I spoke with a business owner recently about their revenue growth objectives. They were frustrated because the first half of the year didn’t go as planned, and their new business revenue numbers were lagging behind the goals they set at the beginning of the year. They were very optimistic, however, that the second half of the year would be different. They were confident they would eventually exceed all their growth goals.

When I asked what they were basing this optimism on, they went on to tell me that they had just hired a new salesperson. And this was not just any salesperson. This was someone with deep connections in their industry and a network of relationships that could get them in front of the decision-makers at some of their most attractive target accounts. In fact, this salesperson was even bringing a few deals with them that they expected to close very shortly. They had hired a rainmaker.       

I hope it works out for them.

Did you know that there are bloggers out there who get most of their traffic from social media? You could achieve the same feat for your business, also, but to do that, you will have to be strategic, deliberate, and creative. Not everyone who has a following on social media is able to translate this into substantial traffic to their blog.

It’s obvious that many marketers never served in the infantry or competed in archery. We’ve all heard the edict, “Ready, aim, fire.” Unfortunately, many marketers follow a different directive – “Fire, ready, aim.” They have it backwards. They jump into executing marketing tactics and campaigns before they understand their target. Then they try to adjust and optimize after the fact.

Your company brand is more than your logo and website. Your brand is your company’s identity. It’s how others perceive you. You can’t buy one, borrow one or steal one. You have to build it. You earn your brand over time. Your brand can be built by maintaining consistent one-to-one message communication and value delivery to your prospects and clients over an extended period of time. But if you rely on this alone, the progress of building and establishing your brand will be slow.

The most common mistake marketers make when designing and executing an inbound marketing strategy is attempting to do it all by themselves. Doing anything solo usually adds additional risk. Team efforts almost always prevail over one-man shows – just ask Lebron. Batman had Robin. Ben had Jerry. Lewis had Clark. And Lennon had McCartney. Heck, even when I was 12 years old, I was told to never go swimming in the lake without a “buddy.” So marketing needs to team up with sales to mitigate risk and increase the likelihood of success.

There are some key components of marketing that fit together to create a solid B2B marketing campaign plan that drives results and delivers desired business results. Ensure you are utilizing each of these when planning your B2B marketing campaign plans. 

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably received multiple emails about updated privacy policies and terms of service. You’ve probably been invited by one, two, or many companies to update your settings so they can protect your privacy and provide you the information you want, when you want it. But why?

Optimizing your inbound marketing performance starts with measuring the key metrics that show you if your strategy is effective or if it’s time to redirect, re-strategize, and focus on a new path for their target audience. Remember that no matter how you analyze your data, whether it be multiple marketing platforms or just one like Hubspot, the buyer’s journey should be the foundation of how you define success.

Market specialization is becoming a more prevalent business strategy for marketing agencies. With this strategy, the marketing agency makes a conscious decision to only support the unique marketing requirements of a particular industry or niche. From the client's perspective, they hope they can leverage the experience and key learnings of other similar companies. They feel like they won’t have to be a guinea pig or recreate the wheel. From the agency perspective, it is typically a marketing and branding play. It allows them to fine-tune their positioning as a subject matter expert and thought leader.  

Neither was your marriage, your home, or your business. Something of any value takes time, and in most cases, time to succeed. When a business owner opens a business, they developed a plan for success, right? (They should.) They created forecasts of revenue, a timetable to profitability, and tactics to make it happen. After two weeks, two months, or even two years, they didn't panic and pull the plug, did they? Probably not. In fact, if it didn't start off like they planned, they probably went back to their plan and readjusted some numbers and came up with some new ideas to get it back on track.