Author – John Batty, Marketing Director, Paperclip Ltd
Paperclip delivers a range of outsourced services for both large organisations and SMEs. These services include call answering, virtual reception desk, contact centre, outbound calling, and admin support. Whilst many of our clients operate in B2C (Business-to-Consumer) markets, Paperclip’s own marketing activities are B2B (Business-to-Business) focussed.
I am always interested in what resources are available on the web to help us deliver marketing that resonates with our customers and prospects. Such resources could cover a specific topic, e.g. content marketing, or be broader, e.g. creating a B2B marketing plan. My personal preference is for resources I can download and study outside working hours.
This blog looks at five resources I have downloaded recently and which I believe may be of interest to business leaders operating in B2B markets.
1 – Salesforce – The B2B Marketer’s Guide to Winning Customers and Proving Success
Salesforce is a global provider of CRM systems and other tools to improve customer engagement. It provides excellent resources under the ‘Learning’ tab on its website.
The B2B Marketer’s Guide is easy to follow and readable. I found the section ‘Think like your buyer’ the most useful, particularly the ‘six buyer archetypes’. There is also a good section on ‘Measuring success’, including the difference between ‘leading indicators’ and ‘lagging indicators’.
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2 – MarketStar – The Definitive Guide to B2B Content Marketing
MarketStar is a Utah-based ‘consultancy’ focussing on business growth through a range of solutions including data analysis and outsourcing. This is my conclusion the website is unnecessarily opaque in describing what they do.
The Definitive Guide is heavily text-driven which can make it feel like hard work when reading it. However, the content is good with plenty of case studies. I valued the section on ‘Designing an Effective Content Marketing Framework’.
3 – McKinsey & Company – Future of B2B sales: The big reframe
McKinsey & Company is one of the world’s leading business consultants.
‘The Big Reframe’ was published in November 2022 but is still relevant today. It is a detailed 37-page document with, as you would expect from McKinsey, abundant data to support their conclusions. There are multiple case studies in the document, but sadly these are anonymised and, for me, are less engaging because of this.
Of the five key themes featured in the report, I found ‘Put the customer at the heart of growth’ and ‘Break the channel mindset’ the most relatable. This quote featured in the report also struck a chord:
‘Today’s buyers are more technically savvy. They’re more digitally savvy. They’re spending more time on their devices. And they want to engage on their time, not your time.’
‘Engaging in my time’ is why I prefer downloadable content which is easier to navigate than a long scrolling piece on a webpage.
4 – Inbox Insight – The Ultimate Guide to the B2B Marketing Plan
5 - Loop Digital – B2B Marketing Guide: Definition, Strategy & Trends
Loop Digital describes itself as a digital marketing agency based in Northampton.
The B2B Marketing Guide is excellent, it is packed with great content…BUT it is not, as far as I could see, downloadable. This is a great shame as the content deserves a wider audience. It is a great primer for anyone working in B2B marketing.
The section on trends in B2B marketing was particularly well-structured and thought-provoking.
Summary
The above examples are, of course, just a snapshot of the resources that are available on the web to help B2B marketers. HubSpot (www.hubspot.com) deserves a mention for the range and quality of marketing support materials it provides under its ‘Resources’ tab. If you post on LinkedIn, then www.linkedin.com/learning/ is a good place to hone your skills.
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Hi, I’m Louise Bellwood, Director at Paperclip. I am responsible for delivering Paperclip’s customer service and growth strategies for 2024 and beyond, I am a crusader for the benefits call answering can deliver for organisations of all kinds; customer service, sales generation, customer retention and more. If you have a question about call answering – pricing, set-up, benefits – I would love to hear from you at louise@paperclip.co.uk or 01246 418 181.