When was the last time you saw a company advertise itself as “combative and adversarial?” Have you seen any vision statements that say “We struggle with our customers for common ground?” How about a tagline that says, “Committed to losing your trust?”

Of course not. But more than half of b-to-b technology companies are branding themselves this way by their actions, according to a new study by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, reported in a recent online article in B2B Magazine.

According to the study, which surveyed 1,000 b-to-b technology buyers, IT marketing and customer relationship executives and their channel partners, 56% of vendors perceive themselves as being customer-centric, but only 12% of customers agree. Even more telling is that more than half of customers surveyed described their relationship with
---More---

Marketers and consumers are pretty familiar with the term “Buyer’s Remorse.”  You know how it goes…You’re in the store and see the perfect kitchen utensil. It promises to cut prep time in half! You must have it. After making the purchase, you rush home to give it a try. It ends up not doing exactly what you thought it would and a feeling of disappointment overwhelms you. This experience happens to all of us more times than we would like to admit and in some situations it causes a negative feeling towards the company or person who convinced you to make the purchase.

Very similar situations happen online all the time. I like to call it Clicker’s Remorse. Just imagine spending hours on Google, publication sites, and online directories looking for a solution to a problem. Finally, you find it! An attention grabbing banner ad promises to give the answer you are looking for.
---More---

The B-to-B buying process usually involves buying teams representing all areas of the company with a stake in the success of the purchased product, service or solution. However, many B-to-B web sites today are designed for one type of generic user without considering the differentiated needs of customers or different job functions within the same customer.

Even though our business is helping B-to-B companies grow through effective and smart communications, it does make sense for us to pay attention to what’s going on with some things in the consumer world.

In the November issue of Consumer Insight, an E-Newsletter put out by the audience research firm, Nielsen, there’s an interesting article titled How to Measure an Online Audience: Change is the Only Constant. It goes on to talk about where we are evolving in online audience measurement. One item really stood out in this lengthy piece. It relates to what they believe is the best engagement metric for Web 2.0 sites. Scott Ross, Director of Product Marketing for Nielsen Online’s NetView summed it up, “’Total Minutes’ is the best engagement metric in this initial stage of Web 2.0 development, not only because it ensures fair measurement of Web sites using RIA
---More---

It’s that time of year again when friendly, “let’s re-affirm our relationship” calls from vendors start rolling in. Whatever your news distribution affiliation, (be it PR Newswire, Marketwire, Business Wire, eNR Services, etc.) it’s time to revisit the methods you’ve used, and re-survey the landscape of vendor capabilities. The difference could be a long, healthy, interactive life for even the “smallest” serving of your story, or a quick & costly plunge into 2.0blivion. Consider the following:

Build an arsenal
The bottom line is agility. There is no “silver bullet” vendor that has all of the capabilities to match convergent PR needs. Shirk year-long contracts to broaden your arsenal of services at hand. Create a strategic cache of vendors poised to distribute your story the
---More---

I start my day with coffee and Google. I have my iGoogle home page aggregating information from various business technology, digital and b-to-b marketing, web site design and information architecture sources. I also get Google news alerts on other subjects. The news alerts aren’t always relevant, but there are usually one or two things that interest me.

Today, my web site usability feed had a listing about BMW’s new web site launch, touting that “AJAX technology will increase the site's interactivity, speed, functionality and usability.” Although not a business-to-business web site, I like to stay on top of how leading companies are improving online experiences for customers.

After hanging out on the BMW home page for several minutes (reminder to
---More---

The deluge of postings about Facebook’s recent misstep with the implementation of Beacon’s ad platform, and Mark Zuckerberg’s apology has privacy issues on my mind.

Although the news is about controversial consumer advertising within a social networking site, the fundamental privacy issues also apply to business-to-business marketers. Privacy matters. And a failure to respect the rights and requests of your audience is a surefire way to alienate the very group with which you are trying to build loyalty.

No doubt you have a prospect database somewhere (or many unrelated sources and a swivel-chair CRM system) filled with names, E-mail addresses, and if you’re lucky, the interests and behaviors of your target audience.
---More---

Yes and no, depending on who you ask and how you view the iPhone.

If you ask an end-user who's lusting after one, he or she will of course say, "Yes! I'm ready!"  The coolness factor is through the roof, and no longer do they need multiple devices to accomplish the same tasks. Visual voice mail and Google Maps alone can be productivity boosters.

If you ask the IT folks who would have to support it -- and compare the iPhone with smart phones like the Treo -- they're likely to say no. First, the "multiple devices" it so conveniently replaces are personal entertainment devices -- iPods. Why should IT's budget bear the brunt of that?

More importantly, supporting iPhones for now means hit-or-miss synching with Exchange, and no over-the-air push updating. That alone is a deal-killer for many companies. No editable Office docs, that's another downside.
---More---

In the 2008 planning season, conversations abound about media plans, print advertisements, online advertisements, and a website and/or destination site(s) to support your ads. Developing a comprehensive plan that engages the target audience at the appropriate time and place and is measurable is the ultimate goal. Although this sounds simple, it is no easy task. A plan that successfully accomplishes all of these goals – and incorporates new Web 2.0 technologies and tactics – must be integrated and well planned. 

The planning begins with a media schedule that is developed through what we call a media agnostic approach. Our media agnostic approach focuses on where your audience is and not where you want them to be. After you examine all the media data and determine your media schedule for the year, you might think all the hard work is over. But really, this is only the beginning.

Now you have to develop relevant, engaging ads that will capture your
---More---

As 2007 winds down, we’re having great conversations. Planning for 2008, talking about new b-to-b marketing tactics—optimizing press releases, text messaging campaigns, leveraging social networks, launching new Google ads. The wish list varies with every business marketer’s challenge but there’s one item that’s always included: updating the web site to support these promotional activities. Is it on your list? Because when it comes to actual plan execution, this critical area is often the one that drops off marketers' to-do lists.

You put all this new energy into getting your audiences’ attention. You actually get them to respond. And they end up on an old web page that doesn’t support the message you pushed out there. Or the page isn’t designed to get prospects to take the next step. Or you expect too much for too little. 

Too often I hear:
“Just link all the ads to page X.”
“Use
---More---