These three words are appearing everywhere at the moment. Whilst some B2B sectors, such as food retail, have been fortunate in not being adversely affected over the past months. Others have either had to change tack or sadly not survived.

Topics: #LeadGeneration, #b2bmarketing, #demandgeneration, #results, #h2

I recently wrote an article about how we all have the power to change an average customer experience into an epic one. I’ve been thinking more on this, specifically how our much-loved marketing funnel plays a key role.

Topics: B2B Sales Funnel, B2B Sales-Qualified Leads, b2b customer experience, #b2bmarketing, b2b communication, customer centric, mql

Anyone who knows me, knows I love running. I am that annoying person who can’t go five minutes without mentioning it. When I meet new people, I usually tell them about two things. I work for a marketing agency and I am a runner.

You are now thinking, “where is he going with this?”

Being a good runner and a successful martech professional requires the same qualities. Now, I am not saying I am Mo Farah, but I am a pretty good runner. And, I do like to think I am pretty good at my job after 14 years working hard at my career. So how did I get here?

Topics: b2b marketing technology, #b2bmarketing, martech, marketing technology, b2b martech

In such challenging times we’re all looking at how best to invest our time, effort and budget to make a positive difference. Of course, there are many ways to do this, but to me one of the best places to start as a B2B marketer is customer experience. I’d say the B2B experience is so much more personal than in B2C. Often a B2C purchase is quick, forgettable and far less emotive whereas in B2B the experience can last a lot longer and let’s face it we all want to be seen to have made the right decision in front of our colleagues and peers.

Topics: B2B marketing, b2b customer experience, B2B Customer retention, B2B CX, CX

This is a bold statement from a head of marketing automation – especially one who works at an award-winning marketing agency. Not only that, but an agency that won 3 B2B Marketing Awards for martech this year. But it is true.

Marketing technology is great. It provides solutions to so many problems. It saves time. It saves money. And it is great to master as a specialism. I love martech.

But, and it is a big but… the IT team cannot do your marketing for you. Martech cannot work on its own. It is part of the whole marketing picture. Marketers craft brands. They must communicate the value offered by that brand to their potential customer. That is a marketer’s passion and driving force behind everything we do.

Topics: b2b marketing technology, #b2bmarketing, martech, marketing technology, b2b martech

It’s hard to believe that the time has rolled around again for the annual B2B Marketing Get Stacked event, but as with most things in the current climate – with a change in approach! Set up as a virtual event, this would typically strike the fear of death by PowerPoint into the hearts of most marketers, but I’m pleased to report that B2B Marketing executed this in a way that was not only smooth running and engaging, but every bit as insightful as previous years.

Topics: B2B Marketing Automation, B2B Lead Qualification, B2B Lead Scoring, Marketing Automation, martech, marketing technology, b2b martech, b2b communication

Not every prospect is ready to convert at the same time, and it can take a bit of a nudge to push some prospects down the sales funnel. As a lead generation agency, we use content to achieve this goal, and considering it generates 3X the ROI of traditional marketing programmes, the juice is definitely worth the squeeze.[i] 

So, whether you are completely new to content marketing, or your current strategy is not having the desired effect, this is the read for you.

Topics: marketing content, marketing leads, b2b communication, engagement

In this time of uncertainty, you have likely seen a shift in marketing focuses while businesses find their feet with this new remote way of working.

As a B2B demand generation agency, we know first- hand that the one thing you must not cancel or slow down is your lead generation and marketing efforts. Here we discuss some ways to keep things ticking over amid the current chaos.

Topics: marketing content, marketing leads, b2b communication, remote working

72% of business buyers expect communications from businesses that are personalised to suit their needs.

To connect with your prospects, you need to tailor your communications to their unique needs – as a B2B marketing professional, you likely understand this. But, are you capitalising on every opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of your audience? Segmenting by job role and pain points is a great start, as is enhancing your approach with ‘first name’ and ‘business name’ personalisation. However, at Really B2B, we wanted to take prospect profiling to the next level…

Topics: B2B Lead Generation, B2B sales lead generation, B2B Marketing Personalisation, disc profiling, personality profiling, b2b communication

Gone are the days of the marketing team one side of the room and sales the other, only speaking to pass over leads. We have reached an age where we need to work smarter to see increased results. Enter, "SMARKETING"...

Topics: B2B Lead Generation, B2B Sales and Marketing, smarketing, sales and marketing alignment

We all live in a digital world. We join video conferences from our phones, receive text messages on smart watches, and read emails on tablets – it couldn’t be more convenient. However, if we put our ‘marketer’ hats on, this narrative changes slightly. What we’ve got now is an audience that’s bombarded with ads and communications on a daily basis, a variety of barriers (like spam filters), and a degree of apathy towards marketing that’s difficult to overcome. This all sounds bleak, but it doesn’t need to be. There’s a solution that not only achieves cut-through in a digital world, but has also been a mainstay for multiple decades – direct mail.

Topics: B2B marketing, B2B direct mail, Direct Mail, B2B Awards, B2B Creative Strategy

 

To achieve real results with inbound marketing, you need to send the right message to the right person. So, how do you figure out what and who that is?

Topics: marketing leads, B2B Segmentation, B2B Marketing Personalisation, b2b marketing emails, multi channel b2b marketing

No matter how creative or high impact your B2B campaigns are, without good quality data, they just won’t deliver.

If you want to start Q1 strong, now’s the time to audit and refresh your B2B prospect database. This will ensure pinpoint accuracy, insights on key decision-makers and of course, volume - the perfect trio for maximising response. So, with this in mind, here’s our top tips to optimise your data for the coming year…

Topics: B2B Marketing Data Analysis, b2b marketing challenges, B2B Marketing Metrics, marketing leads, multi channel b2b marketing, b2b data audit, b2b marketing analytics, data optimisation

With the ever-growing complexity of B2B marketing, marketers are increasingly expected to move away from vanity metrics towards real actionable measurements for ever more transparent and trackable campaigns. They also need to prove real ROI and use evidence and data to aid in campaign decision-making. But, with all the different analytical models out there, how can marketers effectively put on their statistician hats and ensure they are using data effectively in their campaigns?

Topics: B2B Data Analysis, b2b attribution modelling, b2b propensity modelling, b2b marketing analytics, b2b cohort analysis

Last week I was invited to a presentation by B2B Marketing on ‘Marketing at the speed of light’. It gives great insight into the latest trends and challenges B2B marketers are facing in industry right now, and touches on the things we need to get to grips with to evolve.

Topics: B2B marketing, b2b creative, B2B Creative Strategy, b2b marketing trends, creative big idea