 2011

These are the prospects that have identified you and are spending time researching you already. Their research activity and purchase indicators are all happening in your blind spot. Hubspot is a great example of a company becoming an information source in a category. Publishing.

Lead Scoring 100

Lead Scoring Lead Ranking Peer-to-peer Leads 100

Digital B2B Marketing

MAY 19, 2011

Your prospect is doing their own research. More information is available every day and this information quickly overturns conflicting impressions created by advertising. This information is far more influential than the advertising message within your direct control.

Advertising Agencies 100

Advertising Agencies Advertisements Advertising Brand Identity 100

Digital B2B Marketing

DECEMBER 20, 2012

and you get a profile page with basically no information. If you are identifying contacts, researching prospects or just spying on a competitor, now you can access any profile on LinkedIn. I’m sure it has happened to you too. You look someone up on LinkedIn only to find they are a third degree connection (or not even!)

Profiling 100

Profiling Linkedin Google Paid Search Agency 100

Digital B2B Marketing

OCTOBER 4, 2011

Published market research differs on the relative importance on audience and context, however the research I have seen does not align with the typical B2B marketing audience experience. The problem: consuming traditional B2B content used for demand generation requires a significant time commitment.

Demand Generation 100

Demand Generation Demand Buy Generation 100

Digital B2B Marketing

MAY 24, 2012

Today, case studies, award submissions and product information are ripe with claims that stretch the truth to the breaking point. Do Your Homework Research is critical for marketing. Don’t Stretch The Truth Your product really does that? Your client really saw those results because of your services? Unfortunately, probably not.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing Marketing Automation Services B2B Thought Leadership B2B 100

Digital B2B Marketing

OCTOBER 4, 2011

Published market research differs on the relative importance on audience and context, however the research I have seen does not align with the typical B2B marketing audience experience. The problem: consuming traditional B2B content used for demand generation requires a significant time commitment.

Demand Generation 100

Demand Generation Demand Buy Generation 100

Digital B2B Marketing

JUNE 11, 2012

Done well, it can make you a recognized resources for news and information and keep you in front of your audience. Similarly, a research librarian is valuable. You respect their opinion of sources and value the skill they have at discovering and delivering the right information. Content curation can be a valuable activity.

Curation 100

Curation B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership Emarketing 100

Digital B2B Marketing

MAY 9, 2011

Between companies sharing their own cases on sales and marketing alignment and the planning frameworks, examples and data from SiriusDecisions analysts, it was a three day information firehouse. Marketing delivers information, answers questions, provokes thoughts and sparks ideas with content.

Marketing Management 100

Marketing Management Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation B2B Sales 100

Digital B2B Marketing

JANUARY 3, 2013

You pore over every benchmark and research study. Look at your spam folder, you will see numerous emails confirming your order, information or comment and you will likely see a few that still use your email username in the subject line in a feeble attempt at personalization. You test exhaustively.

Practices 100

Practices Eloqua Best Practices Open Rate 100

Digital B2B Marketing

MAY 30, 2013

Do people rave about your product, your latest research or your vision? In order to delight, inbound marketing must deliver something valuable, from information to entertainment, to your audience, and deliver it well. Tactics: email, search, social advertising, native advertising , online banners. Delight The Audience.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing Banners Paid Search Agency Inbound Marketing 100

Digital B2B Marketing

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Marketers, encouraged by self-proclaimed gurus, experts and thought leaders, are increasingly misusing and abusing research and statistics when developing their marketing approach. Yes, market and audience research can be incredibly valuable. But when it is misused, even the best information can lead you in the wrong direction.

Research 100

Research Advertising Benchmark Blast Campaigns Customer Surveys 100

Digital B2B Marketing

APRIL 26, 2012

According to research from the Content Marketing Institute , B2B marketers are now spending 26% of their budget on content marketing. Today, many large B2B marketers are putting a stop to the conversation and cutting off prospects ability to continue finding additional information when potential customers get to their best content.

Research 100

Research B2B Paper Content 100

Digital B2B Marketing

JUNE 14, 2011

Audience research is invaluable and well developed personas provide a broad array of insights into the lives and minds of your target audience, insights that form the basis for your social media plans. Here is how you can use this information, using my own account Twitter account as an example: My target audience is marketing.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Curation Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Digital B2B Marketing

DECEMBER 4, 2012

Here are three examples of how marketers will be able to use this information to improve their social media marketing programs. A good valuation methodology lets you look beyond the results of a current campaign and get a better view into the long term impact it will have on your business.

Wikipedia 100

Wikipedia Social Media Hubspot Sample 100

Digital B2B Marketing

MARCH 19, 2012

In fact, Sirius Decisions, a research firm focused on B2B markets, predicts more than 75% of leads will be sourced through inbound channels by 2015. Inbound marketing is a clear trend in B2B marketing. Multiple participants said getting the right people to create content was a key challenge, either internal or external.

Inbound Marketing 100

Inbound Marketing B2B Marketing B2B Webcast 100

Digital B2B Marketing

JANUARY 31, 2012

As buyers take on more of the burden of research and education, sales must be ready to followup with a conversation that is relevant to a more informed buyer. Consider, for example, the Cisco Cius tablet for business, which some publishers have listed as a top product failure of 2011. Educated Buyers.

Business 100

Business B2B Sales Paid Search Agency Startups 100

Digital B2B Marketing

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

Information was gathered for all 15 established BrandVoice advertisers listed in the BrandVoice discovery page. Content Media Research Business Aviation CenturyLink Forbes BrandVoice NetApp Oppenheimer Funds Outbrain SAP Taboola Toyota' Methodology Overview. Share your view in the comments below or with me on Twitter ( @wittlake ).

Advertisements 100

Advertisements Advertising Research Distribution 100