Page 60 - The European Business Review

Marketing

If you want to persuade someone, you need to be sure that the audience's attention is

focused in the right direction when you present your appeal. What better way to focus
them than by having them approach you and ask for the information!

Sales and marketing worked together to identify content About the Authors
pieces that would help contribute to the conversation. Laurence Minsky is Associate Professor at
The result was marketing and sales alignment in a strategy Columbia College Chicago. He’s a co-author of
based on sales insight and messaging that resonated with the both The Activation Imperative: How to Build Brand and
audience supporting a consultative approach. Content was Business by Inspiring Action and Audio Branding: Using
created in easy to share social media posts and training was Sound to Build Your Brand.
provided on the best ways to share with prospects. Marketing Keith A. Quesenberry is Assistant Professor
learned from sales about customer perspectives, sales teams at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA. An
became a valuable content marketing channel, and business expert in social media and digital marketing he’s the
was generated as a result. 18,19 author of Social Media Strategy: Marketing and
,%0 ZDV VHHNLQJ QHZ ZD\V WR ÀQG % % FXVWRPHUV Advertising in the Consumer Revolution.
for their cloud computing and data security products.
Special thanks to Joseph Carson, CISSP, Chief Security Scientist,
Telemarketing and email weren’t producing the results
Thycotic to ensure accuracy with GDPR regulations.
they wanted. IBM launched an inbound effort. By moni-
References
toring social media, marketing helped uncover user’s 1. Paul Nolan. (2015). “Mapping the Buyer’s Journey,” Sales & Marketing Management, March 27, https://
salesandmarketing.com/content/mapping-buyer%E2%80%99s-journey.
discussions about cloud computing trends, issues, and 2. Lori Wizdo. (2015). “B2B Buyer Journey Mapping Basics,” Forrester (blog), May 25, https://
go.forrester.com/blogs/15-05-25-b2b_buyer_journey_mapping_basics/.
other hot-button topics. Then sales reps checked an RSS 3. Lori Wizdo. (2015). “B2B Buyer Journey Mapping Basics,” Forrester (blog), May 25, https://
IHHG IRXQG FRQWHQW WKDW ÀW WKH GLVFXVVLRQV DQG VKDUHG go.forrester.com/blogs/15-05-25-b2b_buyer_journey_mapping_basics/.
-RQ 5HHG ´:K\ HQWHUSULVH EX\HUV WUXVW LQÁXHQFHUV ² QHZ UHVHDUFK µ 'LJLQRPLFD EORJ -XQH
KWWSV GLJLQRPLFD FRP ZK\ HQWHUSULVH EX\HUV WUXVW LQÁXHQFHUV QHZ UHVHDUFK
LW RQ WKHLU VRFLDO PHGLD DQG RQ WKHLU ,%0 ZHEVLWH SURÀOH 5. Hank Barnes. (2015) “The Trust Cycle – Are you Developing or Eroding Trust?” Gartner (blog), June
pages. Product orders were reportedly four times higher 16, https://blogs.gartner.com/hank-barnes/2015/06/16/the-trust-cycle-are-you-developing-or-
eroding-trust/.
GXULQJ WKH ÀUVW TXDUWHU RI WKH LQERXQG VWUDWHJ\ WKDQ WKH 6. Kingpin. (2017). “What will the GDPR mean for B2B marketing professionals?” April, http://
kingpincomms.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Kingpin_GDPR-eBook-20172-002.pdf.
20
same quarter the year before. 7. Mimi An. (2016). “Buyers Speak Out: How Sales Needs to Evolve,” HubSot (blog), April 17, https://
research.hubspot.com/reports/buyers-speak-out-how-sales-needs-to-evolve.
8. Cialdini, Robert B. (2016). 3UH VXDVLRQ D UHYROXWLRQDU\ ZD\ WR LQÁXHQFH DQG SHUVXDGH New York: Simon
& Schuster.
Some question to ask for your future B2B sales efforts: 9. Lisa Earle McLeod. (2012) Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You
Proud. New York: Wiley.
• Does your sales process need some improvements to 10. Stacey, Thornberry. “Dynamic Duo: Close More Deals with Sales and Marketing
Alignment,” Marketo (blog), April 2016, https://blog.marketo.com/2016/04/dynamic-duo-
UHÁHFW WKLV QHZ UHDOLW\" close-more-deals-with-sales-and-marketing-alignment.html.
3DZDQ 'HVKSDQGH ´8QGHUVWDQG +RZ &RQWHQW LV ,QÁXHQFLQJ %X\HUV $ 3ULPHU RQ $WWULEXWLRQ
• Have you prepared for the marketing implications of Models,” Content Marketing Institute (blog), February 10, 2017, http://contentmarketinginstitute.
com/2017/02/primer-attribution-models/.
GDPR? 12. Lauren Frye. (2015). “[Infographic] New Stats Reveal How B2B Marketers Think About Attribution,”
Bizible (blog), November 4, https://www.bizible.com/blog/b2b-marketing-attribution-infographic.
• Are you working more closely with marketing to 13. Ali Chambers, “What The GDPR Means For B2B Salespeople,” Communigator (blog), February 13,
2017, https://www.communigator.co.uk/blog/gdpr/gdpr-means-b2b-salespeople/.
improve inbound efforts? 14. Byrony Seiftert, “What is GDRP and What do B2B Tech Marketers Need to Know about it?”
TechTarget (blog), May 31, 2017, http://www.techtarget.com/what-is-gdpr-and-what-do-b2b-tech-
According to Cialdini in Pre-suasion, if you want to marketers-need-to-know-about-it/.
15. “Economic impact assessment of the proposed European General Data Protection Regulation,”
persuade someone that something is truly important, you Deloitte, December 16, 2013, https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/about-
deloitte/deloitte-uk-european-data-protection-tmt.pdf.
need to be sure that the audience's attention is focused in 16. Scott Meyer, “What Marketers Need to Know About the EU’s New Data Protection Rules,” eMarketer
(blog), March 14, 2017, https://www.emarketer.com/Article/What-Marketers-Need-Know-About-EUs-
the right direction when you present your appeal. What New-Data-Protection-Rules/1015409.
/DXUHQFH 0LQVN\ DQG .HLWK $ 4XHVHQEHUU\ ´+RZ % % 6DOHV &DQ %HQHÀW IURP 6RFLDO 6HOOLQJ µ
better way to focus them than by having them approach Harvard Business Review (blog), November 8, 2016, https://hbr.org/2016/11/84-of-b2b-sales-start-with-
a-referral-not-a-salesperson
you and ask for the information! 18. “Awards case study: Vodafone aligns sales and marketing teams to engage senior decision-makers,”
B2B Marketing, November 17, 2016, https://www.b2bmarketing.net/en/resources/b2b-case-studies/
awards-case-study-vodafone-aligns-sales-and-marketing-teams-engage-senior.
19. .Votaphone Group Plc, Votaphone Group Plc Annual Report 2016, 2016, http://www.
NOTE: This article is not a substitute for professional legal advice. vodafone.com/content/annualreport/annual_report16/index.html?utm_source=vodafone&utm_
medium=promotion&utm_term=investorARpanel&utm_campaign=annual_report_2016.html.
Brands should consult their own company’s general counsel to ensure 20. “IBM’s Social Selling: The Computer Giant Find B2B Leads In Social Media,” Chief Marketer,
-DQXDU\ KWWS ZZZ FKLHIPDUNHWHU FRP LEPV VRFLDO VHOOLQJ WKH FRPSXWHU JLDQW ÀQGV E E
legal compliance. leads-in-social-media/.
60 The European Business Review January - February 2018