Marketing Interactions

OCTOBER 5, 2022

When B2B marketers think “buyer,” they’re most often thinking about net-new buyers. But the biggest opportunity in an uncertain market is to focus on convincing customers to stay and customer expansion opportunities. Another report finds improving CX is a top three objective as well as a top 3 challenge for B2B marketers.

Ideal Customer Profiles 62

Ideal Customer Profiles B2B Marketing Enterprise Management Work Management 62

Marketing Interactions

AUGUST 1, 2021

I just read a recommendation that B2B organizations should allocate 46% of budget to brand marketing and 54% to demand gen. The reasoning is based on an estimation that at any given time, only 5% to 10% of customers are in-market for a category. But I see others breaking the marketing spectrum down like this: Brand – awareness.

Demand 69

Demand B2B Marketing Branding Brand Identity 69

Marketing Interactions

JANUARY 25, 2022

The beginning of the year is an appropriate time to take a stand about the payoffs of commitment in B2B marketing strategies. Company objectives shift due to market fluctuations, board consensus, or the CEO’s new hyper interest. Regulation’s shift, opening a new market. Almost like you’re starting from scratch.

B2B Marketing 69

B2B Marketing B2B Budget Programs Marketing & Strategy 69

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. Disappointing. I understand this one.

B2B Marketing 100

B2B Marketing Content Marketing Planning B2B 100

Marketing Interactions

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

The content we use to engage B2B buyers must resonate and be relevant. Unfortunately, this is a challenge that marketers continue to struggle with. And that’s not surprising given the rate things change in today’s market landscape. However, sometimes we’re our own enemy in the engagement and relevance department.

B2B 149

B2B Lead Ranking Marketing Qualified Leads Content 149

Marketing Interactions

DECEMBER 21, 2021

For some reason, B2B marketing content tends to lean more toward academia than literary license. While I applaud all the folks who insist that B2B is like B2C because we’re marketing to people, it’s a sentiment that’s slightly misplaced. Emotion in B2B marketing content is more subtle. Empathy represents emotion.

B2B Marketing 80

B2B Marketing B2B Content Paid Search Agency 80

Marketing Interactions

MAY 21, 2018

With that said, what I see most is that B2B marketers tend to stick to traditional vanity metrics rather than doing the work to rethink what we’re measuring—and why. According to the latest email marketing benchmarks by MailChimp, I’m being generous in the example above. Email metrics are a great example. Unique visits.

Webinar Metrics 74

Webinar Metrics Marketing & Strategy Marketing Strategy Dwell 74

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 27, 2021

Year after year I read research where marketers report their biggest challenges include: Knowing who to target and how to engage buyers. Proving the ROI from content marketing. But the above three findings from 2021 reports indicate that’s not true for close to half of the marketers who participated in the research.

Buyer Personas 111

Buyer Personas B2B Ideal Customer Profiles Account Based Marketing 111

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 4, 2017

How many marketing meetings have you been in that start with some version of one of the below? While the idea behind Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is not necessarily new, its relatively new name and acronym is picking up a ton of steam in B2B organizations. Marketing and Sales Alignment. We’re in the same boat.

Account Based Marketing 64

Account Based Marketing ABM Lead Ranking Lead Scoring 64

Marketing Interactions

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021

The second one related to subject matter experts is the only one that applies more to thought leadership than other types of content in marketing’s arsenal. Just as in a recent post I wrote about format vs. relevance , relevance (as interpreted by the buyer) wins out again. Use POV to Win Engagement for Your B2B Content.

B2B Thought Leadership 69

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership B2B Content 69

Marketing Interactions

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

This is why it’s imperative for B2B tech marketers to shift their focus from buying journey funnels to full-on customer lifecycle management. However, customer acquisition is where most marketing strategies stop. Once a customer is acquired, the smartest thing marketers can do is to expand relationships within the account.

Marketing Funnels 87

Marketing Funnels Top of Funnel B2B Marketing Work Management 87

Marketing Interactions

APRIL 14, 2019

Marketers say one of their biggest challenges is creating content that engages and compels their buyers. Given that Forrester finds that 62% of buyers say they can develop selection criteria or finalize a vendor list based solely on digital content, marketers must use technology to effectively grow engagement with buyers.

Conversion 86

Conversion Marketing Automation Services B2B Trigger Marketing 86

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

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

JULY 31, 2022

As buyers have become more self-reliant, it feels like marketers are reaching too far toward giving buyers what they think they want and, in their quest to engage them, foregoing strategy. Marketers have no control over the buyer’s journey. It’s the equivalent of tossing relevance into the wind to see if we get lucky.

B2B 75

B2B Buyer's Journey Gartner B2B Sales 75

Marketing Interactions

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

This type of thinking has a few flaws, not the least of which is that marketers aren’t in charge of the buying process—their customers are. The thought alone is overwhelming in its lack of appeal and relevance. What if marketers were to take a “microlearning” approach to content? appeared first on Marketing Interactions.

B2B 114

B2B Content B2B Marketing Trust Marketing 114

Marketing Interactions

APRIL 26, 2022

Think relatable, relevant, and empathetic. We can start by dropping the jargon and the “scripts” of how we think marketing and sales content should sound and just talk to our B2B buyers like the professionals they are—as people. Marketing is all about perception. Marketing “speak” sucks the humanity out of content.

Top of Funnel 91

Top of Funnel B2B Content Terms and Conditions 91

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.

Buyer Personas 64

Buyer Personas Marketing & Strategy Marketing Strategy B2B Marketing 64

Marketing Interactions

JANUARY 9, 2022

And let’s not forget the beauty of relevance dialed in to match the context of your ideal buyers. It’s about relevance and—importantly—staying power. Audiences need to know you’ll be there when they need to do their own discovery with the most relevant take on answering their questions. Help B2B Buyers Think & Learn.

B2B Thought Leadership 62

B2B Thought Leadership B2B Thought Leadership Content 62

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. The Opportunity for Marketers and Sales Teams. Samantha Stone , Founder, Marketing Advisory Network adds: “Never think of content as a way to generate a lead.

Buy 77

Buy B2B Peer-to-peer Work Management 77

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

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. I want insights that help me see things relevant to me in new ways. Get rid of the sales pitch and marketing fluff.

Work Management 96

Work Management Marketing Management B2B Thought Leadership B2B 96

Marketing Interactions

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

One of the problems marketing and sales have as B2B buyers’ roles shift is that they start too late in the process. 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. ABM is a Great Construct for B2B Buyer Discovery.

Ideal Customer Profiles 62

Ideal Customer Profiles Account Based Marketing B2B ABM 62

Marketing Interactions

JANUARY 3, 2022

Unfortunately, many marketing campaigns provide the same content to both buyers and customers. As the uncertainty of the last two years has pointed marketers to focus more on customer retention and upsell, you may be thinking, yes, but…. B2B marketers have often painted our audiences into a corner. That’s new….

B2B 69

B2B Paid Search Agency Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 69

Marketing Interactions

MARCH 22, 2022

Given that 94% of B2B Buyers say they are very well informed or somewhat informed before they talk to a sales rep, there’s a lot of opportunity for marketers to help buyers self-qualify as ¾ of them push off engaging with sales until the end of their change process. There’s only one of four components that marketers can weigh in on.

Work Management 62

Work Management Marketing Management Ideal Customer Profiles Sales Qualified Leads 62

Marketing Interactions

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

But, for marketers, questions are one key to B2B buyer enablement. 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. Most marketers still struggle to understand what’s relevant to their buyers and customers.

B2B 75

B2B B2B Sales Webinar Metrics Buy 75

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 20, 2021

All go-to-market and customer programs run on messaging. Marketing creates messaging to position the company in market, draw attention to the brand and create awareness and advancement for prospective buyers and across the customer continuum. Marketing redesigns the website in preparation for a big, new product update.

B2B 62

B2B Marketing Management Customer Satisfaction B2B Sales 62

Marketing Interactions

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

As the market shifts, much of what you thought was true about your buyer personas and ICPs may be different. These events in your target markets can quickly make your messaging irrelevant, rendering your marketing programs and sales plays ineffective. This is an indication that marketers are not telling the right stories.

Ideal Customer Profiles 80

Ideal Customer Profiles Buyer Personas Marketing Analytics Tools B2B 80

Marketing Interactions

AUGUST 15, 2022

One of the first things marketers and sellers must understand to connect with and influence buyers is the objective. For Product leaders it may mean speeding up release cycles to get new features/versions in market faster. This reality just screams for simplicity, context, and relevance from vendors—both marketers and sellers.

Buyer Personas 75

Buyer Personas Ideal Customer Profiles B2B Gartner 75

Marketing Interactions

APRIL 18, 2019

Marketers don’t know their buyers’ context. Marketers love to tout the big ROI numbers our customers get. 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. Relevance is in the eyes of your audience. The Problem is Lack of Buyer Context.

Buyer Personas 119

Buyer Personas Buying Cycle Case Studies Case Study 119

Marketing Interactions

MAY 23, 2018

Let’s take the subject of highest priority marketing strategies from the report: As pointed out in the report, “unfortunately, not everything can be a high priority.”. Marketers are making the highest priority goals the ones that require they complete the lower-priority goals first to get there. Get Your Priorities in Order.

Advertising Benchmark 83

Advertising Benchmark Marketing & Strategy B2B Content 83

Marketing Interactions

MARCH 7, 2022

If they chose a competitor, then they’re off the market for at least a year…or three. Thought Leadership Trends and Impacts: This is content that discusses what can happen with the problem left unsolved based on market trends for the buyer’s industry. What to Consider for B2B Nurturing for Lost Opportunities. What do you think?

Ideal Customer Profiles 88

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

Marketing Interactions

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

A buyer-driven experience is based on relevance, context, choice, and simplicity. The post Why Customer Centric Doesn’t Mean Buyer Driven in B2B appeared first on Marketing Interactions. After all, our product does X better than whatever they’re using – so why wouldn’t they appreciate seeing the light? Let’s be one of the “Others!”.

B2B 69

B2B Peer-to-peer Gartner Top of Funnel 69

Marketing Interactions

AUGUST 8, 2021

This is because our marketing-to-sales models and processes are not built to help buyers buy. 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. Sounds dismal for marketers and sellers, doesn’t it?

Buy 62

Buy Work Management Lead Ranking Marketing Management 62

Marketing Interactions

JUNE 13, 2021

Ever since, I’ve been thinking about a few more things that B2B marketers need to break. Marketers are all wrapped around the axle on personalization. Marketers need to get out of their heads and into the shoes of their personas. The only thing that matters is what’s relevant to them. Marketers need to experiment.

B2B Marketing 174

B2B Marketing B2B Gartner Purchase Intent 174

Marketing Interactions

MAY 23, 2018

If the trend holds steady—which B2B marketers indicate it will—you’ll create even more content next year. While marketers have widely embraced content marketing, we’ve yet to give it the foundation of a content operations function to manage its effectiveness at scale. You’re creating content—lots of it. Budget Deficits.

Top of Funnel 67

Top of Funnel Paid Search Agency Companies B2B 67

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. Seems like I just started. But we have to.

Peer-to-peer 53

Peer-to-peer Content Enterprise Management Broadcasting 53