Nick Nelson

4 Ways B2B Marketers Can Spring Forward And Grow Content Marketing Success

Nick Nelson on Mar 16th, 2021
Online Marketing

We’re more than a year into the pandemic, and things are looking up. Vaccines are rapidly rolling out, states are dialing back restrictions, and a massive government stimulus is about to be distributed across the country. There is a hope, if not an expectation, that the economy will get on a roll this summer.

Nothing can be taken for granted, but the outlook is bright. Numerous industries may experience rises in demand during the months ahead. This is a good time for companies serving those industries to be positioning themselves with smart growth strategies and ambitious marketing plans.

With that in mind, here are some ideas and recommendations to springboard your B2B marketing into the summer months:

Spring Ahead: 4 Tips to Drive Fast Marketing Growth

#1. Let your raving fans guide you forward

4 Ways B2B Marketers Can Spring Forward And Grow Content Marketing Success

Problem Solved: Increase B2B Content Marketing Success by Conquering 4 Conundrums

Nick Nelson on Feb 23rd, 2021
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

In his recently-published book, What’s Your Problem: Become a Better B2B Marketer by Enhancing Your Problem-Solving Skills, Steve Goldhaber argues that the discipline of content marketing boils down to a simple consistent objective: solving problems.

It’s a reasonable framing. Almost every piece of marketing content is essentially aimed at solving a problem. This really gets to the fundamental intent of B2B content marketing as a practice: by helping our audience solve day-to-day problems and overcome business challenges, we hope that they’ll eventually consider using our product or service to solve a bigger problem.

But content marketers can’t focus solely on solving problems for customers. We also need to look inward and address key challenges that threaten the value and impact of our problem-solving content. The old saying about “getting your own house in order” comes to mind.

Problem Solved: Increase B2B Content Marketing Success by Conquering 4 Conundrums

6 Eye-Opening B2B Content Marketing Statistics for 2021

Nick Nelson on Feb 16th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

“You can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forty percent of all people know that.” – Homer Simpson

Homer might be right, generally speaking. But I still maintain that good, accurate, timely statistics from trusted sources can serve as vital guideposts and benchmarking tools, especially when it comes to business strategy.

This certainly applies in my own corner of the business world: the fast-changing and critically important field of B2B content marketing.

Trends in content marketing tend to reflect broader truths, since we’re talking about the ways in which companies and customers interact and communicate. Because of this, I like to keep a close eye on new research and data as it surfaces, filing away nuggets that strike me as especially telling.

6 Eye-Opening B2B Content Marketing Statistics for 2021

5 Standout Traits of the Best B2B Content Marketers

Nick Nelson on Jan 24th, 2021
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

My favorite part of playing a sports video game is the “Create a Player” function. It gives me the opportunity to set realism aside and dream up the most legendary, dominant athletic specimen imaginable. On the basketball court, no real-life point guard would be able to match up against “Dimes McGee,” my customized 7-foot-10 wunderkind with 99 ratings for shooting, passing, ball-handling, speed, and defense. Talk about optimization!

What if you could “create a player” in B2B content marketing? Which attributes would you want to max out in order to fabricate the most successful practitioner possible? It’s a fun and interesting question to contemplate, in large part because the answers now are different than even a few years ago.

Which traits and characteristics define the most effective B2B content marketers in 2021?

5 Standout Traits of the Best B2B Content Marketers

Pitfall! Steering Clear of 5 Common B2B Content Marketing Missteps

Nick Nelson on Jan 5th, 2021
Content Marketing

It’s been almost 40 years since Pitfall!, the classic side-scrolling platformer for the original Atari, was first released. David Crane’s creation went on to become one of the first console video game hits, selling more than 4 million copies, and is now remembered as an influential breakthrough for the medium.

Why did Pitfall! gain such rampant popularity? Because it was realistic and relatable!

I’m not talking about the pixelated 2D graphics or exotic jungle setting. I’m talking about the basic premise of problem-solving. The game is full of traps, hazards, and challenges, but there’s always a way around them. “Oh hey, a giant pit full of alligators. How will I get to the other side? Perhaps by grabbing hold of that swinging vine…”

Pitfall! Steering Clear of 5 Common B2B Content Marketing Missteps

Why Digital Customer Experience Will Be A Top Focus For B2B Marketers In 2021

Nick Nelson on Dec 8th, 2020
B2B Marketing

Catching a movie in a packed theater. Crowding into a stadium with tens of thousands of fans for a sporting event or concert. Attending a bustling business expo in a convention center brimming with industry peers.

All of the above are previous mainstays that went noticeably amiss this year, lost to the ruthlessness of 2020 along with so many other in-person experiences. And while such large-scale gatherings will surely return to our lives at some point, the undeniable reality is that we don’t know when. We do know it won’t magically happen once the calendar flips forward. Analysts believe physical events may not return until 2022.

Why Digital Customer Experience Will Be A Top Focus For B2B Marketers In 2021

Incredible Content Marketing: 6 Tips for Infusing Credibility into B2B Content

Nick Nelson on Nov 10th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

One of my favorite moments from The Simpsons is when the hilariously incompetent physician Dr. Nick burns down a building by mishandling a clearly marked chemical tank, and then exclaims, “Inflammable means flammable?! What a country!”

via GIPHY

“Incredible” is a word that can spark similar cognitive dissonance for marketers. Sure, it might technically be defined as “impossible to believe,” but if your content isn’t credible, would anyone describe it as incredible?

Quite the opposite. In this business, incredible means credible. So let’s explore the cornerstones of creating credible, and thus truly incredible, content marketing.

Incredible Content Marketing: 6 Tips for Infusing Credibility into B2B Content

How To Move From A Pilot B2B Influencer Marketing Program to Always-On Success

Nick Nelson on Oct 20th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Influencer Marketing

It sure is a good thing that the internet turns off at 10:00 PM every night, and doesn’t flip back on until 8:00 in the morning. And thankfully, business buyers completely tune out after they finish work, which is always at 5 o’clock sharp in this world of reliable and universally consistent routine.

Marketers and brands would really have their hands full if these things weren’t true.

Wait, what’s that? None of them are remotely true?

Welcome to the World of Always-On

There is no off-switch. The internet is open for business 24 hours a day. Buyers and decision makers are engaging with content in unpredictable patterns, thrown further askew by the pandemic-driven disruption of workday archetypes. An increasingly lengthy and complex buyer’s journey challenges B2B marketing strategies to be more versatile, agile, and perpetually present than ever before.

How To Move From A Pilot B2B Influencer Marketing Program to Always-On Success

New Research: How B2B Content Marketers Are Impacted and Pivoting During the Pandemic

Nick Nelson on Oct 6th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Content Marketing

Each year, Content Marketing Institute releases a new version of its B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report, providing a timely contextual snapshot of the discipline at large and its ever-shifting landscape.

Needless to say, this year’s edition hits differently. While there is always change and evolution afoot in the annual study’s findings, 2020 has been a year of unprecedented upheaval for our profession, along with most every other.

The impact of COVID-19 on B2B content marketing is a direct and prevalent focus in CMI’s latest report, which helps leaders and practitioners in the field understand how their peers are reacting and adapting to a disruptive global event.

New Research: How B2B Content Marketers Are Impacted and Pivoting During the Pandemic

5 Ways B2B Marketers Can Boost Productivity and Focus

Nick Nelson on Sep 21st, 2020
B2B Marketing

Across every industry, profession, and discipline, work productivity is in peril.

How could it not be? Outside distractions have mounted over the course of the year, from a global pandemic to rampant social unrest to a headline-hijacking presidential election, all in the midst of economic turmoil. Through it all, many of us have been acclimating to a remote work setting that upends our established workflows and routines.

Frankly, we all deserve a pat on the back for being able to stay focused on work at all. So go ahead and give yourself one. But with plenty left to accomplish here in 2020, there’s little time to sit back and take a beat.

5 Ways B2B Marketers Can Boost Productivity and Focus

B2B Marketing Technology in 2021: 5 Key Focuses

Nick Nelson on Sep 14th, 2020
B2B Marketing, Online Marketing

If the 1982 movie Blade Runner and its dystopian depiction of what the world would look like in 2019 were accurate, this is what we’d have been living through last year:

via GIPHY

Needless to say, our predictions of society’s future state, and technology’s long-term evolution, are not always on the money. While certain aspects of Blade Runner’s vision might’ve been frighteningly accurate, Los Angeles is not yet inhabited by flying cars or giant video advertisements projected onto the entirety of skyscrapers.

With that said, today’s marketers can much more easily look ahead to 2021 — suddenly only a few short months away — and make educated guesses about what the year will hold. Many of the marketing technologies that will transform business and drive strategies are already on the rise, if not gaining mainstream traction.

B2B Marketing Technology in 2021: 5 Key Focuses