Build B2B Marketing Skills with the BMA

For business professionals who market from one business to another, no organization has more skill-building programs, events, and networking opportunities than the Business Marketing Association (BMA). Members regularly leave a meeting with actionable ideas and several new contacts in the B2B marketing field. These regular encounters enhance and broaden the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the B2B marketing professional.

As an organization, BMA seeks to “connect members with the kind of knowledge, people, and programs that make achieving their companies’ objectives more efficient and effective.” Headquartered in Chicago, the BMA has chapters in most metropolitan areas to serve the B2B marketing community. The BMA asserts that members can expand their knowledge and B2B connections by networking at regularly scheduled luncheons and programs. The speakers represent local businesses as well as national organizations.

With members who hail from corporate marketing departments in industries such as technology, manufacturing, health care, telecommunications, and other professional services, a BMA membership would provide exposure to the top-level thought leaders in marketing. The knowledge acquired from an annual membership could be worth more than years of traditional classroom knowledge.

For less formal interaction, the organization also holds purely social events where freewheeling networking is encouraged. For agency marketing professionals, these sessions yield opportunities to build new alliances and meet potential clients. For client-side marketers, the powerful networking provides access to veteran marketing leadership.

Regular attendance at BMA functions can expose a B2B marketing professional to a wide range of topical subjects, and help marketers meet the daily challenges of sustaining business awareness and profitability. With each meeting, attendees can achieve professional development and enhancement as a marketer.

Often at BMA meetings and luncheons, members exchange ideas about the most current and cutting edge processes. At a typical table, the CMO of a building products manufacturer seeking new lead generation ideas for his newly downsized sales force might find himself sitting opposite a recent MBA graduate who’s just finished a research paper on closed-loop inbound marketing. This free-flowing marketplace of ideas is a constant characteristic of a BMA luncheon.