In the “change is the only constant” department, we’re seeing B2B marketing evolve in approach, philosophy, and focus - with new opportunities and technologies promising to impact businesses for the long-run. Some of these come from the increasing sway of B2C marketing, others from emerging technology, and still others from the pandemic. Whatever their provenance, these will keep B2B marketers on their feet so they can stay ahead of the competition.
Topics: Content, Marketing, Brand, Customer communications, B2B, Marketing qualified leads (MQL), Sales qualified leads (SQL), Sales funnel, Trends, Customer journey
Today’s B2B buyers and their buyer’s journeys have changed, and that’s why integrated marketing matters - a lot.
Topics: Marketing, Brand, Customer communications, Account-based marketing, Influencer, B2B, Customer journey, Integrated marketing, Influencer marketing
Marketing and selling to B2B customers used to be a lot easier, straightforward, and predictable. As marketers and salespeople, you were in charge.
Topics: Marketing, Sales, Client relations, B2B, Marketing strategy, Tactics, Buyer's journey, Sales funnel
Understanding the role of market research and up-to-date intelligence
An article on 31 product launch statistics for 2022 revealed this nugget from a Harvard Business School professor: about 30,000 new products are launched each year, and about 95 percent of these will probably fail.
Topics: Market research, Customer communications, Message, Messaging, B2B, Marketing strategy
B2B messaging should clearly explain the unique selling propositions (USPs) and myriad advantages of your solution to everyone participating in purchasing process. Sometimes, that just isn’t achieved.
Fail 1 - The “too-broad” B2B messaging
General marketing blah-blah is not appreciated. Technology products are very rarely designed for general use, and the more specific you message to your personas, the better. Messaging must make it immediately apparent who benefits from your product and how.
Topics: Persona, Customer communications, Message, Messaging, B2B
Topics: Customer communications, B2B, B2X
Robert, CMO of a cybersecurity business, devotes his energies to making his company’s solution stand out in a very crowded marketplace. He ensures his marketing and sales teams stay on top of the latest available analytics, CRM, social media, and other technologies that’ll help them achieve his goals. While Bob is a super-effective CMO, he’s also a fanatical sportsman - forever trying to fit tennis matches in his already busy schedule - as well as a devoted dad of three.
Topics: Marketing, Message, Messaging, B2B, Customer journey, Integrated marketing
Have you ever booked a hotel on Kayak or ordered a food processor from Amazon? These are all classic examples of business to business to customer (B2B2C), in which the manufacturer sells a product or service to the channel or route to the customer, making the latter’s end-product more valuable to the consumer.
Topics: Content, Marketing, Inbound marketing, Customer communications, Messaging, PR, Sales, B2C, Influencer, B2B2C, B2B