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... [...]

Mary Shea says, “Are your marketing and sales teams caught in that endless loop of finger pointing? B2B sellers who complain about lead quality/quantity and marketers who criticize sellers for poor follow up? After years of acknowledging their issues with each other, many B2B marketing and sales teams continue to be at odds. Just “google” marketing and sales relationships and see what you find. I did and I surfaced 98 million results! Titles such as: “The Rocky Road Between Sales and Marketing” and “How to Survive a Soured Sales and Marketing Relationship” show the dissonance... [...]

James Thomas says, “Each year, the marketing community confronts a few dominant themes. A couple of years ago, predictive analytics was all the rage. If you ask any B2B marketer what trends dominated in 2016, you’d likely hear “ABM,” “one-to-one relationships,” or “managing the customer journey”; marketers were investing more in an end-to-end experience, from awareness to advocacy. However, if you were to ask any of those marketers to put aside trends and instead identify what their continual focus has been, year after year, you would hear, overwhelmingly,... [...]

Jessica Cameron says, “It’s no small feat to be a successful B2B digital marketer in today’s complex, ever-changing environment. In this article, I offer several proven recommendations related to the domination of search engine results pages (SERPs), testing, attribution and ROI. Utilize these tips to jump-start your search results in the new year and start 2017 with a bang. New year, new opportunities 2016 was a year of incredible change. Google changed the SERP game by shifting visibility to paid advertising, while also changing the core organic algorithm to natively include Panda... [...]

Marc Wayshak says, “t’s no secret that selling to other businesses is tricky. You simply won’t succeed if you don’t take B2B selling for what it is: A high-stakes selling game that requires an entirely unique approach from direct-to-consumer selling. When done right, B2B sales have the potential to be both extremely lucrative and deeply rewarding. The following eight selling strategies are real-world tips from insiders who routinely close huge B2B sales. Implement these tips, and you’ll develop an approach that helps you close more B2B sales — right away. 1) Skip straight to... [...]

Danny Wong says, “All salespeople have heard the term “build rapport” more times than they can count, and for good reason: Rapport is a critical element of any sale. But if your competitors are already doing it, and well, you have to do it better to outsmart those competitors and win over those clients. How do you build rapport? Consider your closest friends. When you first met, what drew you to them? Were they outgoing, sincere? Quick to help? Honest? Did they show respect for your time and values? Alternately, consider people you’ve met who seemed off-putting. Which aspects... [...]

Casandra Campbell says, “As usual, we wrote a lot of articles in 2016. Whether you’re a new reader or you’ve been with us for a while, chances are, you’ve probably missed a few articles along the way. To make sure you get a chance to read all the best stuff, we created this list of 2016’s most popular articles. Top 10 Articles in 2016 Below, you’ll find a list of handy time management apps, tips for driving more sales with Facebook and Pinterest, step-by-step advice on importing or dropshipping products from China, and much much more. Everything you need to start... [...]