Successful B2B companies must continually make innovative decisions throughout their organization to stay ahead in a competitive market. This includes product or service innovation, as well as innovative approaches to engaging potential customers and delivering a seamless buyer experience.
B2B Marketing Exchange will be back in 2019 with a focus on identifying new strategies to drive buyer engagement, as well as ways to look at traditional strategies through a new lens. The event, which takes place February 25-27 in Scottsdale, Ariz., will include 70+ sessions designed to help marketers to think outside the box. Here are five examples:
1. Transform Customers Into A Brand Fanbase
Customer centricity has been discussed at length within the B2B community. However, some progressive companies are going even further to turn their customers into a brand “fanbase.” During his keynote presentation, best-selling author David Meerman Scott will share a blueprint for how people and organizations are moving beyond leads and prospects and building passionate fans of their ideas, companies, art, solutions and services. David will preview some strategies and examples from his upcoming book, including specific recommendations on how B2B companies can:
- Apply the neuroscience of fandom to marketing and sales strategies;
- Expand communities by breaking down the gates and making content and thought leadership easily accessible;
- Lead with authenticity by being a true thought leader, and scrapping generic messaging and imagery; and
- Build relevance and context with innovative new content formats, channels and personalization practices.
2. Take A Page From The Media Playbook
Content is the fuel for innovative brands, and B2B businesses continue to strive to think outside the box to create better content that gives buyers what they need. Carlos Abler, Leader of Content Marketing & Strategy at 3M, will discuss how companies must adopt publishing and media company methodologies to address the demands for content excellence in contemporary customer/audience creation/relations.
Carlos will dive deep into how we have an opportunity to apply social innovation and entrepreneurialism to identify and productize relevance for our value-added content and app products.
Key takeaways will include:
- How to use content to build better and more profitable relationships and uncover new business model opportunities;
- Ways to deliver thought leadership that changes the way a person sees the world in a manner that reveals new actionable approaches; and
- Case studies drawn from the world of content marketing, as well as NGOs and others.
3. Grow ABM With Sales Enablement
ABM has been the biggest buzzword in the B2B marketplace over the past couple of years—and for good reason. Companies are seeing great results when putting ABM into action.
However, sales teams have been thinking in an account mindset for years, meaning marketing teams must position themselves to better enable their sales counterparts. Pam Didner, content marketing consultant, author and speaker, will discuss this topic in detail to help position marketing teams with the strategies they need to better enable sales teams in an ABM environment.
4. Don’t Forget To Scale
Innovation fuels growth and scale is a vital part of continuing that innovation and streamlining it throughout the organization. This continues to be necessary as companies grow into global brands that still must meet the individual expectations of buyers and prospective accounts.
Kelvin Gee, Senior Director of Modern Marketing Transformation at Oracle, will take the stage to talk about how he and his team are positioning the company to scale their account-based initiatives to meet buyer demands on a global scale.
5. Generate Company-Wide Buy In
Marketing and sales shouldn’t be the only departments that focus on customer value. With the entire organization focused on the customer, businesses can drive better outcomes and meet customer expectations more effortlessly.
In a presentation by veteran marketer and bestselling author Michael Brenner, you’ll learn how the future of B2B marketing is about activating the talent and expertise of your entire organization.
Key takeaways will include how to:
- Push back on the things that B2B marketers know won't work;
- Take your marketing to the next level and engage your audience through storytelling; and
- Rally the entire organization around the customer with an intricate new framework.
Are you looking forward to the B2B Marketing Exchange next February? Summer pricing for tickets ends September 15, so save your seat to join us at the place to be for B2B!
