B2B Aware: This Week in B2B Marketing-Socialize, Mobilize & Familiarize
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 2, 2012
Top tactics for a crisis-proof B2B lead generation strategy
One in four marketers has a formal lead generation process in place, and less than 2 in 5 can trace a lead to its source, notes Jen Doyle in a report. "If marketers aren’t able to show how revenue can be attributed to lead generation activities, how can they grow their budgets and attain the resources they crave for better lead generation?" Doyle asks. B2B Lead Generation Blog
Social and mobile featured highly in B2B marketers' future tactics
The company home page and e-mail communications still lead B2B marketing efforts, but mobile and social media are poised to become the tools of the future, according to McKinsey Quarterly data. This infographc contends that more than half of marketing executives using social media already need better metrics for measure its financial impact. Marketo/Modern B2B blogs
5 B2B social media questions to ask about LinkedIn Answers
B2B companies have been successful growing their business and driving leads from LinkedIn, and many still continue to wonder how they do this. It is usually through a combination of optimized profiles, company updates and providing value in Groups. Another component of their success is the mastery of the LinkedIn Answersfeature. Social Media B2B
B2B e-mail newsletters gain highest conversion rate
Business-to-business newsletters earned higher conversion rates on several benchmarks, compared with their e-mail marketing efforts, than B2C counterparts, according to an Econsultancy/Email Experience Council study. B2B e-mail newsletters performed better when it came to both lead generation and direct selling, as well as leads generated from sales blasts. MediaPost Communications
How B2B marketers can move closer to the money
Fundamentally, few B2B marketers get the respect they deserve. The day-to-day operation gets the product out the door. Finance pays the bills. Sales bring in new business. And marketing? Well, according to Cliff Langston, marketing often spends an unfair amount of time reminding everyone in operations, finance and sales exactly what marketing does. But it shouldn't be that way. B2B marketers can move closer to the money by reconnecting with their sales force. Business Marketing Association
Catch your B2B customer's attention with eye tracking
According to MLT Creative's Director of Buyer Behavior, Vann Morris, eye-tracking studies have found that when most people view websites, they start at the upper left corner and then rush over the prominent images. So if you’re to the right of an image, you may have a better chance of being noticed than if you are to the left of it. MLT Creative
The clock is ticking on Facebook Timeline for B2B marketers
With only a month to go before the format switches, ready or not, business-to-business marketers need to get their Facebook acts together, writes Jeffrey Cohen. Take advantage of the timeline feature by impressing visitors with a spectacular photo that will distinguish it from your company website, while still linking to your landing page. Putting a "star" on a post will make the timeline timely, while a rich company history will speak to the legacy of your brand. SocialMediaB2B.com
Making e-mail mobile-friendly
Tightening up e-mail for easier consumption via smartphones will improve open rates, as well as your communications skills, writes Miles Price. Craft attention-grabbing subject lines, make your point quickly, keep the call-to-action high in the message and try consulting Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for additional best practices BtoB Magazine