Traffic numbers may have been down in August, but the quality of blog posts certainly wasn't. If you were on vacation like me, you might have missed some of these great posts. And the hot topics this month are pretty interesting as well - see at the bottom. So, here are the Best of B2B Marketingfor August 2010 based on on social signals.

  1. Ten social media and technology mega-trends to watch- grow - Practical Marketing Solutions, August 10, 2010
    I just read a fascinating (and lengthy!) report from McKinsey on tech-enabled business trends to watch and thought it was important enough to summarize for our community. Here are some highlights from this excellent report: 1. Crowd-sourcing moves into the mainstream. Wikipedia and a handful of open-source software developers were the pioneers.
  2. 35 (of the) Best Guides to Facebook Marketing, Advertising, Search and More of 2010 (So Far)- Webbiquity, August 26, 2010
    Facebook is an extraordinary phenomenon. Depending on the day, it’s either the #1 or #2 most-visited site on the web. It’s inspired a movie. It has half a billion adherents. And it’s become an imperative point of presence for businesses (or has it ?). Facebook Marketing Tips and Tactics. How do you do it? Facebook Advertising.
  3. What Goal is Your Marketing Content Achieving?- Marketing Interactions, August 3, 2010
    When I was growing up, my father used to tell me, "Just focus on doing one thing—and do it right." quot; That advice holds true today for B2B marketing content. Every single content asset you produce must have a goal. If it has more than one goal, it's likely going to fail to accomplish what you set out to do. They don't have time.
  4. Nurture The Leads In Your Sales Funnel – On Social Media- Lead Views, August 27, 2010
    Today, in most B2B companies, the marketing departments engage in Lead nurturing programs. Lead nurturing in fact becomes an integral part of the Lead Management process for those companies which use Marketing Automation solutions. In both these scenarios, emails emerge as the most popular lead nurturing channel. 8217; On Linkedin. Conditions Apply.
  5. 20 SEO Terms Every Good Inbound Marketer Should Know- Sales Intelligence View, August 4, 2010
    301 Redirect – A redirect is a technique for forwarding one URL to another URL. It’s a useful and dangerous tool to seamlessly forward visitors and search engine spiders to a new URL for one of several reasons including if a website needed to change its domain or a time sensitive page like a contest.
  6. 25 Great B2B Content Marketing Articles- LeadSloth, August 11, 2010
    While doing research for my upcoming webinar on creating content that converts , I found many great articles on B2B Content Marketing. Here are the 25 articles that I liked best. Most are blog posts, but I’ve also included some eBooks. My focus is on B2B, rather than B2C. Often, some of the basics are the same, but not always. Personas.
  7. Socialize Gmail with Rapportive- Sazbean, August 5, 2010
    Rapportive is a free-plugin for Firefix, Safari, Mailplane or Chrome which shows you information about a contact — their job, company and LinkedIn profile, their latest tweets, links to their Facebook and Skype accounts and more. By logging into Rapportive, you can also leave notes for later right on their profile. Social Information. Raplets.
  8. Get Search Engine Optimized- Fast- Writing on the Web, August 13, 2010
    How do you know if your blog posts are optimized for search engines ? Good question… and no easy answer… well, except for one which I’m going to share with you here! Here are a few options for optimizing your content for search marketing: Study Google and search engine optimization (time-consuming). Here’s how it works.
  9. Copywriters: Homework Makes You a Better Case Study Writer- Stories that Sell, August 18, 2010
    Copywriters: Today’s the first day back to school where I live. Neighborhood kids are donning their new backpacks, books and shoes. Homework isn’t just for school kids. Now’s the perfect time to talk about the studying you have to do as a case study copywriter. Say you’ve just signed a new client for case studies. The risk?
  10. Social media marketing metrics: volume, engagement and conversion- Conversionation, August 27, 2010
    Of course Jim Sterne has written the reference book on social media metrics, as you can read here, but that does not mean we don't have to cover how other people think social media should be measured and what social media metrics, key performance indicators (KPI) etc. are needed to analyze.
  11. 28 Awesome B2B Social Media Statistics- Social Media B2B, August 4, 2010
    Below are a collection of B2B social media statistics collected from various sources covering a wide range of topics. We We hope you enjoy digging into the numbers. If you have any other interesting stats, please add them in the comments and include the source with link. Usage : 86% of B2B firms are using social, compared to 82% of B2C. Source ).
  12. 12 Amazing SEO Infographics- Hubspot, August 18, 2010
    Search engine optimization (SEO) is an industry and practice in constant flux. As search engines continue to work toward improving the results returned for their users, marketers must continue to optimize websites and create relevant content to build relevancy and authority. Order of SEO Operations. SEO Tactics. Search Engine Marketing ROI. SEO vs.
  13. What’s Up, Blog? Seven Ways to Revive a Neglected B2B Blog- B2B Ideas @ Work, August 26, 2010
    “What's up, Blog?” rdquo; "Not much. How’re you doing?". All right." Pause. So what's new?". Nothing. You?". Same.". Is this how you greet your blog? So you haven’t written a blog post in a few days, weeks or, maybe, months. Unfortunately, this happens, even to the most prolific business bloggers. Blogging is hard work.
  14. 7 Reasons Print Will Make a Comeback in 2011- Junta 42, August 11, 2010
    Okay.there, I said it. You'll find no greater supporter of online content marketing than me, but marketers and agencies are talking up print for 2011. Yes, in the era or iPads and Apps, there is still a role for print. Jeff Jarvis recently wrote about how media companies need to ignore print. He's right. Here's why: 1. Opportunity?
  15. 6 Rules for Content Marketing- Modern B2B Marketing, August 27, 2010
    Marketers are working hard to create great content that can be used to create sales leads , drive website traffic, promote brand, and educate customers and prospects. Unfortunately, not all content is created equal. It is relevant – generic materials that are not highly relevant to a reader will not result in increased success.
  16. Content Marketing Converts Even the Toughest Business Buyers- Content Marketing Today, August 12, 2010
    Classic Truths about Skeptical Customers Remain Modern Business Realities. More than 50 years ago, McGraw-Hill created an ad that became legendary in the decades to follow among business-to-business marketers–and among those folks like me who were selling advertising to those skeptical business executives. don’t know your company.
  17. 5 Ways for B2B Companies to Engage on Twitter- Social Media B2B, August 25, 2010
    Just as B2B sales relationships aren’t built over night, sustained B2B Twitter relationships – often the basis for industry insight, lead generation and media coverage – require a commitment to engagement. Here are five ways to approach B2B Twitter engagement: 1. Original content. The more non-promotional, the more valuable.
  18. The March Of Twitter: Analysis of How And Where Twitter Spread- Hubspot, August 26, 2010
    This is a guest post by Pete Warden , the founder of OpenHeatMap , a free and easy way to turn your spreadsheet into a map. Nine months after the creation of the service in March 2006, Twitter only had a few thousand users. year later there were an estimated 150,000 people using the service. How did Twitter get those vital initial users?
  19. 13 qualities of a good social media voice- Chris Koch, August 3, 2010
    When people ask about how to use social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook, I suspect that they are really asking about how they should sound in those tools. After all, the tools themselves are dead simple. You need a second hand on your watch to track how long it takes to set up a Twitter account, for example. Grammatical. Communal.
  20. Snooping on Facebook: Not just for stalkers any more- grow - Practical Marketing Solutions, August 17, 2010
    I have one of the world’s best points of brand differentiation — I’m the only business blogger you know old enough to have a daughter-blogger! Lauren is entering her senior year as a journalism major and has been having some intriguing social media experiences. Hope you have all been doing well. But my hiatus is beside the point.
  21. Should a Blog be Part of Your Corporate Website or Stand on Its Own?- Webbiquity, August 30, 2010
    Okay, so you understand the benefits of business blogs , and you’re ready to make the commitment to developing and maintaining a blog for the long haul. The next question is: where should I put the blog? There are five common options: Free hosting on a blogging platform site. This option should never be used for a corporate or business blog.
  22. Genius.com Removes the Handcuffs with Free, Instant-On Demand Generation- Marketing Interactions, August 16, 2010
    I recently caught up with Scott Mersy, VP of Marketing, and Parker Trewin, Director of Marketing Communications for Genius.com to discuss their Free, Instant-On offering of Genius Demand Generation. First, the details: No need for IT - Instant-On Website Tracking. Up to 3,000 contacts. Up to 10,000 emails per month. No limit on page views.
  23. FAQ: What’s the Difference Between a Home Page and a Landing Page?- eMarketing Strategist, August 3, 2010
    A home page is the page people land on when they go to your main URL such as www.yourdomain.com. landing page is the page people land on when they click on the link in an online advertisement and the URL is something like www.yourdomain.com/landingpage1.html. Doing so will increase your sales and reduce your Adwords expenses.
  24. Top 5 Social Media Challenges in B2B Marketing (Survey)- Everything Technology Marketing, August 1, 2010
    We are conducting a survey of B2B marketing professionals. One of the questions is asking participants to select the biggest challenges B2B marketers face when it comes to social media. Here is a summary of the top-5 challenges the survey identified so far (n = 253). The most selected answer with 56 percent is (1) measuring the results.
  25. 5 Tips for Selling the Value of Social Media Inside Your Company- Ad Your Comment Here, August 9, 2010
    Today’s Guest Post is by Kristin Zajac, a social media marketing enthusiast and recent MBA graduate from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn. You’re not alone. How many of these objections sound familiar? 8220;Twitter is just for posting personal updates that no one cares about. We can’t let that happen.&#.
  26. Top Infographics for b2b marketers- Earnest about B2B, August 18, 2010
    Infographics are all the rage: visual representations of data that are both beautiful and enlightening. From a marketer’s perspective, they’re a welcome addition to the communications arsenal – helping bring to life complicated and potentially dry content in a highly engaging way. . Web trend map. CMO social landscape. .
  27. Groundswell Blook Report, Chapter Six: Talking With the Groundswell- MI6 Marketing Agency, August 9, 2010
    Author: Chris Herbert. Audience: Senior Executives, Marketing and Sales Professionals, Social Media students and enthusiasts. Groundswell is broken down into three parts. Part two (chapters 4-9) focus on tapping the groundswell. The authors provide advice and a strategic framework on how to do this. Chapter 6: Talking with the groundswell. Talking.
  28. Can Marketing Ever Make Sales Happy?- Selling to Big Companies, August 16, 2010
    Of course, I don't have an opinion on this topic! It's only something I've been ranting about for 20 years. 0160; That's why I jumped at the chance to write a chapter in Manticore 's new ebook, "The Quintessential Marketing Automation Guide. 0160; Fortunately, there are solutions today. 0160; Enough said.
  29. 7 free B2B social media tools you probably haven’t heard of- B2B Web Strategy, August 19, 2010
    Those B2Bs holding out on social media in the belief that it’s too cumbersome and time-consuming may soon be running out of excuses. The social networks themselves are becoming ever more business-friendly, and a plethora of tools is springing up to streamline the usage and management of social-media programs.
  30. Facebook Marketing Examples WIth Ads & Engagement- Marketing Edge, August 19, 2010
    Time 21:33 We round out part two of this series on Facebook Marketing with some highlights from restaurant. shipping companies and others. We then get into the social promotion of the social web. Hitting on a single topic in marketing, social media and business communications. Quick and to the point. shipping companies and others.
  31. Genius.com Offers Free Edition: How Much Does It Lower True Cost of Entry?- Customer Experience Matrix , August 12, 2010
    Summary: Genius.com has added a free version of its system. But I think its strategy of offering an intermediate product between email marketing and full marketing automation may actually be more useful in attracting new customers. LoopFuse also provides automated Salesforce.com integration, but doesn’t have Genius’s Web tracking technology.
  32. Getting in Step with Sales- Marketing Genius Blog, August 17, 2010
    I was recently reviewing slides from Gartner analyst Michael Dunne’s Customer 360 Summit presentation on Mapping Sales Productivity to the Cloud Applications. Quite frankly, I couldn’t make the 420 mile trip to LA to check it out in person even though I knew it included a nice Gartner case study about Gartner newScale Success Story. Tweet This!
  33. Lead Scoring Has Drastically Changed – How do You Measure up?- Anything Goes Marketing, August 26, 2010
    With my son Matthew turning one this week, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic. dug up and started contributing to a personal online journal that I hadn’t touched since 2004, reviewed pictures from past trips with my wife, and reflected on memories that I’ve had in my first year as a dad.
  34. Are your spokespeople social media trained?- B2B Voices, August 13, 2010
    As the use of social media by journalists and non-journalists has continued to grow we’ve been making the shift at the exchange to integrate the risks of social media with our spokespeople. Keep in mind that even in “customer only&# meetings that information could be sent out via Twitter. Let us know your thoughts and success stories.
  35. Huge Update to the List of Top B2B Blogs- Proteus B2B Marketing, August 22, 2010
    Thanks to all the B2B marketing and sales experts who continually blog, sharing your insights and adding to the collective knowledge or the broader B2B community. Since we originally posted the list on our site, we've continued to update it periodically. Now, we've completed a comprehensive revision to The List of Top B2B Blogs. 150 [.].
  36. Tips For Making That “Networking” Meeting More Fruitful- Paul Gillin, August 20, 2010
    Back in the early days of my career, I made a point to go on frequent informational interviews. These meetings, which were usually conducted in person, gave me a chance to sit down with people who were successful in their field and to learn from their experience. never overtly asked people for a job or anything more than a little of their time.
  37. Facebook Advertising for Dummies (Wiley)- Buzz Marketing for Technology, August 11, 2010
    Whether you’re on the Facebook home page, reading comments on a friends’ Walls, or playing your favorite Facebook game, you have probably noticed at least one advertisement running on the right hand side on the page. These ads are available to anyone with an advertising budget, from $1 to $1 billion. We hope you agree!

Hot Topics Facebook (161)

  1. Snooping on Facebook: Not just for stalkers any more, August 17, 2010
  2. 35 (of the) Best Guides to Facebook Marketing, Advertising, Search and More of 2010 (So Far), August 26, 2010
  3. 5 Ways B2B Companies Can Use Facebook Places, August 19, 2010
  4. Facebook Marketing Examples WIth Ads & Engagement, August 19, 2010

Social Media (231)

  1. 28 Awesome B2B Social Media Statistics, August 4, 2010
  2. The Social Media ROI Debate, August 23, 2010
  3. 30 Awesome B2B Social Media Resources, August 11, 2010
  4. Nurture The Leads In Your Sales Funnel – On Social Media, August 27, 2010

Audience (103)

  1. Visualizing How a Link Spreads Through the Twitterverse, August 30, 2010
  2. What Goal is Your Marketing Content Achieving?, August 3, 2010
  3. 35 (of the) Best Guides to Facebook Marketing, Advertising, Search and More of 2010 (So Far), August 26, 2010
  4. 7 Reasons Print Will Make a Comeback in 2011, August 11, 2010

Content (229)

  1. 25 Great B2B Content Marketing Articles, August 11, 2010
  2. 6 Rules for Content Marketing, August 27, 2010
  3. What Goal is Your Marketing Content Achieving?, August 3, 2010
  4. Content Marketing Converts Even the Toughest Business Buyers, August 12, 2010

Other Active Keywords