Great B2B Marketing
Do You Need a Coach to Be Successful in B2B Marketing? – by Christopher Ryan
March 4, 2010
I read a posting by Patrick McClure at the Sales Lead Management website titled The First Fundamental of Success: Get a Coach. McClure points out that every Olympic athlete has a coach and this is one of the reasons why they are able to obtain such high levels of performance. So how does coaching apply to B2B marketing and sales? (more…)
Push Marketing vs. Pull Marketing by Christopher Ryan
February 26, 2010
I am a marketer by trade but as a consumer, I get as annoyed as anyone by the persistent and unrelenting intrusiveness of push marketing techniques. As hard as we try to get away from unwanted promotions (TiVo, Sirius Radio, cable, etc.), marketers find new ways to track us down and share their messages with us, regardless of our desire or receptivity to such messages. (more…)
Is the B2B Marketing Services Industry Broken? – by Christopher Ryan
February 17, 2010
I just read an interesting article at Hubspot.com titled Is the Marketing Services Industry Broken? The article makes a rational case that services firms are failing to provide good value to their clients in many important ways. And while I believe many of these types of generalizations are tough to justify, there is indeed some truth in the article. (more…)
Pricing Strategies in B2B Marketing
February 12, 2010
There is no magic bullet in pricing. However, we can all agree that maximizing our value to customers is a very good thing for both the top line and bottom line. I happened to attend a very good presentation on this subject at the Inverness Group meeting in Denver. The speaker was Jonathan Bein, Managing Partner at Z2M4, Inc. Johnathan is a noted authority on pricing strategies. Following are a collection of thoughts on pricing, both courtesy of Jonathan and my experiences at pricing both products and services. (more…)
Are You a Ram or Peacock Marketer? by Christopher Ryan
February 2, 2010
I was on a panel last Friday sharing some thoughts on lead generation to a group B2B marketing execs. I was encouraging the attendees to find and articulate their unique value proposition and use it to attract prospects. In other words, I asked the audience to consider moving their processes from the “push” model to the “pull” model of marketing. Laura McGuire, one of my colleagues on the panel, suggested that pull marketers are like peacocks – they try to make themselves look as attractive as possible – to get their prospects to come to them. Like many of the bird species, male peacocks try to be as colorful as possible and perform intricate dances for the ladies, including an elaborate fanning of the feathers – and the more ostentatious the better. (more…)
