05 Jan |
Marketing Resolutions for 2012—Pick One, Many or All! |
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The number of people who get stumped by the question, “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” is huge. The pressure is all around and breathing down our necks…what if you are asked the question and don’t have an answer. We have all done it at some point; made up an impromptu resolution rather than appear laid-back and non-ambitious in front of people we believe are important to us. The thing is, on a personal level, making up resolutions that you really have not thought about and don’t care to strive for may be okay. After all, you are accountable to yourself. At an
Read more...06 Dec |
Why Aren’t Your Sales People Following Up on Leads Provided by Marketing? |
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It’s true isn’t it? That’s a fairly common situation in the B2B market. When the numbers are down and falling short of target, the blame game is at its best. Marketing tries to prove its contribution to the bottom line and insists that there are enough new B2B leads being poured into the sales funnel. The sales department isn’t able to close enough deals and a sense of doom and gloom just percolates company-wide. So what seems to be the problem here? Why aren’t your sales people following up on the leads provided by marketing? There could be a few reasons for this and they are
Read more...29 Nov |
Social Media for B2B and B2C—A Carnival of Grasshoppers? |
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Many years ago I watched a TV show called Kung Fu where the blind Kung Fu master calls his young student a “grasshopper” as a term of endearment for one who still has a lot to learn. A quick Google search led me to a scene I remember and I’d like to share it with you. Take a look— Now I’m not claiming to be like Master Po—mainly because I am neither blind nor old! But I was struck at the time by the old man who could see and hear things that others (including the young “grasshopper” boy) could not. My reason for bringing this up here on my blog is because I see a lot of
Read more...27 Sep |
Is Your Marketing Ready to Adapt to the Changing Business Landscape? |
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The crevasse between Sales and Marketing is commonly visible across all types of companies. Some choose to ignore it at their own peril and those that take cognizance of it are still struggling to find ways to bridge the gap. Despite earnest efforts by some B2B organizations to integrate sales and marketing, the gap still remains. In previous posts I have talked about ways to bring lead generation, sales and CRM together. In my opinion, even though sales and marketing teams may have started communicating more closely, the reason their combined effectiveness still falls short is because of a
Read more...08 Sep |
“1 in 3 B2B marketers worldwide report financial contribution metrics to senior management” |
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…But Why Blame Marketing for this? Marketing has traditionally been the first to be blamed when things don’t quite work the way they should. Not much has changed in that respect over the years. What has changed, however, is the shrinking marketing budget across industries, across B2B organizations of all sizes, everywhere. With bigger targets to chase, tighter budgets and fewer resources to deploy, marketers are struggling to implement successful marketing programs. Even more challenging is the ability to track performance and report financial contributions to the bottom line. So it’s
Read more...09 Aug |
Who’s Running Your Marketing? |
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It’s not uncommon to see newbie, tech-savvy, social marketers display their impatience with the “grey brigade”. It’s equally common to see experienced, mature heads shaking disapprovingly at Generation Y who are “still green behind their ears”. The challenge in many B2B marketing situations is that it’s either the ‘grey’ or the ‘green’ in a position of power and calling the shots. Now ideally, the two should blend well so that new age technologies can be optimally leveraged with the valuable mingling of experience. Corporate America is seeing the increasing surge of
Read more...26 Jul |
Effectiveness of Social Media Marketing for B2B – The Debate Rages On |
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Popularity is a strange thing – whether it is a high visibility brand, a car, a pop star – as the popularity charts go up the numbers on the opposite side start to grow too. It’s true, die-hard fans will always have a community that looks down on them (their taste). Same is the case with Social Media Marketing (SMM). You can love it, hate it, but you can’t ignore it. And so it continues to be a topic of debate in the world of business. How effective really is it? Is it only the racehorse for the consumer market or can B2B marketers gain significant ROI from social media marketing? I
Read more...19 Jul |
Comparing Centralized vs. Decentralized Marketing – Finding Middle Ground |
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My post last week drew some crossfire between my friends in the C Suite and their senior marketing managers. I raised the question about whether the bean counters were stifling marketing creativity and it looks like I may have ruffled some feathers! No problem with that – a debate is always good. However, I thought I’d take the opportunity this week to compare a Centralized vs. a Decentralized marketing set-up. I believe that both have their merits and an organization that finds middle ground will be the most successful overall – with lead generation, marketing programs and
Read more...16 Nov |
The expanding social landscape – integral to lead generation? |
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Is Social Technology Integral to B2B Lead Generation? The scope of social technologies and their potential to help maximize B2B lead generation efforts is real and valid. But marketers must look beyond the eye-candy. Having a bunch of social media medals (logos and icons on your website) won’t do much for your sales team that’s out in the field trying to close the sale on a hot lead. But being active socially will definitely help establish greater credibility and increase visibility; both important factors that positively influence prospects about to make a purchase decision. It looks
Read more...09 Nov |
Is There More to Social Media than Meets the Eye? |
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Social Media and B2B Lead Generation In the spring this year, I wrote in one of my blog posts, that “social media is new and evolving”. That was in late April 2010. Today, in the fall of the same year, I have to say that social media has indeed evolved with great speed! This actually makes me want to caution marketers that social media isn’t like magic beans that will sprout into a lead generation beanstalk overnight. You still need a very strong foundation on which to build your demand generation efforts. Incorporating social tools and technologies into tried and tested target
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