For a concise overview of a variety of marketing subjects, check out our FAQs.
Account-based Marketing (ABM)
How does account-based marketing (ABM) strengthen the relationship between marketing and sales?
The goal of ABM is to create an integrated team, breaking down the traditional silos between marketing and sales. Now, instead of passing along leads, the teams together own the entire process. Marketing uses data and feedback from sales’ recent conversations with prospects to generate personalized messaging, while sales guides the prospects from consideration to closing, supported by marketing’s communications efforts.
How does inbound marketing support ABM?
Inbound marketing and ABM are complementary. ABM focuses on high-value potential clients that fit specific criteria, while inbound casts a wider net. Inbound generates additional leads that can be analyzed within the ABM context. The inbound materials can be further personalized for highly targeted ABM communications.
How does content support the ABM buyers’ journey?
With ABM and inbound, content is tailored to meet the potential clients’ journey from awareness to consideration to decision. After the sale is made, the communications activities continue to engage the client, bringing them to the champion stage as a brand advocate.
Collaborative Marketing
Collaborative marketing refers to joining forces with companies offering complementary products or services, allowing both brands to organically expand, leveraging the partner’s communications activities and potentially even the distribution channels.Channel partnerships focus on leveraging external networks to promote your offerings, with your company usually offering a direct financial incentive to the channel partner.
Examine these four core factors to “test” the fit.
- Target markets: You need to have overlapping clients.
- Brand compatibility: Make sure your solutions complement each other.
- Reference partners: Ask previous partners about how easy their teams were to work with, and the growth levels they achieved while working with this company.
- Compatible marketing goals: Ensure that both parties want to achieve the same or very similar goals and are targeting their joint efforts accordingly.
Small steps are key. Start with simple low-risk activities, such as hosting a joint webinar or working together on a short-term marketing campaign. Based on how well the first step went, you may want to strengthen or end the relationship.
Content Marketing
How can we consistently generate valuable and engaging content ideas?
A few principles need to come into play to ensure that you generate valuable, engaging content that appeals to your ideal customer profiles (ICPs) and your client personas.
- Maximizing the value of existing content is key. Transform your videos into social posts into blogs into thought leadership content. Place that thought leadership content into the specific B2B publications your clients are reading. That content then immediately reaches your ICPs, and it gets indexed within the LLMs, with your leaders and company as the source of those concepts and explanations.
- Ensure that your content follows the evergreen principle. Certain things never change, whether they be yearly exhibitions like Mobile World Congress or RSA or events like back-to-school or U.S. National Engineers Week (which occurs every February).
- Ask the LLMs and check Google trends what queries are most popular with your ICPs/client personas.
- Target the buyer journey, addressing their primary pain points every step of their purchasing process.
How can we maximize our content’s reach and measure if it is paying off?
Taking a strategic approach to Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned Media (PESO® model by Gini Dietrich) strengthens your brand identity, extends your market reach, and ensures every action reinforces every other action.As for measurement, most queries now start with the LLMs, so it’s even harder to track results. Add a question to your contact us form that asks visitors to mark where they heard of your company. Measure the time lag between content appearance (across any and all of your channels) and site traffic. Look at your engagement rates to see what content keeps people on your site. If any one piece of content has a larger impact, see where you can expand distribution or add supporting content.
How can a content marketing consultant strengthen our efforts?
A consultant adds the big picture approach you may not be able to see. They can show you how to generate more impact across multiple channels, strengthen your GEO/AEO/SEO optimization, and ensure that your content is creative and unique. While marketing teams are spread thinner and thinner, they are increasingly dependent on AI-generated content that appeals to the lowest common denominator and doesn’t position you as a market leader. Adding an external team member who supports your efforts ensures you can focus on the critical strategies to bring your company forward, not just get lost in the weeds of tactics.
Data-focused Content
Why is data from within our software so valuable?
The data itself provides insights into client needs and industry trends and challenges. Once analyzed, the data can be used for strategic business decisions and product roadmaps and to create comprehensive industry benchmarking reports. In addition, the data reveals what the business is doing right – and wrong and what your platform does well and what it lacks.
What data will add the most value?
The focus should be on data that shows customer behavior, which will reveal critical patterns that can be extrapolated to show key industry challenges. SaaS usage patterns, customer feedback, support tickets, performance metrics, and adoption and conversion trends will be most revealing.
How will industry benchmarking reports help drive lead generation?
Use these reports to maximize public relations, create thought leadership content, and strengthen sales enablement materials. Real-world industry data is instantly valuable to your key customer base. Furthermore, the media is always eager for objective news. Don’t forget the value of PR as it relates to GEO.
Email Marketing
What should the balance be between promotional content and “news you can use”/practical content?
The 80/20 rule should be primary across all of your marketing channels. At least 80 percent should be practical and useful, focusing on “news you can use” and “what’s in it for me.” The remaining 20 percent can be promotional. Don’t focus on the hard sell. Instead, share useful information for your clients and prospective customers, including how-to materials, industry insights, comprehensive whitepapers, or templates.
When should I send my messages?
No time is “best.” The rule of thumb for B2B marketing is to send messages Tuesday-Thursday globally and Monday-Wednesday in Israel. However, your own data can give you the insights you need to decide when to send messages. Look at your open rates and engagement data. Which days see more successful open rates? Are your potential clients more likely to engage during business hours or afterward? Also, don’t send messages so frequently that they drive “unsubscribes,” but don’t send messages so infrequently that you keep having to reintroduce yourself every time.
What if my messages aren’t getting opened?
The first thing you need to try is to A/B test your headers. See which headers generate the most interest. If you still have subscribers who haven’t opened any of your messages for the past six months, it may be time to break up. Send a series of three-four messages asking if they want to hear from you again. It will give you a clearer picture of who you should remove and who wants to linger on your list.
International Marketing
What are the most critical steps to take before launching a product or service in a new international market?
Preparation is key; perform comprehensive market research to identify ideal markets and understand the competitive landscape. Confirm that your solutions address specific challenges and that your communications are tailored to the country/region’s culture. Examine their regulatory landscape to ensure you products and activities are in compliance.
How do you address the multiple challenges in managing a geographically dispersed international marketing team?
Building relationships among employees to create a strong team is critical. Make sure everyone understands their individual roles within the organization. Always respect individual cultural norms. Give everyone access to the tools they need to succeed.
How should we tailor our marketing strategy and message when expanding from one country to another?
Local context is key. Your brand messages should differentiate you from competitors; those messages must be culturally sensitive and clearly communicate your value. Build a local presence, not just through communications, but with direct client-focused activities, whether appearing at relevant trade shows or participating in the community’s philanthropical events.
Marketing Strategy
What is the fundamental difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan?
Marketing strategy focuses on supporting business goals, long-term corporate direction, and brand positioning. The marketing plan is the tactical activities necessary to implement the strategy.
What essential questions does a successful marketing strategy need to answer?
Defining the marketing strategy requires a focus on three areas:
- Whom you are trying to reach
- Where you can find them
- How you can convince them your solution is the answer to their challenges
You must define your key target audiences, your buyer personas and your ideal customer profiles (ICPs), as well as keep in mind everyone who is touched during the entire buying process, everyone from the purchasing department to the end user.
You then must determine the most effective channel by which to reach them.
Most critically, you need to clearly define your unique value proposition and how your solution answers their “what’s in it for me,” concerns based on your ICPs and the buying chain.
Don’t forget to consider KPIs and metrics for success. Remember, some communication channels, like PR, require long-term investment but deliver long-term results, as well.
What is the best approach to setting a marketing budget?
The marketing budget should be considered an investment, not an expense, as it is future focused. Remember, you need to make sure your communications are consistent enough to reach the right person on the right channel at the right time; that requires a lot of planning and long-term investment.
For budget setting, you need to consider these issues:
- Operational costs/overhead – in-house staffing, outsourced teams, benefits, insurance, etc.
- Business goals – Be specific. It shouldn’t just be “earn more revenue.” Instead, it should be something like moving prospects from lead to client.
- Sales funnel – Determine where the investments required to move potential clients from awareness and consideration to decision and action.
- Competitive review – See how your competitors are using their budgets and counter their activities or increase your investment on channels in which they are focusing less.
- Timeline – Do you have a long-term or short-term time horizon?
Public Relations
What is Earned Media?
Earned Media is “traditional” PR. This is publicity gained through tactics such as media coverage – web, print, video, TV, etc.; press releases; thought leadership content, reviews, and inclusion in analyst reports. Earned media is critical to brand and reputation building as well as lead generation, as it delivers credible third-party endorsement. It doesn’t matter if you say your great, but if someone who’s respected in your industry does, it’s more powerful. In addition, press releases are “back in style,” as AI is continuously looking for content.
Should I handle PR in-house or hire professional PR services?
Public relations is not difficult; many can do it. However, it is exceptionally time consuming for someone without insights into the “tricks of the trade” or appropriate communication skills.
- Time and Focus – Effective PR is frequently outsourced as it requires significant time investment that you can better spend developing your product/service or expanding your market. PR is constantly evolving with new strategies and technologies that are difficult to keep up with while managing your core business.
- Media Relationships – PR professionals have established credibility and solid media contacts, plus knowledge of who to reach out to, when, and how. They can open doors that would otherwise be closed to you and break through today’s cluttered markets.
- Comprehensive Expertise – A PR agency provides wide-ranging skills and capabilities to handle all your public relations needs, plus access to essential tools like media databases, distribution platforms, and monitoring services that would be expensive to purchase individually.
- Objective Perspective – Since you’re close to your company, you might think everything is newsworthy. PR specialists can spot truly compelling stories and know how to sell them to specific journalists and publications to generate the responses you want.
What should I expect when working with a PR team, and how can I maximize results?
To get the most from your PR partnership, K2 recommends following these best practices:
- Communication and Transparency – Clearly communicate your business goals (sales, long-term objectives, quarterly targets) beyond just communications objectives. Be transparent about your company’s full situation so the PR team can help you reach all your goals. We don’t like being confronted with “surprises” by journalists/analysts about issues we should have been warned/briefed about.
- Time Commitment – While outsourcing PR frees up 95% of your time, you’ll still need to review strategies and materials and have periodic consultations. Respect agreed-upon timeframes and avoid chronic last-minute “emergencies.”
- Realistic Expectations – Not every news item warrants front-page coverage immediately. Manage expectations internally across your organization, as poor expectation management is a key reason client-agency relationships fail.
- Partnership Approach – Be collaborative rather than transactional. Challenge your PR team creatively and strategically, ask for feedback (even if it’s not what you want to hear), and give credit to all team members involved in your success.
- Proper PR Foundation – Ensure you have essential elements in place: fine-tuned messaging documents, identified internal and external experts, an easy-to-navigate website with video demonstrations, and a commitment to follow through on promises made to media contacts.
Social Media
How can social media efforts be synchronized with other marketing disciplines?
What’s the best approach for building and maintaining an engaged social media community?
How can brands protect their reputation from social media backlash?
How can social media efforts be synchronized with other marketing disciplines?
Social media is central to holistic marketing activities, especially as it fits into the PESO® model (Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned). Integrating social into marketing, PR, inbound, and customer communications boosts brand awareness, reputation, and revenue.
Align PR and influencer (earned) outreach, shareable content (social media), and owned content (your website, whitepapers, blogs, email marketing, newsletters, etc.) to ensure each supports the broader goals of generating qualified leads.
What’s the best approach for building and maintaining an engaged social media community?
Building a passionate community requires a multistep approach, supported by 80-20 posting.
First, thoroughly understand your audience personas and ideal customer profiles to determine the type of content, incentives, and engagement style that will resonate with them.
Choose the platform where your demographic spends most of their time.
Then, focus on increasing engagement through consistent, valuable content creation, working with industry influencers, starting relevant groups, and implementing key tactics like easy communication, showing appreciation for followers, social listening, building loyalty through problem-solving content, and maintaining transparency and authenticity in all interactions.
Finally, leverage the 80-20 rule when posting – 80 percent of content should be useful and practical for clients and potential clients, while 20 percent can be promotional.
How can brands protect their reputation from social media backlash?
Brands should establish brand-safety frameworks, conduct proactive social listening, admit and rectify mistakes quickly, and employ crisis-preparedness measures like monitoring, escalation paths, and internal response guidelines.
To respond to negative social media:
- Stay positive, professional, and calm.
- Listen actively and gather facts.
- Admit errors where needed and explain corrective steps.
- Showcase loyalty-building measures to prevent future fallout
Trade Shows
Why should our company invest in trade shows when we can get ROI from our digital marketing?
How can I prove ROI?
How can we ensure our onsite activities are effective?
Why should our company invest in trade shows when we can get ROI from our digital marketing?
Face-to-face interactions deliver benefits that digital simply can’t.
- Pre-qualified leads: Attendees have already declared themselves as leads simply with their attendance. It means that your onsite interactions can focus on key benefits your solutions deliver.
- Build and strengthen connections: You sell person-to-person, making each interaction more memorable. When you follow up, they’ll know exactly who you are.
- In-person competitive intelligence: It’s simpler to see exactly what your competitors are selling and how they are marketing their products.
- Market validation: Understand what potential customers really feel about your offerings by getting direct feedback.
How can I prove ROI?
- Set SMART goals: Define what success looks like in advance, such as raw leads, demos, qualified sales meetings, brand awareness, etc.
- Qualify leads on site: Measure cost per lead versus deals closed to understand the true value of each lead
- Measure follow-up: Use show promo codes, send post show surveys, track PR and social media mentions, and ask leads how they heard about you to measure the effectiveness of your efforts
How can we ensure our onsite activities are effective?
- Focus on staffing: Train everyone in advance on key messages, the detailed benefits of your solutions, and how to work a crowd
- Avoid the hard sell: Build rapport before introducing the sales pitch
- Keep it clean: Make sure the booth design and materials are clean and succinct. Avoid clutter.
- Plan for post-show before the show: Set up a clear timeline of post-show follow up so you’re effective no matter the volume of leads