LinkedIn, Twitter, market-specific forums/blogs, pubs). 'I've been on a number of calls recently with companies that want to break into a new market. They think that content marketing may be the key, but are uncertain if they're right, as well as how to approach this new direction. Content Marketing is definitely a key strategy. In fact, I'm not quite sure how a company would go about breaking into a new market without it. But there are some challenges when your goal is quick uptake and your company doesn't have a lot of exposure or familiarity with the target audience. MORE >>

Twitter presents a bunch of scenarios that raise questions for me. For example: Have you ever wondered if you're listening to the same webinar or sitting in the same conference as others when you're watching its Twitter stream roll by? I'm a huge proponent of listening to what prospective B2B buyers and "companies" say and do online as an indication of how to create content that better engages them. But several things have drawn my attention lately that make me wonder about the veracity of people's behavior and their expressed sentiment.    MORE >>

If you looked farther, are they on Twitter? I'm tired of seeing so many concepts that should be being used to evolve content marketing applied to vague notions or traditional practices that just serve to confuse marketers and cause a lot of semantic arguments across the space. I'll be writing a few posts about buzzwords that are making me a bit nuts. Feel free to jump in with your thoughts. think it would be great if we can bring some clarity and new thinking. Let's start with the term ENGAGEMENT. What does engagement mean? It's about longevity and sustained attention. MORE >>

Facebook is different than Twitter. Twitter restricts what you can say to 140 characters. Sometimes I become a bit skeptical when I see the huge uptake in social media by B2B marketers. In fact, recent research by Junta42 and Marketing Profs finds that use of social media is the top B2B tactic in use as identified by 79% of 985 marketers. Unfortunately, only 31% of those marketers said they found it effective. In a recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services study, only 12% of 2,100 executives say that their companies are using social media effectively. Will it blend? Yikes! MORE >>

Social media like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook can be a delivery system for nurturing content. I just saw a Tweet come through the stream from the Marketing Sherpa B2B Summit that reads: So if sending an email isn't nurturing what is? b2bsummit. Lead nurturing is about providing the right content at the right time that addresses a problem that a prospect is focused on (or at least considering)  solving. Lead nurturing is done best when it addresses each stage of the buying process in parallel with your prospect's position in the buying process. As can virtual events. MORE >>