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The business-to-business (B2B) arena provides a unique set of challenges for business owners, salespeople and marketers alike. Standing out from the crowd can be rather difficult whether you are IBM or a small commercial printing company.
Our team prides itself on providing useful content related to B2B marketing and public relations trends and strategies on The Bottom Line. Here are a couple of our recent posts on key B2B topics:
- B2B vs. B2C Marketing: Do You Know the Difference?
- 5 Ways B2B Content Marketing Will Transform Your Lead Generation
- The Ultimate B2B PR Cheat Sheet
Beyond our blog, there are a host of excellent external resources that we rely on each and every day to keep up with top trends, tips, tricks and B2B marketing news. We often look for inspiration from others who are finding success and working to drive B2B marketing thought leadership forward.
Looking for blogs that provide original, thought-provoking B2B marketing insights and ideas that actually work? Here are nine of our favorites:
HubSpot
Full disclosure: we are a certified agency partner of HubSpot, but that isn’t the reason we enjoy reading their blog. As the world’s leading provider of inbound marketing software, HubSpot’s blog provides a wealth of knowledge on all things inbound marketing, but also offers an array of tips, tricks and best practices for salespeople and business owners. Wondering how emotionally intelligent you are? HubSpot’s got that covered, too. If it’s of interest to you, chances are HubSpot has a blog about it.
Marketo is a leading provider of digital marketing software and solutions and the company’s blog is an excellent resource for marketers – regardless of the approach or strategies you are employing. The B2B Marketing section is especially insightful with useful content on the news, trends and techniques that B2B marketers need to succeed in an incredibly fast-moving space.
If you are new to the B2B marketing space, this blog will serve as a great resource as it covers many of the basics, including branding, content marketing, email marketing, mobile marketing, SEO, CRMs, data intelligence and much more. The site also has a useful Research and Reports section with excellent data and examples that can help put you on the path to success.
Content Marketing Institute (CMI)
Whether you’re wondering what content marketing is all about, trying to figure out how to get started or looking to improve your current strategy and results, the folks at the Content Marketing have your back. Dedicated to the advancement of content marketing, CMI covers everything you need to know to implement the practice for your business. The site is full of practical, how-to guidance, as well as insights and advice from the experts.
Trusted by over 60,000 marketing professionals (or so they claim), MarketingProfs is one of the best resources out there for content on the latest trends and thought leadership in marketing. In addition to excellent content, the site provides a ton of resources including podcasts, newsletters, trainings and events that will resonate with even the savviest and most-experienced marketing professional.
This particular blog covers a wide range of topics – sales, HR, technology and entertainment, to name a few – but the marketing content is fantastic. We’ve found the B2B pieces to be extremely comprehensive, but very straight forward at the same time. This recent post on content is a case-in-point: 3 Cardinal Rules About B2B Marketing Content.
Think of B2B Marketing Zone as a newspaper specifically for B2B marketing-related news. The site covers the most current topics, tools and companies in the space and features content from a host of leading B2B outlets.
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Blog
In addition to being your go-to platform for business networking, prospecting or staying in touch with former colleagues, LinkedIn also has a lot of great information for marketers, believe it or not. The blog features insights from some of the most-respected marketers today and much of the content is focused on how LinkedIn can aid your marketing efforts. Makes sense to us!
The search engine giant has many great resources beyond providing a list of results for your query. Think with Google provides helpful content for multiple industries, including B2B. We especially like the infographics and case studies that can be found here.
These blogs and websites have been invaluable resources for our team and we’re confident they’ll do the same for your business. Bookmark these pages, follow them on social and share them with the rest of your team. Referring to these outlets often will only help improve your B2B marketing efforts and provide the results you’re looking for.
For organizations looking to improve their business relationships, we’ve created these free B2B email templates to help you build successful, long-lasting relationships and change the way you do business. Often, success for B2B companies depends on nurturing relationships with prospects, customers and partners. With these seven email template guides you can ensure that you’re effectively communicating your message.
