B2B marketing

An SLA between Marketing and Sales is an agreement where Marketing promises to produce a certain quantity and quality of leads for Sales over a given time period. The SLA is tracked on a daily basis, typically in the form of a chart or graph that maps the progress against a cumulative goal

next time Sales complains (and if you’re on track), all you have to do is tell them to take a look at the SLA -- the proof is in the data!

In your SLA, you should get credit for the quantity, but also more importantly, the quality of the leads you hand over to Sales.

Marketers must produce marketing automation campaigns that are even more personalized, pertinent and timely.

Rather than measuring page views and click rates, marketers are starting to focus on numbers that relate directly to revenue

By year-end 2013, B2B organizations using social CRM applications will represent 25 percent of all projects worldwide, which is an increase from fewer than 10 percent in 2011.

To be successful with social CRM, organizations need to be much less focused on how an organization can manage the customer, and much more focused on how the customer can manage the relationship. Without any benefit for the customer to participate, communities and social networks die resulting in no benefits to the organization using the social CRM applications.

  Social media participants contribute very little to conversations. Research from the Online Community Research Network shows that fewer than 10% of people in online communities ever say anything. And fewer than 2% take a leadership role in starting conversations. Therefore, if you want compelling and relevant content – it’s critical to have a content leader or practice who can think like a publisher and develop a strong editorial calendar.

  ITSMA research shows that 66% of buyers seek information themselves rather than waiting to hear from providers. They seek that information through search. 79% of C-level executives do at least three searches per day. They are more likely to encounter your content through search than through the social media channels themselves.

The bottom line: Organizations (and B2B marketers) need to focus on content, thought leadership and engaging B2B tech buyers in channels where they go to consume information.