B2B marketers in great numbers have jumped on the content marketing bandwagon and embraced the idea that marketing needs to be more like media. As documented in last year's MarketingProfs and Junta42 study , "producing engaging content" tops the list of challenges for content marketing; "producing enough content" is second. What's actually going on in your industry, market, company, etc.? Eloqua hired Jessie Noyes  as a corporate reporter a few months ago to "cover" the marketing industry; I'd love to see more companies take a similar step.  . MORE >>

 Yesterday I wrote about "marketing as media"  in B2B and the challenge of becoming a top source of information and ideas for your customers and prospects. It's critical for all the reasons you know: traditional marketing tactics don't work anymore, your potential buyers are actively looking for new ideas, and you'd better jump into the online conversations happening about your brand because they're going on with or without you. and 2008 was a pretty bad year! Photo credit: back_garage. MORE >>

 An article in MediaWeek on content mills like Demand Media and Seed.com got me thinking about the dangerous lure of cheap content in B2B marketing. But the underlying idea of maximizing content with minimum investment is all too common in B2B as well, especially as business marketers scramble to keep up with the accelerating demands of content creation for lead nurturing and social media. Or, perhaps most common of all, marketing content that is simply ignored by sales before it even has a chance to reach customers and prospects. Photo credit: FDR Presidential Library. MORE >>

B2B marketers focused on high value solutions know that customer evidence is like gold. Too often, though, reference programs remain short-staffed, disconnected from other key marketing programs, and overly reliant on the kindness of individual sales people to provide access to satisfied customers. Indeed, many formal reference programs continue to vie for marketing and sales attention with the parallel existence of informal, fragmented reference initiatives across the organization. Easy, self-service access and usability for other parts of marketing and sales. MORE >>

They (and their marketing consultants) spend lots of time crafting simple narratives with the goal of framing the debate. It's critical with B2B marketing, too. While trying to promote the value of our products, services, and solutions, we need to focus as well on the master narratives that frame the relevant market conversation. Thought leadership marketing is supposed to create a master narrative for B2B organizations. The problem with so many B2B marketing programs, however, is that the master narrative is lacking. Politicians understand this the best. MORE >>