B2B marketing ideas from Rebekah E. Donaldson (”Red”)
Copywriting marketing materials? The challenge is to ensure prospects are informed, not befuddled. An expert marketing copywriter gives tips on speaking their language.
Continue reading ‘Copywriting marketing materials? How to speak prospects’ language’
Vendors and job applicants pitch B2B Communications each week. So far in 2009, about 1 in 4 indicate familiarity with social media. About 1 in 100 have engaged with us first through social media.
How can busy professionals get a grasp on marketing 2.0 — and start to engage and contribute? I recommend Inbound Marketing University as a foundation. After that, social media mentoring or coaching might be in order.
Continue reading ‘Learn the social media secret handshake at IMU’
I talked with Sacramento Business Journal senior reporter Kathy Robertson this week about the return on investment from the Red On Marketing Blog. Her questions got me thinking about why I do it, and this post is the result.
To ground things in real world and tangible results, you’ll see a screenshot showing where our website traffic and leads came from this week.
Continue reading ‘B2B marketing ROI of a blog – with traffic and leads chart’
You want your marketing materials to carry a wallop, right? So don’t waste words. Here are three words that are almost always a waste. Take a few extra seconds to get rid of them, and nine times out of ten you’ll improve what you just wrote.
In a normal year, alot of missed opportunities can hurt sales. This year, they can kill a company. So it’s time to get deadly serious about avoiding marketing mistakes.
Are there patterns in the marketing mistakes small to midsize companies make? I think so. In particular, I’ve noticed at least six ”gotchas” when it comes to CEO-led decisions about marketing. In a new ebook called Six Marketing Gotchas that CEOs Can Avoid and a series of blog posts here, I’ll describe each one’s telltale symptom… and outline a better way.
As featured in web marketing and e-commerce portal WebMarketCentral.com
Whether you’re marketing to consumers or business decision makers, you’re still marketing to a human being – right?
Yes — but decision makers may feel more risk when it comes to the average buying decision.
Continue reading ‘B2C versus B2B – do B2B buyers feel more risk?’
If you’re looking for practical, best-practices marketing advice on what works and what doesn’t, you can’t beat MarketingSherpa’s research. Nothing but tried-and-true findings straight from the trenches. The recently released 2009 Ecommerce Benchmark Report is full of new information to help drive sales. Here’s why I’m a fan…
Continue reading ‘B2B ecommerce: best practices in 2009-2010′
I’m pleased to introduce Cris Rominger as a contributor to this blog.
In a world where 92% of B2B buyers turn to the web first when looking for service providers, effective internet marketing is essential. Cris will be writing about web marketing, search engine optimization, writing for the web and search engines, usability, conversion optimization, and user-focused design.
Cris’ insights are based on what works in the real world. Her 20 years’ communications experience spans web development, information architecture, user-interface design, usability, web copywriting, and search engine optimization.
Cris joined Business Communications Group in 2007. She helps our clients build B2B websites that engage business decisions makers, get to the top of Google search results through advanced SEO, and, through it all, stay focused on what it takes to build trust with savvy buyers.
Check out two of her recent articles posted at our company site:
By now almost everybody has heard the Internet mantra that “information wants to be free.” What it really means is, “I want someone else to foot the bill.”
I’m pleased to introduce Robert Celaschi as a contributor to this blog.
Robert has been reporting and editing business stories since before there was a Web. He spent many years on the editorial staff of the Sacramento Business Journal and is a former managing editor of the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. He joined Business Communications Group in 2005.
For this blog he’ll be contributing items about effective ways for a business to talk about itself, and how to get others talking.
This he knows. He has helped our clients produce dozens of clear and consistent case studies, press releases, contributed articles, executive profiles, blog and newsletter content, and in-depth guides.
So don’t worry, he won’t be giving grammar lessons. It’s all about what works in the real world.
Please stay tuned!
When a local list broker asked me for career advice last month, I realized that a human element is often missing from discussions about marketing trends and forecasting.
I realized too that inbound marketers can learn from the performance of companies like Harte Hanks — a company that essentially wholesales data to channel partners like list brokers (in addition to selling directly to its client base).
It’s no secret that social media have become part of the mainstream culture: blogs, YouTube, online forums, networking sites and so on. We’ve been writing about the topic for a while, such as the impact of social media on B2B marketing and tipping points for business participation.
The secret is how to master these new tools for B2B marketing. There are few success stories out there, and copying others doesn’t work, according to Forrester Research Inc.
Continue reading ‘Using social media: copying others doesn’t work’
A high profile marketing automation company assuming permission — in an email with subject line “B2B marketing best practices”? Sounds too ironic to be true.
Continue reading ‘From the Shocking Marketing No Nos Department’
If a prospect clicks your ad, does that mean “your advertising works”?
Continue reading ‘What’s wrong with this Google Adwords Ad?’
Today we rolled out fixed-price marketing services packages — and have been asked by a number of colleagues why in the world we’d show our hand this way. Here’s my two cents.
Continue reading ‘B2B marketing services pricing – an elephant in the room’
Today Cris Rominger and I published a free B2B marketing e-book (550KB PDF) called The New Rules of Outsourcing B2B Marketing: What Marketing Directors need in a B2B marketing consultant today.
In it we discuss how the shift to inbound marketing affects Marketing Directors; the 5 essential traits your B2B marketer needs and why each is important; 10 questions to ask a prospective B2B marketing consultant; how to cut ROI guesswork; what B2B buyers are looking for; and why B2B marketing differs from B2C.
We’re hoping to hear feedback. Please weigh in. (Tip: to comment, scroll down to the bottom of an article.)
Continue reading ‘Discuss The New Rules of Outsourcing B2B Marketing 2009 e-book and checklist’
To engage decision makers, B2B companies need to prove their value through a strong business case, build sites and other communications vehicles in a way that fosters trust, and pull in prospects rather than chase them. Helping companies get that done requires special skills.
Fans of Cision’s Navigator newsletter and website can look forward to a new version soon. Editorial director Kim Roberts says we’ll soon be able to rate articles, access new sections on social media, and dialogue with article authors and other readers.
Continue reading ‘Cision’s Navigator moves into Web 2.0 world’
Strong web content is the foundation of successful b2b marketing. My colleague Cris Rominger has posted two great articles on writing web content. And on Thursday next week is a training session by MarketingSherpa called How to Create High Conversion Lead Generation Content.
Continue reading ‘Writing web content – articles and training’
It was hard to pick just a few ‘best’ tweets from this fall. I started with dozens of favorites. Here are 10 that killed me.
Here’s a countdown of 10 toons, articles, and videos I can’t stop laughing over.
It’s standard practice for marketers to plan their companies’ newsletter communications using an editorial calendar. Marketers should back off that sort of approach when it comes to a company wading into Twitter. In fact, Johnny Cash is great inspiration if you’re thinking of using Twitter for business. He’s authentic – ugly, even, up close. And his revelations are anything but boring.
I’m working on a list of action items I have for our main website. Meantime, a thought struck me: is my site obsolete?
My web team may kill me for writing this. And for good reason. They’ve got blood and sweat in that nav, content and tags. So am I nuts? And which articles on this am I overlooking? I’m sure there are many good ones.
Continue reading ‘B2B website design: can comments save websites?’
There were dynamite questions to Laura Ramos and me on today’s Forrester teleconference about B2B Marketing Obsolete, Really? (Part III). Let’s continue the conversation!
Continue reading ‘B2B marketing’s future: the impact of social media’
Yesterday I participated in the CSUS Symposium on Personal and Professional Integrity in Business. The event was excellent – it surpassed my expectations.
Continue reading ‘Business ethics and the rise of business blogging’
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