B2B Marketing Blog

Five steps you must take to develop your online community further than your blog

We advocate that before you do anything else to kick off your community, you must, must, must have a blog, but once that’s done and you’re in the routine of publishing regular content, it’s time to bolster your efforts with the other platforms available to you.

These are the steps you must take to develop your online community:

Topics: B2B Content Marketing Content Marketing B2B Social Media B2B communities

Launching a B2B online community, where to start?

Great, you’re convinced. You realise that at some point you’re going to have to come around to the idea of an online community for your event(s) and what better time to start than right now? So how exactly do you do that?

Start Blogging! Start your own, blog on LinkedIn, blog wherever you want, but do it consistently.

Well we’ve shown you the shape an online event community can take, so think about which areas you’d like to focus on. We have some advice of our own on that topic but ultimately it’s down to you to fit the forum to your ideal customer, or the place you know your prospects and customers can be found.

However, we can’t stress this point enough – if you don’t have a blog you’re missing a major opportunity to generate leads and build a captive audience. This is the most effective first step you can take in creating YOUR community, though you might not think it’s the easiest.

Here are our 5 steps to blog success, take them one step at a time.

Topics: B2B Content Marketing Content Marketing Event Marketing Conference Marketing B2B communities

Ten to-do's for your LinkedIn event marketing strategy

As an experienced marketer, you’re no doubt aware of the power of LinkedIn as a B2B marketing tool. But are you making the most of it for your events? If used correctly, social media (and LinkedIn specifically) can aid your event marketing strategy enormously, building the credibility of your conference portfolio, and you as an individual event industry leader.

Here are our top ten LinkedIn to-do's to help you raise your profile, engage with your community and ultimately generate leads for your B2B event.

Topics: B2B Content Marketing B2B Social Media Event Marketing Conference Marketing

11 Tips to Craft the Perfect Event Marketing Email

Email marketing is still the majority of event marketers’ go-to tool for promoting their events, and with good reason. When done right the results can be astounding, but in the hands of an old school marketer , email can be an overused (and even harmful) tool.

We’ve observed that the pattern is pretty much always the same: 12 weeks out from the event, marketers start blasting. They don’t segment their lists, meaning they end up sending a blanket email which attempts to provide something for everyone and as a result is pretty lengthy and vague, and try to cram in as much information as possible. The cycle is then repeated until the event takes place, causing recipients to disengage and in some cases even unsubscribe completely.

Topics: B2B Content Marketing Email Marketing Lead Generation

[Video] Old school vs new school event marketing - which side are you on?

I was recently interviewed by Events Uncovered TV, to share my observations on the ever changing shape that B2B event marketing is taking. The premise of my argument is that while some traditional marketing techniques may have worked superbly in their heyday, the industry is undeniably evolving (and some event marketers are struggling to keep up). Enjoy the interview and please comment away if you have views of your own.

Topics: Marketing Trends B2B Content Marketing Event Marketing Conference Marketing

How to take on publishers in the battle for B2B event revenues – and win

A clear trend is emerging: B2B publishers are becoming increasingly aware that events are a profitable opportunity not to be passed up. Simultaneously, event companies are realising that the industry needs to change. They must think more as publishers do in the battle to fight declining revenues and add value to both sponsors and attendees on a 365 basis.

The current sentiment on both sides is "yes we know we need to behave/think/act more like them", but nobody seems to know where event and publisher paths converge. Neither side knows how exactly how to get to this sweet spot, where to start, or who internally is best placed to drive the change.

Largely, the challenge lies in finding the employee who can be bothered to propel this internal shift in attitudes with different stakeholders, and get their buy in.

The actions publishers and events need to take are clear and they don't have to be complicated! Here's my rundown of where the covergence lies, and what kind of results each side can expect to achieve:

Topics: B2B Content Marketing Event Marketing Conference Marketing B2B Publishers

5 steps to integrate your event marketing with winning content tactics

Content marketing is often viewed as a passing fad by B2B event marketers - or ignored completely - but unlike some marketing trends this one is set to stick around. As an experienced marketer, chances are you’re familiar with the fundamentals – but how can you translate the returns of this approach to your event marketing? 

It's all about changing your mindset, and applying the key elements of the content philosophy to your outlook. Ultimately, treating your event as a content offer, rather than a standalone occurrence, will help you to adapt your strategy, generate relevant leads, and increase registrations. 

Topics: B2B Content Marketing B2B Marketing Best Practices Event Marketing Conference Marketing

10 tactics for subject line success in B2B email marketing

So we’ve talked about what not to do in email marketing – now let’s address the positives. There are plenty of quick and easy techniques you can employ to ensure the content you so lovingly crafted actually connects with the prospects you intended it for! 

Most of your B2B prospects will receive countless messages about products and services, new content, conferences, discounts, offers, webinars etc. on a daily or possibly hourly basis (depending on how freely they share their email address). As a result, the key to increasing and sustaining your open rate is to stand out by being relevant, interesting and showing a genuine desire to help. Here are our best B2B email marketing tips to improve your metrics and ultimately win more quality leads:

Topics: B2B Content Marketing B2B Marketing Best Practices B2B Marketing How to Email Marketing

Two B2B email marketing metrics that matter for Senior Management

As a busy director, you probably don't have time to get bogged down in the detail of marketing reports. But since your  company is likely to be heavily reliant on the emails you send to your database, not knowing exactly what the  metrics show (or which ones really matter) can lead to lengthy yawnworthy meetings and little clarity on how your team, marketing and tactics are truly performing.

Topics: B2B Content Marketing B2B Marketing Best Practices Email Marketing

Are B2B marketers drowning in content? Top 3 takeaways from B2B Marketing's Content Benchmarking Infographic

B2B Marketing recently published its 2014 Content Benchmarking report, and summarised the key points in an infographic which sparked our imagination, so we put together our top takeaways as digestible, actionable insights.

Topics: B2B Marketing Marketing Trends B2B Content Marketing Content Marketing Lead Generation

The Battle: B2B Conference Organisers vs Publishers

WARNING: Publishers are invading your territory! Are you prepared for the battle?

Just as we have our challenges in the B2B events space, B2B publishers are also feeling the pinch. The old model of B2B publishing just isn’t working anymore. Not only are publishers seeing a reduction in advertising revenue, but their readers no longer want to pay up. With so much freely available information online, paying subscribers are declining in numbers. As a result, B2B publishers are encroaching on conference territory. And why shouldn’t they? 

Topics: B2B Content Marketing Conference Marketing B2B Publishers

19 Examples of B2B Online Communities - how the big hitters go about it

List updated: August 2016

Almost every time I speak to event industry leaders about reinvigorating their event marketing, the topic of online communities comes up, followed by the question: how are the big players in events driving online engagement with their communities?

Topics: B2B Marketing B2B Content Marketing B2B Websites Conference Marketing B2B communities

Focus on inbound marketing to generate leads for events

As event marketers we all know that B2B lead generation is an expensive and time-consuming business. Those ye olde ‘push’ tactics simply don’t yield the volume of quality leads we’re all desperately hunting.

That's why, these days, it's all about 'pulling' those prospects in. Successful inbound marketing should connect your potential customers with you and your event via engaging content that can be easily accessed on the device of their choice. 

Topics: B2B Content Marketing Content Marketing Event Marketing Conference Marketing Inbound Marketing Lead Generation

Eleven Most Talked About Predictions for the Conference and Events Industry [SlideShare]

What is currently happening in the conference and events industry? 

Where are we heading?

Well, like any other fast-growing and successful industry, this is always the topic of conversation when we meet with industry folk or overhear the banter at conference industry events. Every director of a conference, event or exhibition company is asking these questions and it's clear that anyone not thinking ahead will surely be left behind. As successful as the events industry is, nobody can afford to be complacent especially in this entrepreneurial, digital era. 

So we have partnered with CatchTalk.TV (formerly known as Xavy) to bring you precisely that. The most talked about predictions for the conferences and events industry in the near future.

Topics: B2B Marketing Marketing Trends B2B Content Marketing Marketing Ideas Event Marketing Conference Marketing Inbound Marketing

2 Key Lessons On The Importance of Blogging for B2B Lead Generation

Chances are, if you built your B2B business website in the last 5-6 years, you will either have a blog or at least have been asked whether you wanted one included in the build, even if you said no. Blogs have become ubiquitous, one of those items that is a “must do” for the modern B2B site.

Topics: B2B Marketing B2B Content Marketing Inbound Marketing Lead Generation

Facebook for B2B marketing: How to create highly shareable posts

Earlier this week, in Part 1: Facebook for B2B Marketing we looked at some key statistics from research conducted by Marketo that indicated that many businesses don’t get exposure to most of the people who’ve liked their page.

Topics: B2B Marketing B2B Content Marketing Content Marketing B2B Social Media

Using Facebook for B2B marketing: Our views on Marketo's research

Most people using Facebook for B2B don’t realise that 80% or more of their fans never see their posts. This shocking statistic has been around for just over a year now but when we read the new Facebook research produced by Marketo, published this month, "Contagious Content for Facebook: What people share on facebook and why they share it" we decided the time was ripe to do an article on how to beat it.

Topics: B2B Marketing B2B Content Marketing Content Marketing B2B Social Media

B2B Marketing Radar: 25 January 2013

Hard to believe another week is behind us and we're fast approaching month two of 2013! Well here's our Friday round up of some of the most useful B2B marketing and event marketing stories we've come across this week.

Topics: B2B Marketing B2B Content Marketing Marketing Ideas Event Marketing

How to recycle your B2B Marketing Content

Everybody's talking about it but unfortunately not everyone is doing it. B2B content marketing needn’t be scary! Besides, how does the saying go? "Feel the fear and do it anyway!"

Topics: B2B Content Marketing Content Marketing