It’s hard to image Star Wars to be a family film in the strictest sense. It is however a film that greatly involves a family. (And if the upcoming Episode VII is any indication, it looks like they’ll be extended family involved.)
Knowing that, it kind of makes you wonder: How many family businesses have the same quirks? The same history? The same drama? It just goes to show that sales leads that have this particular business trait aren’t always of the same stripe as the Cleavers.
It doesn’t take much to say that B2B marketers have just as much responsibility over branding as B2C organizations. The only major difference is that the former doesn’t make as much public noise.
At least, not immediately. It wouldn’t be a good idea to just let bad things happen though.
It’s not really a chicken or egg question. Problems will generally come first before their solutions. And in industries where solutions requires a lot of tech, this is something often ignored in their lead generation strategies.
It sounds poetic. When you have a new, innovative (if not revolutionary) piece of technology, you’d want something new to market it. For example, the latest marketing stunt for an Audi hybrid has billboards made entirely of water vapor.
However, do similar tactics automatically translate into more B2B leads for your company? That might depend entirely how your new product actually jives with your new marketing concept.
Sometimes you can’t help but seek out the cheapest ways to promote your company and gain some traction as a thought leader. You put up a free blog, get a free account on some niche forum somewhere, or start attending tradeshows that don’t charge you for handing out business cards or brochures.
Eventually, some of your sales leads start to come in and it looks like your opportunities were practically free.
Fast forward. You’re now enjoying some moderate success. Your blog’s getting good online readership. Forums have become a source of marketing buzz. All of a sudden, you get a message saying that everything you’ve been using so far is no longer free. You will be now be charged to do everything that you used to do when your business was still flying off.
Is this fair?