B2B customers: 50 things they wish you knew
Fifty things customers wish you knew about them:
about how they see you, and about your relationship.
Sonia Simone of Remarkable Communication recently posted this list on her blog. Thanks to B2B Social Media for highlighting it.Â
Sadly, the concept of customer focus or of being customer-centric has become badly tarnished.
A lot of the blame for this lies [...]
Mapping audiences in B2B markets: building a marcoms strategy
B2B markets are complex structures consisting of different audiences that influence customers’ buying decisions. Marketers need to understand who these audiences are, how they influence one another and the significance of their influence on buying decisions.
Mapping audiences and their connectivity within a ‘sphere of influence’ is the first step in creating a marcoms strategy that [...]
B2B Marketing for Dummies
IAS b2b Marketing, winner of Agency of the Year at the UK’s B2B Marketing Awards 2009, has created a concise guide that highlights how to deliver the right B2B messages to the right people at the right time.Â
The minibook addresses key issues that anyone working in marketing may face with B2B brands. It’s easy to understand [...]
The unfolding state of the economy 2010
As we move into 2010 and a period of slow, cautious growth in B2B markets, negative memories of the past 18 months will definitely remain and they will have a powerful influence on buying-decisions.
This means it’s essential to generate brand messages that are not only credible, relevant and compelling, but also highly reassuring to each component of your overall [...]
A B2B message from The Man in the Chair
It might be hard to believe, but the print ad below is 50 years old.
Promoting the business, professional and technical magazines published by McGraw Hill, the message is as fresh and relevant today as it was fifty years ago: sales start before your salesman calls.
In July this year, the Business Marketing Association staged a ‘live’ version [...]
B2B marcoms: using funnels to create relevance and accurate positioning
Developing marketing communications for relevance throughout the buying cycle
The graphic below is from a whitepaper by Tippit Inc and it illustrates the phased nature of the B2B buying process. It’s such an important graphic for marketers because it provides a roadmap for developing and positioning marcoms that are relevant for each phase in the buying process - ranging from initial awareness through [...]
Don’t trample the rules
This article is from B2B Marketing Magazine
In the rush for instant marketing gratification, don’t trample the rules!
By Tim Hazlehurst
IAS b2b Marketing
Now that the B2B marketing chips are down, it is easy for marketers to be drawn into tempting but subjective routes that are offering sales salvation when the board is desperate for results.
A lot of people (Bob [...]
The Long Hello: building brand-relationships in B2B
People come and go. Brands endure.
One reason why marketing doesn’t always pull its weight in B2B is that there is often such a strong emphasis on relationships with customers. Developing and sustaining these relationships can shift attention from managing the brand’s relationship with the overall market. And this can undermine the potential to strengthen sales, margins and [...]
The role of ‘Value’ in B2B marketing
In B2B, Value comprises Five Factors: Response, Service, Time, Quality and Price.
These are the criteria that influence and motivate B2B buying decisions. This extract from an ealier post looks at analysing how products, services and processes create Value in relation to each of the Five Factors.
It is a simple approach, but it produces bottom [...]
Leveraging B2B buying motivators
Developing B2B marketing communications for bottom line results.
All marketers understand the need for getting the right messages to the right people. What’s not so straightforward is defining the messages and who should be getting them.
Marketers need to be looking at what their market is buying, because B2B marketing is not about selling, it’s about buying.
An incisive approach [...]
