For 2016, Leverage B2B E-mail's Full Potential

E-mail marketing tops other channels in terms of ROI, per the DMA's 2015 Response Rate Report, and the majority of business-to-business marketers rank e-mail as their top digital lead-gen tool. So if you're a B2B marketer, make exploiting e-mail's potential a 2016 resolution and check out this recent smartinsights.com post for nine great ways to accomplish that goal. Tactic No. 1 is to offer valuable curated e-mail content to gain contact details, targeting by industry and area of expertise. Second, use e-mail to re-activate existing contacts, such as automated e-mail sends after a period of inactivity, with incentives for log-in. The No. 3 e-mail tactic--and one of the most cost-effective ways to boost traffic and engagement--is e-mailed announcements about new products, site updates or business milestones such as awards. The fourth idea on the list is to showcase value or gain contact data by creating a white paper and e-mailing a free download link. E-mail tactic No. 5 is a no-brainer in today's multichannel world: Include e-mail in a campaign to help drive traffic, engagement/relationship-building or action (from inquiries to purchases). E-mail is an ideal tool for event traffic-building, too, including trade shows, seminars, webinars and social chat. So suggestion No. 6 is to invite event participation with a catchy subject line and enticing information. Since e-mail and webinars are a natural combination, idea No. 7 is to e-mail a webinar invite with a simple registration form and a clear, time-sensitive call to action. Sharing success stories is another proven way to inspire action from existing and potential clients, so Idea No. 8 is to promote links to a relevant case study, based on industry and job title/responsibility targeting. Last but not least, an e-mai offer of a free trial or demo is a great way to gain leads. To pump response, try an automated e-mail follow-up to non-responders with a limited-time offer. For real-life examples of each type of e-mail, go to http://www.smartinsights.com/b2b-digital-marketing/b2b-email-marketing/9-b2b-email-marketing-examples/

How B2B Marketers Can Leverage Facebook,Twitter

Business-to-business marketers remain leery of advertising on consumer-oriented social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, assuming their value is limited to targeting small businesses and sole proprietors. So our thanks to a recent Forbes.com post by Mike Templeman, who offers tips on how to turn Facebook and Twitter into more effective B2B lead generation tools. First, he advises, optimize your Twitter and Facebook business pages with branding, messaging and organic posts in an active posting schedule. Next set up remarketing tags on your website using Facebook and Twitter ad platform tools, which will allow your social ads to appear in a website visitor's Facebook newsfeed and Twitter stream. Then create social media ad campaigns that engage and entice traffic to your website--via promotion of interesting content such as blog posts, downloadable white papers and guides, or a webinar. You can extend the reach of these ads by uploading your own customer and prospect e-mail lists into the social media platforms, which will automatically match against existing members. Templeman advises that you can expect a 30% to 60% match rate for business e-mail addresses on Facebook and Twitter. Plus, your custom audience will now be able to view social ads on mobile devices, where 80% of social users view content. You can also use digital tools to build personas of best customers to better target your ad campaigns. But remember, the key to social marketing success, B2B or B2C, remains targeted, quality content. For more, read  http://www.forbes.com/sites/miketempleman/2015/07/23/how-facebook-and-twitter-fit-into-b2b-marketing/

In B2B Content Marketing, Message Trumps Format

In business-to-business content marketing, substance beats format, or what you say is more important than how you say it, advises a leading B2B strategist. Consider how that affects implementation of findings of the 2015 B2B Technology Content Survey by Eccolo Media. Eccolo Media's survey respondents rated the helpfulness of 10 types of content at each of four stages in the technology buying process: pre-sales, initial sales, mid-sales and final sales. The two most highly rated content types for the pre-sales phase were blogs and e-newsletters. Tech buyers tapped white papers and case studies as most useful in the initial sales phase. By the mid-sales phase, content preferences shifted to detailed tech guides and videos. And detailed tech guides and e-books were most desired in the final sales phase. That's good information for both B2B tech marketers and general B2B marketing, but, to succeed, each content type stills needs to meet some key criteria, advises B2B marketing consultant David Dodd in a recent Business2Community post. The three attributes of successful content, in descending order of importance, are right message, right length and right format, Dodd summarizes. First, comes the right message, meaning content that meets the needs of a potential buyer at the appropriate stage in the buying process. So the right message at the pre-sales stage, whether delivered in a blog or e-letter, will focus on making the prospect aware of the problem or challenge that the product or service can address, for example. Next in importance is the right length of content. Continuing with the example of the pre-sales phase: When the potential buyer may be unaware of the problem, content needs to be delivered in bite-sized pieces that engage without a big time investment. Finally, successful content marketing uses the right format to engage the buyer. Because buyers have such different preferences, the best tactic is to present the same message in multiple formats, Dodd advises. Hopefully, coupling basic content criteria with buyer preferences will set B2B marketers on the road to more sales. For the full article: http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/content-marketing-substance-matters-format-01144993

Why Inbound Can't Replace B2B Direct Marketing

Inbound strategies are grabbing more marketing budget these days, and that can be bad news for business-to-business prospecting. Inbound marketing -- social media, e-newsletters, video, podcasts, white papers and some permission marketing -- should not displace traditional direct marketing -- cold calling, networking events and direct mail -- for three reasons, argues a recent article for LifeHealthPro.com. First, inbound marketing is designed to leverage a prospect's knowledge of needs. But, except for industrial commodities, most businesses aren't aware of the need for discretionary purchases until persuaded by a sales contact. This is especially true for business financial and insurance sales. Second, most business owners and executives are so busy with daily management that there is little window for inbound to break through. That's why the "interruptive prospecting techniques" of traditional cold calling, events and direct mail have higher response, the article proposes. Finally, if the goal is to increase leads while lowering cost per sale, marketers should be aware that the addition of inbound marketing may actually raise cost per sale. For example, if all inbound costs for an appointment with a decision-maker are included, the cost of cold calling alone is cheaper on a cost per lead basis than combining inbound marketing and cold calling to boost leads, based on the article's actual campaign data analysis. Assuming the same conversion rate for leads, the cost of sales is thus increased by adding inbound to a cold calling campaign. That's not to say inbound doesn't have its benefits in warming up prospects, providing compelling online support, or developing targeting data to improve response. The point is that b2b inbound marketing is no substitute for b2b direct marketing, since "waiting for the phone to ring has never been a particularly good strategy," the article concludes. For more on the analysis, see http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2014/03/05/is-inbound-marketing-right-for-prospecting-to-busi?t=life-practice-management