Optimarketer: The Marketing Optimization Blog

B2B Marketing Is Now a Revenue Machine. Really.

Business-to-business marketers generally enjoy an advantage over their business-to-consumer counterparts. With average lifetime customer value reaching the five-, six-, or seven-figure range in many cases, the breakeven point on B2B marketing programs is often quite low.

At our marketing shop, we’ve created B2B programs needing just one high-value conversion to make an entire campaign profitable. This isn’t uncommon: Odds of success have traditionally been outstanding for higher-end B2B marketers with worthwhile offerings, evolved sales teams, solid demand levels – and smart marketers.

Now they’re even better.

Until recently, it could take B2B marketers years to dramatically expand a prospect database. Now, thanks to newer data sources, you can do it quickly – for a small fraction of the conventional cost.

These records include email addresses in compliance with CAN-SPAM. So you’re able to regularly market to prospects via cost-effective email advertising – without constantly paying rented media or offline production charges.

Of course, this also means prospects can tune you out by ignoring your email – or simply opting-out. And if you ask prospects to fill out a form to receive a reward, the overwhelming majority will essentially say “Thanks but no thanks.”

So while B2B marketers are able to grow the database rapidly, they won’t win hearts and minds so fast. What’s typically needed is an email campaign that breaks through, makes the right impression on prospects, and gets them to act.

This brings us to the all-important offer. B2B marketers have a story to tell. One that’s multi-faceted. Tied to prospect challenges and opportunities. Product or service differentiators. And benefits.

After saving substantially on media and production, it’s important to plow some of the savings into the experience you provide prospects – from the email advertising to the content series that educates and nurtures prospects as they move through the pipeline to the sale.

Web video is an increasingly popular way to educate B2B prospects. It’s the power of television, without the waste. Video enables you to run a conceptual series packed with emotional ideas – pulled off in brand-appropriate ways. When Web video is executed properly, engagement rates often soar.

In addition to being educational and fascinating, these short movies are easily digestible. Because the campaign is aimed at database prospects, no forms need to be filled out by viewers. And these interactions are measurable. When a prospect has a meaningful moment with your brand through video, the session is recorded. The same is true when a prospect interacts with some of your other marketing content.

Marketing automation technology not only takes results reporting to another level, it transforms the relationship between sales and marketing. The two functional areas agree on precisely what constitutes a sales-worthy lead. Marketing finally stops hearing “All the leads suck” from sales. And sales continually sees more genuine prospects to pitch through real-time reporting and instant lead-routing; triggered campaigns; and other good stuff from the marketing team.

Place all the stars in alignment and B2B marketing really, truly can become a consistent revenue machine. What say you?

 

Business-to-Business Marketers O.D. on the Big List of B2B Marketing Blogs

If B-to-B marketing is your passion, here's a list from Jon Miller's Modern B2B Markerting blog that should keep you preoccupied for a long, long time. Thanks, Jon. (Bloggers: Feel free to copy and paste the list.)

• 10,000 Marshmallows – ViaMetric's blog focuses on primarily on marketing accountability. The name: How do you eat 10,000 marshmallows? One at a time.
• Accelerating IT Sales – Barry Harrigan blogs about online strategies that shorten your sales cycle.
• Anything Goes Marketing – Chad Horenfeldt shares tips and tricks to improve your online marketing skills.
• Approvr Blog – Topics in marketing operations, including managing proofing and approvals.
• Ask Justin Hitt Blog – Addressing challenges faced by Sales and Marketing Management of industrial and high-tech business-to-business organizations.
• B2B Email Marketing Best Practices – Tamara Gielen focuses on B2B email marketing from a doer's perspective.
• B2B Insight - Ephraim Cohen's writes about corporate communications and PR from a B2B perspective.
• B2B International – B2B market research consultancy focused on international issues.
• B2B Knowledge Sharing – Scott Gillum of MarketBridge blogs about the constantly changing world of B2B Sales and Marketing.
• B2B Lead Generation Blog - Brian Carroll's blog focuses on B2B lead generation, sales leads, and marketing for the complex sale.
• B2B Marketing Confidential - Andy Hasselwander provides news and insights from across the B2B marketing landscape.
• B2B SEO - Galen De Young blogs about Business-to-Business Search Engine Optimization.
• B2B SEO Blog - Dave Martin shares ideas about internet marketing for B2B companies.
• B2B Web Strategy – Business-useful, thought-leadership information about driving traffic, engaging visitors, conversion, measurement, and internet marketing from the folks at eMagine.
• B2B Web Strategy – eMagine's blog about driving traffic, engaging visitors, conversion, measurement, and internet marketing.
• B2Blog – Dave J uses his perspective as a marketer in the trenches to write about the dramatic changes affecting industrial marketing / B2B marketing.
• Bad Marketing – Todd Ebert tells the good, the bad and the ugly of B2B marketing, and gives ideas for on improving it.
• Bark in B2B Marketing – Extraprise's corporate blog about B2B database marketing and marketing automation.
• BeeToBee – Not a blog… like Digg for B2B Marketing. Check it out.
• Better Closer Blog – Bill Rice's blog gives tips and techniques that will have you turning more prospects into customers.
• Bill Hartzer – Bill writes about corporate website marketing and search engine optimization for B2B companies. (Bill's website is Corporate Website Marketing and his LiveJournal blog republishes press releases about Search Engine Optimization and B2B website tips.
• Blogfrey – From B-to-B branding and integrated marketing communications agency Godfrey.
• Branding and Marketing – Chris Brown writes for business professionals with an interest in branding and marketing, with a focus on building awareness.
• B-to-B Tech Marketing Blog – Conversations about marketing to IT and developers by Pauline Beall of CMP Media.
• Buzz Marketing for Technology – Paul Dunay from BearingPoint shares innovative ideas and information for marketing technology companies.
• cadenceblog – Ideas, tools, and trends in IT B2B Marketing and Sales.
• Dealing with Darwin - Geoffrey Moore (author of Crossing the Chasm and other books on high-tech marketing) writes occasionally about B2B marketing strategy.
• Demandblog – Best practices in B2B demand generation (back again after a long pause?).
• Elevation: From Thought Leadership to Market Leadership – Britton Manasco helps companies develop and tell their stories of customer success.
• Enterprise Software Executive – David Gearhart's blog is dedicated to helping enterprise software executives increase sales and improve marketing.
• Freaking Marketing – Robert Rosenthal shares all types of marketing tips, including B2B marketing and lead generation categories.
• Guerrilla Consulting – Michael McLaughlin helps consultants market themselves with breakthrough tactics for winning profitable clients.
• I Confess – Rob DeRobertis shares stories in B2B high tech marketing.
• Idea Sellers – Daniel Sitter writes about better tips for selling.
• Industrial Search Engine Marketing – Blog by ecreativeworks, a web design and search engine marketing /SEO firm focused on Industrial Marketing.
• Jim Logan's Blog – B2B Consulting and Copywriting
• LeadBuying.com – Conversations on lead buying, including a blog and an open forum and wiki.
• Life as a B2B Technology Marketer – Paul Woods is a Marketing Technologist based in Brisbane, Australia.
• Manhattan Marketing Maven – Danny Flamberg shares practical hands-on marketing and advertising tips.
• Marcom Writer Blog – Dianna Huff delivers news, riffs, and commentary on all things relating to B2B marketing communications.
• Marketing Interactions - Ardath Albee writes thought-provoking posts about marketing and sales integration, shortening sales cycles, and improving sales tools.
• Marketing MO – Marketing tips from the trenches for B to B marketers, executives, entrepreneurs & consultants.
• Marketing Monitor – Search Engine Marketing articles from Enquiro.
• Marketing Operations at Work – Marketing Operations Partners blogs about the emerging discipline of Marketing Operations.
• Marketing Productivity Blog – Jim Novo writes about moving from a low accountability to high accountability business model.
• Marketing Today – Peter DeLegge blogs about marketing with special attention given to internet marketing and business-to-business marketing issues and trends.
• McBru Blog – From advertising and PR agency McClenahan Bruer Communications.
• Modern B2B Marketing - Jon Miller shares Marketo's latest thinking about B2B marketing, from best practices in search engine marketing to lead nurturing to marketing accountability.
• My Educated Guess –TechTarget’s Client Consulting Team blog about topics such as branding, positioning, and lead generation.
• Opinionated Marketers – Maureen Rogers and John Whiteside share their opinions on marketing (not all B2B).
• Out of my Gord – Gord Hotchkiss blogs about Search Engine Marketing for B2B companies.
• Pacifica Group – Sridhar Ramanathan writes about driving revenue growth for technology firms.
• PowerPR - B2B Marketing – Business to business relations as they relate to marketing.
• PPC b2b – News, articles and tips from the Web Marketing world.
• PR2.0 – Brian Solis' blog fuses public relations, social media, and new media marketing.
• RefreshWeblog – John Rasco blogs about B2B web marketing and SEO news.
• Revenue Journal - Kristin Zhivago's writes about revenue-increasing insights, strategies and techniques for CEOs and entrepreneurs.
• Sales Lead Insights - Mac McIntosh blogs about ways to boost your business with B2B marketing and B2B sales lead generation.
• Savvy Internet Marketing – Pam Swingley discusses internet marketing for technology and B2B firms.
• Selling in the Salesforce.com Era – Aaron Ross writes about accelerating growth, reducing uncertainty, and creating a predictable sales machine in the on-demand era.
• Selling to Big Companies – Jill Konrath's step-by-step guide for sellers who want to get their foot in the door of large corporations.
• SEO-Space – Organic search engine marketing thoughts and insights with a B2B twist.
• Shiblog– Prescott Shibles shares B2B internet marketing and media insight.
• ShopTalk – John Caddell gives a daily look at business-to-business marketing, highlighting trends, focusing on what works and what doesn't.
• Simplenomics – Mike Sigers blogs about sales, marketing and customer service the "Simplenomics Way".
• Six Sigma Selling – Michael Webb writes about improving sales processes, including sales and marketing integration.
• Small Business B2B Marketing – Scott Thompson occasionally writes about marketing trends & insight for small business-to-business companies.
• The Business Of Business Marketing – Mike Bawden shares insights, information and advice on B2B marketing and brand building.
• The Complex System – Jeff Solomon’s Blog about sales lead management, software automation, business strategy & personal methodology.
• The Credibility Branding Blog – Jennifer McLean blogs about accelerating sales through credibility.
• The Innovative Marketer – Steve Gershik shares news and developments from the demand generation industry.
• The Lonely Marketer – The small company Marketing Manager can be planning print advertisement and mailings in the morning and discussing blogs and optimization over lunch. Patrick Schaber discusses these topics and everything in between.
• The Marketing Excellence blog – Eric Kintz of HP discusses key industry trends (such as the social web) and best practices in building the future Marketing function in the tech industry.
• Tyco Blog – Tim Young, formerly of the B2B Lead Generation & Management Blog, writes about sales, marketing, and strategy for business owners and executives.
• WebMama's Look at the Web – WebMama, aka Barb Coll, focuses on search engine marketing for B2B companies.
• Writing Whitepaper's Blog – Michael A. Stelzner shares the latest trends in writing and marketing whitepapers.

Why Most Business-to-Business Marketing Campaigns Are Uninspired Or Just Plain Awful

Marketers who switch from B-to-C to B-to-B positions often conclude fairly quickly that most of what's produced in the latter realm either really sucks or is, at best, perfectly ordinary.

And how 'bout the large business-to-business marketing teams? Many are among the biggest offenders, and their direct marketing groups are certainly no exception.

Why is B2B so bad so often?

B-to-B marketers view themselves differently -- Ask the CEO of the soda company what business they're in, and she'll probably say, "We're a marketing business that happens to sell sugared water." Ask her counterpart in a software company the same question and he might say, "We're an engineering firm that has to do marketing and advertising and all that shit."

Marketing managers aren't in charge of marketing -- In many cases, the people with the real power over B-to-B marketing decisions are in other functional areas -- like sales. There's the stated CMO and the de facto CMO. What's often missing is a true marketing champion. In B-to-C, marketers are more likely to actually control marketing programs.

Sales steals money from marketing -- Talk about the rooster guarding the hen house! How many times have you encountered a VP of Sales and Marketing who doesn't even believe in marketing? In those cases, you'll often find a chronically underfunded marketing department.

Accountability is insufficient -- One surefire way to ensure that marketing budgets remain perpetually low is to not track results to the return on investment level. Most B-to-B marketers that don't show a sufficient ROI don't get fully funded. Those CFO's are great at simple arithmetic.

Not enough first-rate talent -- This is particularly true among small to mid-sized marketing organizations. The business-to-business marketing industry needs a lot more people capable of producing awesome stuff. It's a great opportunity for rising stars.