Best of B2B Marketing January 1, 2010 to January 31, 2010

1. There is only one objective in social media: create learning networks- Chris Koch, January 8, 2010
   There is too much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth about social media objectives and strategy these days. We all assume that our organizations are unique and that we must devote great sums of time and money to figuring out what our particular motivation is for social media and how we will carry it out. We’re wired as humans to believe that we are each unique and different—indeed, this perception shoulders the bulk of our self-esteem.
2. The ultimate guide to blogging when you don’t have time to blog- grow - Practical Marketing Solutions, January 25, 2010
   This is a blog post for anybody who has trouble finding the time to blog. In other words, everybody. I humbly submit a few practical ideas to help you become a time-efficient blogger. 1) Leap. I mentioned this in a recent post,
3. Marketing Automation Trends for 2010- LeadSloth, January 12, 2010
   2009 was the year in which Marketing Automation really took off. Several new vendors appeared on the market, many existing vendors experienced rapid growth, and Marketing Automation as a term gained popularity among B2B marketers. In this post I want to focus on the trends in Marketing Automation for 2010.
4. 7 Reasons Every Business Needs to Twitter- WebMarketCentral, January 11, 2010
   Despite the fact that Twitter has more than 32 million users , has received massive publicity from both celebrities and government , and produced remarkable results for companies like Dell and Zappos , many business executives still don't "get" Twitter. Granted, there is an awful lot of noise ("Just got back from the gym...eating eating
5. Simple Steps to Creating Custom Social Landing Pages and Social Emails- Modern B2B Marketing, January 5, 2010
   Do you want your landing pages and emails to be shared in social media , but don’t know how to encourage your readers to do so? It is not as hard as you might think. A simple way to make your landing pages social media friendly is to use a plug-in like ShareThis or AddThis .
6. 10 Ways to Win with Online Video- Content Marketing Today, January 19, 2010
   Stand Out from the Marketing Crowd Thanks to Lou Bortone , video marketing guru for this guest post In an over-crowded and hyper-competitive marketplace, video marketing can help you break through the clutter and deliver your message in a powerful and memorable way. Thanks to YouTube, and inexpensive, easy-to-use camera options like webcams, Flip Video cameras and iPhones, online video is now well within the grasp of just about anyone.
7. Is Less Content Better? 5 Steps to Simplify B2B Marketing Content- Savvy B2B Marketing, January 14, 2010
   Over the holidays, I was on a cleaning rampage. I organized my basement and in the process, I got rid of boxes of books, and a minivan full of miscellany. It felt great! Similarly, I think it's a good idea to occasionally "clean house" with your B2B content.
8. Best Books of the Decade for Marketing and Selling Services - B2B Lead Generation Blog, January 8, 2010
   Rain T oday , a great resource for those who market and sell services, selected their Best Book s of the Decade for marketing and selling professional services. I was humbled to see that they picked my book, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale for their list.
9. LinkedIn Search Optimization (LSO) Critical for B2B Marketers- Buzz Marketing for Technology, January 7, 2010
   Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via natural search results. This gave birth to a whole industry centered on optimizing search results for a given term. For B2C or B2B Marketers this was a huge revolution.
10. 30 Content Marketing Truths for 2010- Junta 42, January 5, 2010
    Whenever I can get two numbers into the title of a content marketing post, good things are always bound to happen. ;) As we move into 2010, I thought I'd share these 30 content marketing truths that are taped above my desk. Whenever I lose my way (to a more traditional mindset), I read through this content-marketing heavy list. It's
11. Re-casting How We Think About B2B Marketing Automation | MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog- delicious b2bmarketing, January 25, 2010
    I was analyzing results from our recent B2B Marketing University series , which Silverpop launched this past Fall, and the data seem to point to an eye-popping, potential ‘banner year’ for marketing automation.
12. 9 tips for running a more considerate procurement (RFP) process- Confluent Forms, January 14, 2010
    We've been on both sides of the procurement process and have seen more than our fair share of RFPs. With this background in mind we've put together our top 9 tips for running a more considerate procurement/RFP process.
13. 6 things the iPad means for B2B Marketers- Digital Body Language, January 28, 2010
    Yesterday, Steve Jobs announced Apple's latest device, the iPad. A 10 inch, touch-screen tablet with Wi-Fi access, and an extension of the iPhone/iPod platform for both application development and media purchase. It's a beautiful device, as is expected from Apple, and will surely see plenty of uptake over the coming year.
14. The Focus for Content Marketing is Not Format- Marketing Interactions, January 25, 2010
    I'm getting a lot of questions these days about content marketing. Thank you one and all! I love that B2B marketers are working on embracing the idea of content marketing, but I'd like to point out that there's a better way to go about it than focusing first on format. The focus for developing a content strategy should first
15. Why the volume and quality of interactions with customers has to pass for social media ROI- Chris Koch, January 22, 2010
    Image by LollyKnit via Flickr I wish I could say that social media leads to sales. I really do. But I can’t. And I haven’t encountered anyone else who can either, have you?
16. It worked for Zappos. It probably won’t work for you.- grow - Practical Marketing Solutions, January 24, 2010
    Zappos* has built their company and reputation on a well-publicized, aggressive employee use of social media. In fact, it may be the most famous social media model in all of blogdom. They have 13 blogs, 50,000 videos and their employees tweet like rabbits in heat. It’s worked for them
17. 5 Outbound Calling Best Practices- Smashmouth Marketing, January 21, 2010
    Dialing the phone all day is a task. I have one guy who calls it panning for gold. He'll say he just swished the phone 20 times, found 4 shiny objects and none were gold. Then an hour later he'll yell "Eureka!" when he does successfully set an appointment.
18. Social Media Marketing Tips from the Experts: Rick Burnes- Webbiquity, January 25, 2010
    Late last year, I sat in on a couple of social media marketing webinars from two of the best: Rick Burnes , Marketing Manager at HubSpot , and Chris Abraham of Abraham Harrison , along with Sally Falkow of Expansion Plus . Here are some of the key takeaways on using social media effectively. This post will review recommendations from Rick Burnes, while a follow-up
19. Introducing Seed Nurturing- Modern B2B Marketing, January 27, 2010
    One thing you'll notice about most lead nurturing campaigns is the fact that they usually take place after prospects land on your site and enter your database. However, what happens when qualified prospects visit your site or social media sites anonymously where you don't necessarily have their names or e-mails? This is where seed nurturing comes into play.
20. Five Ways Social Media Will Generate More Leads- Marketing Edge, January 24, 2010
    Time 26:57 First, I dislike the kind of headlines like the one above. It’s called the Reason Why Headline and it is one of the most effective at getting the reader’s attention. I dislike it because it proliferates across the web making thousands of websites look the same, but I can’t argue with Copyblogger and other copy writers who say Reason Headlines are effective .
21. Learn What’s Ahead for Content Marketing in 2010 from 39 experts- Content Marketing Today, January 21, 2010
    New Crowd Sourced E-Book Is Also a Brilliant Example of Content Marketing Because all of us are smarter than one of us, you will find lots of value in the new e-book, Key Content Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2010 – which even includes my own fearless prediction on content marketing. The genius behind this e-book is Ambal Balakrishnan.
22. Want to Increase Your White Paper's Influence? Try a Webinar- Savvy B2B Marketing, January 6, 2010
    In my last post of the year, I wrote about ways to repackage content to make it more valuable. So, I was interested when I came across this information in the Eccolo Media 2009 B2B Technology Collateral Survey Report: "We were curious if respondents would find value in white paper content presented in alternate forms -- specifically, in audio form via a podcast, or in a webinar. We got interesting responses.
23. 8,000 Twitter followers. Now what?- grow - Practical Marketing Solutions, January 19, 2010
    Something amazing has happened. I have nearly 8,000 Twitter followers in eight months. How does somebody maintain a meaningful presence on Twitter with a crowd like that? I’m a work in progress, but here’s what’s going on with me. Maybe it will help you too!
24. Interview with David Meerman Scott- Digital Body Language, January 6, 2010
    I had a chance to chat with David Meerman Scott recently on a wide variety of topics. As one of the leading thinkers on social media in a business environment, his ideas, examples, and perspectives are fantastic to hear. In this interview, we talked about why B2B marketers are so hesitant to embrace “ fun ” as an element of their marketing, and why we need to think about selling to people, not amorphous businesses.
25. Marketing Trends for 2010 - And What to Do About Them- Cliff Allen on Marketing, January 3, 2010
    There are several new marketing trends for 2010 that will have an impact on practically every marketing organization because of new trends in customer behavior, such as: Shift in consumer mentality from recession to recovery Changes in how customers make purchase decisions

Hot Topics Content (134)

1. 30 Content Marketing Truths for 2010, January 5, 2010
2. SEO and content marketing: Creating content with keywords in mind, January 27, 2010
3. Learn What’s Ahead for Content Marketing in 2010 from 39 experts, January 21, 2010
4. Is Less Content Better? 5 Steps to Simplify B2B Marketing Content, January 14, 2010

Social Media (115)

1. There is only one objective in social media: create learning networks, January 8, 2010
2. Why the volume and quality of interactions with customers has to pass for social media ROI, January 22, 2010
3. The 4 P’s to Social Media Marketing, January 21, 2010
4. It worked for Zappos. It probably won’t work for you., January 24, 2010

Linkedin (64)

1. LinkedIn Search Optimization (LSO) Critical for B2B Marketers, January 7, 2010
2. There is only one objective in social media: create learning networks, January 8, 2010
3. Simple Steps to Creating Custom Social Landing Pages and Social Emails, January 5, 2010
4. Why the volume and quality of interactions with customers has to pass for social media ROI, January 22, 2010

Facebook (62)

1. Sharing is how you build a Brand, January 14, 2010
2. Simple Steps to Creating Custom Social Landing Pages and Social Emails, January 5, 2010
3. LinkedIn Search Optimization (LSO) Critical for B2B Marketers, January 7, 2010
4. Why the volume and quality of interactions with customers has to pass for social media ROI, January 22, 2010

Prospect (99)

1. 7 Reasons Every Business Needs to Twitter, January 11, 2010
2. Why the volume and quality of interactions with customers has to pass for social media ROI, January 22, 2010
3. Marketing Automation Trends for 2010, January 12, 2010
4. Content Marketing is NOT Wait and See, January 17, 2010

Trends (45)

1. Marketing Automation Trends for 2010, January 12, 2010
2. Marketing Trends for 2010 - And What to Do About Them, January 3, 2010
3. 10 Ways to Win with Online Video, January 19, 2010
4. Learn What’s Ahead for Content Marketing in 2010 from 39 experts, January 21, 2010