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Why’s B2B Marketing So Boring?

Guest post by: Jeff Ogden

Article Overview: Does everyone sound alike to you too? Name any product or service and then try to explain what makes one different from the other. Good luck.

Why’s B2B Marketing So Boring?

B2B Lead Generation | Why are so many of you so boring? With the vast majority of companies unable to create quality sales leads for salespeople, it is a real problem. In fact, more than 3 out of 4 companies say that the lack of quality sales leads is their biggest problem. So companies are trying to figure out lead generation programs.

http://www.findnewcustomers.com/personality If you want do business to businesslead generation, you need to attract sales leads. Lead generation programs depend on clear differentiation. In fact, when I was the featured guest on HubSpotTV recently, the show closed with my marketing takeaway:

Think Different In a recently study by MarketingProfs and Junta42, it was found that the biggest challenged faced by marketers with their content in their lead generation programs was making it engaging for prospective buyers. Over 1 out of 3 – 36%, said their single biggest problem was:

a lack of engaging content In plain English, that means when they receive your content, their reaction is “Ho hum.”

In my mind, there’s no excuse. Engaging lead generation content comes down to basic human nature.

People enjoy three things:

1. Things that make them laugh or cry
2. A great story
3. A chance to learn the unexpected

Understand your buyers and make it fun. Make them laugh or make them cry, tell them a story or surprise them with insights. They will respond, engage with you and turn into the quality sales leads your salespeople so badly need.

Let me share a good Business to Business example of good lead generation programs:

Kinaxis is a software company whose offerings compete with giant software companies SAP and Oracle. So how do they compete? Quite well, thank you.

Check out the very funny episode from Suitemates by clicking the link.

Suitemates might have been their most ambitious project, but they’ve got a lot more humor – such as

• Late, Late Supply Chain Show
• Married to the Job, and
• Uncle Jay Explains

All light, funny and entertaining. And the 21st Century Supply Chain is their thought leadership blog, so they share surprising insights too. And one of the thinks I really love about Kinaxis is this – check out all the photos of smiling, happy people!

As you see, B2B marketing, even technology, does not have to be boring. If you want to go a great job in B2B lead generation, loosen up!

So why’s B2B Marketing so boring?

What do you think? We love comments and sharing. We even give you simple buttons for sharing, so please use them.

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“If more companies listened to (Find New Customers) a lot more would be sold.” Dan McDade, Pointclear.

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Article Tags: b2b demand generation, b2b lead generation, btob demand generation, btob lead generation, demand gen, demand generation, demand generation companies, demand generation company, find new customers, lead gen, lead generation, lead generation companies, lead generation company, sales lead generation



Related Forum Posts
Re: Character Design - using it effectively in marketing - Hi Russel, I like your conclusion on when a good character is needed: Children related Boring products and services I do often find myself looking at a site and saying, "I don't know what it is but it just looking boring." I also liked that case study when the answered why did Mario have a mustache....because they couldn't draw a mouth with 8bits....pretty funny. Thanks for the good info. Jeff
Re: What is your Business? - We are running a Online Marketing Firm and we have some good clients to which we are offering a complete Digital Marketing strategy like Search, Mobile Marketing, Branding and Design. I think in Online Marketing company online presence can be a wining factor for the success of the company.
Re: Let’s talk about the ways of marketing your products, servic - I agree with some of the others who responded it depends on what your selling... but to answer your questions here are some of the methods I use. Forum Marketing Yahoo Answers (I need to use more of) SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Bum Marketing or Article marketing P-P-C (Pay Per Click) Marketing Online Directories Hope this helps.
Re: Character Design - using it effectively in marketing - [quote:2ke8zsp4]It''s all about testing. The same is about pop ups, and fly-in ads - I didn't like them, but I do have one on my home page. Why? because it works, and I get 75% sign ups from this form.[/quote:2ke8zsp4] Thanks for the reminder on that Tanny... I need to get this going too. Another thought on the character design. This approach would be ideal for products that have no sizzle and need some kind boost because they are downright boring. Car insurance and the Geiko brand come to mind... using those cavemen guys then recently switching over to an animated Gecko. And eSurance fit's that mold as well. OK we have discovered two criteria for character design: Children related Boring products and services It's a start?
Re: Should Evan add a "Social Media Marketing" category to the f - Hi, Online Marketing would be a great title, and having sub categories would make it even better, there would plenty of categories to choose from, Social Media, SEO, Article Marketing and yes even Affiliate Marketing to name just a few, great looking site btw Jeff, take care, Carol


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