I just returned from speaking at the MarketingSherpa's B2B Demand Generation Conference in Boston and I came away very encouraged about the future of B2B marketing.
For the first time I am seeing B2B marketing attract top talent. B2C has gotten more than its fair share because of the attractiveness/sexiness of life in Advertising, the CPG industry, and other Brand/Creative centric areas. Top Schools like Kellogg have been sending their best and brightest into those jobs for years while over in the world of B2B, marketing has been seen as the red headed stepchild to the favorite son Sales. Outside a few companies in Hi-Tech, B2B marketers were usually guys who couldn’t cut it in sales, senior executives who were parked in marketing until retirement, or young attractive women in sales support roles. But the times are a changing…big time.
With the rise in interactive marketing, new digital media, and the need to measure ROI, the world of B2B is now attracting serious talent. Young marketers are now coming into the space. They understand how to use the tools of Web 2.0 to build communities, how to better communicate concepts and ideas, and how to measure the impact of these efforts. They are now becoming smarter at understanding buyer behavior and how to tap into it, influence it, and measure it with tools. Maybe even smarter than the chosen ones…
With the rise in interactive marketing, new digital media, and the need to measure ROI, the world of B2B is now attracting serious talent. Young marketers are now coming into the space. They understand how to use the tools of Web 2.0 to build communities, how to better communicate concepts and ideas, and how to measure the impact of these efforts. They are now becoming smarter at understanding buyer behavior and how to tap into it, influence it, and measure it with tools. Maybe even smarter than the chosen ones…
New talent always bring fresh ideas to the table but hey, us old vets in the marketing arena are not washed up yet. We too are adapting to Web 2.0 and growing our networks. As a marketing manager myself of an industrial supply directory I have understood the need for this 'B2B Knowledge Sharing' and agree it's more important and effective than ever.
ReplyDeleteI am a business owner of a company in the food industry. I have built a web site which is crossing a marketing company with food industry. I have been selling this gourmet cookie product for a decade. The expense of the cookie has limited my outlet of sales. http://hotcookies.net is opening a new avenue of sales, which the cookie is the attention grabber and the marketing literature is the sale. The web site allows a customer to upload photos and word documents. We will create a magazine, brochure or postcard and print bake, package and mail. We are having success with our local customers, but need help reaching customers across the country.
ReplyDeleteB2B marketing online can create as many sales as any salesman can and is a strong foundation for any company. There is a grey area online with website marketing, brand awareness and seo, the lines are blurred and this no clearer with B2B marketing, you can easily cross the boundries if there are any real ones left, when attempting SEO or marketing, the goals are similar and the results can be exactly the same, for some SEO people what they do is marketing, they market a site to the search engines.
ReplyDeleteNo question that B2B knowledge sharing is more important than ever...it seems the driver for the sharing is the availability of more marketing channels that ever, with many in their infancy.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the young talent is familiar with Web 2.0, social networking is already embedded in some global enterprises -- young talent may play with social networking, but the seasoned vets can make it fly.
Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!
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