Comments from K2 Global Communications

Know the pros and cons before you dive in

Like any endeavor, B2B collaborative marketing has its up and downsides. It’s up to the partner-brand companies to strike a good balance. Before we dive too deeply into B2B collaborative marketing pros and cons, definitions are in order because a few related terms - i.e., co-branding, co-marketing, brand partnership - are often bandied about and may cause confusion.

Topics: Content marketing, Marketing, Social media, Brand, Customer communications, Integrated marketing, Collaborative marketing

The best version of collaborative marketing drives success for everyone involved – sharing channels to present complementary solutions strengthens both brands while increasing leads.

1) Select the type of B2B partnership you need

• Strategic partnership - Align with non-competitive companies that offer products or services that complement yours - for example, a healthcare provider and a health data platform that offers remote access - can help both brands reach into each other’s markets to expand their customer base and grow revenue.

Topics: Content marketing, Content, Customer communications, Corporate communications, Account-based marketing, Collaborative marketing, SMART Goals

When only 61% of marketers believe their marketing strategy is effective, and 58% of marketers are struggling to target or segment their audience, it behooves you to ask: How can marketers get smarter about marketing strategy? The answer is goal setting, and more specifically - SMART goals setting. SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.

Topics: Content marketing, Content, Metrics, Social media, Persona, Inbound marketing, Messaging, Account-based marketing, Planning, Tactics, Buyer's journey, Integrated marketing, SMART Goals

Collaborative marketing can be productive and profitable in your B2B marketing arsenal – if…

To gain the benefits of positive brand association, new marketing and product ideas, expanded market reach, increased social media following, and more, you need the right partner. You need a B2B vendor whose brand message and solution offerings are compatible with yours, with whom you can have a smooth and productive relationship, and whose impeccable brand reputation will reflect positively on yours.

Topics: Content marketing, Sales, Marketing qualified leads (MQL), Sales qualified leads (SQL), Marketing strategy, Collaborative marketing

How to hire an A-team that delivers quantifiable results

Topics: Public relations, Journalist, Content marketing, Content, Marketing, Metrics, Social media, Persona, Inbound marketing, Audience, Personas, PR, Corporate communications, SEO

Consumers are overwhelmed with offers – WhatsApp ads, retargeting, Facebook and LinkedIn ads, text messages, and some even still watch TV and listen to the radio. In today’s super-competitive climate, if you want to get prospects’ attention and money, you’ll need to hook them with highly targeted messages wrapped in something:

Topics: News value, Content marketing, Marketing, Customer communications, Messaging, Personas, Sales, Client relations, Video, B2C

Let’s just cut to the chase: Never put DIY and content marketing in the same sentence.

Topics: Content marketing, Content, DIY, Social media, Persona

Want to break through the clutter? Want to rise above the market noise?

Are there too many cybersecurity companies for our own good? Some have become unsustainable as others have gone under. It seems ironic that cyberattacks - the biggest threat to both organizations and nations - have given rise to an enormous global cybersecurity market.

Should be good news, right? However, the unrelenting waves of cyberattacks and the increasing need to mitigate security risks has also given rise to more than 4,000 cybersecurity companies, whose marketing messages are now flooding -- make that clogging -- an already congested vertical.

Topics: Content marketing, Marketing, Audience, Message, Messaging, Personas

So, you are getting ready to hire your PR team. (We're hoping it's us, of course.) No matter what, here are some tips that will help maximize the relationship.

Topics: Public relations, Journalist, News value, Press coverage, Content marketing

No other tool drives reputation management more effectively than public relations.

What Is Reputation Management, and How Does It Drive Investment Decisions?

Corporate reputation refers to what people think of your brand, company, or product. Reputation management deals with the efforts to influence and burnish such public perceptions - critical to your business’ survival and success. It has become pivotal in its impact on investor relationships, confidence, and, ultimately, decisions. The same goes for rapid, open response when there’s a problem or a crisis – the response immediately effects your reputation.

Topics: Content marketing, Social media, Brand, Customer communications, Corporate communications, Marketing qualified leads (MQL), Sales qualified leads (SQL), Corporate social responsibility, CSR, Investor relations