Who is your B2B website?
“This website is bland. It has no personality.” Recognize that criticism? You probably have heard it, said it, or at least thought it when visiting a B2B website. Who knows? It might even have been your own company’s site. With all due respect, that comment is simply not true. Every B2B website has a personality. They can be bold or geeky or verbose—some are even a little schizophrenic. In short, lack of personality is never the problem with B2B websites. The trouble starts when the site’s personality doesn’t match the brand you want to project. If that’s the case, your website will be an awkward representative for your company and it won’t speak
17-year savants
Every 17 years something astonishing happens. Large, red-eyed cicadas emerge by the trillions and begin flying clumsily through the humid air. Depending on where you live, this could be your summer to tread carefully, cover your ears and act like you’re not really afraid of the burgeoning brood. But that massive cicada infestation is not the astonishing part. What boggles the mind is their timing and the way cicadas coincide with world-changing events. Ancient civilizations understood this prophetic power. They referred to the broods as “locusts,” and their arrival was viewed as the portent of something cataclysmic: from floods and famine to wars and baby booms. That thinking may seem archaic and even humorous
4 questions to prevent B2B video chaos
B2B video productions frequently begin with chaos. Clients or coworkers suddenly need a video produced for a big meeting, or product launch or trade show. They haven’t been able to think the project through yet, but the deadline is looming and they need help. Now it’s on you and the clock is ticking. No worries. You can put this B2B video right back on track simply by asking 4 essential questions. In the process you will set the parameters for the rest of the production and establish the foundation for a successful B2B video. Q1. What type of video is it? This is the first question to ask because it eliminates bad assumptions. It
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
The AI to-do list
What will AI ultimately mean to humankind? According to business leaders, social influencers, legendary intellects and emerging thinkers, AI will: Put an end to work Change the world more than anything else in history Amplify human intelligence Reinvent the way people interact with technology Lead to the end of the world Challenge our ethics Optimize production Exploit workers Increase bias and discrimination Allow us all to be more creative Affect billions of people’s privacy Make mistakes Be the best or worst thing for humanity Those wildly disparate beliefs come from sources as varied as Stephen Hawking, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Kathy Pham, Elon Musk and Alan Turing. We won’t use this space
Six tips from expert editors
“Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.” - Ayn Rand “Editing is a lens to focus one’s words.” - Boomm If you have an editor on staff, please send them a thank you email. Their job is to make your writing more focused, accurate and effective. If you don’t have an editor on staff, this article is for you. That’s especially true if you must do your own editing. Let’s start with the most important insight: Editing is a mindset as well as a skillset. To ensure you’re in the right frame of mind to sharpen B2B content, here are six smart tips from expert editors. “Be bold” As an editor, your role
Marketing awards that actually matter
Every year around this time the insanity begins. The first emails arrive proclaiming, “Call for entries.” The account and creative teams heatedly debate over which campaigns might impress the judges. The agency president frets over winning more trophies than her competitors. And the low-key accountant starts ranting when he sees the escalating cost of the entry fees. Yes, it's marketing awards time again. This whole pageant might seem silly to outsiders, but the marketing world cherishes its awards more than ever. In fact, a recent Google search for “marketing awards” produced 1,110,000,000 results. This season you can enter competitions for global marketing, regional marketing, digital marketing, content marketing, broadcast marketing, event marketing, influencer