We talk about “b2b” a lot at MLT Creative. All of our posts on this blog have to do with some aspect of b2b marketing. But what really is b2b marketing and how is it really different than “b2c marketing?” In this post, I’ll discuss the differences between b2b and b2c and why these distinctions really matter.
I was first introduced to the idea of a “T shaped marketer” in Mike King’s session “Technical marketing is just the price of admission” at Inbound 2015. It gave me a better understanding of where marketing is today and what I need to do to be a successful marketer.
If you’ve been in inbound marketing for very long you know that no piece of inbound marketing can succeed on it’s own. In order to succeed, your different inbound tactics have to work together to form a comprehensive strategy. As I showed in my post “The B2B Inbound Solar System: Dimensions of A Solid Inbound Strategy” you can’t do SEO if you don’t have content, you can’t have content if you don’t have a website, you can’t have social media if you don’t have content and so on and so forth.
Because of this, it often helps to have a broad understanding of inbound marketing to be effective. But you can’t know everything about everything, so what’s the balance? The solution to this predicament that many have proposed is the “T-shaped marketer.”
This blog is for those of us that can’t tell the difference between “Sales Funnel” “Buyer’s Journey” and “Inbound Methodology.” If for no one else, it’s for myself. For a while I had no idea what the difference was between these three words. Considering a lot of the blogs I’ve read over the past couple of months, there are other people in the same boat.
Let’s check it out…
If you’ve been in the b2b marketing world for very long at all, you know that it’s full of buzzwords.
What you may not know is what the heck growth hacking is.
This post will compare two buzzwords: Inbound Marketing and Growth Hacking. If you would like to access a comprehensive list, check out my growing list of b2b marketing and sales buzzwords.
So let’s dive in…
B2B marketing is rife with buzzwords that are easily misunderstood and misapplied.
A metaphor: If the b2b marketing industry is a planet, then a b2b marketer can either be a field or a volcano. Sadly the planet is covered in huge, spewing volcanoes that boil up out of the deepest recesses of the planet and then spray their molten hot buzzword jargon lava all over the place. Needless to say, life on this planet is not for the faint of heart. If an alien, unfamiliar with the b2b landscape dares to venture too close to a volcano, they are in danger of being scalded by the lava and retreating to find a safer place to land.
The moral of the story: Don’t be a volcano; be a safe field for aliens to land in.
For the greater good of the b2b planet, I have decided to provide some clarity for any who need it. I have made a list of b2b marketing and sales terms for beginners to learn and (hopefully) veterans to reference. Here we go…
This Week’s B2B Word on the Street is: GUERILLA MARKETING
You’ve seen them in action, from historic photos of Depression-era men wearing sandwich boards on busy sidewalks to today, where giant ads are projected across the sides of buildings at night and street teams hand out samples of anything from cereal bars to cigarettes. From dancing costumed mascots to the Flying Elvi, it’s not the most dignified side of marketing, but it can be effective.
This Week’s B2B Word on the Street is: CREATIVE
The first time a person is called “creative” usually happens early in life, and it’s sometimes used as an explanation for the child being a bit “different.” “Coloring outside the lines” and “marching to the beat of a different drum” are not actions attributed to conformists.
And while the most creative people I know are definitely not followers, they’re not always totally original, either. Creative and original would seem to be synonymous, but it also takes a lot of creativity to apply an established idea or concept in a brand new way.
This Week’s B2B Word on the Street is: NO RETREAT
We don’t retreat, we charge the hill.
Years ago, I attended an Ad Agency Owners retreat in Charlotte, N.C., hosted by Tony Mikes, the founder of the Second Wind Network. Second Wind is the largest network of small and mid-size ad agencies, marketing and design firms in the country, and although we had been members for a few years, this was really the first time my two partners and I had taken the time to attend such an event.
This Week’s B2B Marketing Word on the Street is: DOER
On the wall across from my desk, two images look back at me from inside their frames. They’re old gifts, one from each of my parents, that give me positive encouragement each day.
This Weeks B2B Word on the Street is: WE COUNT ON ME.
As a B2B marketing agency, we help our clients sell their products and services to other businesses. But we also help them communicate internally to encourage, inform, educate, and sometimes entertain their employees.
