Hugh Macfarlane, Author at align.me

Kicking B2B marketing insights into action

At the end of day 2 at DemandCon, B2B marketing attendees should have all the advice you need to create a truly excellent Funnel Plan. The trick will be applying what you have learnt when you return to your B2B marketing company, and you are faced with the same problems that were there when you left for the conference. Whether its resource-shortages, process faults or a lack of alignment, your team will only be as strong as the processes that underlie it. You need to be confident that these processes are in order, and that the whole READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Skills|

B2B Marketing and Sales Alignment: The Making of Concur

B2B marketing and sales professionals often hear about how they need to align themselves for successful business outcomes. As simple as it is to say, the reality is that it is often quite a difficult thing to achieve, and in some cases a seemingly insurmountable task. So it helps to be able to learn from companies that have succeeded in achieving alignment. According to David Lewis’s their DemandCon presentation blurb, “when it comes to marketing automation, no one has more experience then DemandGen with implementing end-to-end lead management systems to align sales and marketing.” As Founder and READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Alignment|

B2B marketing that reaches executives

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Is there a failsafe way to engage executives as prospects in B2B marketing strategies? We talked about selling to crazy-busy people when we reviewed Jill Konrath’s presentation titled to that effect, but it’s definitely a topic that B2B marketing professionals are drawn too. This is why I’m confident that Adrian Ott’s presentation will be a welcome addition to the DemandCon agenda. So what will Adrian have to say about the matter? Adrian has promised to cover the “new rules for engaging today’s 24-Hour Executive”: How much time executive decision-makers READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy, Velocity|

Nurturing your Leads with Segmentation & Automation

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Surely this is a goal for most B2B marketing teams. But of course personalisation often reads as almost synonymous with difficult, so it sets the alarm bells start ring for many of us. The trouble is you will get better results with personalised B2B marketing tactics. At align.me we certainly believe in clear, specific tactics for carrying-out optimised B2B marketing and sales solutions. So is there any way to take the difficulty out of personalisation? Just after my own heart, Kim Albee believes a nurturing attitude to prospects will READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics, Velocity|

B2B Marketing Nirvana – targeting emails

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... We’ve had a social media Mecca and now we’ve got a B2B marketing nirvana. Dictionary.com defines nirvana as, “a place or state characterised by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry, and the external world”. So if there is a B2B marketing ‘nirvana’, in what sense can you achieve it? Firstly, you would need to cut-out marketing tactics that are all worry and no results. People are almost immune to mass marketing efforts these days, so B2B marketing professionals need to be all-the-more savvy. To do this they need to READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics, Velocity|

Metric-Based Process to Generate Sales-Worthy Leads

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Metrics for every stage of the lead-conditioning process? B2B marketing professionals will know that proving their worth to the rest of the organisation can prove painful at times. But when metrics are in place, they can serve to facilitate better planning, lead-readiness and maximise ROI. What you need is a solid set of metrics to align with your B2B marketing processes. So what are they? Laurie Beasley, President Beasley Direct, and Tom Judge, VP of Strategy at Direct Marketing Partners, will talk about creating a metrics-based B2B marketing process READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy, Velocity|

Marketing Operations of the Future

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Marketing Automation doesn’t happen overnight. There is a transition process involved. B2B marketing organisations will need to work through this process and respond to new ways of doing things as they go. B2B marketing delivery, user tracking, scoring and strategy all come into play. So what does this mean for the whole B2B marketing team? It means exactly that – the whole B2B marketing team needs to facilitate changes. And what’s more, B2B sales teams need to be on board to ensure full Marketing Automation roll-out. Ryan Abreo, Vice READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics, Velocity|

B2B marketing and phone selling experts at work

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. B2B marketing is nothing without a strong sales team to work with on the same set of goals. The crucial thing for B2B marketing teams to pre-empt, is that their sales counterparts will likely have more talk-time with prospects, and so that time needs to be spent wisely. So how can B2B marketing teams help sales develop this wisdom? B2B marketing strategies should encompass clear tactics that equip sales representatives with everything necessary to nurture prospects effectively. And at DemandCon, READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Alignment|

Is Bargain Basement Data Really a Bargain?

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... You need names to fill your Funnel. There are lists available for B2B marketingcompanies that give you names. But whether these lists offer quality leads is another matter. B2B marketing professional can find themselves torn between the idea of a quick-fix, and using up valuable resources trawling through data to find names of their own accord. This may seem like a catch-22 to some, which is why gaining an expert’s insights on the topic is valuable. Suaad Sait, Chairman Reachforce, and one-such expert on the matter says, “Essentially, poor READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics|

Social media panel for B2B marketing

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... The Mecca for social media in B2B marketing is at DemandCon on May 19th. If you’ve ever thought to yourself – ‘how does social media work in B2B marketing’ – but never quite received all the answers you needed, then I would pay close attention to what happens at the ‘Intra Funnel – Social Media Panel’ presentation on day 2 of DemandCon. So why do I believe this presentation to be so significant for B2B marketing professionals? For starters, the panel will be moderated by Kristie Wells, Founder and READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|News, Strategy|

About Hugh Macfarlane