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08.27.08 B2B Marketing Thought Leadership  By Jon MillerB2B marketing professionals in today’s economy are always looking for new ways to do more with less and still gain a competitive advantage within the marketplace. As part of a new feature on this blog, I will be interviewing industry thought leaders to provide expert advice on lead generation, making the most of your current leads with effective lead management, and increasing your marketing ROI. First up in our B2B Marketing interview series is Tom Pick of WebMarketCentral. Tom also writes for the WebMarketCentral Blog, providing resources and tools for the Interactive Marketer. You’ve been a B2B marketer since 1992. Tell us about what you do and how you got into B2B marketing. After 14 years on the client side of B2B marketing, primarily in enterprise software, I moved over to the agency side in 2006 as a Marketing & PR Executive with KC Associates. What’s unique about KCA is that it’s the only PR/marketing firm in Minnesota, and one of few anywhere, that’s exclusively focused on working with B2B technology companies. I also write the WebMarketCentral B2B marketing blog, and manage WebMarketCentral.com, a site that connects web marketers with online resources and services. From reading your blog, I see that you write a lot about marketing innovation. What are your top 3 tips to help business to business companies tackle the art of innovation? First, if you sense that the pace of innovation is changing, that isn’t your imagination, it’s real. According to author Tim Harford in The Logic of Life, back around the time when your grandparents were young, the innovation rate was “one stunning idea every year.” In your parents’ youth, that increased to one world-changing idea every six months. Today it’s a significant new innovation — Wikipedia, YouTube, the iPhone — every two months, and the pace continues to increase. That means when it comes to new marketing tactics, there is no time to wait until something is proven before trying it. Blogs are already mainstream; podcasting is close if not already there; and video is fast approaching that status. It’s better to try something new fast, and run the risk of well-intentioned mistakes, than to wait and miss an opportunity. Second, constant learning is more important than ever. This relates to the first point. Given the accelerating pace of change, the shelf-life of knowledge is becoming increasingly short.
Third is an old lesson but an eternal one: meet the needs of customers. Marketing and PR practitioners have actually, in many ways, been slow to get this. Buyers used to rely on marketing for product information because even though they knew the information would be biased, detailed product information was scarce and difficult to obtain. Today, information is abundant. People ignore — or do what they can to avoid — most marketing messages because they no longer need them. The solution isn’t to SHOUT EVEN LOUDER, it’s to take a step back and try to understand what kind of information your prospects really need. Listen and solve problems first, sell later. What techniques and marketing tactics have you personally used to push the innovation envelope? That’s tough, because again, with the increasing pace of change what’s pushing the envelope today is old news tomorrow. I try to experiment with new tools using my own sites, then apply what I learn to client work. I’ve been blogging since 2003, so as I’ve worked with clients in that area, I’ve been able to bring a decent length of real-world experience to it. I started experimenting with social bookmarking sites like Digg, del.icio.us and StumbeUpon for B2B marketing in early 2007. I’ve had some success with Wikipedia, although the editors there are so hostile to anything remotely commercial that it’s tough; I think Google’s Knol may offer greater possibilities. A recent post on your blog discusses using blogs for social media. What opportunities do you see for companies to leverage social media and blogs to increase inquiries and improve Marketing ROI? Blogging has brought meritocracy to the notion of expertise. The “best” writers aren’t necessarily employed by trade magazine or analyst firms; this is now determined by the wisdom of crowds in the marketplace. For example, look at the Ad Age Power 150 blog rankings. Sure, a few of the bloggers like Seth Godin and Tom Peters would be B2B celebrities even if blogging didn’t exist because they are very smart and have written best-selling books. But how widely known would names like John Moore, Leigh Householder or Lee Odden be if weren’t for their blogs? These individuals have developed an audience by writing great stuff, and as a result, they have built exceptional credibility with their readers. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Jon has over 11 years of experience helping marketers with innovative technology solutions. He is current VP Marketing and co-founder of Marketo, a provider of easy to use on-demand marketing automation solutions that help B2B marketers drive and track revenue. Before co-founding Marketo, Jon was a vice president at Epiphany, where since 1999 he led overall product strategy and direction for Epiphany's industry leading marketing automation applications. He has also worked as a CRM strategist at Exchange Partners and as a strategic consultant for Gemini Consulting. Jon graduated Magna Cum Laude in Physics from Harvard College and has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. |
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