Strategy

How to leverage surveys in B2B marketing

By Andrew Swan Your marketing strategy is only as good as the information used to build it, which is why smart marketers use surveys to gather key information about their buyers to help them not only build an effective strategy but also inform how best to execute it. When done right, surveys can help you better understand your market, uncover buying habits, attain product feedback, measure customer awareness, and most importantly they can help you progress buyers through their journey to purchase in the following ways: Find new names For your significant digital assets (eg. white papers), READ MORE ›

By Andrew Swan|Strategy, Tactics|

Leverage templates for identity, consistency & efficiency

By Charlotte Mackenzie At align.me, we communicate with many different businesses all around the world and, like everyone else, we like to look professional when we do it. It goes without saying that all written communication should contain well-written content that represents your company well. But how it looks visually is just as important, and often neglected. Essentially, every communication piece should instantly notify the recipient of who you are via a clear and consistent corporate identity. What’s the best way to establish and then maintain that corporate identity? By leveraging templates. Customised templates are an READ MORE ›

By Charlotte Mackenzie|Strategy, Tactics|

How to include buyers in your strategy

Some companies defy convention to become great. Stories abound of businesses that excel through innovative solutions that meet needs buyers did not even know existed. Think Microsoft or the Sony Walkman, for example. There are, of course, ways to assess buyers' needs. Market research and reviews are a formal means of teasing out buyers on their requirements, while everyday sales dialogue serves as an informal source. Perhaps surprisingly, however, the answer to developing a strategy to incorporate the needs of buyers rests not with them but in something that happens before they have this need. In advance READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

How to decide where to play

Strategic decisions involve choice: deciding what to do and, importantly, what not to do. This leaves businesses facing a conundrum. CEOs and managers understand the power and importance of focus, but what should they focus on, and what should they ignore? You may have heard about cash cows. The Boston Consulting Group created a business analysis model in 1970 known as the Growth-Share Matrix. The model invites us to map products against market share and market growth. It slots businesses into four categories: cash cows (high market share in a slow-growing market), dogs (low share in a READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

Is Outbound or Inbound Marketing Best for B2B Marketer

This blog doesn't answer this question... simply because it's the wrong question to be asking in the first place. Let's just be clear from the start. We LOVE inbound marketing, we are passionate about it, we preach it, we teach it, we blog about it, we write about it... oh, yes, and we execute inbound marketing campaigns for our clients for many hours every single day. So why aren't we raging against outbound marketing as old fashioned, outmoded and expensive? Because outbound marketing works like a dream - when used correctly at the right stage of the READ MORE ›

By Chris Fell|Strategy|

How can B2B marketers get a seat at the table?

First and foremost, we have to understand that this is not a game of musical chairs. Those with seats do not want to give up theirs, and they are unwilling to let just anyone pull up a new chair next to them. They sit comfortably, entrenched by the common language they share and the accepted value they bring to the business as vital operational elements. Marketing loiters – hopeful for an invitation to sit but, believing its functionality to be discretionary, the table is unmoved. Desperate to have its value acknowledged, Marketing performs for the table like READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

22 make-or-break sales and marketing predictions for 2013

What are the key trends that are likely to impact B2B sales and marketing in 2013? OpenView Labs recently published 22 predictions. Funnel Coach, Bob Apollo was among the contributors and here he summarizes their key headlines. I was pleased to be asked to be one of the contributors. You can read all of the opinions in the full blog post here, but just to give you a flavour, I'd like to share the headlines below. Inevitably, some of the predictions are at odds with each other. Which do you agree with? Which are likely to have the most READ MORE ›

By Bob Apollo|Strategy|

Top 5 locations for CTA Buttons for lead generation

Converting site visitors to leads is a fundamental early step in making your site a lead generation machine. Call to action buttons are a key tool. This blog shares some ideas and experiences of what works. You can add your calls to action anywhere you like, however, there are five places that you cannot afford to ignore. Pretty much every page on your site is an opportunity to convert a visitor to a lead. 1. Bottom of a blog post The bottom of your blog posts is the ideal location to add a relevant call to READ MORE ›

By Chris Fell|Strategy, Tactics|

How to align your sales process to your buyer’s journey

The buyer's journey describes the process a typical business buyer takes as they move through the sales funnel. It's their process, not yours. The journey is not an administrative process, but a cognitive one. The buyer moves from being complacent to troubled, then becomes clear about needs and viable options, before deciding on preferences and opening the way for an acceptable contract. But the selling process does not - and cannot - precisely follow this path. There are steps the seller must take that are important for the seller that are not part of the buyer's READ MORE ›

By Hugh Macfarlane|Strategy|

Sales people: problem solvers or problem builders?

The conventional view of a successful “solution sales” person is as a problem solver. But that traditional perspective is being questioned in a number of quarters. You see, the fact that you have a solution to your prospect’s “problem” is probably irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, even if what you have to offer is - by whatever questionable criteria you might choose to apply - the “best” solution available. Your prospects can't afford to solve all their problems Given half a chance, your prospects will always be able to identify more problems, issues or opportunities READ MORE ›

By Bob Apollo|Sales, Strategy|