While we do miss seeing our fellow marketing colleagues at events, we all have to admit how nice it is to participate in conferences from the comforts of our own homes. Just think about it.
- Your favorite brew of hot coffee. Even though the conference centers say it’s Starbucks, it’s mediocre and lukewarm (IMHO).
- Your preferred breakfast and lunch. Not boxed or plated fare that is also lukewarm.
- Your comfy chair. No matter how the setup, you’re never comfortable at these conferences.
- And, probably the best, sweats (or pj’s) and a ballcap.
We sat in 9 different sessions throughout the two-day Marketing Profs B2B Forum and each session was unique in its message and offered many takeaways. We would like to share our ONE key learning from each … don’t get us wrong, there were several more, but we are highlighting the one that addresses our common client challenges and questions:
1. Build Fans of Your Business.
Mix business and passion; people love it. Yes, get personal. This is a great way to grow fans, and yes, business growth too. The act of making business personal is an untapped strategy and potential opportunity to stand out when everyone is vying for the coveted prospect’s attention, especially in B2B.
Yes, You Can Build Passionate Fans In B2B Businesses1
2. Develop a Retention Strategy.
Do you know who is on the client renewal committee? It’s likely, and entirely possible that the original buyer and the renewing buyer are two different people. Are you speaking to them with your content? Are you building content for “post-sale”? This should be an essential part of your content strategy because you need to reinforce the value your clients have gained. Don’t push your current customers to find a new vendor because you aren’t writing content for them.
Dance With The Ones You Know: Use Retention As A Strategy To Grow2
3. Lead with Data.
Did you know that CMO’s have the shortest tenure of the C-suite? This is because companies see marketing as a cost center vs. a revenue center, and likely you’re not presenting your performance through a data-first lens. It is imperative to invest in the right tech stack to measure performance (not just engagements) and report on it to change the perception that marketing is a top-line revenue or bottom-line profit driver.
From Zero To Hero: Unlocking Your Marketing Superpower with Data-First Marketing3
4. Optimize your Content.
Rewrite old posts and articles. Yes. You heard it. Look at your Google Analytics and Search Console to determine your strongest pieces of content. Take them and rewrite them. To do so, add a case study or turn it into one, include testimonials to pay off the post, update and add stats to it, but don’t change the URL since it has authority.
Advanced Marketing Content and Optimization for B2B Marketers4
5. Create Accurate Market Segments.
First question, are you working with your product marketers or thinking like one? Product marketing can help you answer essential questions such as the cost to acquire a customer, your total addressable market, your competitive landscape by segment. Ultimately this generates the ability to deliver personalized campaigns to the right personas with the right message.
Turbo Charge Your Growth With Customer Segmentation5
6. Position your Company. Position your Brand. Position your Product.
“Positioning is the foundation of which the house is built.” If you have multiple products, you need first to position the company. Each product needs a position and belongs to the ‘family.’ There should be a cascading effect where every product relates to each other. Internally, companies struggle with this. But you have to keep an external focus on your prospects and customers.
Positioning In Crowded Markets, How To Make Any Product Obviously Awesome6
7. Generate Content Quickly.
A cool idea was shared in this session. Challenge yourself to identify 10 areas of focus and 10 delivery formats, apply a multiplier, and get 100 ideas! For example, focus areas might be a process such as a ‘how-to’ or ‘top 10’. Decide on a format, written, audio, infographic, etc. Finally, apply a multiplier like time, demographics, location, etc. And here is how an idea comes together: “Top 50 Marketing Books over the past 12 months” delivered in an infographic and blog, let’s say.
How to Generate Hundreds of Content Ideas Quickly and Easily7
8. Move audiences through content. Build audiences with content.
Audit your current content experiences and identify which pieces are intended to MOVE and audience along the customer journey vs. which ones are designed to BUILD audiences for retention, engagement, etc.
Re-Boot Your B2B Content Marketing Measurement In 20-Minutes8
9. Use Instagram for B2B.
Lots of tips in this one, along with validation that yes, Instagram can be used to drive B2B leads. Best takeaways from this session: create an Instagram-friendly mobile-first landing page to put in your bio. Don’t use linktree because it takes traffic off your website. More than any other social platform for B2B, you need to have somebody monitoring the account to reply and engage with followers.
How to Use Instagram For Lead Generation9
Need support with your B2B marketing efforts? Clarity Quest is a full-service marketing agency whose clients range from life sciences to technology inspiring them to reimagine and embrace marketing.
Speaker Session Sources:
Source: https://mpb2b.marketingprofs.com/
- Yes, You Can Build Passionate Fans In B2B Businesses, David Meerman Scott Fandom Strategist, Fanocracy
- Dance With The Ones You Know: Use Retention As A Strategy To Grow, Ardath Albee, CEO Marketing Interactions
- From Zero To Hero: Unlocking Your Marketing Superpower with Data-First Marketing, Janet Driscoll Miller, President, and CEO, Marketing Mojo
- Advanced Marketing Content and Optimization for B2B Marketers, Andy Crestodina Co-Founder, and CMO, Orbit Media Studios
- Turbo Charge Your Growth With Customer Segmentation, Tamara Grominsky, VP Strategic Growth, Unbounce
- Positioning In Crowded Markets, How To Make Any Product Obviously Awesome, April Dunford, Consultant, Author, Speaker
- How to Generate Hundreds of Content Ideas Quickly and Easily, Melanie Deziel, Founder, StoryFuel
- Re-Boot Your B2B Content Marketing Measurement In 20-Minutes, Robert Rose, Founder, Chief Troublemaker, Content Advisory
- How to Use Instagram For Lead Generation Jenn Herman, Speaker, Consultant, Strategist, Jenn’s Trends
