These days, any brand with a social media account can tap out a ‘heartfelt’ apology when they mess up. But some brands have shown us that, with a pinch of clever marketing, it’s possible to turn a major fail into positive press. However, some have gone the other way, and made a hash of the… Read on >

Four home truths to face first Done well, lead nurturing can improve lead generation efforts. Done badly? You might just be spamming your most engaged followers. As marketers, we’re often so keen to generate engagement that we’re not prepared to deal with situations where it doesn’t lead to a sale. Lead nurture is the sharpest… Read on >

Research. If it won an Oscar, it’d probably be best-supporting actor. In a rock band, it’d most likely be on drums. Or backing vocals. And in a Michelin-star restaurant, it wouldn’t have its name over the door. The chances are it’d be a sous chef. Research is never usually centre stage. We decided to change… Read on >

More change in marketing B2B marketing, as always, is under increasing pressure to change. More than 80% of marketing execs say they need to restructure marketing to better support the business.* But this change has created the perfect storm: Customers are buying at arm’s length. Marketing is reaching buyers earlier and staying involved after sales… Read on >

The B2B marketing press is awash with talk of the ever-evolving buyer. We know they’re doing it on their terms: self-educating through their buyer journey. In fact, they’re spending more time, more resources and taking longer than ever to come to their own decisions. The age of the customer We’re witnessing a shift in power…. Read on >

I’m losing count of the number of conversations I am having with organisations who claim to do sales enablement (SE). Flinging bits of content that marketing has created for demand generation purposes into a portal (that sales never visit because it takes hours to excavate what is needed) does not a sales enablement strategy make!… Read on >

You’ve got a product, a logo, and a slogan… But what do customers really see when they look at your brand? Fred Janssen of Kronos joined us to talk about creating an identity people will love – and the image to back it up. On the way to the DirectionGroup office, the taxi carrying Fred… Read on >

Our content marketing efforts aren’t working. Not for us and not for our audiences: Only 30% of B2B marketers rate their organisations as “effective” at content marketing.1 86% of buyers say content is neither useful, relevant, nor aligned with needs of people in the buying decision.2 Almost four out of five IT pros don’t complete… Read on >

You may have noticed that it’s been somewhat blustery outside of late. And that most of your recent conversations have included the phrase: “Ooh, it’s a bit nippy today, isn’t it?” Last week, Storm Emma joined forces with the Beast from the East to serve up some of the worst weather the UK has seen… Read on >

Sales leaders are looking for help. They want you to drive demand, obviously. But they also want you to help their teams sell. That’s right: sales enablement is back on the menu. Recently, Sirius Decisions found that “enablement” is what sales wants most from marketing. Demand creation came second – even though many people see… Read on >