The Business-to-Business Handbook

THE BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKETING HANDBOOK

Center for Technical Communication 590 Delcina Drive River Vale, NJ 07675 (201) 505-9451 rwbly@

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The Business-to-Business Marketing Handbook is copyrighted by the Center for Technical Communication. No portion of this manual may be reprinted or reproduced in any way without the author's express written permission.

? Copyright 2013, by the Center for Technical Communication. All rights reserved.

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THE BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKETING HANDBOOK

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 B2B Marketing: 1978 vs. 2008 .................................................. 5 Chapter 2 10 Tips for Increasing Landing Page Conversion Rates ............ 10 Chapter 3 Are White Papers Dead? ......................................................... 14 Chapter 4 The 6 Key Components of Effective B2B Offers ...................... 19 Chapter 5 Should B2B Copywriters Avoid Jargon? ................................... 24 Chapter 6 5 Steps to Building a Large and Responsive Opt-In E-List of Qualified B2B Prospects......................................................................... 29 Chapter 7 5 Modern Myths of B2B Marketing......................................... 34 Chapter 8 Are Businesspeople Devoid of Emotion When Making Buying Decisions? ...................................................................................... 39 Chapter 9 Marketing with Case Studies................................................... 44 Chapter 10 4 Simple Steps to Writing SEO Copy That Both Your Prospects and the Search Engines Love .................................................... 49 Chapter 11 What Works Best for B2B Lead Generation: Inbound or Outbound Marketing? ............................................................................... 54 Chapter 12 Using Web Analytics to Drive Online Sales ............................ 59 Chapter 13 5 Ways to Boost B2B Direct Mail Response Rates ................ 64 Chapter 14 A New Copywriting Formula: the 4 C's .................................. 69 Chapter 15 What's Working in B2B Marketing ........................................ 74 Chapter 16 7 Rules for Content Marketers .............................................. 78 Chapter 17 Business-to-Business Headline Writing Clinic ........................ 82 Chapter 18 The More You Tell, the More You Sell ................................... 87 Chapter 19 The Trouble with B2B Marketing .......................................... 92

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THE BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKETING HANDBOOK

Chapter 20 Which B2B Medium is Right for You? .................................... 97 Chapter 21 10 Ways to Improve Your B-to-B Catalog ............................ 100 Chapter 22 The Power of Proof ............................................................. 104 Chapter 23 Let's Get Physical ................................................................ 108 Chapter 24 What's Working in E-Mail Marketing? ................................ 112 Chapter 25 Tactics and Tips for Marketing B2B Services ....................... 116 Chapter 26 The Evolution of B2B Marketing.......................................... 120 Chapter 27 7 B2B Marketing Myths....................................................... 124 Chapter 28 Networking the Old-fashioned Way .................................... 128 Chapter 29 QRCs and the Death of the BRC .......................................... 132 Chapter 30 Mobile Marketing on the Move .......................................... 135 Chapter 31 Are These Marketing Trends Really New? ........................... 140 Chapter 32 7 Tips for Writing Technically Accurate High-Tech Copy ..... 143 About the Author..................................................................................... 147

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THE BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKETING HANDBOOK

Chapter 1

B2B Marketing: 1978 vs. 2008

I started my career in business-to-business (B2B) marketing in the late 1970s, and by the early 1980s, I thought I had a pretty good handle on the basics of B2B.

I also didn't see where B2B was likely to change much. So I believed I could continue to use the methods I'd learned during my first few years for the rest of my life.

Boy was I wrong! First came along the fax machine...then the personal computer...then cell phones...then white papers...then the Internet...then search engines...then blogging...then Webinars...then social networks...and suddenly, B2B marketing had become a brave new world, one that few fully grasped and most of us struggle to keep up with. Here, as I see it, are some of the biggest changes that have taken place in B2B marketing during the past three decades--and also, what has stayed relatively the same. 1--The death of "industrial marketing." It used to be called industrial marketing, and the trade publication serving the industry was called Industrial Marketing. Gradually, Industrial Marketing changed its name to Business Marketing and then to BtoB. And today, those of us who market products and services to businesses are "business-to-business" marketers. 2--From tactical to strategic. Before the Internet, B2B marketing had relatively few choices. So planning campaigns was simple and straightforward. You'd create a sales

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