Business-ready B2B Marketing Advice

Many organisations are undergoing digital transformation today, and while this would typically be something the Chief Information Officer (CIO) would take on, marketing’s newfound reliance on data and analytics has put the CMO in the picture. As marketing has become more tech-intensive, CMOs have become increasingly involved in IT buying decisions as they look to invest in marketing automation software, CRM, data and analytics. A ‘grey zone’ now exists between the IT and marketing functions, and there is some confusion – and tension – between the two departments over digital ownership.

Marketing is increasingly being recognised as a strategic board-level function within organisations, and the pressure is on CMOs to prove its value to the business. Assessing the impact of marketing strategies on business performance is now an essential skill, and today’s marketing managers need to be familiar with the metrics that are responsible for commercial success. There are 12 in total, which Robert Brunning explains in a two part series on the University of Sydney Marketing Matters blog. The first six are listed below:

Late last year CMO Magazine launched its inaugural CMO50 list, recognising Australia’s 50 most innovative and effective marketing leaders making a clear business impact within their organisations. The 9-strong judging panel consisted of respected figures from different parts of the industry, including ADMA CEO Jodie Sangster, former Qantas CMO Tim McColl-Jones, and BeInbound’s own Chris Fell.

Content is king, as they say. The problem with content, though, is that it’s time consuming to create. At the very least, you should be blogging once a week, and then on top of that you’ve got social posting and core content pieces to think about. And it’s not like you can skimp on the quality either. For your strategy to be effective, the content you produce needs to be well researched and well written. There is however a sneaky way of getting more out of your existing content, and that’s by repurposing it. 

The rise of the internet and mobile has led to significant changes in the marketing world. In this new era, the marketing department now requires an evolved set of skills, often rooted in technology, to take advantage of this transformation. We’ve blogged previously about what to look for in a marketing employee, citing the DARC criteria (digital, analytical, reach, content). But while this is a useful guide for determining the qualities of the person you should have in your marketing team, it doesn’t offer much in the way of skills. So, let’s get down to the specifics. Here’s a list of skills that B2B marketers – and marketing departments – need to posses in order to thrive now and in the future.

So you’ve jumped on the Content Marketing bandwagon – you weave your wordy magic, publish a blog post once a week and share it on social media networks. You’re doing everything right, but your efforts aren’t being rewarded. Are you sure your content is actually resonating with your desired audience? Creating content that is relevant is critical, but what many marketers don’t realise is that it comes down to more than having a way with words – it’s a science. If you haven’t got the mechanics right to begin with, it’s very likely that your messaging is off the mark.

As Inbound Marketing strategies become more widely adopted, it’s getting harder for businesses to gain a competitive edge. The pressure is on for marketers, who are struggling to live up to business leaders’ demands for more traffic, leads and engagement. So, how can you compete in an overcrowded marketplace? Enter growth hacking – an innovative and low cost way of optimising your inbound strategy. A recent Entrepreneur article lists six ‘growth hacks’ any business can employ, start up or otherwise. Here are the first three:

We all remember when we were in maths class learning algebra and wondering when it would ever be applicable to real life. Let’s face it; whether you grew up to be a mathematician, it hasn’t benefited your life whatsoever. Why is it that much of what we learned at school doesn’t apply today, when there are so many other practical life lessons that didn’t make an appearance in the syllabus? I know I would have benefited from learning how to do my tax, or how to prepare for a job interview, for instance.

Blogging regularly is one of the hardest aspects of Inbound Marketing. It takes a lot of planning and organisation, but even then it can drop down in the list of priorities. Unfortunately, you really can't afford to let this happen. The data doesn't lie - if you let your blogging lapse, so too will your visits, leads and even sales. 

Relationships between brands and their prospects isn't much different from real life dating. People want to do business with people, so the way businesses build trust with them should be the same process as any other relationship.