stephen's blog

B2B marketers might need to work with the product team to launch campaigns.  

Want your product team to provide the support faster? 

Here is one thing I learned from being on both sides…👇

Think like a product owner. 

The product manager is like the CEO of a particular product line.

The brand is not their priority. 

Their product P&L is their priority. 

If the marketing team wants to get the product team's attention. 

Tell them how marketing campaigns can help their product lines' profits.   

Why most B2B companies don't unlock full potential of WeChat marketing?

B2B companies have WeChat to connect with current or potential customers.

There is one thing missing from their WeChat marketing…👇

The missing piece is a WeChat CRM.

Below is how WeChat can help companies generate leads through CRM:

Improve your China website traffic with one simple step.

Many B2B companies forget to do it.  

Here is this one simple step…👇

Use "Baidu Analytics" to monitor your China websites.

Why?

Reason 1: Google Analytics data from China could be inaccurate sometimes. 

Google is blocked in China. 

Most people in China use Baidu as their off-to search engine.

Reason 2: Baidu Analytics has more localized data. 

Baidu Analytics tracks websites through the lens of Baidu search engine.

Are B2B companies missing out on sales from their websites?

Without competing with  the sales team or dealers...

B2B companies can sell at company websites. Here is how…👇 

Here are 3 things you can do to sell B2B products online:

1. Sell your non-customized products that have minimal or no discounts in other channels.
2. Sell your long-tail non-customized products, which are seldom purchased. 
3. Sell your non-customized products that your sales team or dealers don’t want to sell.

 If the products meet the above requirements...

When I read The B2B Effective Code from The B2B Institue…

One of the key findings aligned with my previous post...👉

“B2B companies should find the balance between branding and lead generation. 

Most B2B companies should put more resources into lead generation in short-term planning.

On the flip side, B2B companies should put enough resources into branding in the long-term planning.”

I highly recommend reading The B2B Effective Code.

The truth about tracking B2B digital marketing campaigns. 

There are so many vital data we need to track.

Ultimately, there is only data we can’t miss. Here is the one…👇🏻

The only data we can’t miss is …

"Conversion" aka "sales leads"

I know…you might think it is obvious.

You will be surprised how many times B2B marketing teams forgot to track conversion for their digital marketing campaigns.

Without understanding your conversion rate, other metrics like UV or PV become less meaningful.

B2B company is always sales-driven.

It easily makes the B2B marketing team just there to support the sales team.

B2B marketing team shouldn’t become a sales support. How…👇🏻

B2B marketing team isn’t a sales support team.

But they need to earn the respect from the sales team. 

Here are two things they can do:

1. Provide sales leads to sales team.
2. Show concrete marketing campaign data internally.

It sounds simple. 

But, in reality, B2B marketing team is so busy with traditional marketing things… 

Yes, sadly, LinkedIn is blocked in China.

But you might still use it to reach people there.  

Here is why…👇🏻

If your target audience fits those two types:

1. Senior and middle-level managers in international companies 
2. Domestic companies that target the overseas market

Those two types of audiences are still active on LinkedIn.

If these two profiles suit your target audience, it is worth a try.

You might be surprised at the results.

Your China website hosted outside China will help Google SEO.

But it won’t help Baidu SEO. Most people in China use Baidu. 

Here is why…👇🏻

1. Due to the China firewall, the Baidu spider might not be able to crawl your website. 
2. Due to the China firewall, Chinese visitors might not be able to visit your website.
3. Your website might be loading slowly because your website is using the services blocked by the China firewall.

Bad user experience and website performance hurt SEO performance.

5 digital marketing approaches work for almost all B2B companies.  

No need to chase shiny objects. Spend more time doing them well.

Here are those 5 approaches…👇🏻

1. A website with good content and funnels
2. LinkedIn marketing 
3. Search Engine Optimization
4. Search ads
5. Email marketing

Yes, those 5 approaches are not new and sexy at all. 

But they have been time-testing.

If you ask the B2B companies that perform very well in digital marketing…