The emergence of Big Data, Social Selling and Content Marketing has changed the way B2B marketing is done. Marketing and sales must work closer together than ever before to drive meaningful and measurable results. This resource is meant to help you understand the B2B marketing and sales landscape so you can identify the right strategies and tactics for your organization.

1. THE ULTIMATE
B2B Marketing Guide
TO DRIVE MEANINGFUL SALES RESULTS
The emergence of Big Data, Social Selling and Content Marketing has changed
the way B2B marketing is done. Marketing and sales must work closer together
than ever before to drive meaningful and measurable results. This resource is
meant to help you understand the B2B marketing and sales landscape so you
can identify the right strategies and tactics for your organization.
Feel free to share, tweet, and even save it for a friend. Enjoy.
AWARENESS BUILDING
Content
STRONG
Facebook
Twitter
SlideShare
Thousands of presentations are
shared daily on LinkedIn, Twitter
and Facebook. Building a quality
deck will give your brand a
chance to build awareness.
YouTube
Phone
B2B brands should create videos
that give demos of your product,
walkthroughs and tutorials.
The best practice for YouTube
is uploading an explainer video
that communicates your value in
a compelling way.
90% of consumers find custom content
useful and 78% believe that organizations
providing custom content are interested
in building good relationships with them.
- TMG Custom Media
90%
People still open email and still
respond. Email campaigns and
outreach are a great way to get
on a leads radar.
Sharing quality content with
customers, prospects and
partners is a great use case for
establishing brand awareness
with Twitter.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Use LinkedIn to connect with
potential prospects and share
brand content. You can also use
LinkedIn to generate awareness
by targeting potential prospects
through their advertising
network.
Email
Cold calling has been on life
support for the last 10 years.
People are screening calls
and are less receptive to cold
calls than ever before.
35%
POOR
MODERATE
B2B marketers can leverage quality content to cut
through the noise and stand out. Blogs, webinars,
ebooks and infographics are all types of content that
can drive new visitors and drive awareness.
Professionals use Facebook and are aware of the
content they come across on their newsfeed.
Through retargeting and unique quality content,
Facebook can increase B2B brand awareness.
35% of Sales Professionals
say cold calling is less
effective now than just 3
years ago - Introhive Social
Selling Report
LEAD GENERATING
STRONG
Quality content wins. If you
create or share a video that
your audience sees value in,
you increase your chances of
generating potential leads.
Content
SlideShare
YouTube
It’s important that B2B marketers
ensure that there are call to actions
on their content to drive inbound
leads. Ebooks, Webinars and
Whitepapers are some of the highest
lead generation tactics for B2B.
Using a Premium Slideshare
account, businesses have the
opportunity to add a “Get In
Touch” button at the bottom of
each deck. This ultimately gives
the brands a chance to capture
emails for potential leads.
MODERATE
Twitter
Email
If you offer value, people will sign up for emails from
your brand. It’s a best practice for B2B marketers to
implement initiatives focused on content & newsletter
subscriptions to generate qualified email lists.
Twitter cards and promoted tweets have given us
a new opportunity to leverage Twitter as a lead
generation source. Thousands of users use Twitter
monthly to find recommendations on products
and service providers.
LinkedIn
Buying lists of phone numbers
and calling them day in and
day out is a bad idea. The best
lead generation strategy via the
phone is a conversation with a
real connection and asking for
an intro or referral.
61% of B2B marketers
leverage YouTube to extend
the reach of their messaging
and brands. - BrainShark
61%
While content can be shared
on Facebook, it’s rare to find
quality B2B leads who reach
out using Facebook. Sharing
content with a focus on lead
generation is best practice for
using Facebook for B2B.
POOR
The best practice for lead
generation on LinkedIn is
demonstrating expertise through
content and your profile. Engage
in groups, discussions and one
on one engagement to identify
opportunities for new business.
Facebook
Phone
SlideShare receives over
60 million visits and 120
million page views - every
month.
120
million
LEAD NURTURING
STRONG
LinkedIn
Twitter
LinkedIn is great for one on one interaction with
prospects and leads. Through a premium account,
you have the ability to nurture an unlimited number
of leads through one on one interactions via InMail.
Twitter is a great channel for sellers to engage with
potential prospects and existing clients. It’s a great way
to share content that reinforces your value proposition
and a great tool for developing strong relationships.
Email
Phone
While it’s true that we’re moving to a more digital
world, email and messages have yet to replace the
power of a conversation. A phone call is often the
most effective way to ensure a message is clearly
delivered and received.
Email campaigns act as a great way to communicate
with potential prospects as they go through the
buying process. Email is also great for checking in on
prospects, sharing sensitive information, case studies
and more.
MODERATE
Facebook
Content
Content assets can be used by your sales team to
communicate your brands value to potential prospects
through social media and email. Case studies can be
highly valuable content for a sales team looking to
nurture leads.
Sales professionals who have connected to
potential prospects on Facebook have an
opportunity to interact in a more personal
way. It’s easier to remember names, birthdays
and events with Facebook.
SlideShare
YouTube
YouTube videos are typically found through
discovery. Video assets can be used as a reason to
email a potential prospect but beyond that, there
are few lead nurturing opportunities via YouTube.
51% of Twitter users follow
companies and organizations
on social networks - Edison
51%
41%
POOR
Using Slideshare as a channel to arm your sales
team with content to use in follow ups and
email campaigns is a common practice in B2B.
41% of all B2B companies that
use Facebook for marketing
acquire new clients through
the network. - Hubspot
SALES GENERATING
STRONG
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a key asset to any
sales professional looking to
schedule demos or calls to
discuss their product. It’s a
match made in heaven for any
B2B professional.
Email
Every year, million dollar deals
are agreed to over email. It’s a
tool that most professionals use
to share relevant documents,
proposals and agreements. It’s an
important part of sales that isn’t
going anywhere.
MODERATE
POOR
SlideShare
Videos can help strengthen
your pitch and get the prospect
in the door but will rarely be
able to sell the prospect in full.
YouTube can play a role in the
early stages of the funnel but
rarely drives the actual sale.
Twitter
It’s challenging to close a deal on Twitter in the B2B
space due to limited engagement opportunities.
Twitter can act as a starting point in the funnel but
is rarely a place for B2B sales.
38%
The only thing better than a sales
engagement happening over the
phone is a sales engagement
happening in person. Phone
conversations are still one the
most powerful ways to close a
deal in B2B industries.
YouTube
Facebook
It’s very challenging to close
a deal on Facebook in the
B2B space. As professionals
continue to view Facebook as
a tool for their personal life,
Facebook is rarely used as a tool
for closing a deal.
Phone
LinkedIn’s user base now
stands at more than 259
million people and counting,
up 38 percent year over year.
- LinkedIn Annual Report
Slideshare can be used as a
tool to deliver demos and help
facilitate the actual sales process.
It’s rare that the transaction
process will happen on
Slideshare but it can play a key
role in your sales tool kit.
Content
Content rarely drives the direct sale of a product
in B2B but can play a role in the sales process.
60%
60% of marketers believe email
marketing produces positive
ROI - Marketing Sherpa.
Wondering how you can leverage these B2B marketing and sales
insights to take your social selling practices to the next level?
Find out more at: www.introhive.com