Virtual Events: An Evolution of Marketing and Selling

The sudden shift to virtual events in the first half of 2020 produced mixed results in terms of attendance. While just over half of the events lost the audience in the transition, 46 percent gained attendees as a result. Removing travel requirements and audience familiarity with video presentations worked together to keep event attendance largely intact.

via Digital Lifescapes

How Savvy B2B Buyers Raised the Bar for Vendors

“In the future of buying, the buying process transforms from seller-led to buyer-led. The future B2B buyer will expect buying experiences to be increasingly open, connected, intuitive, and immediate:” B2B channel marketing leaders must anticipate and plan for buyers’ evolving expectations.

via Sirius Decisions

Top 7 Sales Channel Partner Software Categories in B2B IT

“Delivering automation of indirect sales processes, workflows and partner programs, channel software is becoming increasingly critical to a brands’ ability to win, serve, and retain its customers and partners. It’s a fast-growing market, with 59% of companies increasing spending across the stack.”

via Forrester

B2B ‘State of Sales’ Report Uncovers Best Practices

In the survey of more than 500 buyers and 500 salespeople, active listening was cited as the #1 trait that buyers value in salespeople (42%) with problem-solving at 38%. Other top traits included confidence at 38%, relationship building at 34% and oral communications at 27%.

via Marketing Charts

How B2B Marketers Fuel Predictable Sales Growth

Market research and competitive insights, plus marketing analytics, now absorb more than 13 percent and 16 percent of marketing operations budgets, respectively. However, evidence from Gartner’s latest survey indicates investments are often mismatched with their output, presenting a significant risk to the ongoing investment.

via Digital Polymath

How a Compelling Point of View Drives Digital Growth

This study finds leaders have “A clear, compelling point of view directed toward the target market. Companies with high Point of View scores are 2.5 times more likely than others to have had revenue growth of at least 10% in each of the past two years.”

via Gallup

Four Ways to Improve Your Content Marketing

In the past decade, content marketing has become a widely established practice. Companies have hired writers and Chief Content Officers to run departments, create blogs and other materials, and, in the process, some have assured sales people that content marketing can mean the end of cold calling.

via HBR

B2B Marketers Find Content Downloads Drive Conversions

Business-to-business (B2B) marketers know what a long haul it can be driving leads to conversions. Unlike the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment, the path to purchase for B2B products can be winding, often requiring the input of many players before a purchase is made.

Source: eMarketer

CMOs and Sales Leaders Adopt Cognitive Computing

While marketing and sales professionals increasingly find themselves drowning in data, a new IBM study finds that nearly two thirds- — 64 percent — of surveyed CMOs and sales leaders believe their industries will be ready to adopt cognitive technologies in the next three years.

Source: IBM

How Digital Marketing and SEO Impact B2B Sales Results

B2B buyers strongly prefer to conduct their own online research, without ever speaking with a sales rep. Forward-thinking B2B marketers will embrace this change and enable the customer-directed research journey with self-service technologies — such as SEO and contextual help.

Source: Forrester