The Power of Bottom-Up Branding

Every marketer should read the recent Harvard Business Review article, “Branding in the Age of Social Media,” by Douglas Holt. The former Harvard and Oxford University professor asserts that most businesses are failing with social media because they’re using the same tactics they used in the days of mass media. This familiar strategy is called “branded content.” The idea is to create memorable content that people come to associate with a brand. It's not a new idea. Back in the 1950s brands sponsored popular TV shows, and legendary advertising campaigns like “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” were based upon the same id…

25 B2B Marketers Sound Off on 2016 Priorities

I was delighted when B2B Marketing Zone – a website and newsletter that I devour - asked me to be one of 25 contributors to its "B2B Marketing Trends for 2016" e-book. I love this content concept, and it’s an idea more B2B marketers could adopt. Contact influencers in your market – or even your own customers or subject matter experts – and ask them for short paragraphs on a topic, then combine that content into an e-book. Then do what Tom Pick and Tony Karrer of B2B Marketing Zone did – make it easy for people to compose posts like this one and share the book through their social networks. Your contributors will be flattered …

What’s next for B2B social media in 2016

By Paul Gillin,  January 2016 I was recently contacted by a B2B publication looking for some thoughts on what’s coming up in the next year. I thought some of the questions were interesting and worth sharing here. What trends are gaining momentum in B2B social media right now? B2B marketers are finally realizing that merely throwing content into the ether is both expensive and wasteful, so they’re trying to target their content better to the audience and purpose. Marketers realize that buyers are people, not demographic segments, so they are appealing more to the motivations that influence human behavior. That’s one reason we s…

The Buyer Journey & Social Selling

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Chinese proverb The journey of the buyer usually begins with a single step called search. Buyers have questions and they are searching for answers. Google puts the number of B2B researchers who are online using search to research business purchases at 90%, which is where you can be helpful by providing the content that feeds that need. “If only it were that simple.” Common refrain Creating and tagging content is what we marketers do best. Need a testimonial? A case study? A stat? We’ve got that. How about a demo video? We can get one made, but will it be effective? That …

Struggling to find content for your content marketing program? Our Oct. 21 e-seminar is for you

By Paul Gillin  October 2015 U.S. companies will spend more than $4 billion on content marketing this year, and an estimated 90% of B2B marketers currently have content marketing initiatives. In the age of search and social referrals, attracting prospects with high-quality content is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. But creating content that’s relevant to sophisticated buyers is no simple task. The most successful content marketers enlist subject matter experts (SMEs), or the people who design, build and support the products, to tell their stories best. “My job is to get engineers talking to customers and then get out of the…

How to Get Subject Matter Experts Active In Your Content Marketing Program

Getting subject matter experts (SMEs) to support a company’s content marketing programs can be one of the most fulfilling experiences a B2B marketer can experience. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most difficult to achieve. SMEs are the core of the business. As a result, they’re expensive and their time is precious. Some – usually a majority - are not skilled communicators and fear that they will embarrass themselves or the company. Their managers may also guard them closely, fearing that their own organizations will suffer the loss of an SME’s time or believing – with some justification – that spotlighting will make the…

Tip of the Week: Introduction to Storify

In this week's Tip, Profitecture coach Kyle Naumann, provides an introduction to Storify. Storify allows users to compile content from the social platforms in a narrated story which provides context to the overall message. Simple to use and fun to share! …