Ruth Stevens comments on thought leaders of B2B marketing.
In our fast-changing marketing world, a smart B2B practitioner keeps up to date by learning from thought leaders. While this used to mean reading business books and magazines, today it means blogs. We’ve all heard the stats about blog proliferation. A new blog launched every six seconds—or whatever. And there is no dearth of blogs on B2B marketing. So I would like to share my favorites, the blogs where I find inspiration, new ideas, and provocative stories to keep the gray matter humming.
Here’s my list of six current faves.
The Point, by Howard J. Sewell. Howard is a seasoned lead generation pro, and a terrific writer. His blog is probably my most retweeted, as every post contains some useful nugget. It’s highly scanable too, which is welcome. My recent favorite article is the amusingly titled “Sorry, But ‘How Many Touches Does it Take to Make a Sale?’ is No Longer a Valid Question.”
The Business Marketing Institute, by Eric Gagnon. Available as “Tuesday Marketing Notes,” these posts are meaty—more like book chapters than blog posts. Eric’s writing is always practical, action oriented, and a joy to read. Its’ no wonder—he’s the author of the single best book on B2B marketing, The Marketing Manager’s Handbook, now apparently out of print.
B2B Lead Roundtable Blog, by Brian Carroll, with additional contributors. Brian made an important point in his recent post Stop Cold Calling and Start Lead Nurturing. It seems so obvious that a robust lead nurturing effort reduces the need for constant lead acquisition, but this is often overlooked. His organization also manages a thoughtful and wide-ranging discussion on the B2B Lead Roundtable groupon LinkedIn.
Viewpoint: The Truth About Lead Generation, by Dan McDade. So refreshing, isn’t it, to cut through the hype and get to the truth? Dan’s interests are far-ranging, and he’s a master of content marketing (a blog, video chat interviews, white papers, book reviews, training videos), with no fluff. I was honored to contribute a guest post for PointClear last year.
B2BMarketingSmarts, by Susan Fantle. Susan being a first-rate B2B copywriter, it’s no surprise that her blog is both well written and full of insightful observations, examples, and success stories. Have a look especially at her 6-step tutorial on writing great lead generation copy, beginning with her first step, which is about focusing in on the prospect’s pain point.
Matt on Marketing, by Matt Heinz, who runs a B2B agency in Seattle. Matt is a prolific writer, and assembles lots of helpful ideas from others to boot. This blog is a treasure trove. What I especially like is his positioning as “sales acceleration,” which is to my mind, where B2B marketing needs to be.
This blog was provided by BIIA’s director Ruth P. Stevens. This Blob was published by Biznology on September 24th, 2014.
About Ruth Stevens
Ruth P. Stevens consults on customer acquisition and retention, and teaches marketing at companies and business schools in the U.S. and abroad. Crain’s BtoB magazine named Ruth one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Marketing. She is the author of Maximizing Lead Generation: The Complete Guide for B2B Marketers, and Trade Show and Event Marketing. Ruth serves as a director of Edmund Optics, Inc., the HIMMS Media Group, and the Business Information Industry Association. Learn more at www.ruthstevens.com.
