The Information Game
There is a game B2B marketers around the globe play every day. The stakes are always high, the rules are never the same, the goals can change during the game, and it often takes months to determine a winner. The game is played in every industry and with all types of products and services. Any number can play, but in most instances, there are five or six participants—all with different roles, agendas and experience levels. Players can come from the client side, the agency side or an outside consultant. This challenging contest has no official title. In fact, most B2B marketers don’t even realize they’re playing. For the sake of this article, we’ll
The Social Sandbox: Good news, bad news
Editor’s note: This the latest article in an occasional series covering the turbulent world of social media for businesses. We’re calling this series The Social Sandbox. This time we dig into the shifting perceptions of X and LinkedIn. There are some bullies in the social sandbox. These brats will ruin the day for the rest of us if they have their way. Fortunately, there are also some new faces coming in and some positive developments for everyone. How can we balance the positive and the negative? With an article that shares the bad news along with the good news. Let’s start on the dark side. The bad news: Time to axe X? Remember Twitter? At
Your brand channel
Have you ever watched YES? (We see you nodding, 368,000 Yankees fans.) How about the Magnolia Network? (We see you too, 170,000 Chip and Joanna Gaines fans.) Anyone binging on NFL Network? (Wow, you’re over 50 million strong, football fans.) Those networks are, at their essence, brand channels. Each one offers content targeted to a specific audience that’s all in on the brand or lifestyle they reflect. How many people are tuned into your B2B brand channel right now? Believe it or not, you have one. More importantly, you have a large audience of potential fans. You simply need to give the people what they want when it comes to content. For a little more clarity,
The most dangerous question
A major B2B program status meeting is about to start. Every key department is represented, including the C-Suite, Strategy, Analytics, Category Marketing, Sales, Logistics, Social Media, Programming, IT, Finance and Account Services. To underscore the importance of this cross-functional gathering, no one is checking their phones, not even covertly. At precisely 9:00 am, the big meeting begins. First, the CEO reinforces the overarching objectives of the program: capture more market share, achieve better visibility with key decision makers, build brand equity, and make the shareholders happy. Then, Strategy shares a massive omnichannel plan designed to realize those ambitious goals. Next, Analytics weighs in with the KPIs the project must achieve to be considered a