The Future of B2B Marketing: It’s Social
The Future's So Bright
I received a question on twitter yesterday from Billy Mitchell, Senior Creative Director at the MLT Creative agency: he asked me “What is the future of B2B Marketing?”
This got me to thinking. I’ve already published my B2B Marketing predictions for 2011 and while I think I captured a good mix of new and traditional issues, I realized that one thing was missing: a common theme. And so this led me to the conclusion that the broader future of B2B Marketing is Social! But what does that mean…?
Confessions Of A B2B Marketer
Just in case you are wondering, I am not going to start spilling crazy secrets that might put my job in jeopardy. I wish I knew all the secrets so I could transform the world of B2B Marketing forever with a tell-all book. What I do know is that B2B Marketers have a ton of options today.
But which ones are really working to drive our strategy and our business forward? In this post, I will offer a preview of the thoughts I will deliver during the Focus Interactive Summit on Progressive B2B Marketing. Here is a copy of the presentation Confessions of a B2B Marketer as well.
Internet Trends From The Web 2.0 Summit
The 7th Annual Web 2.0 Summit was held on November 15th, 16th and 17th. While I was not able to attend, I was able to view some of the amazing presentations and videos on their website. I suggest you spend the time to watch the videos of Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s CEO Evan Williams and also Robin Li, Chairman & CEO of Baidu.
While I enjoy hearing these pundits speak, every year I really look forward to the straight facts on Internet Trends delivered in rapid fire order by Mary Meeker, the Managing Director from Morgan Stanley. I used some of these facts from Morgan Stanley last year to argue that Mobile Is Hot and Social Media is no longer about whether to do it but how to do it. This video is only18 minutes long but below are my key takeaways. Read more
A B2B Marketing Manifesto?
The folks at Velocity Partners think that this is a great (and a scary) time to be a B2B marketer. So they’ve written a manifesto (reg. required) to prove it. The eBook offers a call to action for all B2B marketers to take a different path from the traditional “tried and true” marketing practices of old. The manifesto also makes a “plea for ambition.”
Setting aside the common discussions about tactics and channels like social media, the web, or email, they claim that the new age of B2B marketing is about a whole new mindset because we live in a new world of buyer behaviors with completely new ways to address them.
B2B Marketing Predictions For 2011
Whenever I start to see Thanksgiving turkeys flying out of the grocery store and Black Friday ads start to appear, I know it’s that time of year to prognosticate. So here is my list of B2B Marketing Insider predictions for 2011.
2010 was the year social media moved from cutting edge to mainstream (right?). And what a wild ride it has been. While some have predicted the consolidation of Twitter and Facebook or the demise of Foursquare, I am sticking to the practical topics most B2B Marketers I know are talking about:
Top Takeaways From Blogwell Philly 2010
On Tuesday, November 9th I was fortunate enough to attend and participate in Blogwell Philly 2010. This was my first effort as a “Live-Blogger” and I hope the speakers feel that I captured their presentations well. Coming away from the event, I wanted to share some of my top takeaways from the amazing experience.
To review, Blogwell is an event sponsored by the Social Media Business Council, a ”community for social business leaders at large companies.” The event titled “How Big Brands Use Social Media” highlights 8 real-life social media case studies. Disclosure: The Philly leg of the Blogwell tour was sponsored and hosted by my employer: SAP.
How To Focus On Your Marketing Plan
I started writing this article a month ago but became sidetracked when I realized that marketing plans were as unavoidable (and as important) as Death and Taxes. And while we all try to avoid these topics, the best way to deal with them is straight on. The best approach to dealing with uncertainty is to be prepared and to have a plan.
If you haven’t started, you’re already late. It’s that time of year for creating your marketing plan. Having crafted a few myself, I am writing this article to share my experiences and tips on what has worked and what didn’t.
Marketing, Death and Taxes
So Marketing may not be as unavoidable as death and taxes, but lately it is becoming harder and harder to escape. As a marketing professional, I am not proud of our reputation as SPAM-ers. It seems as if the lower our outbound marketing response rates get, the greater the number of emails, phone calls, pop-up ads and other interruptions we throw at our weary populace.
As a consumer, I’m fed up. I refuse to answer cold calls at work or home. I can only watch TV shows on my DVR. If I’m forced to watch live TV like the news or sports, I pause it for 20 minutes so I can fast forward through the commercials or I multi-task and catch up on email or surf the web during commercials.
Be A Hero: Choose Appointment Setting for Your Next Campaign
With all of the discussion on marketing and sales alignment, I thought it made sense to bring in a sales perspective and guidance to the site. The following guest post is another important topic for sales and comes from my colleague, Rob Krekstein.
Telemarketing services are continuing to grow in popularity, due to the low cost and high ROI; however, the difficulty lies in which telemarketing tactic to utilize. In my 20 years of sales and telemarketing experience I have implemented all different types of telemarketing tactics and found that appointment setting provides high value for multiple reasons.
Integrate Social Media Into Your Marketing Mix
As a results-oriented marketer you want to only deploy your precious time and budget into marketing programs that work. At the same time, you know that social media has changed the marketing landscape: shouting to prospects with endless email offers may produce leads but you’re worried about the longer term implications to your market.
You may have heard that social media can improve not only your more traditional tactics but also allows you to engage with your prospects sooner in the buying cycle. It may even allow you to identify those influential network hubs whose recommendations can mean big referral business for you. So how do you incorporate social media into the marketing mix?
