What’s the next big idea in B2B?

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It’s a question you may often think about – I sure do.

Chrystal Ball - What's the next big idea in B2B Marketing

As I was pondering this topic the other day, it occurred to me to Google “B2B predictions” to see what others may have said on the subject. There were many articles from this time last year full of insightful predictions for 2010, and a few recent ones for 2011. I recognized a few of the authors as people I’ve met and become familiar with via Twitter.

Then I had another idea. Why not pose this question on Twitter to the B2B marketing experts I trust?

Here are 11 tweeted predictions for 2011 from B2B tribal leaders in blogging, social media, content marketing, public relations, marketing automation, inbound marketing, lead generation and more who were nice enough to respond.

@markwschaefer Mark Schaefer
Look for social optimization to augment traditional SEO as companies establish a meaningful, relevant digital footprint.

@elizabethsosnow Elizabeth Sosnow
Extracting insights from your data storehouse and online footprint = Critical B2B battle that seems to lack foot soldiers at the moment.

@mvolpe Mike Volpe
What’s next in B2B is for B2B to start to market more like B2C – focus on the experience, the brand and the relationship.

@dougkessler dougkessler
The next big B2B idea: Take over the Sales Force. Unite sales & marketing into one revenue generation machine. No more silos. No more leaks.

@BrennerMichael Michael Brenner
The Social Enterprise! Social moves beyond marketing & PR to customer service (as has already happened in B2C) and importantly to B2B sales!

@ardath421 Ardath Albee
The next BIG idea to be executed well by B2B marketers is personas. The idea exists, but the execution is poor making content = noise. TMI.

@TomPick Tom Pick
Making social media, SEO, analytics and PR efforts work together.

@Szetela David Szetela
Cross-channel marketing, the technical pieces are coming together.

@juntajoe Joe Pulizzi
Smart B2B companies will become the de facto media companies for their industry niches. For those that don’t build, look for them to buy.

@damphoux Mike Damphousse
Big idea for #B2B: Back to basics. Demand gen programs should educate prospects & result in face time for sales.

@PaulMcKeon Paul McKeon
Billy, I think the next big idea is the "return" of the big idea to B2B marketing. We're all too obsessed with process and measurement.

You may be familiar with most, if not all, of these B2B marketing experts. I follow each of them for different reasons, and all of them have helped me grow my mind and my business for the past two years. If you don’t already follow them, maybe the best idea I can give you is to start now.

The the next big idea in B2B is something we explore every day at MLT Creative. For more about that, check out the video below.

What do you think is the next big idea in B2B? What does 2011 hold? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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Billy Mitchell is the president and senior creative director of Atlanta-based B2B marketing firm MLT Creative. Located on the east side of Atlanta, GA, with a Northeast office in Rhode Island, Mitchell co-founded MLT Creative in 1984 along with partners Craig Lindberg and Glenn Taylor.

Known as the Idea Launch Pad for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions for business-to-business clients.

When can we meet?

Tags: B2B Marketing, Billy Mitchell, B2B Blogging, B2B SEO, Content Marketing, B2B Sales, B2B ideas, Best Practices, B2B Inbound Marketing

Comments

Billy, thanks so much for the opportunity to post my thoughts. I'm honored to be part of that distinguished list and love the diversity of ideas.

Posted @ Thursday, December 09, 2010 12:17 PM by Michael Brenner

Hi Billy,

Thanks so much for including me! What a great collection of B2B ideas, each of which has merit.

Posted @ Thursday, December 09, 2010 12:52 PM by Ardath Albee

Nice one. Great way to crowdsource around an idea quickly and effectively.

Posted @ Thursday, December 09, 2010 12:57 PM by Doug Kessler

Thought provoking post. Obviously b2b is a huge banner - there are lots of sectors and lots of niches who are all at different stages of their marketing evolution. Some rely on stronger trade media, others can embrace content based social media a little more.

I like the points in the original post which cover off bridging the sales & marketing gap, attuning marketing with business goals (ROI still matters) and packaging it all with a great big attractive idea.

Posted @ Friday, December 10, 2010 3:15 AM by Rene Power

Billy,

Good question. I think the next big thing in B2B is reinventing both the buyer experience and the sales experience. Brought on by the necessity to adapt to continual changes in buyer behavior.

Posted @ Friday, December 10, 2010 1:26 PM by Tony Zambito

This little experiment proved a theory of mine about social media, professional tribes and friendships.

I focused my attention on B2B marketing because it's what I know best, although I certainly don't know it all. But thanks to Twitter and the books and eBooks and blogs you share, I know each of you.

The hypothesis was: If I ask, I will receive.

Asking some of the nicest and smartest B2B marketing experts I know, and asking nicely, was the process. Knowing who to ask was the secret ingredient, though on second thought, it's really no secret to anyone who follows you guys. You’ve all proved yourselves willing to exchange ideas freely with other B2B marketing professionals, and I benefit from that knowledge and insight on a regular basis.

Michael, Ardath and Doug, thanks for commenting and contributing. Meeting each of you through Twitter was a great discovery in itself!

Posted @ Friday, December 10, 2010 1:45 PM by Billy Mitchell

Rene, I think you hit on the big three: 1) bridging the sales & marketing gap, 2) attuning marketing with business goals (ROI still matters) 3) and packaging it all with a great big attractive idea.

I love the way you think! Thanks for your commment and IDEAS!

Tony, I agree with you, espcially about the importance of understanding buyer behavior. That is truly the position to wor for - a positive place in the buyer's brain. Thanks for commenting!

Posted @ Friday, December 10, 2010 1:51 PM by Billy Mitchell

I am amazed that Marketing Intelligence is not on your list. Marketing Automation has proven itself - now the clever version - marketing intelligence, as pioneered by LeadFormix, is rapidly making inroads. For under $5,000 it makes way too big a difference to be ignored.

B2B Marketing Automation majors on Marketing Intelligence. It gives you data on who is talking about you on social media, who is visiting your website and how they arrived there and what they show interest in when they get there - with real insight into prospect intent. It can be set up so that visits from companies you have identified as targets are scored highly, multiple visits are aggregated and it can even narrow the field down to one or two likely contacts, even if they haven't given you name and email. It can gather intelligence on who else they are considering, what their decision making criteria will be and who else is involved. It can then help these buyers through their buying process and nurture them towards closer engagement, integrating with telephone and webinar. Along the way it can qualify them so you have really powerful leads. Best of all, the data it yields allows you to continually improve your processes, evaluate the effectiveness of your lead generation methods, collateral and nurturing so your sales and marketing efforts get better and better over time.
Consider it - your competitors will.

Posted @ Sunday, December 12, 2010 11:52 AM by Peter Johnston

Peter, Well said and well played. I agree that marketing intelligence is a great source of ideas. If not the ideas themselves, the data that drives the questions that lead to the ideas. More tools are available than ever for for collecting actionable intelligence. I am not familiar with LeadFormix but I will check it out to learn more. In the interest of full disclosure, we are Hubspot Certified Partners at MLT Creative but we try our best to have a professional working knowledge of all the leading tools for marketing automation, intelligence, ideation and implementation. It's a big tool shed. Thanks for commenting!

Posted @ Monday, December 13, 2010 12:21 PM by Billy Mitchell

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