A company’s brand plays a vital role in the long-term success of any business entity. It is more than a product catalog, a logo and color scheme. A brand represents the totality of who the company is as an organization and the values it communicates to and shares with its stakeholders. In the simplest terms, a brand is what customers and prospects think of when they hear a company name.
The B2B marketplace has changed significantly since digital, internet-based communication has become king. With the vast number of interactions occurring digitally, often we’re interacting with prospects and customers before we know it. In fact, most B2B buyers are already 57% of the way through the buying process before they meet with a representative. To better connect early on, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the buyer personas, or the profile and characteristics of your target audiences.
The widespread reach of the internet, growing global markets, and an educated, entrepreneurial workforce mean competition is fierce and constantly on the rise. That requires companies to create a meaningful corporate differential and focus on how they deliver on that promise in the marketplace. Here is a list of nine essentials to help accomplish that goal.
When it comes to purchasing decisions, it’s the recommendations of other people, our peers in particular, that has the greatest influence on us. In fact, 89% of B2B marketers consider testimonials the most effective form of content marketing when it comes to converting leads into customers. What people say about you or your company speaks volumes. And when customers share their positive experiences, it helps you attract more interested prospects and shorten the sales cycle. That’s why it is important to seek out testimonials, prominently display them and distribute them widely.
Last week, we introduced the concept of 7 Habits of Highly Effective Marketers, based on the principles listed in Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. According to the best-selling author, each habit is made up of a unique set of knowledge, skills and desires, which when practiced contributes to personal and professional success. In this post, we’ll discuss Habit #2: Begin with the end in mind.
When a customer purchases a product or service from a company, the nature of the relationship changes. While it is not the beginning of a relationship, all the hard work a salesperson did to get the business needs to be redirected in order to retain it. Ideally, the relationship will become more symbiotic, as the salesperson and others who interact with the customer continually earn the trust and respect of the buyer. This is the beginning of the process to build brand ambassadors.
A true professional embraces life-long learning. Fortunately, there is an ideal platform to make ongoing education an easy habit to develop. That platform is webinars. Since their inception, webinars have taken the B2B sector by storm. Today, over 61% of B2B companies create and host webinars.
Most companies are looking for ways to better connect and engage with their target audiences. One way to do that is to increase the frequency and quality of published content on your website, via social media and in the magazines, newspapers and journals read by people who buy your products and services. To accomplish that goal, it’s important to develop an editorial mission statement.
We’ve all been on the recipient side of gatekeepers as they size up our worthiness to get through to decision makers. Essentially, the gatekeeper is a closed door between you and the person with whom you need to speak. On the plus side, we understand their role: to keep the wrong people away from busy executives and allow the right people the chance to speak with them. On the negative side, gatekeepers may not have the information, knowledge or business acumen necessary to make an informed decision about which callers to put through. Frustrating as it might be, we need to figure out how to work with them so we can move beyond them.
With the continual pressure to do more with less, everyone is on overload. For that reason, it’s easy to go on automatic. When this happens, we tend to do what we’ve always done, rarely thinking about whether we’re on the right path to business growth. Yet more productive ways of conducting business can be right around the corner.
When you hear the phrase “corporate communications,” what do you think of first? Do you think of lead generation? Client outreach? How about investor relations? The bottom line is that corporate communications consist of a wide variety of formats and initiatives that drive engagement between the company and its many stakeholders. However, one stakeholder group that tends to be forgotten in the process is employees and contracted representatives.
As investors, business owners or entrepreneurs, it’s important to understand the shifting sands of the top growth industries in today’s marketplace. Identifying and exploring these industries are critical to uncovering new opportunities, recognizing emerging marketplaces and identifying potential customers.
We are conditioned to think of quitting as failure. We praise people for sticking with challenging tasks and assignments even when they are difficult. As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” But sometimes quitting is the right thing to do.
Today’s B2B marketers face increasing challenges and opportunities. At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to just one key factor: quality lead generation. Traditional marketing objectives include brand awareness, customer loyalty, increased market share, talent recruitment and the introduction of new products and services. But without leads, and the resulting sales, businesses simply can’t exist. While lead generation is hardly a new concept, recent studies show that 77 percent of marketers are focused on improving the quality of leads and nearly half have their sights set on improving the number of leads their efforts attract.
When we think of successful branding, certain images automatically pop into our minds. For example, consider MasterCard’s intersecting circles, McDonalds’ golden arches and the NBC peacock. These universally recognized logos are perfect examples of successful and even iconic branding. While these examples represent B2C companies, it begs the question: Can B2B companies achieve the same
Some suggest that telemarketing is dead. Some research indicates that a mere one percent of cold calls ultimately convert into appointments. But at the same time, other research shows that 78% percent of decision-makers have taken an appointment or attended an event because of an email or cold call. Why the discrepancy? The issue isn’t whether or not cold calling is an effective marketing strategy. Instead, it’s about knowing how to execute telemarketing initiatives that effectively reach and influence potential customers.
Finally, your portfolio is flourishing with successful and powerful work completed for your clients, yet no one seems to be noticing. What’s missing? How about the actual client’s opinion? In fact, 89% of B2B marketers consider client testimonials to be the most effective content marketing tactic available to them.
Most experienced business executives agree that in order to get and retain customers, it is critical to build customer relationships. But whose job is that? In one word: everyone’s. In the 1980s, Singapore Airlines trained their agents in this concept by claiming there are only two departments in the company: inside sales and outside sales. But not every company is set up that way. Traditionally, the individuals who are more involved in building customer relationships are those in marketing, sales and customer service. While there might be some overlap in each of these areas, their responsibilities vary.
CEOs run organizations. They are the highest-level executive officers in the company, and their primary duties include driving revenue and profit, making major corporate decisions and managing the overall operations and resources of a company. Even if the company is small, there’s still only one person at the top responsible for those key functions. As business becomes more competitive, complex and global, the need for CEOs to expand their knowledge beyond finance and operations to sales and marketing is an imperative.
Dealing with rejection is a reality in sales and marketing. Fortunately, rejection isn’t always negative. It provides professionals with an opportunity to set themselves apart from the crowd. They can analyze their roles as knowledgeable resources, use the time to learn more about their prospects and themselves and create a competitive edge to help them with future success. Help your sales and marketing personnel better respond to no by considering the underlying meaning, motivation and reasons why these responses occur.
Organizations such as American Express, Clear-Point Strategy and Thought Leaders International recognize the contributions and value of innovative thought leadership. Not surprisingly, everyone has a different opinion about who should be on the list. And, of course, like everything else, thought leaders are subject to change over time. What’s important, however, is that all of the individuals noted on these lists captivate, inspire and challenge others.
What company in business today doesn’t want to be quoted or published in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Huffington Post, Forbes, Inc., Harvard Business Review, Fast Company or other nationally recognized media? Not many. But it’s a goal that is difficult to achieve…unless you do your homework first. Here are some tips to get published in mainstream media.
To exhibit or not to exhibit…that is the question. In the last half of the 20th century, tradeshows were one of the most popular ways to meet and greet customers, prospects, strategic alliance partners and members of the media. The same is true today. Yet, in the age of digital marketing, many people are asking if tradeshows are still viable. The answer is, “it depends.”
There are three essentials for being a good writer. They are talent and skill, perseverance and determination, and realistic expectations minus the ego. While many individuals who author books, newsletters, articles, white papers and other forms of communication have the subject-matter expertise to produce content, they may not have the other attributes. As a result, the end product doesn’t result in the quality the author seeks.
