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Amazon Kindle: what can it teach B2B marketers?

I was intrigued by a snippet of news this morning which stated that, for the first time, a significant book release had sold more in ebook than in print. HarperCollins announced that "I'd Know You Anywhere" by Laura Lippman has sold 4,739 ebooks, but just 4,000 in the print edition.All very interesting, but what does this mean? Has the moment really arrived? Are we at the beginning of the end for paper-based publishing? Before publishers start to sell off their printing presses, I think we should note that this is more a sign of growing consumer sophistication than it is...
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The future of news online: why paywalls can never be the complete answer

Guest blog by Jonas Jaanimagi, head of UK publisher solutions at Hi-media. Premium online publishing is currently at a critical stage in its maturation. Advertising revenues are under pressure and the display element in particular appears to be struggling to fully meet the commercial needs of publishers keen to continue creating quality content for premium audiences. Murdoch’s fascinating experiment with an online pay-wall on The Times appears to be an unsustainable model for all but a few (including The Times!). However, it does put the cat amongst the pigeons and directly challenges the standard ‘free’ solution of a 100 per...
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Twitter = "The Emperor's New Clothes"

I am talking serious B2B here, you know when we have face-to-face meetings before deals are done. I am talking deals of five figures upwards, no shopping baskets in sight. I’m talking multiple meetings, wining and dining, a round of golf or tickets to lady’s day at Ascot. I’m talking months to do a deal not minutes. Now let’s look at what is currently going on in a lot of marketing teams – Twitter account set up, why? Facebook page done, why? LinkedIn profile and connections created, why? What I see is a parable based on the emperor’s new clothes....
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Out with the Old

I admit I went to see Miley Cyrus at the O2. Whatever rumours exist to the contrary, it was my kids that wanted to go. They badgered me at least once to buy tickets. I spent the first few tracks ogling a blonde dancer with my daughter's binoculars, and then there was a pause. The music lowered and Hannah, I mean Miley, addressed her adoring fathers. I mean fans. "This Summer I had to, you know, get away from everything and everyone and do some growing up. So I made a movie called ‘The Last Song'," she husked. I...
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Content marketing – a balance between creation and promotion

Guest blogger Chris Bagnall, managing director for DWA, questions whether there is the right share on the time, effort and budget spent creating content versus promoting it What content can doThe Internet has fundamentally changed the traditional B2B sales and marketing process. Prospective customers for a huge percentage of products and services can access a wide range of information to aid their purchasing decisions often without learning about a company through direct dialogue. The amount of content available online to aid decisions is vast but is it necessarily in the right format to be consumed by your audience and can...
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Anytime, anyplace, anywhere - even half way up a French Alp

It’s now back to reality after a fantastic Christmas and New Year break, the latter part of which was spent with friends skiing in the French Alps.  Don’t worry, the irony of returning to the UK in the midst of the most extensive snow fall for decades was not lost on me! That said the skiing was great and the company excellent. I went with a group of friends, a couple of whom are business owners. One of whom had organised the accommodation (yes all sourced and booked online), and very nice it was too, but knowing him as I do,...
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The Emperor’s New Clothes

I had the pleasure of speaking at an event dedicated to B2B marketers recently the theme of which was around digital marketing. I spend quite a lot of my time talking with B2B marketers and business owners, at events or in individual meetings, but it is rare that I have seen so much interest in one topic. That topic was social media. The whole room seemed obsessed about how to get out there and start ‘doing social media’. What really surprised me though was not the interest in the latest buzz phrase/‘must do’ marketing solution, but the fact that so many of the...
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2010: What are your marketing New Year's resolutions?

By Anna Goldie, online editor The time of year is upon us when some of us start thinking about our New Year’s resolutions and I want to hear about yours. No, I don’t want to hear about you resolving not to clean your finger nails with your pen lid anymore or finally admitting that you are more than a social smoker. I want to hear about the resolutions that are really important in 2010— the ones about the world of B2B marketing. Maybe you have learnt a valuable lesson in 2009 that you are determined to put into practice in...
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Just as you were getting to grips with old world CRM, along comes Social CRM

Imagine a future (and we are talking two years max) where social networks will be more powerful than corporate web sites and internal CRM systems. If you don’t believe me, stump up $499 and read the Forrester report entitled “Future of the SocialWeb”. We all know the marketing landscape is changing at a rapid pace. We can see it first hand in the way we are consuming social media in our work and private lives; the odd blog, the Facebook update, the occasional tweet, the increasing usage of Linked In. Wherever you are right now on the social media curve,...
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Traditional marketing is dead, long live cheap digital marketing - not that old chestnut again!

I was just on our B2B Marketing LinkedIn Group (a plug already!) and I read a response to a question I have heard a lot lately. “Where do I put my marketing spend in 2010?” Do I keep a good mix or bin traditional marketing in favour of digital, as it’s cheaper. The thing is, in today’s market I think this general talk of shifting away from traditional spend to digital is already outdated. “Digital” is not new anymore, I know we’re not yet hanging out with Star Trek's Captain Picard but come on; we’re online most of the day...
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