PEELING BACK THE LAYERS: THE ONION APPROACH TO B2B CONTENT

by MessageUp The onion is a simple, yet powerful ingredient found in countless cuisines worldwide. It is also a very popular metaphor for just about anything that has layers—like your B2B content strategy, for example. In the content analogy, each layer of the onion reveals a different perspective, a different story, and a different opportunity to connect with your target audience. If coming up with B2B content topics is making you cry, this model could be for you! Let's examine this content onion together and see what we can cook up. Contrary to many onion metaphors, I’m going to assume…

Read More

How to win your first 10 B2B customers

by LENNY RACHITSKY for Lenny's Newsletter How to win your first 10 B2B customers Part four of my seven-part series on kickstarting and scaling a B2B business LENNY RACHITSKY SEP 5, 2023 28 Share 👋 Hey, I’m Lenny and welcome to a 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒 of my weekly newsletter. Each week I tackle reader questions about building product, driving growth, and accelerating your career.Subscribe Welcome to part four of our series on how to kickstart and scale a B2B business: Part 1: How to come up with a great B2B startup idea Part 2: How to validate your idea Part 3: How to identify…

Read More

The B2B generative AI design shootout: Part 2

by Brian Terry for Velocity Generative AI is having its moment in the sun — and it’s casting a menacing shadow over the creative industries while it does it. The trouble is, too much of the conversation focuses on whether generative AI will replace creatives entirely (by generating images, copy and code from scratch). We think a better question to ask is: How could generative AI make creatives better? Generative AI may one day be able to take on a fully-fledged designer — or it could fall flat on its originality-deficient face. But spotlighting the ways AI fails to totally…

Read More

7 LinkedIn advertising pitfalls: Where your B2B ads setup might stumble

by Andrea Cruz for Search Engine Land LinkedIn is a powerful way to connect with a targeted B2B audience through its advertising capabilities. However, LinkedIn ad campaigns can sometimes stumble even with the best intentions. If you’re puzzled by your LinkedIn Ads setup going awry, you’re not alone. This article will dissect the critical factors that can undermine your once-promising ad setup, leading it down an unfortunate path.  By identifying these pitfalls, you’ll uncover the challenges and actionable solutions to steer your campaign back on track.  1. Insufficient audience targeting If you’re new to B2B marketing or used to seeing Meta’s…

Read More

The State of In-Person B2B Events in 2023

by Ayaz Nanji for MarketingProfs Is attendance up at in-person B2B events? What are organizers' key goals and challenges in 2023? To find out, Bizzabo surveyed 1,757 people who organize in-person B2B events, such as conferences. More than half (52%) of organizers say attendance at their B2B events has grown over the past year. B2B event organizers say the top challenges they faced when planning their most recent event were fitting it into the wider marketing plan, selecting a vendor, and selecting a venue. B2B event organizers say their top priorities for their next conference are to increase engagement, attendance, and the sales pipeline. Some 71%…

Read More

The B2B generative AI design shootout: Part 1.

by Brian Terry for Velocity Generative AI is having its moment in the sun — and it’s casting a menacing shadow over the creative industries while it does it. The trouble is, too much of the conversation focuses on whether generative AI will replace creatives entirely (by generating images, copy and code from scratch). We think a better question to ask is: How could generative AI make creatives better? Generative AI may one day be able to take on a fully-fledged designer — or it could fall flat on its originality-deficient face. But spotlighting the ways AI fails to totally…

Read More

How to validate your B2B startup idea

By LENNY RACHITSKY for Lenny's Newsletter Welcome to part two of kickstarting and scaling a B2B business. Here’s where we’re at: Part 1: How to come up with a great B2B startup idea Part 2: How to validate your idea ← This post Part 3: How to identify your ICP Part 4: How to find and win your first 10 customers Part 5: How to find product-market fit Part 6: How, and when, to hire your early team Part 7: How to scale your growth engine Let’s get into it. A huge thank-you to Akshay Kothari (COO of Notion), Ali Ghodsi (CEO of Databricks), Barry McCardel (CEO of Hex), Boris Jabes (CEO of Census), Calvin French-Owen (co-founder…

Read More

Navigating discovery call flow (TEMPLATE)

by LIZ CHRISTO for Dear Stage 2 DEAR STAGE 2: I’m ramping up 2 new reps this quarter. As part of their onboarding, we’ve been listening to sales calls together, sharing feedback on what worked and what didn’t, and how we would improve the call overall. It’s been eye-opening to realize how inconsistent our discovery process has been. I’m hesitant to roll out a script, but it’s clear we need some more guidance around qualification. Where should I start? ~Prioritizing DiscoverySubscribe DEAR PRIORITIZING DISCOVERY: Qualification is such a critical part of the sales process. Too often, sales leaders focus on listening…

Read More

How to Attract and Retain Top B2B Marketing Talent

by Gergo Vari for MarketingProfs You may already be aware of the labor shortage in the US that is affecting nearly all sectors of business. But let's take a look at the consequences. Part of the ripple effect is that the labor shortage has significantly increased the importance of attracting and retaining marketing talent. Senior-level marketers responsible for their company's marketing department staff need to stand up and take notice. The disparity between the number of job openings (over 10 million in the US) versus the number of job seekers (under 6 million) according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, combined with…

Read More

Is B2C and B2B Growth… the same?

by ELENA VERNA for Elena's Growth Scoop There is a cute penguin mascot on Oracle’s home page… 🤯 What is this consumer-like ‘thing’ doing here if this is a traditional enterprise B2B company geared at serious enterprise buyers? Shouldn’t it all be corporate and serious? There is a powerful consumerization trend sweeping across the B2B landscape, where business software is starting to look much more like consumer products.  Colorful icons, cute mascots, emojis, friendly language, easy-to-use interfaces, and habit-forming experiences make B2B products feel like a joyride rather than a slog through the Siberian tundra. Companies like Dropbox, Miro, Slack,…

Read More