Hugh Macfarlane, Author at align.me

Virtual events for B2B marketing

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... The internet is no longer an optional B2B marketing channel, but a key platform to almost every campaign executed. If we consider the huge changes that we’ve witnessed in the last decade, it’s logical to think that the virtual landscape will only continue to move to the centre of every B2B marketing professional’s world. The best approach is to embrace what you can of the digital world to avoid being left in the dust! Has your company started conducting virtual events? In this presentation at DemandCon, Dennis Shiao will READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics, Velocity|

B2B: Embrace social media for attendance & revenue

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Social media has opened up an entirely new forum for B2B marketing, but many-a-marketer has dabbled and withdrawn from any serious use of these platforms. Even so, best practice for B2B marketing using web 2.0 functionalities has become a serious and sophisticated element to many Funnel Plans. So how do B2B marketing professionals create the ‘right buzz’ around what they’re doing? That’s the question Aaron Kahlow aims to answer in his DemandCon presentation. As CEO of Online Marketing Connect, and Chairman & Founder of the Online Marketing Summit and READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics|

Why B2B marketing needs an element of ‘boy meets girl’

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Who tells the stories in your company? Most of you will answer that your CEO or Director of Sales or Marketing is the default raconteur. This quality makes this ‘talent attractive to B2B marketing professionals, prospects, clients, and probably their friends and family too. It’s simple – people enjoy stories. And good nurturing involves an element of storytelling (in B2B marketing, and in general!). So why isn’t the B2B marketing team fine-tuning their ability to tell a good story? Ardath Albee, author of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale, READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

After the funnel – translating marketing activity into CEO and Board level impact

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Does your CEO know what an MQL is? What about an SQL and SAL? B2B marketing and sales professionals use this language on a day-to-day basis, so they can be forgiven for forgetting that other parts of the organisation may find it difficult to understand them as they reel off acronyms and abbreviations. The problem is that these ‘proprietary’ terms are key to understanding B2B marketing reports. So how do you communicate B2B marketing metric results without these concept-defining terms? We in marketing live in a great new industry READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Velocity|

The power of B2B marketing metrics: demonstrate your value

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Does B2B marketing receive the recognition and support that it deserves in your company? Some B2B marketing professionals find themselves having to justify what they do to the rest of their organisation, when they could be making more headway with their marketing campaigns. One way of gaining back this time is to implement an effective process for measuring what you do. To do this, you first need to know what it is exactly that you should to be measuring. So, as Laura Patterson asks, “Does your marketing plan and metrics pass READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

Prevent leads leaking in your B2B marketing Funnel

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Both demand generation and closing a sale are often a strong focus in B2B marketing strategies. But there is much to be said for what happens in between. This is where leakage can occur, and if your B2B marketing strategy doesn’t include a plug for leakage in the middle of the funnel, then those leads that you nurtured at the top will have been a waste of time. Does your company have a plan for the middle of the Funnel? Carlos Hidalgo, CEO Annuitas Group, has helped clients identify READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy, Velocity|

B2B marketing leads: born from opportunity or relationship?

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... While it is the stuff of frequent debates between Sales and B2B marketing professionals, this is a bit of a chicken and egg argument, because of course they’re interdependent. In B2B marketing, this means figuring out how to optimise leads regardless. Sales relationships require human contact, so even if B2B marketing automation techniques are generating a healthy flow of leads to your company – the process doesn’t stop there, (and probably didn’t start there either). So how do you know you’re doing enough chicken and enough egg? Donna J READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

Science at the top of the B2B marketing Funnel

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... Do you know how to use the internet to find B2B marketing leads? If you’re reading a B2B marketing blog, then your answer is likely a yes. But then comes the other obvious question: are the leads you find via your internet searches of the right quality? There are some great technology solutions designed to help you scour the information on the web for leads, but the biggest costs are incurred by the sales force well after the leads is landed. So how do you get a quality list READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy, Tactics, Velocity|

What to do with a B2B Marketing lead: Best practices for turning leads into sales opportunities

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... We’ve talked before about the importance of handling a B2B marketing lead quickly and well in the sales follow-up process. What happens to a B2B marketing-generated lead in the process of being handed over to the sales department is crucial to the successful conversion of that lead. The wrong processes chew up time, fail to generate revenue, and send the two camps retreating to their respective corners. So what are best practices to help you determine the best process for your company? According to Craig Rosenberg, Leader of Focus Expert READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Tactics, Velocity|

How to build a revenue playbook for B2B marketing

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of align.me, writes... In B2B marketing it pays to have a plan. The problem is that often companies recycle ineffective plans based on traditional B2B marketing, rather than revenue marketing. A successful transition from one way of doing things to another depends on having the right information to guide you. Even better, if you can follow a proven, well-worn path, you will get to the main road a lot faster than you would alone. If one path is growing revenue and the other isn’t, you need to know which one is which, and READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy, Tactics, Velocity|

About Hugh Macfarlane