The 8 Fundamentals for a Successful Inbound-Marketing Strategy

An entrepreneur’s responsibilities reach far and wide. You wear a number of hats on a day-to-day basis, none more important than marketing. To succeed, you must learn the strategies and practices that work best in 2014. A deep understanding of inbound marketing best practices is vital to the growth and success of your business. No matter how busy you are, you simply can't ignore the importance of marketing your brand effectively. Take a look at the eight most important things every entrepreneur needs to know about inbound marketing. The traditional marketing playbook is broken. Almost everyone - 91 percent, to be precise - has unsubscribed from email lists.

Spotlight

Optime Consulting

Optime is a fast-growing, privately held marketing and sales consulting group specialized in tailored automated loyalty programs, demand generation solutions and business intelligence services, impacting market share, brand equity, and sales growth. Since 1998 our team has delivered to our fortune 500 and fortune 1000 customers, unique, competitive, successful and specialized marketing strategies combined with the most effective web-based automated system solutions that have given them the power to be one step ahead of their competition.

OTHER ARTICLES
Buyer Intent Data

Buying-Group Marketing: Why is it Gaining Traction?

Article | August 23, 2022

Selling more and selling faster is the goal that drives B2B marketers. Strategically implementing account-based marketing (ABM) to target individuals with hyper-personalized messaging across different channels is what helps them achieve it. But what is Buying Group Marketing (BGM), and why do B2B marketers need to keep up with it? Buying-Group Marketing (BGM): Taking ABM up a notch by focusing on an entire buyer group instead of the account as a whole, it’s called buying-group marketing (BGM). According to a recent Forrester survey, 94% of B2B organizations sell to groups of three or more. They do this instead of spending time identifying a set of ICPs and making a purchase decision. Let us take a look at what BGM is all about. Buying Group Marketing: The Next Evolution of ABM To implement BGM, you first need to understand what buying groups are. A purchasing group is a group of people within a target account who have a say in the purchasing decision. This makes them crucial in B2B targeting. Once B2B marketers learn about their target personas, they can come up with an effective marketing plan and approach them strategically. In large enterprises, purchase decisions are never restricted to one individual. The larger the purchase decision, the larger the size of the buying groups. When a decision involves new technologies, services, or products, an individual struggle to make a purchase decision swiftly. According to Gartner, more than 75% of customers describe these purchases as very complex or difficult. With the help of BGM, the decision-making process can be streamlined and shared among multiple people within an organization. Driving Success with BGM To better execute BGM, organizations need to change their mindsets, processes and technologies and work to understand how buying groups work together. Until demand management matches the ways buyers are making purchasing decisions, marketing and sales alignment will not be possible. Organizations need to first understand how buying groups work together, then align their mindsets, technologies, and processes to efficiently execute BGM. When the marketing and sales teams align their demand management goals with the decision-making groups, only then can they drive success in their campaigns. Interest from more than one person from a single company can lead to more success and influence in the buying phase. B2B marketers need to move beyond the idea that only the first person to respond from a company should be entertained as a lead if a second person from the same company shows interest in their product or services. They need to understand that no matter how tempting account-based advertising may seem, it doesn’t guarantee success. They should focus on engaging the actual decision-makers of their target accounts. When customer personas are mapped according to their buying roles within a group, organizations will have the much-needed intelligence required to make personalized sales. The success of BGM demands the delivery of content that resonates with an individual as per their role in a buying group. B2B marketers must meet them where they are with the content that they need. Organizations can have crucial intelligence on their customers after mapping their personas and considering their roles in the buyer groups. Delivering content that the target individual can relate to is a prerequisite of BGM. BGM may not be new as a concept, but B2B marketers see improvements in their performance by harnessing it as their principal strategy. Adapting to BGM will give them the edge that they seek, while the rest try to keep up with the changing trends of the ABM industry. ________________________________________

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Buyer Intent Data

How to Organize ABM Content Effectively?

Article | June 20, 2023

High-value content plays a key role in account-based marketing. Account-based marketing uses content to nurture leads and address their pain points throughout the sales process. A perfect ABM strategy is one that provides relevant content to the right prospects at the right time. ABM content needs to be personal and highly relevant to create an impact on the stakeholders of your target account. In an interview with Media 7, Stuart Sumner, Editorial Director at Incisive Media, talked about the importance of content in marketing strategy. “The best way to win the content war is to have better, more valuable, and more timely content than your competitors. You need to offer audiences a regular supply of high-quality, in-depth content, which they can’t get elsewhere.” The need for effective content is all-encompassing across industries, demographics, and niche domains. It helps businesses seek solutions to their critical business challenges. Reading through the opinions of other thought leaders from the industry influences their purchase decisions. So, good quality, reliable content can convince a business that you are the ideal choice for a B2B association. How Should ABM Content Be Organized? Creating effective content is the need of the hour, but it can be challenging if done without a direction or goal in mind. Your ABM content should build brand awareness, and engage the readers while also presenting value to them. It should also be personalized enough to convey your involvement and dedication to your target account. To organize ABM content effectively, follow these steps: Conduct Stringent Research Stringently researching your target audience can help to create a content framework that can capture the solutions to their problems, their needs, and their interests. When you investigate the target accounts in-depth, you will know what aspects you can leverage to capture their attention and interest. Then you can organize the content to engage them. Another interesting approach is to directly ask your audience about the kind of content they enjoy and their preferred formats. These insights can help you personalize the content better because 80% of consumers prefer shopping with brands that provide a personalized experience. You might also be able to leverage content for more than one account. Maintain a Content Inventory The research-based content that was created before you developed your ABM strategy can be repurposed to target the accounts in your focus. Creating a content library and mapping the intent of your content can help you with repurposing the correct content. The more detailed your content library, the easier it gets to reuse it. Consider organizing your content library with dates, extra information, highlights, and formats so you can start using the content without much ado. The content you develop should complement your ABM strategy. As a part of your ABM strategy, it should add value to your marketing effort. Create a Content Matrix Create a content matrix that lists out the target accounts in your focus. It is a tool to organize your data to meet your marketing objectives. Based on your objectives, you can carry out content mapping to influence purchase decisions for these accounts. This can help you decide on the purpose of your content strategy. Do you want to create awareness or incite action from your readers? By figuring out what you want, you can use your content matrix to understand the scope to personalize the content in line with your ABM goals. Analyze Your Performance Experiment with different formats, visuals, and messages while creating your content. Measure the success of your content strategy like you measure the success of your ABM strategy using KPIs. Gauge how your audience reacts to different formats and visuals to know what to focus more on. Revise, retest, repurpose the content till you get the best output. It all boils down to how well you organize your ABM content. ABM Content Best Practices Best practices should be followed when creating content to achieve sales and marketing alignment, drive ROI, and target key accounts. Periodically engaging in website content mapping and content research to see how your content is doing is vital. Here are the ABM content best practices you should follow to organize ABM content: 1. Personalize the content to suit your target account’s needs. 2. Conduct regular SEO and content audits to find any flaws or unresponsive content. 3. Optimize your content to meet search engine optimization needs. 4. Repurpose your content regularly to make the most of it. 5. Support your content with good design. 6. Focus on creating interactive ABM content. 7. Your content should build trust in the minds of your target accounts. How Coca-Cola’s Fanbase on Facebook Increased by 39% Because of Organized Content Coca-Cola’s famous ‘Share a Coke’ campaign targeted Australian millennials to improve their sales numbers in the summer of 2011. Under this campaign, Coca-Cola offered name-branded coke bottles to the customers. Through stringent research, understanding their audiences’ preferred formats (TV commercials, newspapers, bus ads, and social media), and implementing strong CTAs in their ads, Coca-Cola gained a 39% increase in its Facebook fanbase. Key Takeaway The way you formulate and organize ABM content plays a key role in driving results from your ABM strategy. It is crucial that you dedicate time and resources to creating, personalizing, organizing, presenting, and analyzing the content you offer to your target accounts. You can drive a higher ROI from your ABM and content strategy only when your approach to content is as focused as your ABM strategy. FAQ What is a content matrix? A content matrix is a tool that a marketer can use to plan and offer the right content in the right format and on the right platform to the target audience. How can you use old content in your ABM strategy? You can use your old content by repurposing it to better target your key accounts.

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Core ABM

What's on the Radar of Marketing Leaders Today?

Article | June 20, 2023

The pandemic has catalyzed an en-masse move to hybrid workforce models across industries and functions, including marketing teams. Add to this the broad changes in consumer behavior and market expectations resulting from the disruption of the last 15 months. How has all of this change impacted marketing priorities? While DX has been a priority for a while now, what’s changed is the race to connect customer experience (CX) to the DX initiative. Over the last year digital engagement has been at times the only way to find, get and keep customers. Starting with overhauling virtual shopfronts — aka brand websites — to investing in more advanced data-driven marketing decisioning engines, making CX central to the digital strategy has become primary.

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Core ABM

Finding the Right Balance Between ABM & Demand Generation

Article | July 20, 2022

When it comes to ABM vs. demand generation, most businesses struggle to find the right balance. Swinging too far one way or the other can completely derail your performance — and your organization's trust. Here are some things you can do to get the best of both ABM and demand generation: Check If You Are Too Heavy on Demand If you are someone who focuses more on demand, then you should: Gather insights from data, intelligence, and signals to develop a strong ICP. A strong ICP will help you target the individuals that make up the buying committee. Keep your TAL (target account list) short and base it on buying intent. Build an ABM program that encompasses teams, channels, and activities to gauge output and refine the use case. Engage the double funnel to understand where you should draw the line between ABM and demand generation. Are You Too Focused on ABM? For the account-based marketer in you, it must be very hard to think beyond your target accounts. To balance this out, you should: Get more information on the channels and tactics that your buyers respond to. Draft messaging that creates urgency around your target account’s pain points. Test your content on a large audience to see which gets the most engagement. Use these insights to find the right balance between your demand generation strategy and ABM. Beat the Odds When Implementing Strategies Issues like no alignment between your sales and marketing teams and a superior insisting on implementing 100% ABM may arise. To address such issues, you should: Expertly measure your data so all your responses are data-driven. Chase directional improvements instead of trying to perfect your strategies right away. Define a single metric for success, so your teams work towards achieving the same goal. Keep your efforts balanced when implementing demand gen and ABM strategies. Conclusion If you do not strike a delicate balance between your ABM and your demand generation plan, your SDR teams will get overwhelmed and may not reach the level of efficiency you desire. Remember, your demand generation program should supplement your ABM efforts and not drive them.

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Spotlight

Optime Consulting

Optime is a fast-growing, privately held marketing and sales consulting group specialized in tailored automated loyalty programs, demand generation solutions and business intelligence services, impacting market share, brand equity, and sales growth. Since 1998 our team has delivered to our fortune 500 and fortune 1000 customers, unique, competitive, successful and specialized marketing strategies combined with the most effective web-based automated system solutions that have given them the power to be one step ahead of their competition.

Related News

Account Based Advertising

RollWorks Presents the ABM Lounge at INBOUND 2022

RollWorks | August 12, 2022

RollWorks is bringing ABM to INBOUND! Today, the account-based marketing (ABM) platform and division of NextRoll celebrated its powerful partnership with HubSpot and announced its presence at HubSpot INBOUND® 22, September 6-9, 2022, in Boston. RollWorks has 16 inspiring sessions designed to help B2B teams ABMify their inbound strategies, as well as the first ever ABM Lounge. "We're excited to have such a strong presence at INBOUND this year, which reflects our market-leading end-to-end partnership with HubSpot. Our integration drives account-focused organizations' strategies by enabling teams of all sizes to identify high-fit, high-intent accounts and buyers, reach them efficiently, and measure impact — truly democratizing ABM and illustrating the power of ABM and inbound marketing," said Mike Stocker, VP of Partnerships at RollWorks. RollWorks ABM Lounge (Level 0, East Side of Boston Convention Center): Inspire your marketing programs, optimize your inbound, and accelerate your impact. Stop by 8:30am - 4:00pm ET to check out the sessions and for your chance to win $25K in RollWorks advertising media credits! Custom design a screen-printed t-shirt or tote bag of your choice, pick up one of our limited-edition ABM hoodies, and grab a coffee and snacks. Schedule a meeting with an ABM expert and learn how to get started with ABM and RollWorks or optimize your ABM program. ABM Lounge special events: Happy Hour: On Thursday, September 8th, from 5:30 - 7:00pm ET, come grab a custom Aperol Spritz or your drink of choice. RSVP for happy hour here. Customizable Donuts & Bottomless Espresso: On Friday, September 9th, from 8:00 - 9:00am ET, join us to celebrate our last few hours at INBOUND with customizable donuts and bottomless espresso drinks. RSVP for breakfast here. 2022 RollWorks + HubSpot Continued Product Innovation Throughout 2022, RollWorks has continued to deepen its commitment to adding more utility in its platform for HubSpot users. This summer, the company launched two new ABM tools: Journey Events for HubSpot®: delivers consolidated account-level visibility within the HubSpot interface to enable B2B organizations to understand what activities are working to drive accounts through the stages of the buying journey, and which activities need to be further optimized. Sales Insights for HubSpot: uses data science to provide a 360-degree view of accounts throughout the buying journey, helping B2B marketers and sales teams to eliminate the guesswork and create timelier and more efficient sales outreach. "RollWorks is a fantastic complement to HubSpot, combining best-in-class inbound marketing and account-based marketing capabilities to effectively grow B2B revenue," said Scott Brinker, VP of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot. "RollWorks is a fantastic complement to HubSpot, combining best-in-class inbound marketing and account-based marketing capabilities to effectively grow B2B revenue," said Scott Brinker, VP of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot. RollWorks + HubSpot Customer Success In April, the RollWorks ABM HubSpot App achieved a significant milestone for surpassing 500 installs (150% more than the nearest ABM competitor). Global organizations that leverage the combined power of RollWorks and HubSpot include: SnapFulfil: SnapFulfil leveraged RollWorks and HubSpot to launch and maintain a sales-aligned ABM program that generated high-value leads. Within 10 months, the Cloud Warehouse Management System (WMS) saw 27% of new website visits come from RollWorks and 4,000 new top-of-funnel leads with a 6% conversion to MQLs. "The prospects generated from all of our marketing activities get pulled into HubSpot automatically, where we then narrow our target list to sync with RollWorks. That automatic bi-directional syncing alone saves us a lot of time on manual input." - SnapFulfil Goverlan: Within 13 months, Goverlan identified 95% of closed/won deals were influenced by RollWorks and generated revenue 15x the initial investment cost—all with a nimble, two-person marketing team. "Things have changed since we started targeting accounts, as opposed to just contacts. We're generating 40-50 demo requests a week thanks to this happy marriage between our HubSpot inbound and RollWork ABM program." - Goverlan To learn more about how the market-leading combination of RollWorks and HubSpot drives even more value for your ABM programs, schedule a custom demo today. About RollWorks RollWorks, a division of NextRoll, offers ambitious B2B companies an account-based platform to align their marketing and sales teams and confidently grow revenue. Powered by proprietary data and machine learning, RollWorks' solutions address the needs of organizations large and small — from those with best-in-class ABM programs to those just beginning their exploration. By empowering teams to identify their target accounts and key buyers, reach those accounts across multiple channels, and measure program effectiveness in their system-of-record, RollWorks is an indispensable platform for marketers and sellers who believe that an account-based approach is just good business. To learn more visit www.rollworks.com.

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How a Fearless Content Marketing Strategy Paid Off for Under Armour, IBM, and GE

Business 2 Community | June 05, 2018

There are some truly inspirational brands out there in the world of content marketing. These companies are leading the pack when it comes to innovation, creativity, quality and, crucially, results. There are many examples of fearless content marketing spanning both B2B and B2C organizations. Venerable technology companies like GE are reinventing themselves for a new digital era, while fast-growing new consumer brands like Under Armour are threatening their more established rivals with their content marketing strategy. Here’s a look at 5 of these inspirational content marketing brands, how they’re doing it, and what you can learn from them.

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SmartBug Media Adds InfoSec Marketing Veteran Ken Mafli to Award-Winning Consulting Team

Business Insider | December 07, 2017

SmartBug Media—a leading intelligent inbound marketing agency that assists businesses in generating leads; increasing awareness; and building brand loyalty through inbound marketing, digital strategy, design, marketing automation, and PR—announced today its hire of Ken Mafli as Marketing Strategist. He will work to grow client revenue through digital marketing strategies.Previously, Mafli was the Demand Generation Manager for Townsend Security where he was part of a team that increased inbound leads by 93 percent in 2017 and saw a 50 percent increase in referral leads."SmartBug is committed to continual innovation while achieving impressive results for their clients," said Mafli. "This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with great minds while helping to create winning campaigns for our clients. I look forward to helping our clients grow a large audience of delighted and engaged customers."Mafli will work with the SmartBug team to move the needle forward for clients through a dynamic mix of cutting-edge ideas and best practices.

Read More

Account Based Advertising

RollWorks Presents the ABM Lounge at INBOUND 2022

RollWorks | August 12, 2022

RollWorks is bringing ABM to INBOUND! Today, the account-based marketing (ABM) platform and division of NextRoll celebrated its powerful partnership with HubSpot and announced its presence at HubSpot INBOUND® 22, September 6-9, 2022, in Boston. RollWorks has 16 inspiring sessions designed to help B2B teams ABMify their inbound strategies, as well as the first ever ABM Lounge. "We're excited to have such a strong presence at INBOUND this year, which reflects our market-leading end-to-end partnership with HubSpot. Our integration drives account-focused organizations' strategies by enabling teams of all sizes to identify high-fit, high-intent accounts and buyers, reach them efficiently, and measure impact — truly democratizing ABM and illustrating the power of ABM and inbound marketing," said Mike Stocker, VP of Partnerships at RollWorks. RollWorks ABM Lounge (Level 0, East Side of Boston Convention Center): Inspire your marketing programs, optimize your inbound, and accelerate your impact. Stop by 8:30am - 4:00pm ET to check out the sessions and for your chance to win $25K in RollWorks advertising media credits! Custom design a screen-printed t-shirt or tote bag of your choice, pick up one of our limited-edition ABM hoodies, and grab a coffee and snacks. Schedule a meeting with an ABM expert and learn how to get started with ABM and RollWorks or optimize your ABM program. ABM Lounge special events: Happy Hour: On Thursday, September 8th, from 5:30 - 7:00pm ET, come grab a custom Aperol Spritz or your drink of choice. RSVP for happy hour here. Customizable Donuts & Bottomless Espresso: On Friday, September 9th, from 8:00 - 9:00am ET, join us to celebrate our last few hours at INBOUND with customizable donuts and bottomless espresso drinks. RSVP for breakfast here. 2022 RollWorks + HubSpot Continued Product Innovation Throughout 2022, RollWorks has continued to deepen its commitment to adding more utility in its platform for HubSpot users. This summer, the company launched two new ABM tools: Journey Events for HubSpot®: delivers consolidated account-level visibility within the HubSpot interface to enable B2B organizations to understand what activities are working to drive accounts through the stages of the buying journey, and which activities need to be further optimized. Sales Insights for HubSpot: uses data science to provide a 360-degree view of accounts throughout the buying journey, helping B2B marketers and sales teams to eliminate the guesswork and create timelier and more efficient sales outreach. "RollWorks is a fantastic complement to HubSpot, combining best-in-class inbound marketing and account-based marketing capabilities to effectively grow B2B revenue," said Scott Brinker, VP of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot. "RollWorks is a fantastic complement to HubSpot, combining best-in-class inbound marketing and account-based marketing capabilities to effectively grow B2B revenue," said Scott Brinker, VP of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot. RollWorks + HubSpot Customer Success In April, the RollWorks ABM HubSpot App achieved a significant milestone for surpassing 500 installs (150% more than the nearest ABM competitor). Global organizations that leverage the combined power of RollWorks and HubSpot include: SnapFulfil: SnapFulfil leveraged RollWorks and HubSpot to launch and maintain a sales-aligned ABM program that generated high-value leads. Within 10 months, the Cloud Warehouse Management System (WMS) saw 27% of new website visits come from RollWorks and 4,000 new top-of-funnel leads with a 6% conversion to MQLs. "The prospects generated from all of our marketing activities get pulled into HubSpot automatically, where we then narrow our target list to sync with RollWorks. That automatic bi-directional syncing alone saves us a lot of time on manual input." - SnapFulfil Goverlan: Within 13 months, Goverlan identified 95% of closed/won deals were influenced by RollWorks and generated revenue 15x the initial investment cost—all with a nimble, two-person marketing team. "Things have changed since we started targeting accounts, as opposed to just contacts. We're generating 40-50 demo requests a week thanks to this happy marriage between our HubSpot inbound and RollWork ABM program." - Goverlan To learn more about how the market-leading combination of RollWorks and HubSpot drives even more value for your ABM programs, schedule a custom demo today. About RollWorks RollWorks, a division of NextRoll, offers ambitious B2B companies an account-based platform to align their marketing and sales teams and confidently grow revenue. Powered by proprietary data and machine learning, RollWorks' solutions address the needs of organizations large and small — from those with best-in-class ABM programs to those just beginning their exploration. By empowering teams to identify their target accounts and key buyers, reach those accounts across multiple channels, and measure program effectiveness in their system-of-record, RollWorks is an indispensable platform for marketers and sellers who believe that an account-based approach is just good business. To learn more visit www.rollworks.com.

Read More

How a Fearless Content Marketing Strategy Paid Off for Under Armour, IBM, and GE

Business 2 Community | June 05, 2018

There are some truly inspirational brands out there in the world of content marketing. These companies are leading the pack when it comes to innovation, creativity, quality and, crucially, results. There are many examples of fearless content marketing spanning both B2B and B2C organizations. Venerable technology companies like GE are reinventing themselves for a new digital era, while fast-growing new consumer brands like Under Armour are threatening their more established rivals with their content marketing strategy. Here’s a look at 5 of these inspirational content marketing brands, how they’re doing it, and what you can learn from them.

Read More

SmartBug Media Adds InfoSec Marketing Veteran Ken Mafli to Award-Winning Consulting Team

Business Insider | December 07, 2017

SmartBug Media—a leading intelligent inbound marketing agency that assists businesses in generating leads; increasing awareness; and building brand loyalty through inbound marketing, digital strategy, design, marketing automation, and PR—announced today its hire of Ken Mafli as Marketing Strategist. He will work to grow client revenue through digital marketing strategies.Previously, Mafli was the Demand Generation Manager for Townsend Security where he was part of a team that increased inbound leads by 93 percent in 2017 and saw a 50 percent increase in referral leads."SmartBug is committed to continual innovation while achieving impressive results for their clients," said Mafli. "This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with great minds while helping to create winning campaigns for our clients. I look forward to helping our clients grow a large audience of delighted and engaged customers."Mafli will work with the SmartBug team to move the needle forward for clients through a dynamic mix of cutting-edge ideas and best practices.

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Events