The CIO blog has made a real connection with B2B content marketing.
Take a look:
Marketing is now forever linked to data and is now agile, mobile and adaptive!
The difference between now and, say, two years ago is that marketers didn’t have a lot of data before. Now they have lots of data and they have to make sense of it. They have a lot of marketing channels, too, and they have to tie them together to show value for what they’re doing.
Even at times when the economy was stronger, marketers had to try to do more with fewer or the same amount of resources, according to Sanjay Dholakia is CMO of marketing automation software provider Marketo. At the same time, most marketers “aren’t technologists or BI people, and they’ve been forced to try and figure it out.”
These factors, coupled with the need to prove value, make easy-to-use and easy-to-share marketing automation tools increasingly important, he says.
Not that long ago, digital was something that happened down the hall,” says Dholakia. “Now digital is happening in their departments (B2B marketing), but they don’t necessarily have the skills needed to deal with it.”
- CMOs need marketers who know how to use today’s marketing technologies; think strategically about marketing; analyze the data generated by marketing platforms and make smart decisions; and know how to tell good stories across all channels, he says.
- CMOs need to aggressively seek out “renaissance marketers,” according to Dholakia. Unfortunately, these people are difficult to find, because many of these desired skills have traditionally been “silo-ed.”
“Perhaps the most disconcerting challenge I face is the marketing talent shortage in major metropolitan areas,” says Lisa Joy Rosner, CMO of Neustar. “As we continue to move at breakneck speed, finding and retaining data scientists, data analytics and real marketing talent will become a major pain point for many of us.”
- One potential solution is to create “centers of excellence,” with especially skilled teams that collaborate with other departments, Dholakia says. For example, a company might create a “content center of excellence,” with team members who are adept at creating, managing and prioritizing content.
- The team would work with other functional areas of marketing and other departments to create a “single, consolidated body of content that is prioritized, produced, optimized, shared, and repurposed” in a consistent, efficient manner. Organizations could also have “marketing technology centers of excellence,” he says.
Now let’s distill this down to the mid-market and smaller business owner level and see what we have learned. And what we can deploy to grow sales, margins and gross profits;
- B2B marketing (formerly known as B2B content marketing, is at the tip of the spear for both the company and how it creates interactions with its prospects and customers.
- B2B marketing needs help. Seasoned “renaissance leadership” guidance and direction.
- Even within the ecosystem of a smaller business with limited and precious resources (time, money and opportunities), “center for marketing excellence” is both old and new at the same time. And that approach works, whatever you call it.
Real and valid solution – find a talented, accountable and seasoned marketing professional who can be your guide, coach, teacher and implementer. Yes, it takes some persistent effort. Yes, it’s more than worth it with a measurable payback.
We can get you and keep you on the small business B2B content marketing effectiveness and sustainability best practices path. We deliver a measurable ROI. You get the benefits!
Email us – info@sladegroup.com or call us – 512 799 4676. You’ll be glad you did.
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