INBOUND ISN’T ENOUGH

At its core, inbound marketing is about attracting the likeliest customers and enticing them to come to you. Inbound marketing is commonly referred to as a pull marketing model because you are using tactics and great content to pull the attention of your prospects to your brand. Your prospects, when they respond, are self-identifying as interested, and so they are possibly qualified to some degree. In inbound marketing, you set the stage with attractive content, SEO, and other tactics, and then work to help the right people find your website and your offerings. In contrast, outbound is push marketing; you proactively push information or content to people you hope will become buyers, or to people who are already existing customers. You can control the message and timing, and often target known prospects with personalized messaging.

Spotlight

imagination

It takes Imagination. We have been pioneering content marketing for nearly 25 years in financial services, B2B, retail and associations. Our formula for success = strategy + content + creativity. By journalists, for brands. Throughout each stage of content marketing- from b2b content to mapping the consumer journey- we help you put thought in your leadership for measurable results that matter. Chicago + D.C. offices.

OTHER WHITEPAPERS
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5 Areas That CMOs Struggle in Measuring ROI and Where to Focus

whitePaper | October 4, 2022

Gartner has predicted that by next year (2022), profitability will overtake customer experience (CX) as a top strategic priority. This change is part of a longer-term trend. CFOs want rigorous measurement of marketing activities. Metrics like cost per acquisition are at a premium. These metrics are linear and atomic, much like accounting and financial data. This conundrum has led to a plethora of methods and tools to measure marketing effectiveness, and ultimately to optimize the marketing mix. But now this confusing landscape cries out for a more clear-eyed answer of “what’s really working and what’s not?” when it comes to marketing measurement and optimization. The answers are not simple or easy.

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What Human Behavior Can Teach Us About Effective B2B Marketing

whitePaper | October 20, 2022

Modern B2B marketers are experiencing a new frontier of demand and revenue generation, with a wealth of data at their fingertips. Paired with everevolving tools and technologies, marketing teams have a nearly 360-degree view of their market and audience. The challenge no longer lies in gathering insights, but in how to use the right data to drive growth effectively. The pressure to prove revenue contribution has never been stronger. As B2B marketers look to scale their go-to-market efforts, decoding audience insights and behavior is more important than ever before.

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The Marketing and Sales Alignment Playbook

whitePaper | September 30, 2022

Alignment between marketing and sales is a top priority at most organizations. After all, the more marketing and sales teams are aligned, the better the results. When marketing and sales are in sync, teams see increased revenue, improved customer retention, increased renewals, and better win rates. Despite the fact that teams want alignment, many struggle to achieve it. That’s, in part, because gaining alignment isn’t easy. If your company is already performing well, it may be tempting to continue on upholding the status quo—making sales through reputation or referrals. If your company is underperforming, it may be overwhelming to address issues with alignment. In either case, getting aligned is essential.

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7 Ways to Supercharge Your ABM Strategy with Real-Time Intent

whitePaper | December 23, 2022

Selling or marketing to someone you have limited insights on is like trying to hit a piñata blindfolded. You have a general idea of where it is, but without knowing its exact whereabouts, you’re taking swings in the dark, and more often than not—you’ll miss your target. Gaps in buyer insights—pain points, account needs, and goals—are a huge issue for accountbased marketing (ABM) teams looking to deepen relationships with existing customers and target high-value prospects. Personalization lives at the core of ABM, and yet, personalization at scale toward target accounts (35 percent) and developing targeted content for accounts and personas (30 percent) are in the top five ABM challenges, according to Demand Gen Report.

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Data and Tech: Enterprise B2B Marketing Priorities for 2023

whitePaper | January 13, 2023

With an uncertain economy, marketers at B2B enterprises are scrutinizing their 2023 strategy to get as much mileage out of their approach as possible. In our recent survey with Ascend2, we found that data is a major focus as is an investment in technology. We found that 78% of large B2B marketing organizations (those with more than 1000 employees) experienced growth of 10% or more in 2022. After two years of marketing during a pandemic, many B2B brands found their footing in 2022 with a heavier reliance on digital channels and renewed spending from clients ready to move forward.

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The Essential Guide to the Buying Experience of the Future

whitePaper | August 23, 2022

Your buyers’ lives, preferences, and expectations have changed. Two-thirds or 67% of buyers prefer remote or digital interactions - and they expect those interactions to be substantive and valuable. They hold your sellers to a high standard. That means the buying experiences of the past - in-person meetings, transactional conversations, and linear sales funnels - no longer deliver. So forget your old sales playbook. Your best value proposition is an impactful buying experience that guides people to the best possible decision.

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Spotlight

imagination

It takes Imagination. We have been pioneering content marketing for nearly 25 years in financial services, B2B, retail and associations. Our formula for success = strategy + content + creativity. By journalists, for brands. Throughout each stage of content marketing- from b2b content to mapping the consumer journey- we help you put thought in your leadership for measurable results that matter. Chicago + D.C. offices.

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