Marketing Analytics: Beware the Black Box
- 23rd April 2013
One of the most positive developments in b-to-b marketing is an increased emphasis on data-driven decisionmaking. Growing numbers of marketing organizations are relying more on data and facts to make their decisions. While many organizations are not as far along as they’d like to be, I’m finding that most marketing leaders’ intentions are in the right place. With the desire to get really good at this really fast, marketing organizations are turning to advanced analytical techniques. Marketing leaders are hopeful that easier analytical approaches are right around the corner – if only they could apply the right algorithms to the data they have, they could create more of the insights they need. Advanced analytics offer great potential for b-to-b marketers, but I suggest you watch for three things when considering them.
Continue Reading...How to Train Marketers More Effectively
- 22nd April 2013
An organization’s decision to offer training to its marketers is only the first step in committing to increase skills and knowledge. The next step is to drive participation, retention and application of newly learned skills. Take the following steps to ensure that the investment in training is fully leveraged.
Continue Reading....The Three C’s of Supplier/Partner Relationships
- 17th April 2013
The concept of natural selection is a cornerstone of modern biology. Simply put, creatures that survive are not necessarily the BEST, but those that can best ADAPT to their environment. For the past 10 years, while managing partner ecosystems, I’ve experienced natural selection at work again and again. I am not implying that the best partners don’t rise to the top, but that the secret to a partner’s success is its ability to incorporate best practices that enable it to adapt to an individual supplier’s ever-changing environment.
Continue Reading....Simplify Market Research by Framing Your Objectives as Questions
- 16th April 2013
Understanding potential customers and their needs is one of the most important elements in developing a successful offering. Market research activities like customer interviews and observational research are great ways of understanding needs, problems and opportunities. However, before running out to start talking with buyers, put together a simple research plan. It doesn't need to be a complex or lengthy document – it can simply be one page that lists the research objectives, types of organizations to target, buyer and user personas to target, number of interviews needed and the focus areas of the research.
Continue Reading....Maybe You Already Have Enough Data for Analytics: Marketing Touch Analysis
- 15th April 2013
B-to-b marketers are beginning to analyze the performance of their marketing tactics over time, across segments, personas, geographies and product categories in order to determine tactic effectiveness. The most straightforward approach to this is marketing touch analysis, which tracks the interactions of individuals with marketing tactics on a plotted graph.
Continue Reading....CMOs: The B-to-B Marketing Model Is Changing. Are Your Marketing Disciplines Evolving With It?
- 12th April 2013
B-to-b marketing is under the gun to change, and quickly, to respond to changing sales and market needs. Instead of simply changing the boxes on an org chart, the new marketing model requires a new approach that considers the disciplines and competencies that will be required. Here are six core disciplines that are undergoing change.
Continue Reading....Account-Based Marketing: Four Operational Considerations
- 8th April 2013
Account-based marketing (ABM) requires that marketers deliver results against specific kinds of goals in a more defined universe. That means the infrastructure and process that’s in place for traditional, broad-based demand won’t work without modification. On the bright side, traditional models can serve as a starting point, and with some adjustments, both models can live in harmony. Here are four operational areas impacted by a shift to ABM.
Continue Reading....Marketo Files for IPO
- 3rd April 2013
On April 2, marketing automation vendor Marketo filed for a $75 million initial public offering; its ticker symbol on NASDAQ will be MKTO.
Continue Reading....Why We Love and Hate Models
- 3rd April 2013
We love models because they help us make informed decisions by reducing the amount of information that is just noise and clutters our thinking. In the race to leverage big data, the companies that adopt simple, relevant models are the ones that will come out on top.
Continue Reading....Marketing Stakeholder Analysis Fundamentals
- 2nd April 2013
Stakeholder analysis is the identification and examination of marketing stakeholder interests, influences, expectations and attitudes as they relate to a project (e.g. rollout of a marketing automation platform, standardized marketing reporting or data quality initiative). Its purpose is to understand the political and people-oriented aspects of the project environment, and the processes and functions that impact (or are impacted by) the project. The result is a better understanding of the stakeholders (e.g. interests, relationships), better decisionmaking and greater project acceptance by stakeholders. When undertaking stakeholder analysis, use the following guidelines to obtain optimal results.
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