Four Reasons Why LinkedIn Is a B2B Marketer’s Best Friend

LinkedIn "maps out" the B2B buyer journey

Hiker Looking at a Map

Photo Credit: sakeeb via flickr

 

eMarketer published on August 31st: Does Your Marketing Influence B2B Decision-Makers? — Word-of-mouth is a winner—marketing, not so much.

The article shared important and discouraging insights for B2B (business-to-business) content marketers:

Word-of-mouth is a key driver, with businesspeople looking to friends in the industry and other third-party experts ahead of traditional or digital marketing resources.

Nearly two in five respondents said their professional network was the No. 1 most influential source at purchasing time. Industry experts came in second place, followed by internal influencers. Vendor-supplied content was a distant fourth, with just 14% of responses.

 

I’ll address the B2B content marketing implications later in this post.

For now, let’s dive into two (2) key issues: (1) A B2B buyer’s professional network important influence in the outcomes of six- to seven-figure business deals / complex sales and (2) LinkedIn’s immediate importance in the B2B buyer journey(more…)

Five Reasons Why Self-Publishing Exclusively on LinkedIn Is Bad Business

Invest in Yourself. Protect Your Personal Brand. Publish a Self-Hosted Blog.

Runner with LinkedIn Logos

Bolota Asmeron, a member of the Linkedin Elite Centipede outs on a temporary Linkedin tattoo before the start of the 2010 Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco.

Photo Credit: A Name Like Shields Can Make You Defensive

 

Important Note: An intelligent and thought-provoking discussion from The Writing on LinkedIn Group inspired this latest post. Matt Sekol initiated the discussion thread, Where’s The Traditional Blog. It’s people like Matt Sekol (and many others) who reaffirm my belief and commitment to why The Writing on LinkedIn Group is one of the most important, intelligent, and enjoyable communities for engaging with and learning from like-minded individuals within LinkedIn.

Last week, I read Alexandra Samuel’s thoughtful post on Harvard Business ReviewHave LinkedIn and Medium Killed the Old-Fashioned Blog? Almost three years ago and 1 million Linkedin writers later, LinkedIn launched its self-described definitive publishing platform.

I submitted a comment stating why limiting our self-publishing investments to third-party platforms like LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform and Medium without investing in a self-hosted, personal website or personal blog is a career and business mistake.

Here are more detailed thoughts expanding on my comment in Alexandra’s post.  (more…)

Sunday Brunch Reads With Social Media ReInvention: 05/25/15 to 05/30/15

Sunday Brunch Newspaper Large

Photo Credit: Anton Diaz

 

I hope your Memorial Day Weekend was filled with the company of family and friends around the barbecue grill. Well, that’s how we roll here in the Kansas City area.

As part of today’s Sunday Brunch Reads (and future ones), I’m including a Silicon Valley catchphrase. This management-speak observation is inspired by Tom Anderson’s thoughts regarding the satirical portrayal of the region from HBO’s television show, Silicon Valley. Anderson is the former President and Co-Founder of MySpace.

Here’s Anderson’s direct quote from a recent Vanity Fair article (note I added the formatting for emphasis):

It does ring true. I think the show’s most successful in highlighting the deluded self-perception of so many in the industry. “To make the world a better place,” is a running joke and one that struck me as the funniest. When I was a kid, everyone wanted to be in a band—that was the path to girls, adulation, money. By the time I’d reached college, everyone wanted to be a doctor or lawyer, for similar motivations. Now it’s dot-coms—start-up founders are the new rock stars; and the self-importance on display is obnoxious, especially when masked by fake altruism.

Your Sunday Brunch Silicon Valley Catchphrase of the Week: To Make The World a Better Place. 

Thanks and enjoy these links as part of your Sunday Brunch: (more…)

Sunday Brunch Reads with Social Media ReInvention: 05/10/15 to 05/16/15

Sunday Brunch Newspaper

Photo Credit: Anton Diaz

Hi Social Media ReInvention Community! Here are your share-worthy links for your enjoyment and discussion. Thanks again for your continued support and taking time to read my work. I hope you’ll enjoy these links during your Sunday Brunch!

1. Forbes: How to Succeed Even When You’ve Failed This Year by Dorie Clark. I’m studying Dorie’s remarkable book, Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It, as I build my consulting practice (along with re-reading Michael Hyatt’s Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World). Dorie interviewed Jairek Robbins who runs his own performance coaching consulting practice. You may have heard of his dad, Tony Robbins(more…)