The Top 8 Takeaways from Social Media Guru Paul Gillin’s FIR B2B

Posted by Dan McDade

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on Mar 27, 2014 9:23:00 AM

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FIR B2B PodcastI was delighted to be invited as guest #5 on Paul Gillin and Allan Schoenberg’s FIR B2B podcast.

The format of FIR B2B is brilliant. Co-hosts Paul and Allan tee up the show by discussing several hot news items relevant to the B2B market - Here’s what they noshed on, on Episode #5:

  1. According to the latest CMO Survey, 85% of CMOs either have not shown any impact from social media spending or have only a qualitative sense of its effectiveness. A blog accompanying the podcast provides a link to this data. 
  2. Half of all B2B emails are now opened on a mobile device, up from 46% last quarter (according to Yesmail in an article published in FierceCMO). More information and links in the blog.
  3. LinkedIn announced it is expanding its mobile advertising opportunities for B2B marketers. Read more about how B2B marketers will be able to directly reach customers and prospects via email on mobile devices. 
  4. A survey Of 175 B2B buyers reveals what they want to see on vendor websites. A survey of B2B buyers revealed what they want to see on vendor websites: detailed contact information, case studies, white papers and articles.

After the news portion of the program, Paul and Allan invited me to the microphone where I weighed in on the following topics:

  • Marketers are still too focused on lead quantity and not focused enough on lead quality. While I did not say this during the podcast, the funniest line I have heard in 2014 was in a blog article last month: “For the past five years in a row marketers state that providing sales with high quality leads is their biggest challenge despite otherwise successful marketing efforts.”
  • Over reliance on inbound marketing leads to smaller deal sizes with lower level decision makers – one client’s pipeline disappeared and their average deal size fell to 1/3 of what it was with a more blended, “allbound,” approach.
  • The top three things companies can do to improve marketing and sales effectiveness: 1) define the market 2) define the lead definition and 3) put a judicial branch in place to evaluate leads that are either proactively returned to marketing by sales or simply ignored by sales.
  • Voicemails work. Don’t give up after one or two voicemails. Use voicemails and emails with compelling content to generate and follow-up on leads.

Set aside a few minutes and listen to this podcast: FIR B2B #5. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe. And remember, you heard it here first!

About the hosts:

Paul GillinPaul Gillin is a veteran technology journalist and a thought leader in new media. He is the author or co-author of five books, including Social Marketing to the Business Customer(2011), the first book devoted entirely to B2B social media marketing. Connect with Paul on Twitter: @pgillin

 

 

Allan SchoenbergAllan Schoenberg is based in London and responsible for managing the international media relations, issues management and brand communications for CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse financial marketplace. Connect with Allan on Twitter: @allanschoenberg





By Dan McDade


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Topics: B2B Marketing


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