B-to-B Marketing

SUMMARY: Marketing campaigns that feature educational content can build relationships with prospects. But how can you nudge your top prospects into the deal-making stage?

An HR outsourcing firm used a splashy incentive for top prospects to meet face-to-face with a company representative. The campaign has lifted conversions 20% and paid for itself 10 times over so far. read the complete case study

SUMMARY: Online surveys can really add to your bottom line. You learn valuable information about your customers. Doing them right can make them even more informative and cost-effective.

See how a software provider entices 12% of past customers and 31% of all new customers to complete their surveys. Includes a dozen tips to help you craft your survey and subject lines that will gather revenue-boosting responses. read the complete article

SUMMARY: You're familiar with the saying: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." When you're suddenly tasked to forge a strategic partnership with a competitor, just how close do you keep them?

See the six strategies a marketer took who climbed into bed with a longtime opponent. By focusing on the agreement, they've seen a 200% boost in new business. read the complete interview

SUMMARY: Pricing has long been one of the sacred cows of technology marketing … all marketing, really. Companies are uncomfortable releasing their prices when it can scare off a prospect, be matched, bettered, negotiated down, etc. 82% of technology marketers keep their pricing at least “somewhat” confidential -- prospects must reach out to the company.

How is the Internet interacting with this time-tested model? There is evidence that keeping pricing close to the vest may cut companies off from new prospects, hot prospects and may not even have its intended purpose -- giving sales flexibility in pricing. read the complete article

By Anne Holland, Content Director

If you’re in a services or B-to-B marketplace -- enterprise software, for example -- the last thing you’re probably doing is posting your prices on the company website.

Study after study reveals, however, that pricing information is precisely what prospects visiting your site are looking for:

- A June 2007 MarketingSherpa Study in partnership with Enquiro showed that pricing information was the No. 1 thing executives researching IT solutions in price ranges... read the complete blog post