As a B2B marketing pro, you have a lot to keep up with. We’re right there with you. Now we’re right here with you, too, offering our take on some of the week’s most interesting news and powerful insights in the world of business-to-business marketing and communications. As we work out the schedule and topics I hope you’ll leave comments to let us know how to improve. Out of the gate, we’re committed to covering Search, Analytics, Social Media and Content Marketing and providing an anchor Digital Trend Watch. We know you’re busy. We hope this helps by giving you a quick handle on the relevant trends. Your feedback will help us do that better. Thanks, and welcome.

Are you starting to think about your marketing strategy for 2013? While identifying the next campaign or product launch comes first, don’t forget to organize how you’re going to create and distribute your plan. Here are some tips to keep your internal content creation process running smoothly.

Whether you’re a content strategy veteran or are just getting started, Margot’s new book "Content Strategy at Work" is a must-read for everyone. Read on to hear about Margot’s inspiration for writing the book and her thoughts on how b2b marketers can leverage content strategy with clients.

According to Forrester Research, spending on email marketing, delivery, analytics, integration and creative will approach $2.5 billion annually by 2016, up from $1.5 billion in 2011, a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent. Since email is becoming more valuable in the B2B market, I encourage you to take a second look at your email marketing strategy and examine what your database of email addresses is worth.

What kind of content do prospects and customers respond to most? Storytelling.

When writing website content for your global audience, consider the language you’re using. Make it easy to understand and translate by the international users. Here are some things to consider.

We have found that Paid-Earned-Owned is simply a categorization tool that helps with content integration and can add value through repurposing valuable content.

How can you utilize breaking events and viral news to your advantage? Here’s a suggestion from David Meerman Scott: Figure out how to get your message in the second paragraph.

If we only look at your company’s “news,” we are going to miss a lot of great placement opportunities. There’s “news” – something inherently new, noteworthy or different that’s also timely. But there’s also “thought leadership” – valuable information, based on your own experience and perspective within the industry.

The world is stuck on the newest social media network, Pinterest. Here, I outline some starting points to explore the network and see if it’s a good fit for your B2B marketing efforts.

A Regular Roundup of Social Media Musings by Anna Gerz & Mike Wilt

This month's collection of all things Social Media examines a collection of lesser known networks and the content that fuels our social habits.

2011 was a whirlwind year for the world of digital marketing and communications. And through it all, B2B Insights was reporting live on the scene.

I had a healthy amount of skepticism when it came to eBooks. After working with a few of them, I’ve turned the page, so-to-speak, on the subject. If you’re a content creator or publisher, now’s a good time to look give them some thought.

As 2012 B2B marketing planning should be in full-swing, I find myself internally rationalizing the necessity of early planning. A topical analogy seems evident as the 2012 Presidential Election is one year from today.

If the objective is to appeal to the audience, then why do so many B2B companies approach communications like a bad first date--only talking about themselves? There is a better way.

Recently I stumbled upon an article about education in the New York Times online archives. It’s a wonderful resource for market research – a treasure trove of 13 million articles going back to 1851.

The article was entitled, "To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test".

It’s easy to think of metadata as some deeply encrypted line of code, tucked away in obscurity. But the truth is, a meta description may viewed more than any other copy on its corresponding page.

Content strategy — perhaps the latest buzzword — has taken the marketing world by storm. So what’s with all the hype?