In the aftermath of the B2B Summit held by B2B Marketing, here are the key takeaways from the event. The event was hosted with four streams: Inbound Marketing, Content Marketing, Demand Generation and Multi-channel Marketing. No doubt these are all areas close to your current hearts (and challenges!)
Social Media
110% agree! Internal engagement will determine your success with #socialmedia (it has to start from within!) @scottmckee #b2bsummit
— Marissa Pick
(@marissapick) June 18, 2013
Social media has gone far beyond just a marketing and PR channel. With a wider set of benefits and business functions engaged on social channels, the only way to be successful is to engage, enable and encourage internal audiences to drive activity.
“Transformation to social is a business-led strategy – enabled by marketing.” #b2bsummit
— Samantha Bentley
(@SamBentley72) June 18, 2013
And in order to become a social business, marketing is key to drive this change and activity.
“Community building isn’t about bespoke content, it’s part of it but you should be finding and sharing interesting content.” #b2bsummit
— Birddog B2B
(@BirddogB2B) June 18, 2013
Content Marketing and building a community has many similarities. Everything is to help your audience and offer value to them. Within social media environments, this can be achieved through sourcing, curating and sharing existing content, or even customer content.
Content Marketing
Phil Brown, The Channel Partnership: “Prospects want perspective and insight, not a product pitch.” #thoughtleadership #B2BSummit
— Red Technology PR
(@RedTechPR) June 18, 2013
This is a great reminder of the difference between ‘content’ and ‘Content Marketing’. In seeking to provide perspective and insight you will always provide your readers value, but push product messages.
RT @gdavies2: 88% of buyers said thought leadership is critical in the decision making process via The Channel Partnership at #b2bsummit
— Charmaine Petty
(@Charmaine_Petty) June 18, 2013
I recently wrote about the need for practical helpful content, but also the difference thought leadership makes in influencing buying decision. This is especially true in complex channels containing many influencers within the decision making unit. If you are not being thought leading, then almost 9 out of 10 buyers are not being convinced and engaged as they should be!
You can’t be a thought leader unless you have some strong thoughts and opinions. The clue is in the name! – Phil Brown #b2bsummit
— Birddog B2B
(@BirddogB2B) June 18, 2013
And this is probably the biggest challenge in companies being thought leading. Without vision, new ways of achieving outcomes, innovations and original thoughts, how can you be thought leading? In most businesses, these exist. But, they are typically not within leveraged for marketing. Go and speak to product designers, engineers, market intelligence and research teams. These will be the people that can provide that thought leadership angle.
“Don’t be Meh” – @catherinetoole #B2BSUMMIT
— Steven Howe
(@StevenHowe) June 18, 2013
Be awesome. Be innovative. Be thought leading. Be valuable. Just don’t be average, okay, acceptable. Once again, this is the great Content Marketing challenge!
Shouldn’t these apply to all marketing? Insightful, distinctive, a point
of view, relevance, credible, connected and actionable #b2bsummit
— Gemma Davies
(@gdavies2) June 18, 2013
This should be a checklist. If something is not: Insightful, distinctive, a point of view, relevance, credible, connected and actionable – then you are probably just being ‘meh’.
The big picture
Vanilla Ice the ultimate marketeer? Good advice: Stop. Collaborate. And LISTEN! @mariaburpee #B2BSUMMIT
— Mandy Benavides
(@texnthecity) June 18, 2013
With a lot of buzz around the modern marketer and exactly what skills they require, are we in danger of our own hyper in everything we need to excel at? But, if you are looking for sound advice in operating effectively you can do no better than Vanilla Ice. Stop, Collaboration and Listen. Be thoughtful, considered, strategic in what you are looking to achieve and how you will do it. Collaboration with peers, colleagues and like-minded people, to drive best practice, innovation and value. Listen to the market, your audiences, your customers, your peers. Listen to everything around you. In doing so, you will
be better placed to move forward with a bigger level of understanding of dynamics around you.
“@SamBentley72: “#demand generation is not a
short term solution, but a long term strategy.” #b2bsummit” I agree
— Corinne Doherty
(@CorinneSDoherty) June 18, 2013
Demand Generation is a philosophy, a principal, a strategy. It is a journey and a roadmap to a business utopia for demand and revenue growth. It is not a tactic.
4 Cs of B2B marketing: Customer, Creativity, Commercial and Consistency – Great focus for success #B2BSummit
— Greg Dorban
(@gregdorban) June 18, 2013
We have all been taught the 4 Ps of marketing: Price, Product, Placement, Promotion. But, could the 4 Cs provide an actionable framework for focus to succeed in marketing?
And as a lasting thought…
@MarketingB2B @scotmckee – Content creators will rule the world, social networks will kill email and internal engagement is key! #B2BSUMMIT
— Jellybean Creative
(@JellybeanAgency) June 18, 2013
Do you agree?!
