Sean Parnell
2023 B2B Marketing Strategy: 3 Things to Look for in a Partner
With a new year around the corner, you may be tempted to experiment with marketing strategies you’ve read about online or cherry-pick some new marketing technology in an effort to start the year off right.
Every year, a flood of shiny new marketing products, strategies and services promising exponential growth hits the market. But without a trusted advisor or thoughtful strategy, it’s hard to know which way to go.
If you’ve decided to look for a B2B marketing partner to help you navigate this process, the challenge can seem just as daunting as going it alone. Should you turn to a web designer for a redesign? Hire a freelance writer to helm your blog?
... Continue Reading >>10 Perils of Paying a PPC Agency to Run Your B2B Pay-per-Click Campaigns
With 15 years of experience providing B2B marketing and consulting services, we are not timid in warning B2B clients of the risks of using a pay-per-click (PPC) agency to run ads on Google, Bing, LinkedIn Campaigns, and others.
While clients are often tempted – and sometimes will give them a try – at best, these campaigns generate a few leads but do not pay for themselves. At worst, they waste time and money in the process of producing no results at all.
Why do PPC agencies fail so often at B2B pay-per-click campaigns? Below are the top 10 reasons.
Lack of Strategy
Most PPC agencies focus on B2C clients.
... Continue Reading >>Successful Marketing Requires a Deep Understanding of Your Business
The #1 reason marketing is ineffective is because your marketing resources lack a structured process and experienced people for understanding your business, rapidly and holistically
If you want to develop a great marketing strategy, just Google it. There are thousands of them, conveniently portioned into whatever size you’re looking for.
You want “5 Tips?” “Eight Steps”? How about “11 Strategies”? Can we show you something in a bigger size? Maybe “18 Ways” is more of what you’re looking for…?
They’re all there, along with ways to become a social media star, crush your competition, and dazzle your prospects with the latest in marketing automation tools.
... Continue Reading >>How Content Marketing Can Drive Double-Digit Sales Growth
With signs pointing up for the U.S. economy, despite inflation and supply chain challenges, manufacturers, software developers, service providers, and nonprofits have a unique opportunity to grow their share of the market.
But it won’t happen for everyone. As with luck, economic tailwinds favor the prepared. That’s why it’s critical to establish an effective content marketing strategy.
Door knocking, cold calling, and tradeshows might have been effective in the past but that’s no longer the case for most businesses – even if you can find enough salespeople to do it.
Today’s markets demand educational, online content – with information that helps educate prospects who are increasingly researching solutions before ever speaking to you.
... Continue Reading >>How to Boost WordPress Productivity & Security
Considering the presence of GoDaddy, Network Solutions, HostGator, your cousin’s IT company, and even onsite servers, there’s no lack of hosting options for your website. So how do you know if you’ve got the right one and what should you even look for?
Many organizations choose a web hosting service by perusing a list of functions instead of thinking about an overall digital marketing strategy. The right hosting service can save you time, money, boost your productivity, secure your website.
If that sounds like more than you can ask of a web host, it isn’t.
One of the best website solutions our clients have taken advantage of in recent years is WP Engine,
... Continue Reading >>ZoomInfo: Build Your Prospect Database & Supercharge Your Outbound Marketing
Finding the right businesses to target in your outbound campaigns is tedious and time consuming, and the results can be underwhelming.
We often see clients attempting to gather their own contact lists via LinkedIn, or through other online list building tools. Some even – shudder – purchase pre-built lists because it’s an easy way to gather a large quantity of contacts. The lists from these activities can contain inaccurate data, leading to high bounce rates that hurt your sending reputation with your email provider. Not to mention that these contacts aren’t always the right fit for your business.
So, how do you find the right people to reach out to? How do you know who the decision makers are?
... Continue Reading >>How to Get the Most out of Google Ads for the Least Amount of Spend
While getting results from pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on Google Ads can seem expensive, complicated and mysterious, it can have a significant impact on lead generation and increasing client acquisition with a clear strategy and experienced execution.
With a platform that processes over 8.5 billion searches a day, Google Ads can provides serious reach. According to Google’s annual economic Impact report, companies that advertise on Google Ads generate $2 for every $1 spent, on average.
What Google doesn’t tell you, however, is that it’s easy to spend a lot of money for little or no result if your campaigns are managed by someone without extensive experience, a bit of Google savvy in avoiding common traps,
... Continue Reading >>6 Criteria for Identifying the Best Fit Web CMS
Are you looking to develop a new website but aren’t sure what to build it on?
How confident are you that you’re on the best fit website content management system (CMS) for you organization? Thinking about migrating?
Whether you’re looking to migrate your website or develop a new one, here’s a quick guide for helping you identify what to look for in a new web CMS.
Create & Edit Content in Seconds (All Users)
Your CMS should enable you to creating and edit content without having to be a website developer and/or know HTML. For this to be possible, you need a user-friendly interface, starting with an ability to quickly select a theme or use a template that matches your brand so you can instantly start creating content without a developer.
... Continue Reading >>How Do Custom B2B Marketing Programs Work?
Business owners and marketing executives of business-to-business (B2B) companies face a major challenge: to dramatically increase lead generation and sales without having the right mix of marketing skills on their team.
They turn to marketing agencies for help, but spend a lot of money without getting results.
Custom and comprehensive marketing programs produce results by increasing demand generation for B2B clients because they take a holistic approach to all 4 Ps of marketing – product, placement (channels), pricing, and promotion.
Unlike what is very common in B2B marketing, where companies move from promotion to promotion without an overall strategy, it’s important to avoid “hit-and-run” marketing. Piecemeal marketing generates piecemeal results,
... Continue Reading >>Custom B2B Marketing Programs vs. The Traditional Marketing Agency Approach
Generate Breakthrough B2B Marketing Results with a Customized & Holistic Program
If your B2B marketing efforts generate more costs than leads, you’re not alone. Too many B2B owners, marketing directors and sales executives fall victim to a marketing strategy that isn’t crafted around the different needs of B2B enterprises. They spend a lot of money for generic programs or splashy products, and end up frustrated when the efforts don’t generate qualified leads or profitable growth.
That is why we offer clients a custom and holistic B2B-focused marketing program designed to produce measurable results and profitable growth, with strategies built around the needs and goals of your business.
Causes of Ineffective Marketing
Failure can take a variety of paths:
- Buying the empty promises of marketing agencies that lack expertise and experience around the unique requirements of B2B marketing efforts
- Buying shiny objects like marketing automation and other software that require a lot of time,