B2B Marketing Blog

When we first talked about initiating this blog, we discussed mandating staff participation, even specific procedures. We talked about the number of times each of us should post, whether material should be reviewed before posting, etc. Several of us argued that such requirements were counter intuitive to the blogging process. It would mean, we said, people would participate because they had to, not because they wanted to.

Thankfully, we created no formal procedures and a better blog is the result.

I mention this because I came across a (more…)

Maybe late on a Friday isn’t the best time to blog. It’s been a long, busy week (not to mention rainy) and I’m not sure that I’m really focused. I could skip it today and do it this weekend, since the Patriots-Jets game will likely be a blowout 6 minutes into the first quarter. But more than likely I’ll watch into the fourth quarter instead, then answer some email, and there are the kids. Then Monday I have meetings all morning and a report due by noon and client calls and … Sound familiar? (more…)

Will SEO finally put corporate marketing jargon to rest? Could public relations professionals be on the brink of securing universally clear and concise messaging at last?

The Web is an undeniable force when it comes to marketing, but this puts corporate jargon and marketing speak in quite a predicament. The vague terms and complex — yet meaningless — phrases that organization leaders have hidden behind for years to avoid establishing definitive messaging will not bid them well on the web. Although it may have never made good business sense to describe a product or service as an “innovative solution,” it may become a bit clearer to organizations when they realize that they aren’t making friends with search engines using such indirect and empty language. (more…)

NBC’s “The Office” delved deeper into the evolving world of B2B last night as the paper company’s new e-commerce Web site officially launched. This sparked a true galactic battle as Dunder Mifflin’s top salesman vowed to beat the Web site’s sales for a day. Despite the humor and obvious jabs at B2B being behind the times, this raises a valid question, “Can sales teams and e-commerce co-exist?”

My answer, “Of course they can!” (more…)

It struck me recently that marriage and marketing have at least one thing in common: both of them work best when they have open and honest communications. (more…)

You’ve heard the 50 year old quote “Half of our advertising is working. We just don’t know which half.” Yet, it’s astonishing how many CEOs at B2B companies still accept vague marketing performance as a fact of life.

Batting 500 may be great in baseball, but not in marketing or sales. CEOs have to demand that every marketing activity has a measurable ROI. No more strikeouts. No more pop ups. Marketing objectives like branding and positioning are simply a means to an end. The true measure of marketing success has to be sales success. 

In today’s Internet-enabled world marketing has to be held accountable. Why? Because B2B buyers have changed. They no longer wait for sales people to inform them about products. They are more independent. According a July 2007 survey of buyers in the chemical industry, less than 28% said they rely on sales people for information on new products. Buyers are out there on the web beginning the buying process long before your sales people call. Without marketing, you will be left on the bench. So be aware. Be demanding. Be a winner.

For those who don’t watch The Office, the sitcom parodies the 9-to-5 business world through the lives of employees at Dunder-Mifflin — a B2B company in the paper industry. In this season’s second episode, the company faces a top executive who wants to bring Dunder-Mifflin into the digital age with a new Web site to replace one that has long been under construction. The chaos that ensues is the sitcom’s own irreverent way of showing how B2B companies often struggle to adapt to new technologies that will help boost sales.

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I recently came across an interesting measuring tool for social media involvement by David Gammel. He identified four levels of engagement in the blogosphere. According to David, blog participation is ranked from 0 to 3, Unengaged to Fully Engaged. On behalf of the business-to-business word, I would like to propose an intermediate, fifth level, and a very populated one at that. Level .5. (more…)

Schubert Communications eats, sleeps and breathes Sales-Centric Marketing™

It truly is simple. The sales-centric mindset proposes that a company’s marketing and sales teams work in concert to develop strategies and select tactics
that will most impact sales. It views a company’s marketing department as an extension of the sales department. Both are committed to communicating with prospective buyers to move them through the sales cycle toward a closed sale. The only difference is that salespeople do so through one-on-one communications, while marketers use mass communications tactics.

This podcast explains our methodology.

Sales-Centric Marketing Podcast

I was recently asked by an editor to provide an article that essentially told his readers how to “do SEO”. This really flabergasted me. Did he really think that was possible, especially considering his readers are not interactive professionals?
The truth is, I would love to be able to nail down SEO (or Public Relations or Product Launches or Thought Leadership) in a few easy steps. If that were the case we would be able to sell its importance to our clients much easier. But, that just isn’t tangible. Certain services can’t be bought in a box…

…or taught in 1000 words or less.