Welcome back to B2B Trending Conversations, our weekly collection of buzzworthy B2B tweets and social posts. This week, we’ll discuss whether buying LinkedIn followers is right for your company and which followers to avoid. We’ll explore how to increase sales using inbound marketing, learn how to avoid the “dip of disillusionment” in content marketing and get the cure for “Martech Overwhelm Syndrome.” There’s also an infographic on the latest trends in account-based marketing. Without further ado…
B2B Social Media
What to do after buying #LinkedInfollowers for your company:https://t.co/y3GPQqd0YP
Grow your real followers! #b2b pic.twitter.com/ksMuOnRx7t— Devumi (@devumi) January 19, 2017
Is it a good idea to purchase LinkedIn followers for your B2B enterprise? Definitely, says John Beckett at Devumi Social Media Marketing. Buying followers can help build your company’s LinkedIn presence, raising brand awareness and attracting potential customers. As social proof becomes an ever-more important marketing concept, nothing lends credibility quite like a high follower count. Paid followers can also be used to create a bandwagon effect and increase brand preference. However, all paid followers are not created equal. It’s all about quality over quantity — profiles with proper names, plenty of details and lots of followers are preferable over nameless white eggs.
Inbound Marketing
3 Ways #InboundMarketing Benefits Your Sales | Andy Alagappan – https://t.co/ww3hFByq5Y #B2B #Marketing #sales
— Jose Javier Garde (@jose_garde) January 20, 2017
Lead generation expert Andy Alagappan explains three ways inbound marketing can boost your B2B sales. Because inbound marketing essentially focuses on customers who are already looking for products and services that you sell, better quality leads usually result. Inbound marketing also significantly shortens sales cycles increases your chances of repeat sales. “Inbound marketing can transform the way sales is done and, as a result, add significantly to your company’s bottom line,” writes Alagappan. “While inbound marketing is, most certainly, not an overnight job, when done right and with solid strategies in place, it can present endless opportunities to make more customers and retain the older ones.”
B2B Marketing Technology
#MarTech Overwhelm Syndrome: A Growing Concern Among #B2B Marketing Executives https://t.co/ZXQjc2IGSF #marketing
— Jesse Harmon (@MrJesseHarmon) January 19, 2017
Does the dizzying array of marketing technologies available today stress you out? Then you may suffer from what Karen Hittelman at Business 2 Community calls “Martech Overwhelm Syndrome,” and you’re not alone. According to Brinker’s 2016 Marketing Technology Supergraphic, there are 3,874 marketing technology solutions — twice as many as there were a year earlier. How is any B2B marketer to stay sane? Applying the Pareto Principle, which asserts that 20 percent of invested input is responsible for 80 of results, and Six Sigma (quality control and process improvement) methodology offers a clear, strategic technique for choosing the right marketing technologies from those thousands of options.
B2B Content Marketing
[#HallOfFame 2016] 15 Important #ContentMarketing Trends for your #Startup Strategyhttps://t.co/T4FDbQpEzw [via @ContentAssets] #B2B pic.twitter.com/B3EtUoigao
— ipfconline (@ipfconline1) January 19, 2017
As content marketing enters a new phase marketing guru Jeff Bullas calls the “dip of disillusionment,” marketers have to work smarter as well as harder. Fine-tuning storytelling skills, encouraging user-generated content and focusing on quality long-form content are just the beginning. The rise of live video casting, native and optimized content mean marketers will have to stay on their toes to keep up with the latest trends. As social media sites proliferate and each platform features its own unique influencers, remember that great content, distribution and credibility transcend platforms. Take advantage of developments in artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality to stay ahead of the game.
Account-Based Marketing
#Infographic providing some recent & accurate stats on #ABM that every #B2B needs to know. https://t.co/zaBzWK0eko pic.twitter.com/yFDTK3i4ES https://t.co/8znFE72kUt
— Kwanzoo (@kwanzoo) January 10, 2017
What are the latest trends in account-based marketing? This infographic from Fuse Machines reflects ABM’s growing importance, with more than 90 percent of marketers saying they believe ABM is essential to B2B marketing. With almost all marketers agreeing that ABM offers higher ROI than other marketing activities, it’s no wonder why. Opportunity abounds — 74 percent of business buyers conduct more than half their research online, yet 90 percent of purchases are still completed by a salesperson. The future is bright, with more than 60 percent of companies saying they plan to invest in ABM technology and 41 percent of B2B marketers worldwide reporting they would increase AMB spending.
That’s all for this week. We look forward to seeing you again next week, when we’ll bring you all the B2B buzz that’s fit to share. Until then, you can catch up with last week’s roundup here. As always, if you’ve got great B2B content, tips or pitches, let us know at @B2BNewsNetwork. We love hearing from you!
Feature image source: Nerd Sleep
Brett Wilkins
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