Category Archives: B2B Marketing

content marketing

Forrester thinks Content Marketing Isn’t Working – They’re Half Right

Over at Forrester Research, Vice President Laura Ramos recently talked to Advertising Age (“Marketers Still Struggling to Get Results from Content Marketing“) about what she perceives as a general lack of return from the investment so many companies are making in content marketing. It’s a fair characterization to say that… Read More

Sungard AS brand transition campaign

Case Study: How One Tech Company Used Humor to Launch a New Brand

In early 2014, Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS), a leading provider of managed IT, cloud, and recovery services, announced that it was splitting off as a separate company from SunGard Data Systems Inc. Sungard AS asked its demand generation agency, Spear Marketing Group, to help introduce business prospects within the… Read More

content syndication

5 Common Content Syndication Mistakes

Though it predates what we think of today as “content marketing,” content syndication is still a cornerstone of many B2B companies’ demand generation strategies. Like other inbound marketing programs – search, social media, and the like – content syndication is one more way to increase the chances that a qualified… Read More

As Seen on TV

But Wait, There’s More! Why Cheesy Copy Still Works.

Effective email copy is not like a letter to your grandma; unless, that is, you’re asking Grandma to sponsor you for the 5K Fun Run at the park. A good email campaign isn’t designed to make people feel warm and fuzzy about you, your company or your product, or generate… Read More

Don Draper

Is Technology Making Marketing Agencies Obsolete?

Over at the IDC Technology Marketing Blog, analyst Sam Melnick posted an article recently with the intriguing title: “Are Ad Agencies Keeping Pace with the Marketing’s (sic) Massive Digital Uptake? (Hint: Maybe Not)” Melnick posits his question largely on the basis of IDC research that shows the rate of growth… Read More

Assumptive Close

If You Write B2B Copy, You Need This Blog Post

Those of you who have been subjected to sales training at some point in your careers may remember a technique called “the assumptive close.” It goes something like this: “Would you like the car in red or blue?” or “Can I deliver that to you this Friday?” In theory, asking… Read More

Janrain Webinar invitation

Design Choices & More Sink Webinar Invitation

I wrote recently in this space about the decisions that today’s B2B email marketers are facing as they strive to ensure that their campaigns are optimized for an increasingly mobile audience. The Webinar invitation below from Janrain, a software company in Portland, Oregon, illustrates some of the perils inherent in… Read More