Content is king. But how do companies ensure their content sticks out in today’s cluttered marketing channels? We asked Pia Müller , Co-Founder and CEO at forsch&wild. Pia, everyone talks about the importance of content in B2B marketing. Why is that? Also in the B2B sector, competition is getting tougher. There are fewer and fewer unique selling points for products and services in the B2B sector. So much has already been tried and testes across many marketing channels. Brand experience is also becoming increasingly important in the B2B sector. Therefore, unique communication strategies and unique content with distinctive tonalities are needed in order to prevail on a communicative level. Many products and services - especially in the B2B sector - require a lot of explanation. Since the B2B customers of the product or service providers also tend to retrieve information mostly online, they have to be able make sense of the content they find there. It doesn't help to "just" have a website or an online presence. One of the biggest challenges is to really understand the target group of the respective providers. B2B audiences are particularly diverse - while B2C is all about emotion, B2B contacts are not only individuals with personal interests but also function as representatives of their companies, brands and corresponding corporate interests. This means that you have to reach the emotions of the recipient while also paying attention to the qualitative and quantitative challenges behind the B2B role. What's more, content is an incredible lead magnet. Especially in B2B, lead generation is essential for subsequent marketing and sales processes. There are insanely smart methods here, such as gated content. A lot of marketing departments struggle with content marketing and creation. What are the main challenges you see in your daily work with clients? The main problem of content marketing is the content creation itself. Unfortunately, many companies just do things without strategically planning them first. Therefore their ad hoc reaction along the lines of "we urgently need a blog article on topic X", often overrules a strategic long-term approach that would be much more promising. Only those who have a content strategy will succeed with their content. A common objective is for example to generate leads. Reacting here and there is not goal-oriented. It needs clear strategies as well as selected instruments and channels based on that. Implementation should follow afterwards. Another point that is related to the first one: content planning itself. Once the strategy is in place and the instruments as well as channels are defined, the content itself must be well planned. In the best case, this means that the content is planned at least roughly six months in advance – twelve months would be even better. If you stick to short term planning, you are diluting your strategy and waste precious resources, such as time. In a lot of companies, capacities are much underestimated. Especially in B2B marketing, content marketing is a topic that runs "on the side". It is "covered" somewhere in the team. In order to develop a good strategy and implement it consistently, it is essential to rely on sufficient resources and to create capacities accordingly. The topic can be covered by dedicated marketing specialists in the team, a separate department or, for example, a third-party agency. One of the biggest misconceptions of content marketing reads: "It works only if it works immediately". This is to the detriment of the good reputation of content marketing. Many content marketing measures only achieve success in the long term. Results only become visible after a certain amount of time. But that doesn't make the results any less valuable. I think this still needs to get through to B2B management teams in particular: content marketing is not a sprint, content marketing is a marathon. And who would deny the marathon runner his athleticism? Exactly. How can marketing and communications managers overcome these challenges? It is essential to define a clear strategy, clear to dos and clear responsibilities. When seeking third-party support, the focus should be on long term goals rather than quick solutions. Tools for better knowledge management can also help to pick up teams and approach challenges more productively. In my experience, workshops where everyone works together to identify pain points and solutions lead to strategies having a more stable foundation with more commitment from all sides. But the most important factor in facing challenges: allocate time. Content marketing is admittedly a time eater, but it is one that's worth it. So it's essential to schedule that time in order to benefit from it later. You founded your own content agency. Can you tell us more about your business and why clients love working with you? At forsch&wild, we specialize in the strategic and operational implementation of internal and external content with a focus on text. We develop unique brand languages, individual namings and claims, draw out great strategies and write texts that suit our clients and their customers. We want to support and empower our clients to authentically and honestly present their brands. We don't like unnecessary embellishments; we focus on honest communication. Our goal is that all communication content aligns with what the service or product can fulfill later on. For us, brand experience only works when companies and brands communicate honestly and at eye level with their target group. At that, we always take the matter at hand, but never ourselves, too seriously. And our customers love it.  What also sets us apart is that we are female owner-managed. A point that is particularly important to us in this day and age. Our agency is led by two women who have a fresh perspective on communications and who know about the importance of emotions in marketing. At the same time, we bring a lot of expertise from the fields of copywriting, digital marketing, sociology and brand management. We also have a very diverse team that add different industry expertise. This allows us to find very individual solutions for each client. You could say that we do needs-based content marketing – we don't rely on tried-and-tested strategies and wordings, but address each challenge of our clients as well as the respective brands and target groups individually. Pia, thank you so much for this interesting interview and insights on content marketing and creation. To our community, feel free to connect with Pia on LinkedIn !

Increasing efficiency inside marketing departments requires proper processes and a dedicated leader to implement change. We interviewed Andrew Sanderson who is a seasonsed marketing consultant spezialized in helping CMOs and their marketing teams make sense of strategy choices. Andrew, marketing departments struggle to become more efficient with notoriously limited resources. Your suggestion is to turn marketing projects into processes. Can you elaborate on this idea? “Project to process” is a pattern of thinking that I learned by working with my father. He left the corporate world to set up a company that made childrens’ toys out of wood. A typical order was five to ten delivery boxes, each containing five dozen of a single toy design. So we’re talking small-scale batch production, by a very small team, in a limited space. A successful toy is not just one that children want to play with. It also has to be designed so that it’s profitable to produce. There’s more to product design than describing what the finished object looks like. More importantly, it defines the process steps that transition the raw material into a finished object. And it’s an ongoing activity. Both product and the process are refined as you gain experience. In batch production with wood, the key to high quality production is jigs: the self-made devices that enable consistent repetition of a specific process step, time after time. The question is not “how will we make this toy?”, but “how do we make multiple batches of 600 identical toys?” So you create a series of jigs: for each cutting, shaping and finishing process; for every assembly and packaging step. The entire production process must be designed, accurately priced and tested for its ability to deliver consistent quality. And those issues must be addressed before you can present a prototype to the head buyer at a retail chain, because once they say “yes”, they want delivery within ten days. I was absorbing all this stuff as a teenager before I left school. It was simply my “normal”. It was only later, in my professional life, that I realised how valuable that experience was. What skills and capabilities are needed to implement this methodology within a marketing department? No special skills; but do take the time to learn the qualifying questions and practice using them. There are lots, but three quick examples are repetition, time and effort, and value. One of the qualifying questions is “how often are we going to repeat this?” I got to apply this in my first serious job after graduating. Quantum Science Corporation was a market research firm that provided annually updated forecasts for sales of mainframe computers in Europe. Their USP was that the forecasts were based on the actual numbers of customer organisations in an industry sector – and I was the specialist who updated the industry counts. Twelve countries, twenty industry sectors, times eight size bands each for numbers of employees and revenue sizes. That’s 12 x 20 x 8 x 2 = 3.840 data cells to be sourced and updated from statistical yearbooks held across six London public libraries. Knowing that the forecast had to be repeated every year, I started creating my own source documentation for each bit of data that Quantum published: which yearbook and page, from which library, with room and shelf reference. It saved huge amounts of time in year two and after. Another question is scope: “how much time and effort is this project worth?” At one company, the objective was to launch a monthly Newsletter to three distinct target groups. The critical issue was that this was going to be an add-on role for a busy marketing assistant. So the job was not simply to design the layout, and a flexible content plan for the year ahead. The real work was to define a workable internal process: from the editorial meeting, to writing, through approval, to publication and reporting. Also, to get agreement on the role of each of the people involved: director, manager and assistant. The assignment lasted three months, but the newsletters ran for over six years. Value is a sensible question, too: “how do we justify this activity economically?” At SAP I led the email marketing team. As a manager I had access to all sorts of data, right down to costs of rooms, heat, light and phones. Out of curiosity, I added up the total annual cost of the team and divided by the number of projects we completed that year. The “average project cost” was a wake-up call - agencies could do it cheaper. So we had a team meeting and set ourselves the challenge of doubling our productivity. Everyone was actively looking for ways to cut out wastage, become more effective. We changed all sorts of daily practices and our collaboration with other teams, too. It was a very exciting time – and we succeeded – but the best was that we created a rhythm that was actually less chaotic than before. What are potential hurdles? Form my experience in B2B agencies and marketing departments, I can’t help noticing a recurring pattern across industries and organisations: the sheer pressure of daily business prevents you starting on what’s really important: continual improvement. Marketers put huge amounts of energy went into delivering something by a deadline – and then move straight on to the next project. They don’t have time to follow up on the result, learn from experience or improve the quality. That’s like trying to become a better archer while wearing a blindfold. But there are ways to solve that. Once you think of a repeating project as a process, you can start thinking in terms of continual improvement. Figure out the scope across multiple iterations and you’ll find the space to re-design current processes. Establish the economic value and you can create a business case for change. And that leads to better quality for less effort. As an independent marketing consultant, what marketing trends excite you the most? Making B2B Marketing more effective, through digitalisation and automation, in all its various forms. In spite of what vendors claim, software is a tool, not a solution. You have to define how it’s going to be used in your organisation; and how you want automation to make your customer’s life easier. As you might have guessed, we’re back to woodworking jigs: creating ways to get a job done, to a consistently high quality standard, with manageable effort. In practice, many organisations rush in; they simply automate their current processes. But if you do that, you just get faster chaos. The more productive approach is to simplify current practices, and standardise use cases first. Do it that way round, and the automation will be far more effective. And here, the great lesson is to tap into the energy and enthusiasm of the people who actually do those jobs – they know best how to save time and effort. Can you tell us a bit more about your service offering at Ansaco Marketing Consulting? CMOs come to me when they need a seasoned marketing professional. I have over 30 years international experience in the marketing of high-tech B2B products and services. I particularly enjoy the marketing challenges presented by small niche segments: long buying cycles for high-value capital goods and multi-million machinery investments. Account-based marketing communications for complex sales to strategic buying centres is also very process-oriented. (Marketing support for LinkedIn / Sales Navigator or Miller Heimann selling, for example.) How to position those offers, set up the sale, and design the acquisition and conversion process, are my daily work. Please contact me if you have questions. Andrew, thank you so much for this interesting interview and insights. To our community, feel free to connect with Andrew on LinkedIn ! 

Retail media has become a marketing staple for B2B2C companies. But what exactly is it and how does it fit into the marketing mix? Kiki-Adina Husmann is sharing her opinion on the topic. Kiki, before we start, could you explain what Retail Media is? As the name suggests, it is media that uses ad inventory from a retailer's own platform. A typical example is “Sponsored Product” search ads or onsite and offsite banners you purchase from, for example, Amazon. The big value proposition of this type of media is that it allows you to leverage a retailer's own 1st party data to target in-market shoppers. Is Retail Media a niche? The Retail Media landscape is already very developed in the United States but Europe is experiencing rapid growth in this domain at the moment. It is most dominant in the Beauty, Fashion, and Electronics industry and equals roughly the market size of print ads today. That may not sound too impressive at first, but we already know it will accelerate drastically over the next years. Retailers like Media/Saturn, Otto, eBay, and many others keep expanding their own Retail Media offerings and players like Criteo help smaller players enter the space quickly as well. 1st party shopper data is also becoming an even more crucial marketing tool as 3rd party cookies disappear. Which marketing funnel stages can you cover best with Retail media? Without a doubt lower-funnel consideration and conversion because shoppers visiting retailer websites already show a high buying intent. Sponsored product ads are by far the most popular type of retail media and yield very high return on ad spend. However, awareness formats are also slowly gaining traction as retailers introduce ad innovations incl. video formats. But if your objective is to deliver an authentic brand message, a commercial retailer environment may not be a marketer’s first choice compared to own channels. Why is Retail media so effective? No one knows their shoppers better than retailers who have tons of data. It allows them to target the right consumer with the right product at the right time. They generate huge amounts of traffic every day which gives advertisers significant reach and plenty of opportunities to create custom segments. Historical shopper behavior data allows them to cross- and upsell and use competitor insights to their advantage. Many retailers also have a wide array of interesting ad inventory opportunities ranging from CRM to display, incl. social media, to app notifications, and so forth. Can Retail media stand alone, or does it need support from other digital marketing channels? It should definitely be used as a complimentary digital marketing channel. While it is great for lower-funnel conversion, it is not ideal for branding. Retailer audiences cannot substitute your own channels and 1st party data, which is where you nurture brand lovers and loyalty. Also, the Retail Media market is still developing and EU retailers are dragging behind the speed of innovation we see in the US. Aren’t you worried to overpay the platform, which earns money twice? Yes and no. Yes, because many retailers are overcharging if we compare benchmarks for CPMs and CPCs across other platforms like social media or Google. Pricing also wildly differs across retailers. However, Amazon has the most advanced ad serving platform and performance-driven pricing model, so I expect newcomers to be forced to get more in line with Amazon over time. And no (I’m not worried to overpay) because frankly, I am happy to invest my budget as long as I see such great returns driven by top-notch targeting opportunities. Of course this holds especially true for B2B2C companies that lack own 1st party shopper data and either do not have a DTC shop at all or heavily rely on retail distributors. Last but not least, if you don't play the retail media game, you may soon find yourself in a sorry situation. Chances are that other players will capture your share of search and snag your audiences away right at the point of sale. It's a little bit like the stick and the carrot – advertisers will be forced to invest in the long run and bigger companies with higher brand budgets will certainly hold the advantage. About the expert: Kiki-Adina Husmann is a marketing professional with many years of experience in digital marketing & eCommerce in the FMCG and toy industries. Kiki, thank you so much for your insights. To our community – feel free to connect with Kiki on LinkedIn !

HubSpot, of course we have heard of it. But what exactly is it and how do I get started with this tool? We asked Anton Bujanowski from Thought Leader Systems a few questions about HubSpot! Anton, what exactly is HubSpot? In a nutshell, HubSpot is a cloud-based CRM platform. It provides companies with the necessary tools and functionalities to attract, convert, close, and retain customers. It connects and combines marketing, sales, customer service and content management with business process automation in a single, powerful tool. What makes HubSpot so powerful? I don’t think that one post is enough to describe the full potential of HubSpot, but in my opinion it’s the fact that it is a one-stop solution where all business units can work seamlessly together in one place. Within one subscription, you get updates and new features regularly without having to invest in maintenance cost. This saves companies a lot of time, money, and a lot of headaches because almost everything can be automated. Furthermore, you can configure reports for almost every aspect of your business. So all of your teams can focus on delivering the best possible result and have the most current data. HubSpot can also be customized to your company’s unique requirements with additional state-of-the-art apps in the marketplace or your own developers can create custom features. Most importantly, there are many partner agencies who have extensive knowledge in HubSpot, so you are guaranteed to receive the best support in any country and in any language. Partner agencies can help you create custom solutions, integrations and connections with the free API. Who benefits most from this tool? HubSpot works great for medium and enterprise businesses. But also small businesses, freelancers or „one-man-shows“ can easily set up HubSpot with little upfront investment. We at Thought Leader Systems are diamond HubSpot partners and are working together with businesses of all sizes. From small businesses with less than 50 people to enterprise companies with a workforce larger than 50.000. When asking who benefits most from this tool, it is not just about the company size – it is about the experience and goals of the team in functions such as marketing, sales, and services. As a designer and a rather „visual” person, I have very high expectations in terms of usability and user experience. I’ve seen and worked with other tools on the market and in my honest opinion - HubSpot delivers the best ease of use and UX out there. How can I get started in HubSpot? There are many ways to get started in HubSpot. If you simply want to use it as a CRM system - HubSpot CRM is and always will be completely free of charge. If you’re a small business and want more features than what the free version offers, you can buy the very affordable „Starter“ version at 30$ per month right now, which I recommend for small businesses and „one-man-shows". You can also get a 14-day trial of the most commonly used „Professional“ or “Enterprise” versions. If you’re interested in „Professional“ or „Enterprise“ version you can talk to a HubSpot sales representative to get a better idea about what tools you really need, then try out the free demo version. Or you can directly talk to an official partner like Thought Leader Systems who can advise you what you need and where to start. Also, there is a huge HubSpot community of professionals and experts from all over the world who can answer virtually any questions you might have about this tool! About the Expert Anton, thank you so much for these incredibly valuable insights. To our community, feel free to connect with Anton on LinkedIn!