Janet Comenos says, “Early-stage companies often cast too wide a net when defining their target customer base. They believe the more prospects, the better — but pursuing the wrong types of prospects wastes precious time, cash, and sales resources. There’s a high opportunity cost to chasing someone who won’t buy (or buys and quickly churns). All the while, your competitors are entering the market and getting to large and enterprise clients more quickly than you. I’ve now helped three early-stage tech companies go from zero revenue to cash-flow positive. Honing in on the most valuable... [...]

Peter O’Neill says, “At the B2B Marketing 2016 forum last October, we had several sessions when we reflected on some external forces that affect our work as marketers. Trends included the movement toward as-a-service business models (our CEO once famously predicted that every business will eventually become a software business), the increasing use of video content in marketing, and the leverage of social channels. These sessions had great attendance, and the feedback was very positive. We had made attendees aware of possibilities that they may not have yet discussed in their own companies. Similarly,... [...]

Caroline Robertson says, “My former neighbor bought the house next door primarily due to its 9-acre potential. Over the years, I got to see his garden develop from a razed backyard to a well-orchestrated, nearly year-round landscape of seasonal beauty. He’d continually prune out the anemic and plant new varietals that he deemed would more likely thrive in our climate. I was amazed at the ongoing evolution of his garden — and how much of it ended up on his burn pile. But he focused on the success of his garden overall and didn’t overly invest in any one plant, bush, or tree. Despite... [...]

Amanda Zantal-Wiener says, “When you’re trying to get somewhere — by foot, train, bus, or car — how do you pass the time? I’m one of those people who always has to be listening to something. Whether it’s a new Spotify playlist or the latest episode of a podcast, I use pretty much every opportunity to consume audible content. I’m hardly the only one who’s partial to audio in this way. According to the 2016 Edison Research Infinite Dial report, despite our content consumption becoming increasingly digital, we still love sound and sound alone. Online radio listenership,... [...]

Laura Ramos says, “It’s no secret, company websites are a key implement in the B2B marketer’s toolbox. B2B marketers rate websites as the second most effective demand management tactic for building awareness (behind events) in our 2016 Business Technographics marketing survey.. B2B companies also expect more than half of their customers to buy online within three years.[i] These trends show just how important it is for marketers to get the website experience right – and producing Web content that builds empathy to engage buyers is critical to making that happen. So, is anyone doing... [...]

Scott Samson says, “When it comes to video marketing, your goal is not to inform, entertain, or create awareness. Your goal is to make someone involved in a buying decision want to learn more. Your call to action should lead to more detailed content, a software download, a live demo — anything that helps educate the buyer. You’ll find it a lot easier to shape a user-friendly and engaging video if you keep these tips in mind. 1. Understand how the viewer arrived at your video To get to your video, the viewer clicked on a link to your website, video channel, Facebook page — somewhere... [...]

Peter O’Neill says, “As I did in 2016, I thought that I would provide you with a timely reminder that we have reconfigured our events calendar this year, and the B2B Marketing 2017 forum is now scheduled for October 5th and 6th in Austin, Texas. If you have not done so, it is still not too late to catch up on our recent forum — here is a blog debrief and this is a podcast where I was interviewed after the event. Planning is well underway. B2B Marketing 2017 will deepen and expand the discussion of post-digital marketing that we began in Miami in October 2016. Post-digital marketing... [...]

Sophia Bernazzani says, “If you’re a B2B marketer who isn’t investing in content creation, you’re in the minority — 88% of B2B marketers surveyed by Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs said their organization used content marketing to further their goals in 2016. Developing a sound content marketing strategy is worth it: We found that B2B companies that blogged 11+ times per month had almost 3X the traffic as companies that blogged only once per month. Digital Marketing Philippines created the infographic below to highlight other trends to expect from... [...]

Lori Wizdo says, “I think we all accept that business buyers have higher expectations in the age of the customer. They’ve fundamentally changed their buying behavior in this digital age. Unfortunately, too many B2B marketers aren’t keeping pace. They must evolve from brand stewards, lead generation machines, and sales supporters to architects of customer engagement across the customer life cycle. B2B marketing leaders need to introduce a change agenda to help B2B marketers lead the transformation to customer-obsessed marketing. Here are some key takeaways from my recent report... [...]

Amberly Dressler says, “The way in which business buyers research, shop and support themselves in their buying journey very much reflects how they shop in their everyday lives – a trend that has given way to “B2B e-commerce,” which Forrester predicts will top $1.1 trillion in sales by 2020. Those catering to business buyers have a complicated road ahead of providing a commerce-like experience for self-service, ordering, omnichannel capabilities, customized pricing, subscription management and, on the other side of the business, in-depth customer profiling and tracking to... [...]