B2B tech marketing
Conflict Resolution: How can we be both too expensive and too cheap?
I’m in the midst of a Win-Loss analysis project for a client. Lucky me! It’s one of my favorite things to do, and while I wouldn’t quite do it for free… As always - it’s been really interesting to speak with customers, as well as with the ones who got away.
I focused on the Win [...]
Too many cooks? Just how many folks does it take to make a B2B technology purchase decision
I was looking through an extract from Marketing Sherpa’s Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-2008, which is already yesterday’s news, since the 2008-2009 edition is now available.
One thing that struck me was their chart on how many people were involved in a technology marketing purchase of over $25K.
For small companies (100-500 employees), the [...]
After Mary Schmidt’s "Somebody will always buy it"
Mary Schmidt has a little goodie over on her blog, where she asks the questions we all need to ask when we’re bringing a B2B technology product to market:
Who would buy it?Who would buy more than one?How many “whos” are there? (Horton may be able to hear ‘em, but can you sell to them?)
Oh, [...]
Laura Heinrich on Webinars for B2B’s
I’m not sure if it’s premium content or not (i.e., whether you need to be a paid member to get at it), but Laura Henirich has an excellent article over on Marketing Profs on incorporating webinars into your B2B planning.
Laura lays out a number of different areas - product launch, release of an analyst report, [...]
What Microsoft Has Meant to Marketers
This past week, Bill Gates pretty much stepped away from Microsoft, which got me thinking about what Microsoft has done for marketers and the marketing profession over the years.
First off, there are the tools of the trade that almost all of us use - those trusty stand-bys, Word and PowerPoint.
I’m old enough to remember the [...]
Product Requirements: How to Figure Out What to Put in the Stew
Even though it’s often a no-win situation, I’ve always enjoyed the process of coming up with product requirements. I really like taking all those disparate threads and coming up what will be in the next mix.
Things have changed, of course, since I was establishing product requirements. With the development tools available, release cycles, at least [...]
Social media and B2B marketing
I’ve heard lots of people say that they understand why B2C marketers would use social media, but don’t see the fit for B2B. If you think that, go read what Shel Holtz says on the subject:
Social media actually makes more sense in B-to-B companies than business-to-consumer firms.
…
The benefits of social media to B-to-B companies is [...]
Effective Product Marketing Rule #12
This is the twelfth (and final) in a series of posts on Pragmatic Marketing’s Effective Product Marketing Rules.
Effective Product Marketing Rule #12: Tell your sales people about buyer personas and they will listen to you. Build tools by buyer persona and they will use them.
Over the years, I’ve come to believe that there is an [...]
Effective Product Marketing Rule #11
This is the eleventh in a series of posts on Pragmatic Marketing’s Effective Product Marketing Rules.
Effective Product Marketing Rule #11: Align marketing campaigns by buyer persona, not just products or services.
The other day, my husband showed me a direct-mail postcard he’d received. It was from a Boston-area boat club, and it was advertising some special [...]
Kathryn Roy on Seven Infectious Diseases of B2B Marketing - and Their Cures
Over on Marketing Profs, Kathryn Roy has a great article on B2B Marketing. This is premium content that you have to pay to get at, so I can’t very well give it away here, but she’s spot on in her clever, and voice of experience, rundown on "rampant in B2B companies."
One of "Dr. Roy’s" diseases [...]
