People often ask me why their emails end up in junk or spam folders, even when they are using a reputable service such as MailChimp or AWeber. The reason is actually quite simple…

First, a little background as to what filters spam

All email clients (Outlook, GMail etc.) have spam filters. You are also able to install a third party spam filter on top of your existing spam filters. So, you can install a spam filter into Outlook, or even into your mail exchange (where email is handled). Continue reading “Email going to junk or spam?” »

Let me explain how our young team approaches B2B Marketing Innovation, in order to develop strategies that bring all-important lead generation to a business.

We get 10 to 15 members of our team in a room with our client. We brainstorm the messages that clients want to deliver, and how to deliver them most effectively.

Our clients are really excited by the brainstorm session because they know their business really well, and our young team know the media really well. When you put the two together the outcomes are amazing. Our young team intuitively knows what stands out in the clutter, because they use various media on a day-to-day basis.

In one standout example, we held a brainstorming session for our client, Nicholas Bray; we came up with some names and discussion topics for his B2B marketing strategy. He knows his industry and our young team facilitated the social media side of things, and through this process the name of the community he wanted to establish was created.

The point being, because Nicholas understands his market, and we gave him the media, he was able to come up with the name. One person can rarely innovate in a business; as mentioned in a previous post, it requires a combination of 3 varying proficiencies that no one person can possibly have.

Read more about Lead Generation here.

Branding is vital – knowing what you stand for and what you don’t stand for. Many businesses do this by simply using taglines, but they’re just the beginning; you need more than this to portray effective messages for lead generation.

The message varies according to the media you use – you need to be innovative in your B2B Marketing strategy.

An obvious example is with Twitter, which limits each message to 140 characters; it’s very easy to get lost in the clutter.

Below we look at a fax marketing strategy, to use a more traditional example.

• Topic: How to host a good event (market)
• Sent hard copy mail outs (media)
• Hand written to each (message)

So for a fax message to result in lead generation:

• The message has to be tailored
• It has to be 1 page
• Must have an interesting headline
• Mustn’t sell, but gives them something of value e.g. a link to a White Paper, or a LinkedIn community they may be interested in
• Above all, there’s no point in sending a fax to sell a $10K package

Do you see how your lead generation success will depend on how well your message uses the media available? That’s why you need to be innovative.

Read more about Lead Generation here.

With the hundreds of media channels available for use, you might think that this is a silly question: should I use industry magazines or LinkedIn for my B2B Marketing strategy? Which is better and why?

Well, we’ll talk about that in a minute.

First let’s point out that innovation in media requires expertise to result in lead generation.

Too many businesses allow their old managers to ‘lead the blind’ through things like Facebook marketing – and they know bugger all about it!

We were with a law firm last week and there were 40-50 year old partners making decisions about this. It is ridiculous!

We have a very simple philosophy: if you’re using social media or social networking, the best people to drive it are the youngsters who have grown up with it.

Our LinkedIn Group Promotion

Businesses are still posting large advertisements in industry magazines. On the plus side the media is the market; on the minus side it’s a very expensive B2B marketing strategy.

Most people only read the first few pages of an industry magazine, but the ad costs $2000.

We post to groups on LinkedIn, and appear on page 1. This is free. This is innovation.

Measuring the results of marketing strategies is important for SMEs; and with the group promotion, it’s also really simple to know what traffic you’re getting and how it contributes to lead generation for your business.

Find out more about B2B Marketing Strategy here.

You need grey hairs to know your niche thoroughly – not everyone knows your industry. The grey haired marketers like my business partner Toby, could tell you about the railways in China; not many people could do that!

The fundamental rule is that if you have no niche for your B2B Marketing Strategy, you have no marketing. You simply cannot reach everyone; but you can reach a niche. So many business people forget that lead generation emerges from targeting a niche.

I think the confusion comes from people not wanting to limit themselves and their chances of winning business; they think they’ll loose their lead generation opportunities.

A niche is for OUTBOUND marketing; but of course you don’t turn away clients from outside the targeted niche that come to you by chance.

As a small company we are selling B2B Marketing Strategy to the Sydney market; however we do have clients in Melbourne, Brisbane and the ACT.

Who doesn’t have 50 or even 500 competitors that the market has difficulty separating?

I took a look at 5 law firms in Sydney, and their tag lines are all seriously similar. They are all about service and the high level of service that you will receive. None are able to differentiate themselves. So how can you differentiate yourself to achieve better lead generation?

Three core elements of your B2B marketing strategy that must completely match are:

• Market
• Media
• Message

It seems that everyone is so ready to throw out the core principles of their marketing in order to try to do something snazzy and different. It just doesn’t work!

Instead, you need to differentiate yourself inside of these core principles; and once they match, then you’ve got an effective marketing strategy for lead generation.

So how do you market inside each of these areas? It really requires a certain level of expertise, but it is also apparent that this expertise cannot be found in one person. It’s often quite difficult to find a marketer that knows both your industry and the media that your ideal client uses.

Later posts look at how a business can develop these B2B marketing strategies.

Read more about Lead Generation here.

Innovation is a real slut of a word! Seriously, it is so overused, but the real issue is that no one ever implements any of their innovative strategies for lead generation. However, there is a very simple way to do so…

There are hundreds, if not thousands of alternative media available for use – so which do I use for my B2B Marketing Strategy?

Well, using the newest platform does not make you innovative; it’s just a platform, like when a newspaper was new hundreds of years ago.

Innovation requires a certain level of expertise; and expertise in three very different fields. The biggest mistake people make is throwing out the core principles of innovation, yet they still very much apply.

The three principles that must match completely are market, medium and message.

Once you innovate inside all three of these, then you have yourself practical innovation for lead generation.

Of course, the expertise that we spoke about is expertise in each of these fields. As brilliant as you are, you aren’t an expert in all three fields. Grey hairs are key for market and message; youth is key to success in the media.

Find out more about Lead Generation here.