I came across this interesting question on a popular forum– “Are webinars an inbound or outbound marketing technique? Or both?” The question and the corresponding responses is what triggered the idea for today’s blog post. There is a lot of literature available online, including detailed reports that talk about inbound vs. outbound marketing and why the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Lead Generation’
Is Sales Dying? What Can ‘You’ Do About It?
Across the world, B2B sales people are finding it harder to sell. Leads aren’t coming into their CRM as they were. People are making buying decisions without involving the seller. Numbers of calls to reach decision makers have rocketed (this is backed up by a recent UK survey, which found a rise from 4 calls to 40). Many, however, were in strong denial as here….
Changing Dynamics – The Rise of New B2B Marketing Funnel
With advent of marketing automation; increasingly marketers are looking at the funnel and either thinking of ‘How I can actively participate in it, or how I can have my own funnel’.
Here is where Marketing Automation players are coming in and positioning their product as either a funnel builder or as a means of becoming a part of business revenue as opposed to the business cost.
Once Upon A Time….Converted Leads Into Customers By Telling a Story
Storytelling is a very popular concept in the B2C world. Advertisers and marketers have used storytelling effectively in their campaigns to build brand awareness and customer loyalty. In a B2C scenario it works because you have to relate to someone at an individual level, if your story appealed to this person, he will in all probability buy your product.
But can the same be replicated in a B2B scenario, where it is usually a group of individuals who decide on wether to buy that packaging machine or software subscription? Longer sales cycles also make story telling difficult, it is no mean task to grab someone’s interest and then keep entertaining them for months together.
So can this effective marketing technique be used within the B2B marketing limitations? Well the answer is yes, as long as you keep one thing in mind…
‘Woo Your Prospects, Make Them Fall In Love With Your Solution’
Valentine’s day is round the corner and the season of expressing love is right here. Everyone wants to be loved, you, me, brands, companies, employees, buyers, vendors, just about anyone and everyone you can think of. But the point is can you make someone fall in love with you, your brand, your product, your services?
Of course, as a marketer, I can share a hundred ideas with you, which I believe will make almost anyone fall in love with anything you want…but lets keep that aside for another day! Today, I just want to share some thoughts on the psychology behind love and how you can use the same to make your prospects fall in love with your offerings.
Best Practices in Marketing Validation
Regardless of how talented the sales team may be and how aggressive the approach, a poorly conceived product offering will inevitably lead to disappointing results, if not outright failure. In today’s highly competitive product and business markets, failure is simply not an option.
B2B Marketing & Lead Generation predictions for 2011!
Considering 2010 was such a happening year for B2B marketers, it would be interesting to find out what 2011 has in store, especially in the marketing automation space.
According to various analysts in 2011, marketing automation industry will see even more growth, particularly among a broader range of business verticals and newer markets like, UK, Asia etc.
