Hugh Macfarlane, Author at align.me

What is the ‘funnel process’? [video]

Hi. What is the funnel process, and what's the difference between a good funnel process and a great funnel process? Today we're going to take a look at five sites that offer answers to that, and then we'll offer our own views on what a great funnel process looks like. It starts with the premise that everything that we do in marketing, and frankly, in sales, is about moving the buyer from somewhere to somewhere, and you need to know what the ‘somewheres’ are. Where are you now, and where am I trying to get you READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

Cold email templates [video]

We were asked to look at cold email templates for B2B. We found 16, and unpacked what we think the essential common elements are of the recommendations. We've added one really critical missing ingredients. It's important. We've added it in, and we've created our own template that you can base your own cold email template on. Today, I'm going to start with the conclusions right up front, then I'll give you the research that led to those conclusions, and then finally I'll end with our cold email template for B2B. Here's what we learned: Provide a benefit READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics|

B2B marketing forum [video]

This week I went looking for a B2B marketing forum anywhere in the world. What I found was really disappointing, a little surprising and disappointing. There are not a lot of events that genuinely set out to be a B2B marketing forum. Those that do are largely dominated by consultants and sponsors. From what I did learn, I think there are five basic truths about a really great B2B marketing forum. I want to share those with you today. A great B2B marketing forum would: Deal with both strategy and tactics, but don't split them Content READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

The importance of CRM in B2B

CRM for B2B is different. A good B2B CRM is built for the sales people first. That's despite all my strongly held beliefs about alignment. There is simply no point getting marketing and sales aligned around CRM if the sales people won't use the CRM, so start with a good B2B CRM is going to be designed for sales people first. Frankly the next time I hear somebody say, "B2B and B2C are the same", I am going to scream. The only people who ever utter such rubbish are consumer marketers who haven't got deep experience of READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics|

How to write an email for Lead Generation

Email remains a killer lead generation tactic, despite everything that's new. And so in this episode, I've assembled five great lead generation email examples and I offer seven steps to completely nailing email lead generation. Here are my seven steps to powerful B2B lead generation, born from those five great lead generation email examples and a bit of thinking. Step one: build campaigns for each segment and divert the traffic to those campaign paths early in their cycle. Two: offer the most valuable, most personalized lead bait you can afford to build. I'll give you some READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics|

How to create a social media marketing plan for B2B

I was asked by a listener to discuss how to build a social media marketing plan for B2B, and frankly I'm not sure you should. Social media, like any other set of tactics, should be seen in context. Firstly, it needs to be sales and marketing plan. Secondly, your sales and marketing plan can't just deal with a single set of tactics. All of the tactics connect. What's going to happen before, what's going to happen afterwards, what's going to happen alongside, in the buyer's journey. Contextually, we need to see the social media plan in READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics|

B2B advertising [video]

Unlike in consumer marketing where advertising may will be your first choice, in B2B marketing, often advertising is the last tactic that you’ll choose, but that’s not to mean that it’s not a great tactic. It’s not to mean that we still don’t need to master it like we need to master every other tactic. Today, I’m going to take a look at some great examples of B2B ads, some papers on what works and why, and give you some conclusion for you to use B2B advertising effectively for your business. Let me start with a READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics|

Sales and marketing blogs [video]

Indexes of thousands marketing blogs are great for SEO. Make really sticky content. Today we're going to review five of those indexes and explain how, and why, the sites have created those indexes of thousands of marketing blogs. Let's start with I've concluded and then I'll explain why I've concluded that. Number one: find the best blogs that you personally enjoy reading. There's no point creating content that you're not personally interested in. That's inauthentic. Secondly, though edit that list with your audience in mind. Third, summarize the content and link fully. Don't steal copy. You're just READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Sales, Skills, Strategy, Tactics|

B2B email examples and 8 actionable tips [video]

Email marketing remains one of the most effective tools in a B2B marketer's arsenal, but what really works? Today, let me share with you some great B2B email examples and eight actionable steps that you can take to improve your B2B emails. Let me start with the tips first. There are eight of them. The first tip is make it all about them, not you. Pack as much unique value into your email as you can, but invert the triangle, that is, pack the value into the beginning. Use as few words as you can, but as READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics|

Content marketing training [Video]

Journalism isn't dead, but I wouldn't want my kids studying it at university. Consumers and brands are producing more content than journalists. Or you could say they're journaling more than journalists. But is your content any good? And how do you get good at writing great content? Today we're going to look at content marketing training. Today I'm going to show you over a hundred content marketing training options. We'll view them briefly, but let me give you first a framework for choosing what your content is supposed to be doing before you get good at READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Skills, Tactics|

About Hugh Macfarlane