Biznology

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E-commerce opportunity is evolving fast, but only 25% of B2B marketers are taking advantage of it, according to a 2012 Oracle study.  Time for another look.  The typical B2B company selling online is the classic catalogers like Edmund Optics and Seton, which were fast to supplement their print catalogs with e-commerce.   But with the new functionality now available, just about any business marketer can find ways to reduce selling expense and attract new customers by integrating e-commerce into their go-to-market strategies. Read the remainder of this entry »

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The other day, a marketing colleague told me she was feeling under pressure to move all her efforts to inbound, or “pull,” marketing.  “Outbound is bad,” she said.  What?  Well, I guess her feeling is understandable.  Inbound marketing is all the rage today.  Hubspot promotes it.  Marketo promotes it. Seth Godin promotes it.  With the new popularity of pull marketing, B2B marketers may be under the mistaken impression that push marketing is dead—or should be.  How wrong they are.  And here’s why. Read the remainder of this entry »

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Hands down, the best new leads come from referrals.  These prospects are likely to be highly qualified, since someone close to you thinks they might be a good fit.  Even better, the implied endorsement means the prospect is going to give you at least some serious consideration.  So close rates on referred leads tend to be high.  And since they cost you next to nothing, the ROI on referrals is stellar.  The only problem is: you can’t expect to meet your sales quota through referral alone. But what can you do to pump up your referral rate, and get more of these gems? Read the remainder of this entry »

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To reach cold prospects among business audiences, sales and marketing teams often begin by developing a list of prospective targets.  Marketers can find just about every target company, title and job function they need from traditional list suppliers.  Plus, the Internet has made possible the introduction of some excellent new opportunities for identifying prospects at various stages of the buying cycle.  Let’s look at what’s new in B2B lists these days. Traditionally, the first step in list development has been working with a list broker who has experience in your target audience category.  There are more than 40,000 business lists available for rent in the U.S., plus numerous databases and online data enhancement services to choose from. Read the remainder of this entry »

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It’s that time of the year when observers can’t resist making predictions about developments on the horizon.  I hereby take up that tradition, offering up four random prognostications for where B2B digital marketing is headed in 2013.   My topics include Facebook, content marketing, personal branding, and data hygiene—certainly an eclectic mix. I encourage readers to add their own.   Read the remainder of this entry »