Demand Generation Blog

The B2B technology industry as a whole has placed a greater focus on channel marketing — to increase sales, achieve increased market penetration and enhance brand recognition. More and more, large vendors are announcing their intent to bolster their Channel efforts and direction, recognizing the substantial growth that can be attained. The bottom-line is truly the bottom-line – how to increase revenues while reducing the overhead and direct costs of driving those increases. Businesses today have many more options in their buying cycles – from research tools, analysis, social media, and an expansive reseller community. This has changed the sales process dramatically, and technology vendors are racing to adapt. Potential customers are expecting more competitive pricing, improved value, and consultative services to complement their process.

While some tactics have been scrutinized and fallen out of favor, there is no denying the effectiveness of complimenting your inbound marketing strategy with traditional outbound campaigns. The two can be intertwined and used to deliver highly qualified leads. There are three strategies that work particularly well when incorporated into your inbound marketing plan.

In a world of marketing automation and big data there are an endless number of data points that can be used to determine the effectiveness of your inbound marketing plan. In many cases companies dig perhaps too deep and lose focus on the progression and growth of their brand.  Everyone knows the importance of tracking leads, mql's and sql's, but there are a few other metrics to keep an eye on.

Getting the most out of your team. That is the primary goal of any marketing manager, director or CMO. Since the internet has given everyone a voice, the creativity of marketing campaigns plays an even more integral role in your ability to make an impression. Managing the creative process involves working with creative people. An Entrepreneur article notes three elements needed to build creative genius in the workplace; curiosity, outward thinking and positivity. Getting there requires several steps.

Continuing to enhance your skills is more important than ever for marketers as technology has expanded the knowledge base required to stay up to date with the latest techniques. Having at the very least a working comprehension of popular strategies and platforms will allow you to implement successful campaigns and choose the best agency to outsource your marketing efforts. Online marketing courses have become big business over the last few years, but thankfully there are some great free courses still available.