The B2B Funnel is still alive, well, and living on the beach in the Bahamas: Madlibs #2 w/ @Funnelholic

Part II of my own contributions to the Madlibs project. Today is marketing….enjoy.

1. The b2b buyer is cute. If you tickle them, they giggle. Seriously, see my answer from Monday.
   

2. The biggest innovation in marketing is visibility. For some, that is great for others, not so good.
   

3. The coolest thing happening in b2b marketing is content marketing. I am writing this madlibs from my personal perspective. I know it’s totally over-played but it has made the b2b and b2c website experience so much more enjoyable. I would NEVER spend a half an hour on Unbounce.com like I did last night if it wasn’t for amazing content.
   

4. My favorite marketing book is Ogilvy on Advertising. I have a lot of friends who have written great books so choosing one was hard and so I went with my first marketing book. I loved this book and still keep it on my shelf.
   

5. My favorite social media channel is Twitter for marketing, Linkedin for sales, Google Plus for event promotion, and Facebook for an update on everyone’s birthday and bad political commentary.

6. Social media for b2b marketing is extremely effective when done right and is part of a multi-channel marketing approach.
   

7. b2b video is getting there. Google loves video, buyers are gravitating towards it so it’s critical to your content marketing strategy.  There is some really good and some really bad right now – please see the typical high-gloss scripted case studies and other salesy videos people produce.
   

8. In b2b, the idea of a funnel is my favorite controversy. It’s like everyone is looking at me for my reaction when some blogger comes out and bashes it. Please go ahead and make the point that buyers don’t go in straight line. It’s still a funnel when you look at it – Tons of people at the top (known as leads) — less people at the bottom (kno
   

9. The first thing every marketer should do is ride along with sales — see what it’s like on the street. Then you can really market.
   

10. Content marketing is awesome for the consumer when done right. See above. It is also highly effective for vendors who do it well. I just had a sales call because someone printed my 8 Reasons Sales Development Teams Fail post and handed it to the person who reached out.
    

11. The biggest mistake marketers make is failing to be realistic about what their relationship with sales really is -  they are your customer. You should call it a partnership, but if you miss the lead number don’t be surprised to get a “customer service complaint”. Make them happy and you will be happy.
    

12. The biggest myth in b2b marketing is technology makes the man/woman. Strategy, process, people, and then technology. (an ode to Carlos Hidalgo here)
    

13. My favorite marketing technology besides marketing automation is technology that serves the front end of the marketing experience with relevance brought to you by the Demandbase, Insightera, GetSmartContent, and Evergage’s of the world. They are calling it personalization, they need something bigger. The relationship with buyer starts well before the registration — believe that.
    

14. Besides revenue, the metric every marketer must track is qualified leads created.  If the definition is crafted effectively, revenue will come.
    

15. My most forgettable marketing experience is quite simply signing up for too specific of a lead definition.
    

16. Mobile marketing is marketing on mobile devices. If you are still using a Nokia flip phone, you can’t relate but everyone else uses mobile devices for everything. In other words, no brainer.
    

17. The next “hot-thing” in marketing will be tracking the previously un-trackable. As John Neeson from Sirius Decisions told me — marketers are addicted to tracking now.  If it’s not tracked now, it will be.
    

18. In 2015, marketing will be even more effective than today. We are now passing barrier numbers #1 and #2 and #3 of understanding the buyer and how to market to them and how technology can make this more effective. As execution creates more benchmarks, marketers will get even better.
    

19. Over the next couple years in marketing, I can’t wait to see what the next thing is after content marketing.
    

20. Madlibs with the Funnelholic is like a Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
    

Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic and a co-founder of Topo. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter