Welcome to the Marketing Impact Vlog!
Our topic today is going to be like a modern-day SWOT analysis on the state of BtoB marketing. You are going to leave the conversation today with some new ways of thinking about the challenges you face on a day-to-day basis.
To tackle this topic, we’ve invited a special guest to join us. He’s the founder of Brand and Demand Solutions and Partner at Frost & Sullivan. It’s our pleasure to welcome, Gary Robbins.
GARY:
Thanks, it’s great to be here.
NICOLE:
So Gary, before we dive into our discussion on the state of BtoB marketing as you see it, I want to tell the folks watching a little bit about you.
ADAM:
What I love about Brand and Demand is how our mission has remained constant, but how our delivery has evolved to meet the demands of marketers today.
We’d love to get your perspective on this evolution. What do marketers excel at today?
GARY:
One of the things I’m seeing in terms of the shift in marketing is more and more companies recognizing ABM as a key ingredient and an essential strategy to their marketing mix. On that same vein, the challenge is also the definition of ABM, which is a mixed bag, with some organizations thinking they are doing ABM and others actually doing it. So that’s been a big shift.
Also, content marketing. The companies who have been able to integrate their content marketing with their marketing automation platform and create drip and nurture campaigns. And in doing so, they are ensuring that they are not giving every single lead to the sales team but giving it when it’s sales-accepted versus when it’s just that first outreach or inbound opportunity.
NICOLE:
And the flip side, what do you see are their biggest challenges and pain points of marketers today?
GARY:
Going back to the ABM platform, some companies think they are doing ABM and they are targeting 500 accounts. That’s not ABM. The focus on the key accounts (toward 25-30) those are the numbers that we see when an organization is truly embracing ABM. So that’s one of the biggest challenges.
The other challenge I see is that everyone wants to do content marketing, but the ability to feed the machine, to constantly keep the marketing and content fresh, has been an absolute challenge in the marketplace.
ADAM:
Sticking with our SWOT theme – let’s move over to Opportunities. What and/or where are the biggest opportunities for marketers?
GARY:
The biggest opportunity, if we go back to the challenge of creating content and feeding the machine, is to take that research content and dice it up, slice it up. Use it 10 different ways. We have found a lot of success with our clients in taking a traditional white paper and turning it into an infographic, a video, a webinar. Finding ways to repurpose and redistribute that content through different vessels. The ability to repurpose and recycle is one of the greatest opportunities for marketers to take advantage of these days.
NICOLE:
Where do you see Account Based Marketing. Do you see this as an opportunity for marketers or potentially as a threat? When is it the right time to invest in ABM?
GARY:
The ideal time to really dig into ABM is when you see that you have 80% of your revenue coming from 20% of your clients. So that 80/20 rule is in effect, and you’re starting to see similar characteristics of those clients. So you can expand that list a little further to meet the same profile of that 20%. When you have that 80/20 rule in effect, I think that’s an excellent time to start digging into an ABM strategy and look at how you can upsell/cross-sell those accounts.
ADAM:
That makes so much sense Gary. We appreciate you taking the time to join us on the Marketing Impact Vlog.
We’d love to hear from you, our viewers, to understand what challenges you face, how are you addressing them, as well as what you see as your biggest marketing opportunities? As you develop these areas, we just want to reiterate that the Brand and Demand Solutions practice is here to help. We’d love to chat with you to create an individualized program to support your goals and objectives.
Until next time, remember to Grow your Brand And Drive Demand!
