101 b2b marketing and sales tips from the b2b lead - 101 lời khuyên marketing online và bán hàng online cho doanh nghiệp B2B

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips
from The B2B Lead
Driving Leads to your website through paid search advertising,
search engine optimization, blogging and more
Online Marketing
VOLUME ONE
PRESENTED BY
30 Online Marketing Tips for Driving Lead Generation
Today, online marketing is vital to any integrated marketing program. With so many new avenues for reaching prospective buyers, we as B2B Marketers have to think outside of the
box to stand out in the crowd. From significant improvements in marketing program metrics to greater efficiencies in your sales funnel, employing new online marketing tactics can
create immediate benefits, if done right.
In this collection of 30 online marketing tips from The B2B Lead, you will find information on the basics of SEO, optimizing your video for the web, boosting your blog using twitter,
how to measure your online successes and much more. Here’s a few of the included tips in this eBook:
• UsingPressReleasestoDriveWebTrafcandLeads
• BoostYourGoogleJuicewithLinkBait
• InvestintheRightToolstoTracktheMetricsThatMatter
• DiveinandJumpstartSEOWithaQuickStartPlan
• PracticeMetrics-BasedCopywriting
• TwittertoAttractReaderstoYourBlog
If you like what your see here, be sure to check out for more B2B Marketing and Sales tips.
Contentcontributedby:
ScottDaughtry,SEOSpecialist
Kyle Flaherty of www.engageinpr.com
AmyHawthorne,DirectorofMarketingatReachForce
PamO’NealMickelson,VPofMarketingatBreakingPoint
LeighAnneWallace,MarketingCoordinatoratReachForce

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
2

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
3
Table of Contents
Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search Advertising
1. DiveinandJumpstartSEOWithaQuickStartPlan
2. BoostYourGoogleJuicewithLinkBait
3. 2008istheYearofDigitalOmnipresence
4. OptimizeYourVideoforSEOResults
5. SearchEngineOptimization(SEO)Checklist:Step1-StartwithSEM(alaGoogleAdwords)?
6. PracticeMetrics-BasedCopywriting
7. SproutWidgets,MashupsandOtherGreatContentThatDrivesSEO
Blogging
8. Blog Basics
9. PageTitlesareImportant
10. KeepYourBlogonTracktoSupportSEOandOtherBusinessObjectives
11. MeasuringtheEffectivenessofYourCorporateBlog
12. WantBloggerstoWriteAboutYou?MakeSureYourWebsiteisBlogger-Friendly
13. TwittertoAttractReaderstoYourBlog
14. Blogging to the Beat
15. EverythingIKnowAboutB2BBloggingILearnedfromPerez
16. Re-thinkBlogROI
Social Media
17. WhenitComestoSocialMedia:PlayBytheRules
18. ACaseStudyinViralVideoMarketing-TheB2BLeadVidcast
19. PutThese20IdeasintoActionforB2BViralMarketingSuccess
20. Building a Following on Twitter
21. LearnFromthe6CsofSocialInuenceMarketing
Other

22. UsingPressReleasestoDriveWebTrafcandLeads
23. TagCloudingYourLeads
24. WebAnalyticsforB2BMarketers
25. MakeSomeImaginaryFriendsAKAaPersona
26. WhenInvestinginNewMediaProgramsTracktheMetricsThatMatter
27. InvestintheRightToolstoTracktheMetricsThatMatter
28. CreatingFormsforContent-HowMuchistooMuch?
29. 10SignsYouPickedtheWrongWebDesignAgency
30. KeywordOptimizationforPressReleases
101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
4
Dive in and Jumpstart SEO With a Quick Start Plan
Attention Conservation Notice: The following post provides quick tips for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and six-step plan for getting started.
Youmightcallmeafast-followerwhenitcomestoSearch Engine Optimization. I resisted for some time because the prospect of researching and sorting through hundreds of
keywordsandapplyingtechniquestooutwitGoogle’sever-changingalgorithmsseemedsodaunting.Icanbarelyspellalgorithm,afterall.Thenaslewofindustrysurveysshowed
thatanywherefrom80to90percentormoreofB2BtechbuyersstarttheirresearchandbuyingprocessonGoogle.
Well,thatwasawake-upcall.So,lastyearImadeSEOahigherpriority.IshiftedthefundsfromonlineadvertisingintoSEMandaReachForcerole-based database build. (That
way,IcouldcoverbothmyInboundandOutboundbases.)IalsomaintainedmyinvestmentsinPRandsomekeysponsorshipstocoverthebrandawarenessanddriveInbound
trafc.Then,Ipulledresourcesandfundsthathadbeenspenttryingtokeepupwithendlesscampaigndesignanddevelopment,andre-focusedthemonsocialmediaandSEO.
It’strulyamazinghowquicklyyoucangetresultslikePage1Googlerankingswhenyoufocusresourcesonboostingaparticularpageranking.Hereareafewtipstohelpyoudo
the same:
Investintherighttools:Thereareliterallydozensoffreeandlow-costSEOtoolsthatyoucanusetogetalayofthelandandassessyourbestSEOprospects.Ofcourse,Google•
providesseverallikeGoogleSuggestandGoogleTrends.AnotheroneofmyfavoritesisWordTracker.And,anewtoolIamusingrightnowisHubSpot.HubSpot’sVPofMarket-
ing,MikeVolpemakesagreatcaseforSEOintheHubSpot Inbound Marketing blog. More about that another time.
Don’tjustgoforthehighlycompetitivepopularterms.Considernicheorlongtailkeywordsterms.Therearedozensofkeywordswithsignicantsearchtrafcthathavelittle•
competition. Optimize for all of them and the numbers add up.
IntegrateyourPRandSEOeffortstoensureinboundlinksfrompressreleasessupportyourstrategy.•
Makesureyour“anchortext”onin-boundlinksisoptimizedtoprovidethegreatestSEOvalue.•

Optimize with a conversion strategy in mind.•
Leverageyour“educational”assetsforlandingpagesandsocialmediasiteslikehubpages.com,scribd.com,ickr.comandothers.•
Here’s a quick plan for getting started:
InformationGatheringSession:Justlike• data cleansing,itcanbedifculttoknowwheretostartwhenitcomestoSEO.Pulltogetherateamtodiscussandprioritizeobjectives
andscopeyourinitialproject.
Research:Reviewyourmarketingobjectives,competition,andyourwebsiteandblogtogetalayofthelandandidentifylow-hangingfruit.•
Produceaplanandguidelinesforoptimizingyourtopveweborblogpages.ThisshouldincluderecommendationsforURLs,internallinkbuilding,metatags,pagecontent•
updates,blogcross-linkingandaconversionstrategyforeachofthosepages.
Thenbegintobuildyourinboundlinkstothosepagesbyleveragingothersites,partners,blogs,socialmediasites,portals,andotherhigh-value(notspam)paidlinkdirecto-•
rieslikeYahoo.
ReviewandRevamp:AfterthepageshavehadsufcienttimeforGoogleIndexingreviewtheprojectandresults,andadjustthecomponentsoftheprogramifnecessary.•
IrealizethispostpresentsafairlysimplisticviewofSEO.Itis,inreality,averycomplexandoverwhelmingdiscipline.Butthisisaquickplanforhoppingonthemovingtrain.You
will, of course, learn more through trial and error and there are numerous online tutorials that will help you hone your skills.
101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
5
Boost Your Google Juice with Link Bait
Attention Conservation Notice: The following post provides a list of different types of link bait and key considerations for making sure the link bait is effective.
Encouraginginboundlinkstoyourwebsiteisasure-rewaytoimproveyourSEOperformance,inotherwords,toboostyourGooglejuice.Oneofthebestwaystobuildthosehigh-
value inbound links is to produce “link bait” by delivering valuable content that encourages others to link to you.
NickWilson,acontributingwriterforSearch Engine Land, recently wrote about the various forms of link bait that web marketers use to drive inbound links to their web site content.
Here’s a summary of the three types of link bait according to Wilson:
Textual Linkbait:• … any kind of page content that takes no more technical skill than being able to type. This kind of link bait is very accessible as the only real cost is time.
With good imagination and research, you can quickly devise a series of posts designed to attract links.
Site Based Tools & Software:• …functionalscriptsthatrunonawebsite.Thesevarywidelyinnaturedependingonthesite.Agoodexampleinthesearchmarketingworldis
theNetQoSnetwork latency calculator.
Widgetbait: • The holy grail of link baiting in 2007 will be the widget. In late 2005 and early 2006, I came up with a linkbaiting concept to put my previous company, Perfor-
mancing, on the social media map. That idea was the Performancing Blog Editor Firefox extension that has achieved nearly half a million downloads on Mozilla alone.
Iwouldalsoaddtothis:visualorgraphicslinkbait.Bloggersandjournalistslovevisualsanddiagramsthathelpcommunicateapoint.ApopularexampleofthisistheSocialMedia

fatigue visualAndrewShuttleworthcreatedusingMind Managerowchartingsoftware.
Here are a few tips on making sure your link bait is effective:
1. Make it relevant and useful to your target audience to drive the right types of links and web traffic.
2. Make sure it supports your brand.
3. Don’trequireregistrationtouseit,butdoembedoffersformore(thisrequiresaconversionstrategy).
Whilelinkbaitingcanbecontroversial,itseemstomethatithasresultedinsomanynewfreetoolsavailabletousers.Howcanthatbeabadthing?

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
6
2008 is the Year of Digital Omnipresence
Attention Conservation Notice: The following post contains ideas for helping B2B marketers secure multiple page one listings on Google and Yahoo.
More tidbits from SMX West have been posted to Web Pro News byJasonLeeMiller.Apparently,digitalomnipresencewasthehottopicattheevent.AccordingtoMiller,“the
discussionsurroundingsearchisnolongerjustaboutsecuringyourplaceinasame-for-everybodytop-tenlistofsearchresults.Thediscussionisaboutbeingeverywhere;it’sabout
establishing a case for digital omnipresence.”
Now,Iwasn’tthere(unfortunately),soIdon’tknowthefullstoryondigitalomnipresence,butitsoundsverysimilartotheconceptspromotedbythefolksatStomperNet.AsaB2B
Marketer and a follower of StomperNetstrategies,Ihaveexperiencedtheresultsrsthandandamhooked.Today,it’snotenoughtohaveonelistingonpageoneofGoogle.I’m
driventosecuremultiplepageonelistings.Andthatismadefareasierbypostingvaluable,actionablecontentinamultitudeofformats–webpages,blogposts,video,podcast,
etc.
WhenyoulookattheresearchonB2Btechbuyerbehavior,it’seasytoseewhy.Researchfromnumeroussources,includingMarketingSherpa,indicatebetween85to98%of
B2BtechnicalbuyersinNorthAmericausetheGooglesearchengine.Yahoodominatesinotherareasoftheworld.And,reportspublishedbyStomperNet,Enquiro and others
showthatadoublelistingatthetopofGooglenotonlyboostsbrandafnitybutgeneratesmorethan2Xtheleadsofasinglelisting.Difculttoarguewiththoseodds.
And,it’snotenoughtosecureorganiclistings.EnquiroResearchsuggeststhatB2BtechnicalbuyersstarttheirresearchintheorganicorSearchEngineOptimization(SEO)listings
ofsearchenginesandtheirpurchaseprocessintheSearchEngineMarketing(SEM)orpay-per-click(PPC)ads.What’smore,MarketingSherpareportsthatorganiclistingsdraw
75%oftheclickthroughtrafc,whileSEMdraw25%.Clearly,whentargetingthetechbuyer,itisvitaltobeinbothplaces.
To succeed online, B2B marketers are going to have to learn how to present their brand and their corporate and thought leadership messages everywhere, in many different for-
mats. We will have to drive demand, build brand awareness, establish thought leadership and a community of interest using social media, traditional media and Search Marketing
techniques.
One way to do this is to optimize a variety of different types of content for broadly searched/highly competitive terms. However, securing a top listing for competitive terms requires a

significant time and resource investment so it is not an option for many B2B marketers. Even with the longterm commitment required for success here, I’m not advocating that B2B
marketersavoidthesekeywords.Justtheopposite.Goaheadandoptimizeforthoseterms,butuseSEMprogramssuchasGoogleAdWordsandcontextualPPCadvertisingtollin
gaps and “be there” when both researchers and buyers are searching. Then, leverage new media program elements including your blog and social media/Web 2.0 sites to secure
highvalueinboundlinks.Asteadyinvestmentintheseprogramswillhelpmovetheselistingsclosertothetopofthesearchengines.
Afarfasterapproachtotoplistings,istargeting“long tail” terms—keywords that have moderate search
volumes and are relatively easy to dominate quickly.
TargetingthesetermsshouldenableyoutosecureadoubleortriplelistingatthetopofpageoneofGoogle
orYahoo.AtleastuntilGooglechangesitsalgorithmagain!Onceagain,itisimportanttousesocialmedia
programelementssuchasablog,socialmedia,socialbookmarking,PR,andhighvaluelink-buildingto
secure the best results.

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
7
Optimize Your Video for SEO Results
WhilepreppingformyupcomingpresentationonViralMarketingfortheMarketing Sherpa B2B Summit, I ran across this excellent posting on gspot.
com/2007/09/14-best-practices-and-tips-for-video.html. Here are three of the 14 best practices listed in the article:
1. Make sure that your video clips are relevant and informative-Forstarters,ensurethatyourvideoprovidesusefulandinformativeinformation.Videosthatdemonstratestep
bystepproceduresaregreat,videosthatexpressanopinionaboutaspecictopiccanbeusefultoo.Videosthathavenothingtodowithyourbrandorserviceofferingorare
generalorvagueinnaturewilljustconfuseyouraudience.
2. SEO Video Optimization Fundamental Tip #1:GiveyourvideoaCatchyTitle-Videocanbeusedtobringvisitorstoyoursite.Onewaytogetuserstoviewyourvideoistogive
it a catchy title that contains a related key phrase that is relevant to your product, service or brand.
3. Use Video as a Portal to other Content on Your Site -UploadacoupleofvideostoportalslikeYouTubeandprovidelinksbacktorelatedcontentandothervideosonyour
site.
AccordingtoB2BMagazine,currentlyonly1%ofthevideosonYouTubearepostedbybusinesses.ButIcantellyoufromexperiencethatviralvideoisagreattoolforB2BMarket-
ers for both brand awareness and demand generation.
Marketing WTF? - This Marketing Geekout Moment Brought to You By StomperNet
Quick–howcanunderstandingthescienceofvisionandcognitivepsychologyhelpyouboostB2BMarketingleadsandrevenue?
TheClickFuMastersatStomperNetjustpostedthisintriguingvideo tutorialtohelpB2CandB2BMarketersboosttheir“ClickFu.”Theteamexplainsthat

understanding the function of the human eye and brain can help you improve marketing results and drive more revenue.
First,theeyes:StomperNetadvisesMarketerstounderstandthefunctionoftheeyeandvisitorblindspotstoimprovelandingpagedesign.Well,that’sano-
brainer.But,theygofurtherexplainingthatprimalman’seyesweredesignedfortwopurposes:toeatandavoidbeingeaten.TheFOVEA,designedfornding
foodtoeat,issensitivetonedetailsandcolor.ThePeriphery,designedtoavoidbeingeaten,istunedtomotionandcontrast.Understandinghowtomake
appropriate use of color, organization, and design details while employing the right structure to the page can help Marketers boost conversions by more than 25
percent.
Now,thebrain:StomperNetadvisesyoutounderstandthelinkbetweenvisionandbehaviorsothatyouunderstandwhya#10resultonGooglewillgetyou
moreclicksthana#6or7position.Basically,theircognitivepsychologistadvisesthat:EasywinsoutoverGoodorBetter.Makeuserfeelitwillbeeasytoget
whattheywantandthey’llstaylongerandlearnmore.Understandyourvisitors’goalandwhattheyneedtoachievethegoal.
Butthat’sjustthebeginning.Thisisdenitelyavideothatisworthwatching.
101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
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8
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Checklist:
Step 1 - Start with SEM (ala Google Adwords)?
Most website owners eventually come to the conclusion that to have any success getting traffic to their site, they need to do one of three things: optimize the pages of their website
(SEO),startapay-per-clickcampaign(SEM),ordoboth.Inanefforttosavemoney,mostpeoplewilltellyoutogothefreerouterst–thatis,worktooptimizeyourwebsiteand
hopethatyourpagesgetindexedhighinthesearchengines.I’mheretotellyouacoupleofreasonsyoumaywanttoconsidershellingoutsomemoneyonapay-per-click(PPC)
campaign first.
Forthoseofyouwithlimitedbudgets,youmaybeaskingyourself–whyspendmoneyonaPPCenginelikeGoogleAdwordsbeforetakingadvantageofeverypossibleopportunity
togetfreelistings?Mybestanswertothisquestionisthatdoingsowillsaveyouweeksorpossiblymonthsoffrustration.How?Whenyoubeginoptimizingyourwebsite,youhave
no idea what will drive potential customers to your site, let alone what will prompt them to buy. Sure, you hopefully will do some keyword research ahead of time, but you still won’t
knowwhichkeywordswillultimatelybringyouthetargeted,motivatedtrafcyouarelookingfor.Asidefromthat,youhavenoideaifGoogleorothersearchengineswillevenlist
your pages anywhere near the top (check out the chart below to see why being above the fold on page 1 is essential in a competitive b2b environment). In the end you may end up
spendingalotoftimeandeffortwaitingtogainthatrstpageresultonlytobedisappointedbecauseyoushowuponpage10.Alternatelyyoumayshowuponpage1,butendup
getting the wrong type of traffic resulting in few or no leads/sales.
Eyetrackingstudy:Areasofthepagesearchersfocuson
Nowlet’sconsiderthatyoudothesamekeywordresearch,butsetupaGoogleAdwordsaccountrstandwaitto
optimizeyoursite.WithAdwordsyoucanbeupandrunningadsinminutesinsteadofwaitingdaysorweekstoget

indexedbyGoogleintheorganic(free)listings.Youcanalsoguaranteevisibilitywithintheeyetrackingsweetspot
fromthechartabove.Nowyoucanbegintesting.Youcantestwhichkeywordsaregettingthemostconversions,
which ad copy resonates best with your target market, and which landing page copy convinces people to fill out
their information. Once you begin gathering this data, you can begin transitioning the things that work to your web-
site;youcannowbecondentthatyouroptimizationeffortswillnotbeawasteoftime.It’slikehavingtheultimate
focusgroup;peoplefromalloveraretellingyouwhichkeywordstheyareinterestedinwhenlookingforproductsor
servicesyousell.Youwillnowknowexactlywhichwebcopytoaddtoyourpagestogetthemostconversions-itis
nolongeraguessinggame.AuthorsandpublishingcompaniestestbooktitleswithAdwordsbeforegoingtoprint.
Entrepreneursuseadwordstotestproductideasbeforemanufacturingtheproduct.Adwordsistheultimatemarket
researchtool;ifyoulookatitthisway,itiswellworththemoneyspent.Ofcoursethisalldependsonwhetheryou
useAdwordstoitsfullpotentialandtestingcapabilities.Mynextarticlewilldiscusstherststeptocreatingasuc-
cessfulGoogleAdwordscampaign–KeywordResearch.

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
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9
Practice Metrics-Based Copywriting
TheB2BLeadfeaturesanumberofhelpfularticlesoncopywriting,soIthoughtI’dshareoneofmyfavoritetipsforensuringB2Bmarketingcopyisrelevant.Asmarketerswe
constantlytrytowritecompellingcopythatmotivatespeopletotakesomesortofaction.Thetrickistowriteinthevoiceofourtargetaudience;speakingtothemusinglanguage
theyrespondto.SometimesweusefocusgroupsorA/Btestingtohelpwiththis;gettingoutintheeldandtalkingtoprospects/customersalsohelps.Intheendthough,thewords
we choose often amount to best guesses.
KeywordresearchtoolslikeWordtracker,GoogleTrends,andtheGoogleKeywordToolprovideawealthofinsightintothevoiceofouraudience.Usingsearchdataandtrendscan
giveexcellentcluestothewordspeopleusetodescribethings.Talkingtoyouraudience,usingthesamewordstheysearchforthemselves,putsyouatamajoradvantage.For
example,theotherdayIwascraftinganemailtopromoteanewwebcast.Problemwas,somepeoplewerecallingitawebcastandotherswerecallingitawebinar–whichwas
it?Whatwouldmorepeoplerespondto;awebcastofferorawebinaroffer?IdecidedtouseGoogleTrendstocomparethesearchvolumeofbothwords.Iguredthetermthatis
searchedmoreoftenwillalsobethetermusedmorecommonlyinconversation.Thistermshouldalsosparkahigherinterestifusedinmyemail.SoIquicklypulledupGoogle
Trends and here is what I found.
This obviously made my decision easy. Split testing my email offers confirmed that using “webcast” got the
better response.

Now,thisisjustsearch-drivencopywritinginitssimplestform.Ifyouwanttotakethisfurther,youcanuse
theGoogleKeywordToolorWordtrackeralmostlikeyouwouldaThesaurus.Forexample,maybeyouare
promotinga“golfstrategies”guide.IfyouploppedthiskeywordintotheGoogleKeywordTool,itwouldoffer
you numerous suggestions for related terms people are searching for. In this example (shown below) maybe
you would be better off promoting it as a “golf tips” guide since that term is searched more frequently.

Hopefullybynow,youarestartingtogettheidea.Thisstuffreallyworks–Ihavepersonallyseenhigher
conversion rates on landing pages and emails by using this strategy. If you are interested in reading more
aboutsimilarideas,AaronWallhasaveryinterestingarticleonkeywordresearchthatisdenitelywortha
read.
/>
/> />101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
10
Sprout Widgets, Mashups and Other Great Content That Drives SEO
One of the best ways to increase your SEO rankings is to attract inbound links to your blog or website.
Traditional link building efforts involve asking for links, link swapping, or link buying. This process is extremely time consuming and can get expensive if you are buying high quality
links.Really,inthisinstance,isthereanysuchthingasaqualitylink?Afterall,Googlehasmadenosecretthatitisactivelyseekingwaystoweedoutthispractice.
Incontrast,youcansaveyourselfalotoftimeandmoneybyleveragingsocialmediatoconvinceotherstolinktoyourcontent.Thechallengeiscomingupwithlink-worthymaterial
andthenspreadingthewordviaTwitterandothersocialmediatools.Fortunatelyforthoseofuswithlittletimeandfewerresources,theprocessofbuildingthiscontentjustgota
loteasier.Younolongerneedtoembarkuponalengthyresearchprojectorwritea10pagewhitepaper.Thesedays,successfullinkbaitistakingtheformofwidgetsormashups
or other forms of rich media content. The prerequisite is that the content should be helpful, clever, funny, or remarkable enough that others want to write about it or include it in
their roundup of free tools.
The process of building a widget or mashup used to require Web development skills or enough budget to farm out the work. I’ve been reading about a number of free tools that
allowjustaboutanyonetocreatetheirownwidgetsbuthavenotfoundthecondencetotrythem.Proddedbya“tweet”fromoneofthemoreinuentialTwitterati(didIreallyjust
writethat?),Idecidedtocheckout,Sprout,anextremelycoolandeasytousesitetohelpyoubuildwidgetsorotherinformationaltoolsthatcanbeembeddedinyourblogorweb
site. />SproutlookseasyenoughtouseandI’mreadytocheckitout.Now,Ijusthavetocomeupwiththe“killerapp”forourblogreaders.Togetideas,therststepwillbetoreachout
tothecommunityreadingtheBreakingPointblogat and then do a bit of brainstorming.
101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead

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11
Blog Basics
If you feel like you are completely lost when it comes to blogs, here is a great post on the basics of bloggingfromVRMarketingblog.
Here are some key takeaways and a few of my own thoughts:
Besuretolinkbacktoyourcorporatesite,thisisespeciallyimportantifyourbloghasitsownurl.(Onemajorreasontostartablogisbecauseitcanincreaseyoursearch•
engine ranking)
Tag each post with categories. This will help your readers find what they are looking for and help boost your search engine ranking as well.•
Blogs are a great medium for customer feedback. Write a post that gets your customers talking (and commenting) or put a poll on the blog to survey readers on a specific •
topic.
Alwaysmoderateyourcomments.ThereisalotofSPAMoutthereandyouwantthecommentssectiontobeatruedialogthatisnotinterruptedbySPAM.Itisokifsomeone•
disagreeswithyou,donotblockthatcommentbecauseitcangetpeopletalking.Commentsareboringifeveryoneagreesandtherearenonewideas.
Avoid“shamelessselfpromotion.”Blogswithinteresting,relevant,andup-to-datecontentwillgainaloyalfollowing.Don’ttrytotrickyourreadersandsneakinasalespitch.•
Be transparent or risk losing readers.
Be sure to include keywords in titles and within relevant content for search engines.•
YourblogcanbeagreatsupporterforyourPRefforts.PostanexcerptfromapressreleaseontheblogorreuseblogcontentforPRideas.•
Don’tjustputyourblogoutthereandexpectreaderstocome.Besuretoleverageyourdatabaseofcustomerstoletthemknowaboutit.•
Makesureyourpostsareup-to-date.TheyrecommendtwiceamonthbutIwouldsayatleasttwiceaweek.Inaworldofinstantgratication,weareusedtogettingwhatwe•
want when we want it. If your most recent post is two weeks old, I probably won’t be checking in again anytime soon.

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Page Titles are Important
Search Engine Optimization is a big reason why a lot of companies start blogs in the first place. Make sure you are doing everything you can to optimize your blog. Start with having
unique page titles. Here are a few tips from Michael Nguyen’s Social Patterns blog:
Whyisthepagetitleimportant?
Pagetitlesinuencesearchenginerankings.•

The page title is often used as the heading for your site listing in search engines •
Pagetitlesarethedefaultlabelforbrowserbookmarks.•
Pagetitlesarestoredinbrowserhistorylists.•
RSSgeneratorsandcontentmanagementsystemsusepagetitlestocreateheadlines.•
Most people link to web pages using the page title for anchor text.•
TipsforWritingBetterPageTitles
Keep your titles short.•
Write descriptive titles.•
Donotusethesametitleforallyourwebpages.•
Focus your keywords at the front.•
Write in plain language.•
Avoiduncleartitleswithmorethanonemeaning.•
Useacalltoaction.•
Avoidunneededwords.•
Avoidkeywordstufng.•
Useseparatorsinsteadofwordslike“and”or“also”.•
The following links will have more info on how and why to have unique page titles for your blog posts:
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101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
13
Keep Your Blog on Track to Support SEO and Other Business Objectives
Attention Conservation Notice: The following post provides an eight-point litmus test that B2B marketers and bloggers can use to evaluate their blog posts for Search Engine Optimi-
zation and relevance to business objectives.
Asabloggeritissometimesdifculttostayontrackwithyourcoreaudienceandcompanyinterests.Bloggingis,afterall,aconversationandconversationsoftenstrayofftrack.
ButwhenIsteppedintowriteformycompany’sblog,Idiscoveredwastherewerefarmorebenetstostayingontrackwiththecontentthanjustimprovingreadership.
Of course, I know there was a strong connection between the blog and SEO ranking. I also know a blog was a great tool to attract readers and prospects to download content from
your web site. But, until I actually dug in and crafted my own posts, I didn’t really understand the “magic” and how to create a repeatable process to boost SEO rankings which
inevitably drive demand and brand awareness. So, with a few posts under my belt and a dramatic boost in SEO rankings for a couple of valuable keywords, I put together this quick

litmustestforALLfutureposts.
I know that most blog and social media purists will violently disagree with these tips. They will argue that one should not be blogging with marketing and sales interests in mind.
LasttimeIchecked,however,Ididn’tliveinaSocialistcountry.And,myegoisn’timportantenoughtospendhoursponticatingabouttopicswithoutatleastsomethingtogain.We
areallbloggingwithanobjectiveinmind.Ibelievetheykeyisinthe“intent”ofthepost.Ifyourgoalistobefound,toeducateandtoattractafollowingofpotentialnewcustomers
withoutmakingfalsepromises,thenthefollowinglitmustestshouldhelpyoutokeepyourpostsontrackwithobjectives:
1. Topic must be relevant to your target audience and—even better— to our company and product or service offerings.
2. Topicshouldbeeducational,controversial,timelyorrelatedtoanewsevent.Bonuspointsforlink-baitarticleslikepostingalistofvaluableresources,expertinterviews,how-
to’s, special reports, etc.
3. Postmustbeginwitheasy-to-understandandkeyword-richtitle(notjustacleverlywordedheadline).Thegoalistocommunicatewhatthestoryandtakeawaysareabout
before the reader has to read the story.
4. Must contain links back to prior blog stories, an important corporate web page, press release or a white paper with more information. The exact keywords that are linked to
those pages should correspond with the SEO terms for which those pages are optimized.
5. PostmustbetaggedwithrightkeywordsforSEOandcontentsothatitcanbecategorizedandfound.
6. Postsshouldincludeourthoughtleadershipmessageswhereappropriate.
7. Postshouldincludealistoftipsthatcanbelinkedtofromwithintheblog.
8. Postmustchallengereaderstotakeactioninthelastsentence—ie.continuetheconversation,seekmoreinformationorspreadtheword.
So,that’smyquicklist.I’msuretherearemore.I’msuresomeofthesemaybecometoocumbersometoapply.Butit’sworthashot.Imean,whatisthevalueofaGooglePage1
listingtoyourcompany?With80to90%ofbuyersstartingtheirsearchonGoogle,I’drecommendgivingitashot.
I’dliketohearaboutyourexperienceswithbloggingandSEO.Importantly,whathasbeenyoursuccessinachievingthecovetedGoogledoublelisting?
101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
14
Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Corporate Blog
Companiescreateblogsfordifferentreasons.Someuseitasatooltocommunicatewiththeircustomers.Otherstrytoleveragetheirblogforleadgeneration.Someuseittosupple-
menttheirPRstrategy.Whateverthereason,allcompaniesshouldhavesetmetricstofollowinordertotracktheeffectivenessoftheirblog.IjustreadagreatMarketingProf’s
articlebyMackCollier(thisonedoesrequireapremiummembership,butIhighlyrecommendit).
TogiveyouarecapofwhatMacksuggests,therearethreemajormetricstotrack:
1. Traffic
2. Feed Subscribers

3. Links
TrafccanbeeasilytrackedusingatoollikeGoogleAnalytics.Youcanusetrafcmeasurementstohelpyoudeterminewhatsubjectsarebeingreadthemost,whatdaysofthe
week you get the most traffic and if outside activities like a press release or commenting on another blog gave you a boost.
Feedsubscribersaredifferentthantrafcandwillnotcountaspartofyourtrafc.Youmayactuallyseeyourtrafcdecreaseasyourreadersndyourcontenttobevaluableand
subscribetoyourRSS.Feedburnerisatrackingtoolforfeedsandoffersafewotherbenetsaswell.(JustasanFYIisownedbyGooglenow.)
YoucantrackyourlinksthroughTechnoratiorGoogleBlogSearch.Thiswillhelpyoudeterminewhichtopicsresonatethebestwithyourreadersandwillhelpyoutocreaterela-
tionships with other bloggers.

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
15
Want Bloggers to Write About You? Make Sure Your Website is Blogger-Friendly
Attention Conservation Notice: The following post shares a few counter-intuitive tips for getting bloggers to write about you.
CoryDoctorow–thegeniusbehindBoing Boing,andtheinspirationbehindReachForce’sattentionconservationnotices–hassharedmoreofhisbrilliancein17 TIPS FOR GET-
TING BLOGGERS TO WRITE ABOUT YOU.
IfyoucangetpasttheInformationWeek’sannoying,in-your-faceadvertisingandsurveyrequests,youwillndseveralgreatnuggetsinthispost.Manyofwhichwillreallythrow
most marketers for a loop. Here are a few of the more interesting suggestions:
Haveapermanentlink.Don’tjustchangethefrontpageofyoursiteeverytimeanewspeakerforyourspeaker-seriesinannounced.Abloggerwholinkstothefrontpageof•
yoursitetodayinapostabouttheupcomingaddressbyPhiloTFarnsworth,wantsthatlinktostaygoodforinthefuture,
PDFsstink.It’snotaWebpage(see“Havealink”).It’shardtocopyandpasteoutof.Itdoesn’tshowupinbrowsershalfthetime.TheWebismadeofHTML.•
PutyourURLonyourimages.Ifyou’vegotcoolphotosorotherimagesuponyoursite,stickyourURLinunobtrusivetypeatthebottomofit.•
Forgetthe“copyrightprotection”Javascript.SomesiteshavebizarreJavascriptthatpopsupsnottylittlecopyrightmessageswhenyoutrytoright-clickonanimagetosaveit.•
OK,wegetthepoint:youdon’twantpeopletocopyyourimages.We’lljustmoveon.Enjoyyourobscurity.
Enoughwiththelegalboilerplate.Ifeverypageonyoursiteendswith“(c)2008ParanoidCoInc,allrightsreserved.Nopartofthissitemaybereproducedwithoutpermis-•
sion,”thenbloggersmayjusttakeyouatyourwordandwriteaboutsomeoneelse’ssite.
The world of Marketing has changed drastically in the last few years and it’s time for B2B Marketers to question the status quo (and their legal counsel) and make some changes to
thrive in this new world.

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead

PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
16
Twitter to Attract Readers to Your Blog
BlogMaster…Notjustsharedthebestway(If You Build It, They Will Come) to attract readers to your blog in a recent post to The B2B Lead.
Here’sanother:Microblogging.MostpeopleIknowareabsolutelyperplexedbythevalueofmicrobloggingsiteslikeTwitter,Pownce,SeesmicorJaiku.I’llspareyouthedetailsof
theconversationitspawnedwithmyhusbandtheengineer.Personally,IuseTwitterandIloveit.Don’talwayshavetimetouseit,butwhenIdo,it’samazing.Itcanalsobevery
powerful.Infact,wepresentedapodcastonthesubjectbyarealTwitterexpert–WilliamHurleyorwhurley(listen here). Whurley was able to build a huge following for his Opens-
ville Blog.SomuchsothathisblogrosetoaTechnoratirankingof196inafewshortmonths.Wanttobenchmarkthatstat?TheB2BLeadiscurrentlyranked2,910,025.(come
on guys, give us a little link love here.)
When you immerse yourself in the community and start sending “tweets”, as they are called, it’s easy to see how powerful these tools would be for building a following and driving
readerstoyourblog.Thatis—ifyouhavesomethinginterestingtosay.Afterall,asthenefolksoveratFiveRuns say “don’t wake up the dog to tell it it’s sleeping.” My advice: don’t
registerforTwitterwiththeideathatyou’llreallyshareexactlywhatyou’redoingatanygivingmoment.Afterall,mostofusreallydon’tcarewhatyouhadforlunch(badforthe
diet),howlongthelineisatthebank,orwhoyouwerehavinglunchwithtoday(that’sjustnamedropping).
Whatwedocareaboutis:theneatideayoujusthad,yourcoolnewproject,ahappyhourforminginyourcity,yourlatestbrushwithgreatness,theexcitingnewproductyoujust
bought,ahotnewcompanyonyourradarscreen,oranewsaleonshoes!OK,maybethat’sjustme.Anyway,yougetthepicture.ThinkWordofMouth.Or,WordofMouth2.0.
Twitterhasbecomemywaytobecomean“insider.”Asanavidbloggerandsocialmediaenthusiast,IfollowRobertScoble,theauthorofNakedConversations—thedenitivetext
onthecultureofblogging.Histweetsturnmeontothemostamazingproductsandideas.ToysliketheWiFidetectort-shirt( .
Coolmulti-mediatoolslikewww.vuvox.com. He wrote an excellent article on microblogging for Fastcompany Magazine.Inthepiece,hespeculatesthatthestepfrome-mailto
microbloggingmaybeassignicantasfromfaxtoe-mailinthe90’s.
HansDeKeulenaeralsoprovidedsomeexcellenttipsformicrobloggingonhisWeb Business Marketing Blog. He suggests:
1. Dailytipsandtricks:energysaving,useofasoftwarepackage,…Butconsider,howquicklywillyourunoutofsteam?
2. Quickreportingfromaroadshow,tradeshow,…Microbloggingcanbeeasilydonefrommobiledevices.Itallowsyoutocommunicatebroaderaboutyoureventforthefolksnot
there, while you are busy with the event.
3. Information during a crisis, when aid workers have essential information, but no time.
4. Animateevents,suchasaconferenceortradefair,showingannouncementsofparticipantsonagiantscreen.
For a customer event, you can use it to share developments in the itinerary, speakers as they sign on, encourage feedback, etc. This will help you build a community of interest
andencourageregistrationsfortheevent.Asadoptiongrows,youcouldconsiderexpandingusetoorganizeeventsatmajortradeshows,etc.Theoptionsareonlylimitedbythe
imagination.
Liketheseideas?FollowmeonTwitter( />more about Microblogging: Microblogging:What Is It Good For?

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
17
Blogging to the Beat
I was cruising through my Google Reader (one of the best things I could have ever set up as a blogger) and stumbled upon a great post about blog writing on Diana Huff’s B2B
MarCom Writer Blog.Shesuggeststhatbloggershaveabeatjustlikejournalists.Ifyouarejuststartingyourowncorporateblog,thisisagreattiptohelpyougureourwhatto
write about. If you can define your “beat” then you will find yourself soaking up everything you see about those topics and inspiration will come more easily.
Also,ifyouareoneofseveralcontributorstoyourblog,eachwriterhavingauniquebeatwillhelpeachauthortobedifferentiatedfromtheothers.
I’vealwayslovedthesaying“ajackofalltradesisamasterofnone.”Ifyoucanreallynarrowyourfocus,youhaveabetterchanceofpositioningyourselfasanexpertinthatarea
which will increase the quality of your content and hopefully your readership.

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
18
Everything I Know About B2B Blogging I Learned from Perez
Love him or hate him, but Perez Hiltonknowsblogging.He’sparlayedhiscelebrityjuiceblogintooneofthemosthighlyvisitedblogsontheInternetandtransformedhimselfinto
aminorcelebrity.IconfessItoofollowhisblogtoreadhissnarkyupdatesonpeoplewhoselivesseeminnitelymoreinterestingthanmyown.And,I’vepickedupanumberof
techniques along the way that I use in my role as a B2B Marketer. Here are a few highlights:
Letmeinfo-tainyou.Today’saudienceswantaheftydoseofentertainmentwiththeirinformation.Let’sfaceit,withallofthenoiseontheInternetandthemyriadofsourcesspew-
ingcontentourway;it’sdifculttocaptureattentionwithoutbeingoutrageous,humorous,oratleastsomewhatentertaining.It’smorechallengingtopullthisoffinthebusiness
world.CanyouimaginepullingsomeofthestuntsPerezisknownfor?Still,itpaystohavesomefunwithyourblogandtakeafewrisks.
Don’ttakeyourselftooseriously.Ifyouaregoingto“makesomenoise”andgetvisibilityintheblogosphere,youbetterexpecttoattractcriticismandjokesatyourexpense.So,it’s
importantthatyoudon’ttakeyourselftooseriously,havesomefun,rollwiththepunches….Ifyoudoitright,youmightevengetFarked!Trustme,thisisn’tabadthing.Checkout
someofthecommentsmadeinresponsetomylatestviralmarketingcampaign- />Pushsomebuttons.NoticehowPerezengageshisreadersbyreachingouttothemtocommentonhisimagesorstoriesorpushingtheirbuttons?Evenbetter–heactuallyasks
themtocontributetohiscontentbycomingupwithcelebrityUni-Names—apersonalfavorite.And,let’sfaceit,he’sthemasterofstirringupaurryofcontroversywhichcanbe
thetippingpointforinstantblogvisibility.Intheblogosphere,beingopinionatedpaysbig!So,ifoneofyourpostssetsoffarestormofames,don’tgetmad,getfamous.
GotanyfavoritePerezmomentstoshare?MaybeaB2BUni-Nameyou’vecoinedlikeFunnelnomics?Send‘emourway!

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
19
Re-think Blog ROI
Yes,youreadthatright,Ididactuallyusethewords“Blog”and“ROI”inthesameheadline.Butthisisn’tapostabouthowtocalculatetheROIofyourblog.Ifthat’swhatyouare
looking for, reading further will be a frustrating exercise.
WheneverIspeakaboutsocialmediaandblogging,thequestionsalwaysfollowthesamepathfromcynicalchallengestoreluctanthow-toquestions.Sortoflikethe5stagesof
grief (disclaimer: I am not a clinical psychologist and really have no idea if these stages are even accurate):
Shock-“Isablogrightformyaudience?”
Denial-“HowcanIjustifythevalueofablog,Ican’tmeasuretheROI,canI?
Bargaining-“HowcanIjustifyinvestinginsuchatime-consumingexercise?Isn’tmytimebetterspentelsewhere?”
Anger-“WheredoIevenstart?Socialmediaisoutofcontrol.”
Acceptance-“HowoftendoIhavetopost?”
Justlikedeathandtaxes,bloggingisinevitable.Ithelpsyouestablishacloserrelationshipwithyourcustomers.Itgivesyourcompanyafaceandapersonalitylettingyoushare
yourevolvingphilosophiesandlessonslearnedwithyourreadership.And,ithelpswithsearchengineoptimizationsothatbuyerscanndyou.Forallofthesereasonsandsomany
more,youwilleventuallybeforcedintoembracingblogging.Imean,whenwasthelasttimeajournalistorbloggerwroteawildlyexcitingpostlinkingtoyourwebpage?Nothap-
pening?You’renotalone.Peopledon’tgetexcitedbywebcopy.Buttheydogetinspiredandpassionateaboutblogposts—iftheydelivervalue.
IrecentlyreadanextremelyinterestingpostbyPhilBaumann’sentitledBlog ROI: It’s About Value, Stupid!,inwhichPhilmakesanexcellentcaseforwhyhospitalsshouldhavea
blog.Hisreason:“value.”AccordingtoPhil:
“UntilsomeoneestablishesastandardmeasureofBlogROI,Ithinkit’shelpfultofocusourlensonafundamentalquestion:Whatinformationisneededtodecidewhetherablog
is worth its cost. There’s probably a complicated answer to that question, one which depends on the economics of your particular organization. In its place, I’d like to offer up three
simple intuition pumps:
1. ValuedrivesROI
2. PriceisafunctionofValue
3. Value-MultipliedisreplacingValue-Added”
Now,here’stherealgeniusbehindPhil’spost.Heclaimsthat:“Value-MultipliedisReplacingValue-Added”-Andthat’swhereintelligentapplicationsofsocialmediacomeinto
play.Canyouthinkofabetterwaytomultiplythesharedvaluesofyourgoingconcern?Word-of-Mouth(WOM)wasalwaysking.ButknowthekingdomofWOMhascome.Know
thyking.He’salittledifferentthistimearound.He’swearingnewclothing:acrownoftruth,acapeofrespectandastaffofdemocracy.Infact:he’syou!Ifyoulaydownthetracks

foryourcustomers’value-trainthenROIwillcomechuggingalong.
Readytogetstarteddeliveringvalue?CheckoutGuyKawasaki’sAlltop Blogging for tips and resources.

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
20
When it Comes to Social Media: Play By the Rules
Attention Conservation Notice: The following post provides an overview of the Social Media landscape and important tips for making it work for both brand awareness and lead generation.
ThemarketinganalystsatSiriusDecisionsjustcameoutwithadecenthighlevelviewoftheSocialMediaLandscapeintoday’sSiriusPerspectivenewsletter.Someofthecategories
and descriptions seemed a little “old school”, so I’m adding my own edits to their categories here:
• Blogs/Blogging including the creation of a blog and participation in other writers’ blogs.
• Social networks such as MySpace and Facebook where people can network with other parties who are interested in a particular topic.
• ForumssuchasYahooorGoogleGroupsthataremoderatedandfocusedonaparticulartopicorfunction.
• Podcasting or VidcastingwhichsimplymeanssyndicatingyourdigitalorvideomessagesviasitessuchasOdeoorYouTube.
• Media sharing on sites that let users upload and rate content such as contributed articles, videos and images.
• RSS/Web feedsthatdistributeblogarticlesorothercontentsummarieswhichreadersviewviaanRSSreader.Usersthenclickthroughtoreadcontent.
• Wikis.CollaborativedocumentsthatarecreatedusingaWebbrowser.Contributorscanadd,deleteoreditcontent,andnotifyotherauthorsoftheirchanges.
• Social bookmarks:Sitessuchasdel.icio.us(ownedbyYahoo!)andDiggthatenableuserstostore,rateandrecommendbookmarks.ManybookmarksitesprovideWebfeedsto
notify subscribers of updates.
The newsletter states that, according to their research, roughly 50 percent of B2B organizations are utilizing some type of social media. They also warn that social media may not be
a good tactic for demand generation unless marketers play by the rules.
Let me first say that while I am typically not one to “follow the rules,” I do agree with that statement. It is vital that marketers have a solid conversion strategy for social media that is
not “in your face” or overly aggressive. The important point in the social media arena is to network, build awareness, establish your expertise, provide high value content that buyers
caneasilyndandmakeiteasyforthemtocontactyouwhentheyneedyourproductorservice.TheresultsoftheNetQoSviral video campaign show that it works.

101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead
PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
21

A Case Study in Viral Video Marketing - The B2B Lead Vidcast
Attention Conservation Notice: The following post contains a long post on controversy in the field of viral marketing and a long (30 min) video case study on viral video marketing
presented by Pam O’Neal Mickelson. It presents advice on what to do and what not to do when it comes to producing and distributing a viral marketing campaign.
Viralvideomarketinghasbecomeahotbedofcontroversythesedays!WhowouldhavebelievedthatvideoslikeNetcosm, Mr. Happy Crack, Benny Lava, and Tay Zonday could be
taintedbyheateddebatesoverthevalidityofviralmarketingandthetechniquesusedbysometopromotetheircampaigns?
Still the debate rages: Many B2B Marketers think viral marketing is like “lightening in a bottle.” They advise there is no simple formula and you cannot possibly orchestrate such a
campaign because both content and timing are so critical to viral success. Others,willarguethattheycanconcoctaviralcampaignforanyoneandwillgotojustaboutanylengths
to do so.
Whilemostwillagreethatcontentandtimingarebothcrucial,IdobelievethatalmosteveryB2BMarketerhasasuccessfulviralorWordofMouthcampaigninthem.And,Ialso
believethattheydon’thavetoresorttotrickeryordeceittoattracttensofthousandsofviewersfortheirYouTubevideo.Infact,Ibelievethemoreauthenticyouare,thestronger
the Word of Mouth effect.
Unfortunately,notallB2BMarketersareusingatransparentorauthenticapproach.ArecentwidelycriticizedTechCrunchpostwrittenbyDanAckermanGreenbergadvising
marketers to pay for blog coverage and trick viewers into viewing videos has triggered a firestorm of controversy that threatens to ruin the discipline for the rest of us. Much like
spammers ruined email marketing.
Greenbergkicksoffhispostwiththisinauspiciousintro:“Overthepastyear,Ihaverunclandestinemarketingcampaignsmeanttoensurethatpromotionalvideosbecometruly
viral,astheseexampleshavebecomeintheextreme.”Hemightaswellhaverunanadinvitingpeopletobashhim.Orwasthathisintent?ThisisalmostasbadasthesalesletterI
received from a company offering to post “laudatory comments” on our video postings or blog articles in an effort to build a following. I felt like I needed to take a shower after read-
ingthatletterandthispost!(Asyou’llreadlaterIwasnottheonlyone.)
Greenbergalsoadvised“Sohowdowegettherst50,000viewsweneedtogetourvideosontotheMostViewedlist?
• Blogs:Wereachouttoindividualswhorunrelevantblogsandactuallypaythemtopostourembeddedvideos.Soundsalittlebitlikecheating/PayPerPost,butit’seffectiveand
it’s not against any rules.
• Forums: We start new threads and embed our videos. Sometimes, this means kickstarting the conversations by setting up multiple accounts on each forum and posting back and
forthbetweenafewdifferentusers.Yes,it’stediousandtime-consuming,butifwegetenoughpeopleworkingonit,itcanhaveatremendouseffect.
• MySpace: PlentyofusersallowyoutoembedYouTubevideosrightinthecommentssectionoftheirMySpacepages.Wetakeadvantageofthis.
• Facebook:Share,share,share.We’vetakenDaveMcClure’sadviceandbuiltasizeablepresenceonFacebook,sosharingavideowithourentirefriendslistcanhavearealim-
pact.Otherideasincludecreatinganeventthatannouncesthevideolaunchandinvitingfriends,writinganoteandtaggingfriends,orpostingthevideoonFacebookVideowith
alinkbacktotheoriginalYouTubevideo.
• Email lists:Sendthevideotoanemaillist.Dependingonthesizeofthelist(andtherecipients’willingnesstoreceivelinkstoYouTubevideos),thiscanbeaveryeffectivestrategy.
• Friends: Make sure everyone we know watches the video and try to get them to email it out to their friends, or at least share it on Facebook.
101 B2B Marketing and Sales Tips from The B2B Lead

PRESENTED BY
VOLUME ONE • Online Marketing
22
Asyoucanimagine,Greenberg’spostwasslammedbigtimeforadvocating“techniquesincludingwritingfakesensationaltitlesandcreatingcontroversybyhavingargumentsin
thecommentsofavideousingmultipleYouTubeaccounts.”Ican’thelpbutnotice,however,thatwhileGreenbergmaybeunpopularwiththereadersofTechCrunch,heisappar-
entlyverypopularamongadvertisers.Alookatboththequantityandtheprominenceofhisclientsshowsthatthereishugedemandandhighstakesaroundviralmarketing.
Viralvideo,muchliketelevisedinfotainment,remainsoneofthebestwaystobroadcastyourbrandandmessagetoaverylargeaudience.Combineitwithablogorothersocial
mediacomponent,anditcanbeaningeniouswaytobuildalargefollowing.And,unliketelevisedinfotainment,itdoesn’tcomewithamulti-milliondollarpricetag.Importantly,vi-
ralcampaignscomewiththeaddedbonusofWordofMouthcache.Viewersareguaranteedtotuneinwhenthecontenthasbeenrecommendedbyafriendorcolleague,orwhen
the buzz has reached a level that demands their attention.
It’seasytoseewhycompaniessuchasGreenberg’srmareinhighdemand.And,whilewhathedoesmayfeelunethicalanddeceptive,isitreallysodifferentfromtheinfotain-
mentthatwecallrealityTV?Imean,wasn’tTheApprenticejustonelongcommercialforBurgerKingandYahoo?Isn’tProjectRunwayagreatpromotionalvehicleforBanana
RepublicandBittenbySarahJessicaParker?Aren’ttheseallexamplesofMarketingdisguisedasentertainment?Aren’twe,asviewers,trickedintotuningintothesehour-long
commercialsbyslicklyproducedteasersofapprenticesbattlingtothenishorsnarkyfashiondesignersbackstabbingeachothertogetahead?
Inanincreasinglymarketing-averseworld,trickingyouraudienceintotuninginmayseemtheonlywaytogetyourmessageout.Butthisisextremelyshortsighted.Ifyou’renot
lookingatviralmarketingwithalongtermperspective,youareoverlookingoneofthemostvaluableaspectsofthisapproach–theabilitytoquicklyandinexpensivelybuildacom-
munityofinterest.TheWordofMouthaspectofviralmarketinggivesMarketersapowerfulwaytoattractafollowingofmedia,blogerati,inuencers,and–mostimportantly–buyers.
Click here to watch the video case study.
AsthisvideocasestudyofReachForcecustomer,NetQoS,network monitoringcampaignillustrates,justaboutanyonecanbesuccessfulwithviralmarketingiftheytakeanau-
thentic,transparent,relevantandentertainingapproach.LookatthefantasticjobDr.PepperdidwiththeCherry Chocolate Rain viral video or this clever Symantec video. It may
not always guarantee a million views, but it will earn you respect and a loyal following over the long term.
InthenextB2BLeadpostI’llenumeratethe20ideasthatmadetheNetQoScampaignasuccessleadingtoaMarketingSherpaViralMarketingHallofFameinclusion.I’llalso
present some of the visuals that might have been difficult to see on this video.
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Put These 20 Ideas into Action for B2B Viral Marketing Success
Attention Conservation Notice: The following post contains 20 ideas for packaging, promoting and tracking the results of your viral video campaign. It also contains visuals from The
B2B Lead Vidcast on viral video marketing.

AsI’vewrittenpreviouslyonTheB2BLead,many Marketers advise there is no simple formula for making your campaign go viral. Others argue that they can help anyone go viral
andwilluselessthanauthenticandtransparenttechniquestodoso.AsyoucanseefromthisvidcastcasestudyforaB2B viral video campaign NetQoSran,itispossibletobe
successfulwithoutresortingtotrickery.Itjusttakesrelevantcontent,cleverpackaging,asolidconversionstrategy,andtransparentoutreachviaSocialMedia.
However,evenwithagoodideaandsuperbexecution,therearenoguarantees.Viralmarketingislikewalkingatightrope.Thereisanelinebetweensuccessandfailure.There
arenoassurances.Noopportunitiesfortestingmessages.Anditcouldbackreorsimplyzzle.Butthegreatthingaboutwalkingatightropeisthatnoonecanpassyou.
WanttoimproveyouroddsintheworldofB2Bviralmarketing?Hereisaroundupofthe20ideasthatmadetheNetQoS network monitoring campaign a success, and some of the
charts and graphs that you might not have been able to see on the video.
Viral Video Idea #1:Setclearobjectivesforyourcampaign.ForNetQoS,wewantedtouseviralmarketingtoincreasebrandawareness,breakintotheblogosphereinabigway
andincreasewebtrafcandleads.Wesetspecicobjectivesandmeasuredoursuccess.
Viral Video Idea #2: Be relevant. Make sure your message and content are relevant both to your company and to your target audience. Because without relevant content, you may
hitahomerunbuteffectivelystrikeout.Kindoflikethatdancingbabyconceptfromthe90’s.Canyounamethecompanybehindthatone?
Viral Video Idea #3:Knowyouraudience.And,I’mnottalkingabouttheirpainpointsandjobroles.I’mtalkingmoreaboutpsychographicsandbehavioralcharacteristics.Under-
standwhatintereststhem,wheretheyliveandwork,howtheygettheirinformation.ForNetQoS,weknewthatouraudiencewouldbeagreatviraltarget—theywerecomfortable
online,80%readblogsorareactiveinblogging,84%starttheirsearchonasearchengine.Mostaresmartandcynicalaudience—marketingaverse.
Viral Video Idea #4:Beopportunistic.–HaveyourFlipVideo on you at all times to capture a great idea or moment. I heard a story about one of the leading open source database
providersrecently.Apparently,aMarketerforthatcompanyhadagreatideaforavideo.HeTwitteredhiscircleofcontactstoroundupavideocameraandbythetimehewas
ready to shoot, his competitor had already heard about the idea and beat him to the punch.
Forus,wewereluckyenoughtohavetherightvideomaterialrightunderournose.Aseniorresearcherhaddevelopeda3Dvideo-gamelikedatavisualizationofourproductdata.
ItconvertedliveNetworkPerformancedatafromourproductsinto3Dimages.Itwasuniqueandvery,veryrelevant.
Viral Video Idea #5: Havefun.AsIwroteinthisblog post from The B2B Lead, you should make fun of yourself before someone else does. We were extremely kitschy because we
knewthequalityofthegraphicswasnotuptotherealisticstandardsoftoday’sCGI.Ithadavery80’sTronlikefeelsowemadethemostofthat.Wedidn’tjustposttheclip.We
named it, packaged it and added humor at every turn.
Viral Video Idea #6:Developaseedingandconversionstrategypriortopostingyourvideo.In30dayswithlessthan$7,000,ourin-houseteamalongwithourteamatPorter
Novellidevelopedthestrategyandmaterialsforacompleteviralvideoexperienceincludingseedingthecampaign,welcomingviewersandofferingadditionalcontentaswellasa
program for building a following after the campaign.
Viral Video Idea #7: In the world of viral video, production value isn’t important. In fact I would discourage it. Ours looked like some techies had cooked it up in their spare time. In
fact, that’s how it started. But we did put a great deal of thought into the packaging, promotion and conversion strategy for the campaign. It is important to always provide a thumb-
nail image of what the viewer is getting.
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Viral Video Idea #8: Protectyourbrand.Youcanmakefunofyourselfbutdon’tdoanythingthatwillembarrassyouorthecompany.Don’ttakechanceswithcontroversialcontent
orreleaseanythingofsuchpoorqualitythatyoucreateanegativebrandimage.Don’tusedubioustacticstogetnoticedorbaitandswitchtechniques.Weexplainedveryclearly
whatNetcosmwas(adatavisualization)andwasNOT(aproductforsale).WealsomadeitclearthattheworkwasdonethroughNetQoSPerformanceLabsandnotbetatested.
Viral Video Idea #9: YouTubereportsthattheaverageviewingtimeforvideosis15to30seconds.Youhaveaveryshortrunwaytotakeoff.Gettothepointfast,entertainand
leave them wanting more. We added captions based on the old “This is brain, this is your brain on drugs” campaign. We selected clips that showed the most action and had some
fun with the content. Then we offered a longer video if people were interested in seeing more.
Viral Video Idea #10:Somewherebetween40,000to65,000newvideosarepostedtoYouTubeeveryday.Helppeoplenditbyoptimizingforsearchengines:Tagit,nameit
appropriately, describe it, add links and compelling copy and optimize using the right keywords. If it takes off in a big way, you want as many links to your content as possible using
your top keywords.
Viral Video Idea #11: Useyourcorporateblogtotriggertheviraldistributionandkeepthestoryalive.You’vegottogetthewordoutandapressreleaseissimplynotappropriate
for viral marketing. What’s more, blogging with the full story behind the campaign helps to give your program and your company a face and a personality. Make sure that personality
is one that will garner respect by being completely open and honest on your blog.
Viral Video Idea #12: Buildacommunityofinterest.ThisisthecoremessagebehindmypriorB2BLeadpostonthesubjectofviral video marketing.Don’tusetrickeryorbaitand
switchtogetpeopletoyourvideobecauseyouwillbeforgoingoneofthemostvaluablebenetsoftheviralapproach–theabilitytoquicklyandinexpensivelybuildacommunityof
interest.TheWordofMouthaspectofviralmarketinggivesMarketersapowerfulwaytoattractafollowing.Dothisbyexplainingeachstepoftheprogramusingyourblog.Tellyour
audiencewhatyouwerethinkingwhenyouproducedit.Reportontheresults.Givefollowersawaytotrackthemomentumandkeepitalive.
Viral Video Idea #13: Seed the story with the blogerati, your customers and
friends,yoursocialnetwork.PostittoDiggandRedditorwhateversocial
media site is appropriate for the topic. Twitter your followers. Leverage Social
media like Facebook, MySpace, and other groups to spread the word. Of
course timing is everything. Here’s a high level snapshot of our timeline.
Viral Video Idea #14: Track and monitor the results and keep your followers and the blogging community posted on the momentum building behind your viral video. This helps
buildexcitementandcredibilityaroundhowyourvideoisresonatingwiththeaudience.Itmightjustconvinceaninuentialbloggerthathe/sheshouldwriteastoryaboutyou.We
notonlytrackedYouTubeviewsandMostViewedHonors,butwealsomonitored:
• GoogleAnalyticsforwebtrafc
• GoogleAlertsformediaandblogcoverage
• Salesforce.comforleadsandevaluationrequestsaswellasrevenueopportunities
• Eloquaforclickstreamanalysistodetermineifpeoplewereusingtherightpathfromtheblogstorytothevideotothemicrositeandnallytoproductpagesandoffers

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Viral Video Idea #15:Automateandexpediteleadprocessing.Whenviralgoesbig,itreallygoesbig.And,studiesshowthatB2BMarketersandSalesrepsneedtofollow-upon
Web-generatedleadswithin30minutesofaregistrationorthechancesforconversionarepoor.Ifyoudon’thaveagreatprogramforautomaticallyscoringandqualifyingleadsso
that you can route quality leads to your salesforce instantly, you could be asking for big trouble using viral. First of all your Inside Sales team is likely to be swamped with a larger
percentageofirrelevantleads.Secondly,youwillmissoutonanumberofgreatsalesopportunitiesbytakingweekstorespond.WewereactuallygiventheMarketer’sChoiceaward
byEloquaforourLeadScoringandAutomationprogramthatenabledustoprocesstheleadsgeneratedbyourviralcampaignwithin24hours.Eloqua’sMarketing Automation was
critical to this process.
Viral Video Idea #16: Demonstratethatyoumetyourobjectives.YouTubewillallowyoutotracksomeof
yourresults,butitwon’tshowthewholestory.HereareafewresultsthatNetQoStracked:
• YouTubeViews:66,000andgrowing.(ThisdidnotincludethosewhovieweditonGooglevideo,Tech
Crunchorotherblogs.)
• BlogCoverage:70+blogswroteaboutthevideo.
• NetQoSBlogReadership:Trafcmorethantripled.
• NetQoSCorporateWebtrafc:YoY43%higher
• OrganicSEO:Asthechartbelowshows:weightedmarketexposureforNetQoStopkeywordsincreasedby
41%forallkeywordsplus600%ontheprimarykeyword.
Viral Video Idea #17:Showyourcampaigndeliveredvaluetothebusiness.Youmostcertainlywillhavetodoalotofconvincingtogetsponsorshipforyourviralcampaign,so
don’t miss your chance to prove to all of the skeptics that the idea was worth the investment. Show that the spike in traffic and coverage hit the right audience and generated brand
awareness or demand. For us, the results show it was:
Asthechartsbelowshow,therewasaspikeinwebtrafcforallproductpagesandalarge4XincreaseinWeb-basedleads.Wealsoshoweda26%increaseinproductdemore-
quests.Ourcostperqualiedleadwas$16.Othertechniquesrangefrom$60perqualiedleadforGoogleAdWordsto$250ormorefromaseminaroronlineadvertisingcampaign.