Several recent surveys take a look at how marketers are going after prospects; along with what is showing to be successful and what is not.

In the “2012 Tech Marketing Barometer Study” from IDC, lead generation was viewed as a major B2B marketing priority for this year.

Among the respondents, bettering lead generation obtained the highest score (20.7), followed by putting together more brand awareness (16.2) and improving on marketing processes (13.9).

Marketers were also questioned on their performance on lead scoring, defined as the qualification of lead readiness when utilizing quantitative criteria.

Among the findings:

• A mere 10 percent of tech marketers indicated they do not score leads;
• One-third indicated they have begun to score leads, however it is not done consistently;
• One-third reported they score leads frequently centered on different prospect interactions like opening email or looking at webcasts;
• Sixteen percent stated they have scored leads consistently for more than 18 months, now being able to tie interactions to buyer intent;
• Eight percent noted they have been scoring leads for a number of years focused on ideal customer knowledge and purchaser readiness.

Content Needs to Be Strong Focus of Reaching Out

Meantime, data from DemandGen Report indicates that marketers are in fact turning away prospects as a result of zeroing in on the wrong content too often.

The data noted that:

• 88 percent of respondents say they have used white papers for business research in the last year, 73 percent have utilized webinars, while more than 50 percent have used Ebooks, blogs and podcasts;
• White papers were rated as “most valuable” more often than any other format (56 percent of those that rated white papers);
• White papers have the greatest spread between very valuable and minimal value. Respondents are five times more apt to indicate they are the most valuable (30 percent) than to state they are the least valuable (6 percent). On the other hand, the spread for ebooks, webcasts and podcasts is smaller than three times;
• Close to half (47 percent) opt for text or narrative content formats, with just 33 percent preferring more visual content formats;
• White papers ranked as the most likely format to be shared (70 percent), followed by case studies. Meantime, only 40 percent share webcasts.

The research indicates that providing one’s prospects a number of options is important, with the white paper getting prominent stature in their lead generation plans.

As we prepare to head into the second half of 2012 in another month or so, are you meeting your lead generation goals?

If not, have you been reviewing your content to see if it is off the mark?

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The bottom line is your Web site needs to generate a steady flow of traffic in order to keep business coming in and expanding those efforts to potential new customers. As you may or may not know, your site and your full online presence must be properly optimized in order to achieve the best results via search engines, most notably Google.

If you have not recently reviewed your online optimization efforts, take the time to do so now. Among the things you will want to make sure you are doing:

• Make sure your white papers/guides are optimized – By sharing your documents that are engaging and informative, you increase the awareness of what products and services your business offers. Optimization should also be a priority with imagery in order to have them crawled. You also build inbound links to raise your SEO, along with moving traffic to your site;
• Put together SEO-friendly press releases – Informative press releases that are properly distributed will show up in Google News, giving you a good outlet to get your company’s information in front of many eyes;
• Google place listing – When you have a finalized Google place listing, you will find that it is easier for your customers to locate you. Be sure to items like images, important contact information, deals and promotions, along with a solid description of what the company offers;
• Utilize anchor text – It is important to have your anchor text strategically placed in order to insert a hyperlink behind a focused keyword that you want to stand out;
• Utilize no-follow links – According to Google, a Web site that has links directed viewed by the search engine giant as being highly concentrated in spam can impact both the reputation and ranking of your own site. In order to battle link spam, utilize the no-follow link command. When it is turned on, a search engine crawler does not follow the link, while your site will not be penalized for direction to a spam locale;
• Make sure your inbound links are beneficial – One of the best ways to gain positive attention from Google’s rankings is by making sure you have a large number of links from high-quality sites. The best way to go about this is by finding quality bloggers within your industry and swapping links with them;
• Content rules – At the end of the day, quality and engaging content does make a difference. You want material that serves the needs of your current and potential customers (write with them in mind), with content that is original and provides focused keywords.

The Penguin Surfaces

As for the recent emergence of the Penguin algorithm, the numbers are in to show what kind of impact it has had to date.

Google reports the Penguin update impacted 12 percent of all searches, only affecting approximately 3.1 percent of all searches done in English.

For those that were still trying to understand Panda and had yet to focus on Penguin, this latest algorithm penalized those sites applying keyword stuffing and unusual linking patterns, among which would be anchor text links for targeted keywords not directly related to content on a page.

In order to better your ranking situation if you were left out in the cold by Penguin, there are some things you can do. They include:

• Fess up to your site being punished and then correct the matter, be it cleaning up bad links and/or rewriting and providing fresher content;
• Resubmit the improved content to get Google’s blessing;
• Going forward, only utilize ethical SEO tactics;
• Always be prepared for another Google algorithm procedure, meaning review your site from time to time to make sure your content is what it needs to be, along with fixing any linking issues.

How often does your business review its SEO best practices, and have you seen a hit recently on your site due to Penguin?

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After spending days putting together an email detailing our newest offer (Brand new product! Never seen before! Will solve all your life problems, from varicose veins to a bad golf game!), we send the email out and wait for the responses to roll in.

Rather than roll in, however, they trickle in so slowly that a midday email from Grandma makes us sit up and take notice. (That is, until we realize Granny isn’t interested in our product, either – she just wants to know if we’re coming to dinner Sunday night.)

This sense of disappointment doesn’t have to be par for the course when you’re running email marketing campaigns. Rather than resolving yourself to lagging responses and sub-par returns on your investment, make it your goal to revitalize your campaign.

What Successful E-Marketers Do

Email marketing can come across as spam. (Shocking, no?) Successful campaigns begin with trust. The recipients of email marketing must recognize and welcome messages from the sender. Because of this inherent need for trust, strong e-marketers don’t rent or buy email lists. Nothing turns people off faster except, perhaps, Grandma’s meatloaf.

If you’re sending email via a third party, make sure their list is responsive. Are they following the Marketing Golden Rule to give as much as you take? Like any relationship, email marketing requires a balance. If you’re constantly trying to sell people through your emails, they’ll quickly tire of receiving them. Good e-marketers try to provide value as often as they sell. They provide real benefits – not just discounts on their stuff. Subscribers look forward to receiving their mailings because they offer tips, access to information, and other exclusive content for free.

Successful marketers act as if their emails are going to be read by actual humans. This means that their text is written in plain, natural language. Writing emails as if they’d go to a friend or a family member works better than trying to over-market. People see through the awkward verbiage of someone desperately trying to sell a product. But someone who’s writing so that even Grandma understands why this new-fangled contraption is interesting will entice more readers.

When writing, these marketers also pay close attention to their subject lines.

Like article headings, subject lines must grab the attention of the recipient. It’s the surest way to keep them from automatically deleting your message. How do you know what gets them intrigued? Target and tailor your campaigns. You can only knock on someone’s door so many times; when you do, make sure it’s worthwhile for both of you. Determine your ideal audience or target demographic, and build your campaign around them.

For example, my clients are eBook enthusiasts; when sponsors send emails to our client base, we suggest that they offer an eBook or an e-Guide in their campaign because that’s what our audience wants. It’s a win-win for our clients and our sponsors.

What Lackluster Campaigns Do

The least successful email campaigns are created without spam triggers in mind.

Email providers, including Gmail and Yahoo!, review each email before they direct them appropriately. Emails riddled with spam triggers – spam keywords, excessive links, and a low ratio of text to images – get siphoned into junk mail, or aren’t delivered at all. (Are you seeing why these are the least successful campaigns?) It’s impossible to get feedback if your emails are never read, so familiarize yourself with the most important spam triggers so you can make it past first base.

Similarly, bad email marketing doesn’t comply with CAN-SPAM regulations. Companies who fail to properly identify themselves or provide unsubscribe methods are quickly blacklisted. These aren’t optional details – these regulations are law. The only way to make your bad campaign worse is to get fined $16,000 by law enforcement for each email sent. Talk about a nightmare!

Finally, weak campaigns are never split tested. Split testing allows you to see which elements of your campaigns are most successful – or most disliked. Split tests quickly show marketers what’s stale about their existing campaigns, whether it’s their design, their copy, or their offer.

Several variations of split testing exist, so there’s no good excuse for e-marketers to not do it. If, somehow, your business is against split testing, at the very least you should be tracking your open rates, your click-through rates, and which links are getting the most hits. You can’t replicate success if you don’t know what was successful in the first place, but you can certainly fail over and over again by doing the same things.

By carefully considering your text, your approach, and your customers’ needs, you’re more likely to strike gold with your next email marketing campaign.

Keep your recipients’ perceptions in mind as you develop your campaign, and success shouldn’t be far behind. (Heck, maybe even Grandma will want what you’re selling.)

Photo credit: scholesmarketing.com

About the author: Nicolas Gremion is CEO of Free-eBooks.net, a source for free eBook downloads, eBook resources, and eBook authors, and Foboko.com, a social publishing network.

Two recent reports surveying how B2B marketers planned to spend their budgeting funds for 2012 indicate a plan to increase such budgets and a turn toward marketing automation solutions.

First, a recent report from Forrester Research notes that B2B marketers say they will grow their marketing budgets by 6.8 percent during the year.

According to B2B Marketers Must Focus on Partnership and Experimentation as 2012 Budgets Rises, a little more than one-fourth (27 percent) of marketers will increase their budgets somewhere between 10 to 19 percent this year. Twenty percent of them state they will likely grow their budgets between 5 percent and 9 percent, while 18 percent plan to increase budgets anywhere from 1 to 4 percent. Lastly, 16 percent of marketers indicate they will be enhancing their budgets by more than 20 percent this year.

The survey also points out that industries planning to utilize the greatest portion of their budgets on marketing include finance and insurance (3 percent), high-tech (2.7 percent) and pharma and medical (2.6 percent).

While B2B marketing budgets for this year have already been planned out, that does not mean they cannot be tweaked to fit necessary needs.

Among the ways to make sure you came up with the right budget for this year are:

• Review the 2011 budget to see where alterations were made during last year and whether or not those proved to be wise decisions;
• Did you use blank-page budgeting? If so, you are able to construct the budget as you go along, using both the marketing plan and its marketing communications tactics to better assist your needs;
• Allowing for potential cuts. In the event your boss/bosses are discussing plans to trim the budget from its present state, discuss with them which area of sales they would be comfortable part with, given the fact decreasing the budget will lead to less sales revenue;
• See what the competition has done. One means by which to potentially stave off major slashes in the B2B marketing budget is by showing management what the competition has been doing to date. If there are areas to where you can capitalize on moves the competition has made, you are more likely to get approval from management.

Meantime, a Wakefly survey of several hundred B2B marketers’ points out the attention towards marketing automation solutions this time around.

According to the survey, while B2B marketers previously indicated allocating less than 3 percent of their entire online marketing budget to marketing automation solutions in the past, now more than 10 percent indicate doing such.

Overall, 61 percent of those surveyed said 2012 would provide them with budget increase, with 31 percent planning the same expenditures as they had in 2011. A mere 8 percent said this year’s budget would shrink from a year ago.

Other major growth was expected in marketing allocations for PPC search and landing page design, together making up another 30 percent of B2B marketing allocations for this year.

Surprisingly, no increase was noted in allocations over 2011 for both social media marketing and e-mail marketing.

In looking at the first four months of 2012, what appears to be working for you and what is not doing as well?

With seven months left to go in the year, what changes if any are planned for your B2B marketing budget?

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B2B marketing content contains an array of possibilities, including press releases, guides and white papers, blog postings, e-mail newsletters and more. Which keywords you use and where they are placed, proves critical in order to get more eyes directed towards your copy.

Some things to keep in mind as you look to optimize your content:

• In looking at it through the eyes of search engine optimization (SEO), more times than not it is more advantageous to utilize heavily focused keywords with minimum search volumes. By doing this, your traffic not only stands a better chance of being targeted but you increase the chances of being located. In the event you use popular, generic terminology, your chances of ranking decrease;
• Be sure you know your audience. It stands to reason that you will be targeting different audiences over time, so your keywords need to reflect this. You will have different demographics looking to do business with you, so using the same terminology to cover the entire spectrum will not work. As an example, if you’re marketing to small business owners pitching life insurance, some keywords to consider would be life insurance quotes, affordable life insurance, life insurance for individuals, life insurance for families, quotes for life insurance etc.  Another important facet to your audience is listening to them. Talk to your clients in deciding what terminology they use in their search efforts ;
• Track your efforts. By tracking your keywords through analytics such as those offered by Google for example, it is easy to determine those words individuals are utilizing to come to your site. Don’t only review keywords used to come to a single page or two, but those used to move further into your site. In order to better your standing in organic search, it is important that the keywords you use are tied to and relevant with the overall vision behind your site;
• Be willing to adapt. It is also important that your keyword strategy not be set in stone, as you need to evolve and stay up to speed with what your clients want and need. Put to use keywords and phrases that will provide sufficient search volumes and prove relevant at the same time;
• Determine keyword competitiveness. As you search and track keywords, use an online tool that will label keywords as being either low, medium or very competitive. Speaking of competitive, see what the competition is doing as far as bringing traffic to their site. If there are keyword terms they use and you don’t that appear to be working, consider some changes;
• Understand importance of keyword density. Lastly, make sure you have a firm grasp of keyword density. Avoid worrying over the precise number of times you utilize an exact target phrase, given that when your keywords are relevant and tied to a specific page’s content, they will find their proper placing. Remember, the goal is to come up with material that proves optimal for both search engines and readers. In most cases, a keyword density rate anywhere from 1 percent to 5 percent is oftentimes adequate, meaning the designated keyword would show up in the content one to five times for every 100 words. One note of caution is being careful to not exceed your keyword density ratio in so that search engines perceive it to be keyword spamming.

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The study reviewed four performance criteria in order to separate Best-in-Class (the leading 20 percent of aggregate performers) from the average industry and worst performing Laggard companies (middle 50 percent and lowest 30 percent, respectively).

According to the study, the Best-in-Class businesses witnessed these performance metrics:

• Average annual revenue increase of 20%, compared to 8% for average and –3% for Laggard organizations;
• Average 10% year over year improvement of marketing leads that lead to closed sales, compared with 3% for the industry average and –1 for those Laggard organizations;
• A 44% of forecasted sales generated by marketing, that compares to 27% for average and 7% for Laggards;
• The customer retention rate grew to an annual 73%, as compared to 27% for average and 7% for Laggard organizations.

Also of note from the study:

• Forty-seven percent of Best-in-Class businesses report increasing lead generation as their main reasoning with social media marketing efforts, and 13 percent note generating leads to be their secondary strategy;
• Twenty-three percent of Best-in-Class companies note forming clear business process for social marketing as their main strategy, and 8 percent report process development to be a secondary strategy.

Overall, the study points out that an overwhelming 84 percent of all the B2B marketers that took part in the survey are utilizing social marketing to some degree.

As it stands, the Best-in-Class businesses are typically showing a greater focus on using social media for lead-generation purposes and are more apt to involve social marketing with their other primary marketing channels and actions.

At the end of the day, B2B marketers have a number of reasons to leverage social media, including:

• Add to company’s brand awareness
• Put a human touch on the company
• Be looked upon as a thought leader
• Interact with both current and potential customers

In your efforts to generate leads, what role has social media played for you in the last year?

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According to the report, nearly 37 percent of marketers state they do not track revenue that is generated through their campaigns. As close to 40 percent of them report, they do not have time and/or necessary resources available to make and study reports.

While the majority of those in B2B marketing find themselves responsible for putting together and implementing productive lead management programs, it turns out this rather large percentage that are not fail to show their real value to their companies.

Among the notable findings from the survey:

• One-fifth of marketers report not measuring marketing-sourced leads in the first place;
• Nearly one-third state they do not track advanced metrics like marketing-sourced opportunities, while the same figure report they do not have the proper tools necessary to follow leads from start to finish in the sales cycle;
• Thirty-five percent claim not to be utilizing lead nurturing when it comes to less qualified leads;
• Approximately 33 percent of marketers responding were in agreement that MQLs (marketing qualified leads) are the key metric to measure, with marketing-contributed opportunities coming in second; less revenue-focused metrics, including Web site traffic and page views, were viewed as lowest on the importance list.

While some of those numbers may seem troubling to many that run businesses, the survey also notes that the message of necessary action is registering with many B2B marketers.

The survey goes on to point out that 80 percent of those polled state they plan to devote additional time to marketing metrics this year as opposed to prior years.

Close to 85 percent of marketers stated that they are requiring that leads meet a noted set of criteria, including job title and/or industry, prior to passing the leads along to the sales department. Meantime, more than half commented that they used a complex group of qualifiers that brought together both demographic factors and lead activity.

According to Pardot COO and co-founder Adam Blitzer, “In today’s lean-and-mean small business environment, it’s crucial that marketers understand what’s working and what’s not, so programs can be improved and forecasts refined.”

As a B2B marketer, how are you going about tracking campaign-generated revenue?

Are you doing something differently through the first quarter of 2012 that you did not do in 2011?

Lastly, what is the biggest challenge you find your marketing department facing through the first quarter of this year?

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According to the survey, a majority of marketers note their greatest challenge in 2012 is coming up with more leads. Could their e-mail tactics that they have employed to date need a little refining or a complete overhaul?

Another recent report from e-mail marketer Constant Contact, states that individuals sign up for e-mail lists and interact with social sites for a large number of the same reasons.

Among the findings from B2B marketers:

• Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed say the main motivation behind an e-mail opt-in was to obtain discounts and special offers;
• Forty-one percent claimed e-mail opt-ins in order to receive discounts and special offers was a good reason to “like” a business on Facebook;
• Being a customer or backer was listed as the number three reason by respondents for both email and Facebook;
• Paid search garnered 36 percent of efforts from marketers, with display ads (35 percent) and social media (29 percent) second and third, respectively;
• Thirty percent of marketers report e-mail to be a mature and well-optimized method for their mix;
• Eighty-four percent of marketers noted the importance of segment targeting in their e-mail campaigns.

While e-mail is but one facet of the B2B marketing campaign, there are ways to improve it and get a better ROI (return on investment) from all of your marketing channels that  are contributing to the size of your email lists.

Among the ways to do this is:

• Producing a marketing video – A well-designed online video can get your message across to countless eyes. Make sure, however, that you keep it short and sweet so as not to lose the attention of your audience;
• Being mobile – It is also important for marketers to utilize mobile marketing in an effort to help increase both open rates and click through numbers. Be sure that images are useful and easy to view. Make sure you provide them with a smooth delivery;
• Re-emphasizing relevancy – In order to get your e-mails messages read, review your message to make sure it is targeted and relevant. Without those two key components, why would someone care what you had to say in the first place? Better to get it right then to get it out quick:
• Remembering what your keys to success are when it comes to e-mail in the first place – The goals behind any e-mail marketing campaign include nurturing leads, adding to your brand awareness, generating sales and constructing a level of customer loyalty that is second to none;
• Getting the right measuring stick – All too often, marketers fail to properly measure their e-mailing efforts, leaving them with the inability to see whether or not a campaign is producing the desired results and missing out on the opportunity to optimize those campaigns;
• Making them an offer they cannot refuse – We all want something in return for our time. Make sure your e-mail campaigns are offering items such as how-to-guides, e-newsletters, white papers and more. When you give your customers and prospects something of interest, you stand a much better chance of retaining them.

As a B2B marketer, what tricks of the trade have you found to be useful when it comes to using e-mail marketing?

One-third of the way into 2012, do you plan to increase, decrease or keep your level of e-mail marketing this year about the same from a year ago?

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People blog about knitting, baking, gardening – even dog grooming . These blogs can be fun and even informative, but at the end of the day, they’re recreational.

Business-minded bloggers have it tougher.

We’re always trying to figure out how we can get the best return on our investment. But relax about analyzing ROI numbers! Instead, turn toward creating value so you can generate engagement. I promise the numbers will follow.

Why Blog, Anyway?

I shouldn’t even have to include this section because a company blog is such an obvious and cost-effective way to increase traffic to your company site, show authenticity, and humanize the corporation… I could go on for days.

From personal experience, I know that a business blog is one of the fastest ways to reach people in the shortest amount of time. When clients reach out to you to say they stumbled across a post and forwarded it on to a friend or posted it on a social media site, it’s a magical feeling. Every business owner should experience it. You’ve gained a new follower, made a connection, and established credibility.

The blog I run also allows my readers to see a side of me they wouldn’t necessarily see while sitting in my office. Blogs are a great way to show off a brand’s personality and corporate culture. Use them to depict a level of knowledge, expertise, and even humor. But don’t forget to know your audience. Knowing those you’re trying to reach best positions you for appealing to your core audience.

For example, I help professionals in the workplace, and I always end each blog post asking for people to update me on their progress for the week. Each week is a challenge, and I want to experience those challenges with my readers. Adding value to your blog will result in connections, engagement, followers, and yes, strong ROI.

So What about ROI?

Blogs should be designed to create engagement through providing visitors with value. As engagement grows – you will see value. When I see people connecting with my brand online, that’s when I get excited. This is the number-crunchers’ version of “moving the needle.”

Don’t get me wrong; I also remain intently focused on the financial exposure garnered by my blog. But I believe the value has to continually shine through before you should expect any return financially.

Like any good business, a blog has to grow from the ground up in order to harness the power of your advocates as you blossom!

Here are 5 actions you can take to harness your power:

1. Engage! If someone posts a comment, get involved and, at the very least, thank them for reading.
2. Comment on your reader’s blog. If they engage with you, why not do the same for them?
3. Use images and videos to keep your readers happy – and entertained.
4. Send your top 10 readers a quick “thank-you” email. Because you have to leave your email address when commenting, find their emails through the comments section in your dashboard, and write up a personalized thank-you letter to each.
5. If you see a reader who’s going above and beyond in consistently leaving comments or sharing your content, reward him for it. Create a “Reader of the Month” post, interview him, lend a few links to his blog, etc.

At the end of the day, business is about people.

It’s about their performance, their passion, and their progress. Keep that in mind when designing your company’s blog. Give them valuable content to read and engage with, and you’ll get your strong ROI.

Striking the perfect note of authenticity and value in a business blog is a process. It requires the ability to deliver information that hits on an emotional level so people connect and come back.

Value takes time to build. But remember, if you build it, they will come.

Photo credit: masterlink.com

About the Author: Wendy Komac, is a long-time turnaround specialist that has helped save companies by focusing on changing underperformers to exceptional workers. She is the author of I Work with Crabby Crappy People, a humorous and highly informative book about achieving happiness and success. 

The survey showed that more than 60 percent of marketers claim their biggest marketing task at hand this year is drumming up additional leads, with more than a quarter planning to diversify their marketing tactics this year.

Among the findings:

• Paid search came in as the second-ranked tool for marketing, followed by display advertising (35 percent));
• Sixty percent of marketers claim their biggest challenge this year will be generating additional leads;
• Sixty-three percent of marketers state that their marketing mix either falls short of sales demand or they are not entirely sure their mix is working;
• 56 percent note brand promotion as a major area of focus;

According to John DiStefano, research director with Crain’s BtoB Magazine, “This is a period of creative re-invention for marketers, in the end marketing will emerge as a stronger more potent discipline.

“We have moved from a push environment, to pull style messaging, to finally the permission economy. While this contextualizing of the sales funnel presents challenges for some marketers, others are leveraging the new tools to reach their audiences online and drive more targeted, effective campaigns. This data shows that there is still a tremendous opportunity to further leverage new technologies and emerging channels to boost marketing results,” DiStefano remarked.

Have the Proper Measuring Tools in Place

With close to 40 percent of marketers in the survey stating precise measurement and attribution of online conversations being a top online marketing challenge, it would seem finding more accurate measuring tools should be a prime goal moving forward.

Even with the right tools, if you’re not putting them to use on a regular basis, what’s the sense of having them in the first place?

It is important as a marketer that you regularly examine your analytics, not just with the last month or two of data, but against the numbers you had this time a year ago and even further back where possible.

For lead generation programs, the first step is searching through the data to determine where leads are presently generated. Next you will want to identify the data so that you can put together a most favorable data model. Think of the process as a journey for your customer, a customer that is becoming more and more educated (see below), one that you can be along for the ride from start to finish.

Are You Prepared for a More Educated Buyer?
Another recent study, Marketing Sherpa’s 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report, points out that as buyers become more educated, B2B marketers must prioritize where their allocations will be going in order to avoid wasting resources, along with increasing the chances of making a sale.

According to the report (1,745 marketers participated), even those B2B marketing tricks that could be perceived as most effective like SEO and Web site design, witnessed up to a 50 percent drop in overall success from just a year earlier.

While it should not come as a big secret to B2B marketers, more and more customers are doing their homework online as it pertains to buying well before they initiate the sales process. In order to deal with this, marketers must highlight opportunity zones that are known to be successful, along with trying out different tactics to form a prioritized lead generation performance plan.

A company’s Web site is the obvious starting point of a successful performance plan, but there are important channels tied to the site, most notably SEO, content and e-mail marketing that all play significant roles.

While we will talk about e-mail marketing and its role in the B2B marketing process in an upcoming blog post, let’s take a look at SEO for the moment.

Knowing that customers most oftentimes use a search engine to find one’s site, it is important that your company show up on searches engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing for example. In order to successfully do this, make sure you fully grasp both keywords and content, knowing how they work with one another to reach a prime spot in searches.

For those marketers either new to the arena or needing a refresher course, remember to not only have strong and updated content, but content that is keyword-rich, allowing it to be properly indexed by search engines.

At the end of the day, SEO is but one major component of the B2B relationship between marketer and potential customer.

Take some time to better understand how SEO content works with your marketing automation and lead generation efforts, looking to drive leads from the start line to the finish line.

So, how do you go about measuring your B2B marketing efforts and would you change how you are doing things if given the chance to?