Inbound Marketing on a Shoestring Budget [1/5]: The Foundation

Inbound Marketing is an effective way to increase lead volume today and sales volume tomorrow. The concept is simple: Attract, Convert, Close and Delight. According to Gleastner Research only 0-18% of visitors are in the Decision (Bottom of Funnel) phase. That leaves 82-100% of visitors in the Awareness (Top of Funnel) and Consideration (Middle of Funnel) phases. Inbound Marketing is about appealing to 100% of visitors and nurturing them through the funnel.

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Q Market Research

Q Market Research is a recognized leader in providing cost-effective, quality-based research. Founded in 2001(as Quantitative Market Intelligence), we have honed research expertise for customers primarily in health care, financial services, professional services and manufacturing...

OTHER ARTICLES
Programmatic ABM

Five Must-Try Software As A Service Growth Hacking Strategies

Article | June 9, 2022

Many businesses employ Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for its flexibility and simplicity to fulfill their marketing requirements. Different types of SaaS marketing platforms help companies simplify their marketing needs. But growing a SaaS company isn’t easy. It is quite challenging because the industry is flooded with competition. Research had predicted very early on that 73% of the companies would turn all their apps into SaaS by 2021, making SaaS competition fiercer than ever. Marketeers eye for consumers’ already limited attention spans in B2B and B2C spaces.

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Buyer Intent Data

How Does Buyer Intent Data Boost Sales?

Article | March 6, 2023

Buyer intent data is sourced from either internal or external parties. When combined, it provides a comprehensive picture of how your targets behave online. Internal marketing teams provide first-party intent data through your company's website, automation platforms like CRM, or other in-house applications. Third-party data is gathered from buyer intent data tools. According to a Gartner study, more than 70% of B2B marketers will use third-party intent data to target prospects by the end of 2022. In an interview with Media 7, Laura Goldstone, Director, Communications and Branding Strategy at AdDaptive Intelligence, talked about the importance of correct messaging in sales and marketing once you know your audience. “I think the newest trends revolve around being a strategic resource, aligning marketing and sales, and using analytics to tailor messages to your audiences’ preferences or funnel stages.” Buyer intent data tools provided by intent data providers like Bombora, Slintel, and ZoomInfo collect high-quality intent data to help you identify the accounts that show buyer intent, making it easier for you to understand their requirements and deliver solutions through effective content. Let's find out how intent data can help your ABM strategy by making sales easier. Buyer Intent Data: 5 Impactful Ways It Can Help You Boost Sales Let us look at five benefits of buyer intent data that can help you boost sales: Create Effective Content In ABM marketing, the marketing team supports the sales team by generating qualified leads through effective content that addresses the prospects’ needs. There are more than a billion websites competing for a prospect’s attention. Focusing more on engaging your intended audience than on your search rankings could translate to more sales. This B2B intent data will allow your marketing team to analyze the volume and quality of responses to various online 'triggers' like keywords and social engagement. This way, the marketing team eliminates the guesswork in analytics and content research. B2B intent data can assist your marketing team in its intent-based marketing endeavors. The team can develop hyper-personalized, relevant, and timely content that can be used in your sales process to engage with new leads. Identify Buyer Groups In the B2B domain, multiple decision-makers sign off on purchase decisions. Your key accounts might have buyer groups, and this may pose a problem for your sales strategy. You will need to appeal to multiple personas who will then make unanimous decisions when purchasing your products or services. When combined with accurate, up-to-date contact information, intent data can assist in segmenting the purchasing process into relevant stages. Buying intent is useful not only for tracking and analyzing individual target prospects, but also for tracking and analyzing entire organizations. Overall, sales teams can craft perfect messages for any target persona that crosses their path, thanks to quality intent data. Improve Lead Qualification After your sales and marketing teams have developed an ideal lead generation strategy, you'll want to target leads with purchase intent. The majority of leads generated may not completely align with your ICP (ideal customer profile). If your product or service isn't even remotely relevant to what they're looking for, an automation system that is a part of your ABM services can remove them from your lead list. By delving into their product research activities, using intent data in lead management and outreach helps remove some of these roadblocks. It is critical to have a nurturing system in place and implement a lead scoring process. Intent data reveals where these leads fall within your segmentation, how interested they are in your solutions, and how their purchasing process works, so your effort or time is not wasted. Increase Customer Retention The same buyer intent technology that is used to find new prospects and customers can also be used for customer retention. According to Brain and Company, a 5% increase in customer retention can result in a more than 25% increase in profit. Monitoring intent signals can help you identify when a current customer interacts with a competitor or looks for alternatives to your product. It allows you to engage with them earlier and provides you with another opportunity to maintain your customer relationships. Boost Team Productivity According to HubSpot research, 40% of salespeople say prospecting is the most difficult part of their job. Buyer intent data eliminates prospecting (such as connecting on LinkedIn, getting past the gatekeeper, and sourcing emails), which results in more sales for your company. The most effective buyer intent software solutions can provide not only company-level intent information but also contact information for key decision-makers (all whilst complying with GDPR rules). This means your sales team can get right to the point and use the most up-to-date business intelligence to engage in more conversations with the right prospects. B2B intent data keeps your sales team on top of their game by allowing them to analyze and comprehend prospects on a more granular level. Cloudera Generated over 30 Significant Business Deals Using Intent Data Cloudera, an enterprise management company, harnessed intent data from Bombora and Just Global to run a hyper-targeted account-based marketing strategy across its sales, advertising, and marketing teams. As a result, it generated over thirty significant business deals. Conclusion B2B buyer intent data can help you boost sales by accurately identifying target accounts that show buyer intent. Using buyer intent tools that give clean intent data can help your sales team generate revenue and scale your business. FAQ How does intent data help with sales? With the help of intent data, your sales team can target and qualify leads swiftly and accurately as it provides all the crucial background information on the leads. Accurate targeting translates to more conversions and sales. Where does the intent data come from? Intent data is usually provided by third-party data providers through buyer intent data tools. These tools collect intent data from data-sharing points like B2B websites, media publishers, and other relevant sources. How is intent data beneficial for improving an account-based marketing strategy? With the help of intent data, you can personalize your website, focus on your inbound leads with respect to their engagement with your content, nurture leads with email marketing, and identify prospective customers who haven’t engaged with you yet. These factors can enhance your ABM strategy.

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Buyer Intent Data

ABM – Another Bullshit in Marketing?

Article | August 23, 2022

Is ABM just Another Bullshit in Marketing* or a path to success? After some exciting years of establishing and experiencing ABM, I think, there is clearly a potential for both: a chance for a significant contribution to success, or just another bullshit. There are many paths in both directions (succeed or bullshit) - below are some thoughts and personal observations - and I leave the decision with you! ABM and the Relationship with Sales:There is no chance for ABM if you are not working in lockstep and partnership with sales. Anything else is just bullshit. The Right Balance to Scale ABM,1:1 ABM vs. ABM at Scale:Both approaches have their reasons and value. As ABM at scale is often discussed, the key question is: what makes the approach account based? Applying ABM methods in a scaled environment is an enormous chance to put more customers into the center, especially if 1: few is seen as a scaled 1:1 (and not as a small 1: many). Account insights are used for better planning, personalization, messaging, and content development – the right balance is the key. The chance of scaling ABM to death is relatively high - then just don't call it ABM. From Pipeline Only to Customer Loyalty:What is the expected outcome? This quarter’s pipeline? Or a long-term successful relationship with a loyal customer? How will you measure success in such a customer relationship? There are extensive lists of KPIs for ABM. Leads are normally not part of it - for a reason. My view is: Finally, ABM has to contribute to the business, especially in the long-term. It is relatively easy to realize short-term success, but will your accounts be loyal customers over the years? Will they grow over time or only for a quarter? Defining joint goals for sales and ABM and committing as peers to customer lifecycle-related goals, not just single deals, reduces the risk of delivering bullshit. Is Your Approach "Marketing for Accounts" or "Account Based"? There is value in both in marketing for accounts and in account-based marketing. If you label it “ABM,” make it account-based. Ideally, you look at your data and insights and decide: is that enough to make it an ABM approach? If so, great! If not, fix your data. My company invested an enormous effort in fixing the data and developing an innovative view of our accounts. Listen to Your Customers! That's something I do by myself, and I ask my team to do so, too. Have you ever asked your customer (humans, people, executives - not data) how your ABM was received? Do they value what you do for them, and what exactly makes the difference between all the many newsletters and emails they receive? We measure everything we do, but we do not really measure what we don't do. What do you think about it? *By the way, the "bullshit statement" was made by a sales leader in one of my first ABM presentations in front of his team. We have proven multiple times the opposite, but to be constantly successful, we have to challenge ourselves daily: Is that really ABM what I do? Can I prove it? What is the expected short-term and long-term outcome? What will my customer think about it? One has to reflect on these questions.

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Core ABM

ABM: Looking beyond the buzzword!

Article | May 20, 2021

Account Based Marketing (ABM) is not a new concept in B2B marketing. However, as an important integrated B2B marketing and sales approach, we don’t think it is widely understood or used as it should be in B2B media/events businesses and professional membership organisations. Regardless of the size of your organisation, product types, or the sectors you serve, every senior business leader and marketer should be embracing ABM and integrating it as part of their overall marketing strategy. If you’re keen to learn more about ABM – what it is, why it is important and how you put it into practice, read on!

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Spotlight

Q Market Research

Q Market Research is a recognized leader in providing cost-effective, quality-based research. Founded in 2001(as Quantitative Market Intelligence), we have honed research expertise for customers primarily in health care, financial services, professional services and manufacturing...

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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.

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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