B2B marketing agency

How to use Prezi for B2B content marketing

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Prezi is the cloud-based presentation software that’s like Powerpoint on LSD. Its ‘zoomable user interface’ (ZUI?) with swoopy transitions and infinite drill-downs make it a sexy alternative to boring old slides. Here’s how and why you should put it in your B2B content marketing toolkit…

How to build a B2B content marketing team

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Great B2B content marketing is teamwork. But it’s rare to have all the necessary talents in one person, so here are the ten types you need on your team…

Sexy new FODM 2012 mailer. Oooh….

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The Future of Digital Marketing event (FODM) is a highlight of the digital marketing calendar and one of Econsultancy’s longest-standing events. So we were thrilled when Laura Wall asked us to do the main print promotional piece for the 2012 event.  We gave it to Luke Donaghey to design –– he did last year’s bright, [...]

The problem/solution structure in B2B content marketing

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When it comes to structuring a B2B marketing argument, it’s hard to beat the good old ‘Problem/Solution’ structure. It’s stood the test of time for some very good reasons: It gets the target audience nodding in agreement – if they recognise the problem you’re describing, they’re much more likely to lean forward and give you [...]

Is B2B content marketing jumping the shark?

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‘Jumping the shark’ is one of my favourite expressions. Wikipedia tells us it means “the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery. The phrase is also used to refer to a particular scene, episode or aspect of a show in which the writers [...]

Viral videos? First have a B2B video marketing strategy

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A client asked for a bit of help in putting together a video strategy for next year’s marketing plan. In writing a reply, we realised that there are so many different ways of using video in B2B content marketing – not just the obvious video demos and viral videos…

Now THAT’s an infographic (most B2B infographics aren’t)

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We’ve been huge fans of information graphics at Velocity ever since Edward Tufte self-published his brilliant ‘The Visual Display of Quantitative Information‘ book. But as the B2B marketing world has gone B2B infographic crazy in the last year or so, we’ve been much more likely to be disappointed than delighted. Most B2B infographics are really [...]

Are you the bore in the corner?

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When he was working for a big B2B company, Andrew Walker did a brave thing. He audited every piece of communication that his company put out, with a cold, clear eye. And the result was, in Andrew’s words, “overwhelmingly bad. Every page on our website, every article we’d written, every e-newsletter, every piece of collateral [...]

B2B Marketing Webinar: B2B Content Marketing and Automation

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Content Marketing and Marketing Automation are the two new pillars of B2B. We’re taking part in an upcoming DemandGen webinar that brings the two topics together. It’s on 15 September at 1pm London time and you can register here. Facilitated by John Sweeney of DemandGen, the marketing automation consultants, the web panel will include Velocity’s [...]

Nine companies B2B marketers should know about

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You’re a marketer, we’re marketers. It’s good to share the things we like. Here are nine companies you ought to know about. They all help marketers make more money for their companies; they’re all great at what they do; and they’re all Velocity clients – which says a hell of a lot about their judgement [...]

12 Lessons from the Manifesto Campaign – Project Open Kimono 13

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We’ll be wrapping up the results of the B2B Marketing Manifesto campaign soon, but here’s a quick tour of some of the lessons learned as we brought the Manifesto to market. There’s some yadda-yadda to go with it but you’ll probably get the idea… 12 Lessons from the B2B Marketing Manifesto Campaign View more presentations [...]

B2B chalk talk videos: capturing your best experts

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Even the smallest company has at least one guy who can tell its story really, really well. He’s the guy you always want to bring to important sales calls and meetings. The one who can make your story seem so simple, clear and compelling. This guy is a priceless asset – but the one thing [...]

We’re Hiring: Digital Marketing Analyst

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Are you ready for the Land of Accountability? If you’re a B2B marketer with a thirst for measurement then find out why we might be your next assignment.

B2B Marketing Agency campaign in a scribble

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We were mapping out the B2B Marketing Manifesto campaign on a sheet of A4 lined paper and this is what was left behind on the meeting table. Pretty much all there.

B2B Content Marketing Trends and Spends

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Marketing Profs and Junta 42 haven’t half been busy lately. They’ve produced a report into content marketing, surveying skills, resources, and trends. It’s the biggest and most comprehensive report of its kind, surveying 1100 American marketers in May 2010. These are some of the highlights. All in all it’s a bit of mixed bag: content [...]

B2B Marketing agency Velocity publishes “B2B Marketing Manifesto”

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Velocity, the B2B marketing agency, has produced a new eBook for marketers called the B2B Marketing Manifesto, available for download from the Velocitypartners.co.uk website. The B2B Marketing Manifesto tackles the choice facing B2B marketers today: either step up to the challenge of marketing in a digital world, or continue using the internet for digital brochureware [...]

The B2B Marketing Manifesto: hot off the press

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“This is without a doubt the most exciting time in history to be a B2B marketer. It’s also the scariest.” That’s how our new eBook, The B2B Marketing Manifesto begins. It’s a lunatic rant, a call to arms and a plea for ambition in B2B marketing — with eleven specific recommendations for rising to the [...]

The Banksy of B2B Marketing

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I came back to the office today to find Stuart, our senor designer, all covered in spray paint. In this age of InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator, it’s great to see a designer actually get out the scissors, card and spray cans once in a while.

Ten ways that B2B marketing copy goes wrong

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Let’s face it, most B2B copywriting is not very good. There are many reasons, but here are our top ten. Is your latest B2B marketing copy guilty of any of them?

B2B marketing jobs in London

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We want your body. And your brain. We’re looking for talented copywriters, designers and project managers, so if you’re looking for a job in B2B marketing, come and talk to us.

B2B marketing’s virtuous digital circle: Spin Cycle

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At Velocity we believe in making our content work harder than we do. Find out how just a little bit of joined up thinking can make you the toast of your management team in just three months and still have spare time to enjoy the sunshine.

How to structure a B2B argument

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B2B marketing always comes down to building an argument; telling a story that leads to an inescapable conclusion: ‘You need to buy this, now.’ If your argument isn’t solid, the creativity of Björk and the budget of Nike will not move your business.

The power of beliefs in B2B marketing

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Check out this great TED Talk by Simon Sinek on the power of beliefs in marketing. Great leaders and great companies start with beliefs not facts, policies, products or services. People don’t buy WHAT you do they buy WHY you do it.

B2B Copywriting: hitting the sweet spot

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There are four kinds of B2B copywriting and they fall into the neat little quadrants formed when two important axes intersect: Clarity and Authenticity. If you can get both in your writing, you’re in the Sweet Spot and wonderful things will begin to happen to you…

B2B summed up in two words: the writing’s on the road

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B2B is a lot simpler than the gurus would have you believe. After all the e-tomes and blog posts and webinars it really all boils down to two words — and you can see them painted on almost urban street road in the land. When in doubt: look down.

London-Based B2B Agency Runs Out of Tea

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Velocity, the London-based business-to-business marketing agency, ran out of tea today in an uncharacteristic demand forecasting error. The agency, which recently acquired a large red teapot to support and enable its growing workforce, is now crippled by a complete lack of the beverage that contributes 50% of staff body mass and 76% of all good [...]

Making the sales team irrelevant

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Roger Warner, online PR maestro, sent us a link to this Doug Richard video.  It’s a two-minute extract from one of his start-up seminars, this one on the relationship between marketing and sales. The quote we like: “A great marketing campaign is defined by the irrelevance of the sales people who follow.” We’ve always like [...]

An antidote to all the hype

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There’s a lot of crap talked about the power of social media and how it’s transforming marketing. Check the Ad Contrarian blog for a bracing, acerbic and amusing antidote to all the hype.

Velocity acquires Big Red Teapot

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London-based B2B marketing agency Velocity today announced its acquisition of a new, high-capacity teapot to support its growing team of B2B marketing professionals.  The new teapot, a 10-cup, 3.2 litre Globe from the London Pottery Company will go into service alongside the agency’s previous 1.5 litre facility. “We’re thrilled with our big, red teapot,” says [...]

Why clients hate marketing agency folk

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I just stumbled over a piece from Canada’s Marketing Magazine called ” Here’s to 2010: Industry experts share predictions for the year ahead” and read this, among other forecasts.

EPiServer uses market momentum to go public

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We just learned that our client EPiserver is preparing to go public on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The company offers the best Micorosft .Net CMS on the planet and has delivered some really impressive numbers over the last few years.

In Which The Hero Helps SmallWorlders Sell Intranets To Marketers

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We’ve been working with a great company called SmallWorlders. They produce smart, sociable intranets for marketing types. Their Sandbox™ platform, hosted model and marketing-savvy service teams combine to deliver the best marketing intranets on the planet. When we started working with them they knew who they were and what they did but only a select [...]

Velocity Does Video: Nine kinds of B2B web video

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As this quick showreel demonstrates, we’ve been doing more and more video for our B2B marketing clients. Why? because it’s a great way to get even the most complex ideas across in a clear, compelling way.

Lethal Generosity: a key principle of social media marketing?

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According to the Harvard Business Review, 90% of tweets are generated by just 10% of Twitter users, reflecting the fact that these people are subject-matter experts, passionates, mavens, and thought leaders. B2B brands that can create places where this type of exchange can happen are engaging in something called ‘lethal generosity’, a key principle of social media marketing.

Quick Case: when content goes social

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It’s been about four months since we published the B2B Content Marketing Workbook and we thought we’d report back on how the campaign has worked so far. It was the first time we’ve used social media as a vector for our content marketing and so makes a nice case study.

V Shortlisted for Glittering B2B Gong

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We’re pleased as Punch to have been shortlisted for a B2B Marketing Magazine Award for our recent work with ShipServ.  It’s hard to come over all surprised about it – after all, we did complete the rather arduous application process – but we’re still really encouraged when good work gets some recognition.  Not for ourselves, [...]

Velocity takes New Media Age Awards by storm (but loses)

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We were thrilled to have been a Finalist for the Best B2B Campaign in the New Media Age Effectiveness Awards, celebrated the other night at the Grosvenor House Hotel. We thought our work with ShipServ kind of deserved it, to be honest. But we didn’t bloody win. Microsoft did. Which kind of sucks.

The white paper is dead…or is it?

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I presented a webinar the other day where I stated that while white papers are still the staple of content marketing, they’re getting really stale as a communications vehicle for B2B. A few people were so incensed they contacted me to say I was talking nonsense. So click here to find out whether they changed my mind…

Web personas and Mind Maps

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Like most good digital agencies, we’ve been exploring web personas for a while and we’ve found them to be a critical aid to great site design. If you do them thoroughly, personas mean you can develop better sites faster, ones that meet the needs of your customers, prospects and other stakeholders more effectively. They force everyone to think about what users might actually want to do when they visit your site and then shape the design accordingly.

Simple Steps To A User Focused Site

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We never tire of building websites. The sheer pace of technology change means no two sites are the same. But the same old battles are usually just round the corner.