Work on your B2B marketing ideas if you want them to work for you
I am one of three partners at the B2B marketing agency, MLT Creative. One of our best ideas a few years ago was to quit making excuses for focusing so much on our clients’ marketing needs that we neglected our own. We decided to never again justify weaknesses in our own marketing efforts with the old “cobblers' kids have no shoes” line; after all, our agency is similar to our clients in that we are a B2B business ourselves.
From that point on, everything we did to market ourselves needed to be a shining example of best practices and a “working lab” for our clients. This would be a catalyst for innovation and a proving ground for the constantly evolving tools available to B2B marketers.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing, with complete transparency, some of the results we have achieved for MLT Creative and for our other B2B clients.
As engaged as we are with social media, blogging and content marketing, as well as integrating inbound, outbound and marketing automation, we’re also investing in what Harry Beckwith, author of “What Clients Love,” calls “white-hot centers” of influence.
Last year, we created a white-hot center right here on the MLT campus, called The Idea Launch Lab. It’s equipped with all the latest ideation toys and technology, but what’s best about this space is the personal, purposeful engagement we share with clients and prospects. We’ve hosted countless meetings in the Idea Launch Lab, and many of the ideas started or shaped there are now at work for those clients – and for us, too.
Here are two short videos that show the Idea Launch Lab in action. The first chronicles an event we were pleased to host for Storyville Coffee that helped raise funds for IJM, the International Justice Mission to fight slavery and human trafficking around the world. The other video briefly touches on several of the deep-dives we’ve conducted with clients and various business groups.
With so much focus on and discussion about social media, what is your business doing in real life that’s making a difference and driving results? I’m interested to hear about it.
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.
View Billy's Other Blog Posts
Download advanced content from our B2B Marketing Idea Series: