Introduction
There is a scarcity of practitioner-level “how-to” material out there on modern B2B marketing that covers recent developments in social media, search, and lead management, along with how to integrate the newer tactics with traditional approaches. We look to fill that void in the marketplace by creating a practical guide to the online world for the B2B marketer. This book contains both hands-on information that the reader can put into practice immediately and case studies from the field.
Most online marketers start from one area of expertise and adopt others, or they start as generalists and delve into channels, campaigns, and activities on demand. This guide will help give a full view across the whole landscape, from search to media to events to analytics. It will also cover upcoming trends such as social media, retargeting, marketing automation, CRM integration, and more. While we’ll cover the connection of online to offline worlds, we’ll skip some traditional or highly specialized elements such as physical event management, direct mail, or telemarketing.
Who Should Read This Book
We present this book as an essential guide to educate aspiring online marketing practitioners so that they can become more proficient in their work.
In addition to online marketers, specialists in any field would benefit from learning across the spectrum. A web analyst, for example, can gain better insights from data and develop better recommendations by understanding the functional work of a media manager or sales lead.
Senior management and executives should also review this book to have a better understanding of the best practices and trends in the digital space. If they lead a group of digital marketers, this book will help.
What Is Covered in This Book
Complete B2B Online Marketing is organized to provide you with the following information:
Chapter 1: Understanding B2B Online Marketing introduces you to online marketing in a business-to-business environment. Learn how online marketing can be used at every stage of the buying cycle and how it integrates with traditional marketing tactics.
Chapter 2: Building a B2B Brand Online explains how various online tactics can be used to drive brand awareness and trust.
Chapter 3: Search Engine Optimization: Outranking Your Competitors teaches tactics that can be used specifically for B2B companies trying to rank higher on search engines and drive more leads and sales from organic search.
Chapter 4: Using Paid Online Media in the B2B Marketplace details how to use paid online media to target prospects and customers to drive net new sales and influence existing deals.
Chapter 5: Search and Social Media for Online PR reviews the tactical evolution of traditional public relations in light of key new online marketing strategies such as search and social media.
Chapter 6: Social Media outlines how to get started in B2B social media, no matter your budget or headcount. Learn how to best listen, approach, and engage in this newest form of digital marketing.
Chapter 7: Optimizing with Metrics explains everything a B2B marketer needs to know about building KPIs, creating optimization strategies, and determining the right metrics for paid and earned media.
Chapter 8: Conversion Rate Optimization and Usability introduces web usability best practices and explains how to create a conversion optimization plan and how to determine conversion goals.
Chapter 9: Integrating Online with Offline Marketing bridges the gap between offline marketing tactics, such as direct mail, and tactics for the online world. It also explains how online can be used to turbo-charge events.
Chapter 10: Managing Your Leads: Automation and Nurturing shows the impact that a marketing automation and lead-nurturing program can have on overall marketing efforts. It also provides best practices for using email marketing when selling to businesses rather than consumers.
Chapter 11: Integrating Marketing with CRM covers the close relationship that B2B marketers have with their CRM solutions and describes the type of CRM integrations that are available for marketers.
Chapter 12: The Overall Marketing Mix shows where online fits in the overall marketing mix as well as how to budget for the next big digital innovation.
Glossary provides an overview of all the B2B and online specific terms and acronyms that may be new.
How to Contact the Authors
We welcome feedback from you about this book or about books you’d like to see from us in the future. You can reach Lauren or Maura by writing to [email protected] or via Twitter to @laurenv or @mauraginty. You can reach Bill Leake by writing him at [email protected], or by messaging him @marketing_bill on Twitter.
Sybex strives to keep you supplied with the latest tools and information you need for your work. Please check the book’s website at www.sybex.com/go/b2bonlinemarketing, where we’ll post additional content and updates that supplement this book if the need arises.
