Strategy+Design

Happy New Year! After eating way too many baked goods over the holidays, we are back heads-down on some exciting new projects to kick off 2013, not to mention trying to work off some of these muffin-tops. Before we get into any new content topics, I wanted to reflect on a few highlights we shared last year. October was a popular month on our blog netting out three of our Top 5 Blog Posts of 2012. Enjoy!

1. The Difference Between B2B and B2C Marketing

We were a bit surprised to see this as the number one post for 2012 simply because we were expecting a social media post to win like last year. What this shows us, at least, is that people want to know more what makes B2B different from B2C and how to better market their businesses so that they don’t just copy what B2Cs are doing.

2. 53% of B2B Companies Using Social Media Are Not Using It to Generate Demand

This post was a real eye-opener. It illustrated the challenges B2B companies are facing with social media marketing and proved that they are doing it without a strategy. In fact, I would go as far as saying that Eloqua’s research shows that B2B’s were merely copying B2Cs in 2012.

3. 3 Misleading B2B Marketing Metaphors

Doug Kessler at Velocity Partners in the UK created a fantastic Slideshare that paints a compelling picture on how three B2B marketing metaphors – the Marketing Funnel, the Purchase Journey, and the Follower – are overused and misused.

4. B2B Catching Up to B2C

Another B2B and B2C comparison that drew a lot of eyeballs. WebMarketing 123’s 2012 State of Digital Marketing Report shows that generating leads was the number one digital activity for B2B companies in 2012.

5. 5 Tips From Seth Godin On Growing Your B2B Market

B2B marketing is all about long-term relationships and in this post Seth Godin offers five key insights into making the right connections and ultimately selling your company’s story rather than the product. If you back up your great products and services with great content, people will talk.

Our Prediction for 2013: Content Marketing will mature

The consensus amongst the marketing pundits is that content marketing will continue to embody the B2B marketing mix in 2013 and that includes social and mobile marketing. Based on our discussions highlighted in our five posts above, we completely agree. It’s apparent that B2Bs are struggling with their content but this comes as no surprise given that B2B companies traditionally focus on R&D rather than marketing.

The biggest challenge for B2Bs in 2013 will be centered around acquiring content knowledge and resources. Ramping up internal and external teams of content creators and content strategists will be priority number one in order to facilitate useful content that can compete in the marketplace. Companies that embrace content will flourish, those that don’t will become stagnant.

Your Turn

So there you have our five most talked about topics in 2012. Got any predictions? What do you think will be the big marketing trends in 2013? Let us know below or on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).