Shimon Ben Ayoun

D-day for the GDPR, the new data and privacy regulation is approaching and many of us are talking about it. In a conversation with data expert Colin Day, we explore the top priorities for B2B marketers.

Adapt faster to customer needs, increase the speed and quality of the marketing-outcome and improve working culture. Sound too good to be true? For Willemijn Schneyder from Number8 this is what agility can result in. “It’s about bringing agility into marketing by adopting agile principles mostly known from start-ups and IT developments.

In a previous article, we discussed how marketing automation is helping B2B marketers overcome one of their biggest challenges: relevant engagement with their target audience. The second biggest challenge for B2B marketers is how to deliver only qualified leads to the sales department. Here also, marketing automation offers the ideal solution.

Recently, we have been taking a closer look at the ins and outs of marketing automation. In the first of a series of articles on this subject, we discussed the challenges today’s B2B marketers are facing and one common thread throughout: the need to boost the efficiency and results of the marketing department. This is where marketing automation can really prove its value!

According to Forrester Research, in 2015, CEOs will demand a detailed ROI report that shows how marketing contributes to revenue generation or other business objectives. A proven way to illustrate marketing’s contribution is by introducing a marketing automation system. This relatively new technology helps measuring the effectiveness of marketing, offering better insight into the ROI of marketing programs and initiatives. In fact, B2B marketers have five major challenges that stress the importance of using marketing automation software.

What priority does data quality have in your marketing strategy? Recently, Shimon Ben Ayoun interviewed Kees Henniphof, Senior Manager New Customers at ServiceNow. Kees is one of the speakers at the B2B Marketing Forum this year. According to Kees data should be top priority. Only by using the right data you can accelerate a lead in the buying process. When you know who is looking for what, where and when, you can better tailor your content to the buyer’s needs. But let’s be honest, this is not easy.

A while ago I (Managing Partner at spotONvision) spoke to Lisa Redekop. Lisa’s Global Head of Sales Academy, Learning & Enablement at Thomson Reuters. Lisa leads the global sales enablement team within marketing, that is responsible for, delivering customer focused and sales-ready relevant programs, materials and tools to increasement sales effectiveness and productivity. Lisa supports around 4,000 sales staff and 250 sales managers. In an interview, Lisa gives her vision on what it takes to develop successful sales enablement programs

In my last blog Meagen Eisenberg (Vice President of Demand generation at DocuSign in the US) shared her vision on the importance of mutual understanding and a good cooperation between marketing and sales. But what obviously improves the relationship between these two departments even more is the quality of leads that marketing gets from sales.

Both old and new generation B2B marketers will have to get used to the fact that clients and buyers will be more and more result driven and demanding. This brings many challenges for how do you prove what the ROI of marketing is? How do you prove that marketing actually has added value to the company? Marketing Automation has a solution but before you start, there are a few things to consider.

Amsterdam/Woerden – 19 November 2013 The B2B Marketing Award will be handed out for the fifth time in a row during the B2B Marketing Forum on 13 March 2014. This way the organizer, B2B Marketing agency spotONvision puts the most unique organization and marketing strategy in the spotlight in cooperation with BBP Media. The winner will be announced on 13 March 2014 in “De Fabrique” in Utrecht, the Netherlands.