Tech and data continue to fuel and operate B2B marketing and sales efforts, but the ongoing challenge of driving ROI — and being able to prove it — leaves many companies still struggling.

Next week, I’ll be heading to one of the first conferences for B2B marketers to focus exclusively on measurement and revenue optimization. Circulate 2017, taking place Sept. 14-15at the W San Francisco, will bring together thought leaders and practitioners from different roles — all with the common interest in measuring and optimizing marketing and sales performance.

As marketers push on in their strive for buyer centricity in their campaigns and messaging, a lot of tweaking and fine tuning comes into play. And while buyers' paths to purchase certainly aren't linear, today's technology allows marketers to gain vast insight on target audiences. But even with all that insight, there is always a possibility that something just works and catches everyone by surprise.

I ask myself the above question far too often — and I go through A LOT of content while researching new story topics or potential news to share with all our loyal subscribers. Nothing upsets me more than coming across a “5 Innovative Ways To Boost Your Demand Gen Efforts” type E-book, in which these five “innovative” ways are blatantly specific features within the author’s main product offering.

B2B buyers are more reliant on peer reviews and ratings to validate and find new solutions. According the 2017 B2B Buyers Survey Report, 94% of B2B buyers reported that reviews from industry peers were important in making a purchasing decision. Input from other users gives prospective buyers transparent insights into aspects such as ease of use, ROI and deployment time. It should come as little surprise that 42% percent of…

In the first few years we conducted our B2B Buyer’s Survey, a lot of the focus was around how an increasing amount of the decision-making process took place before a buyer ever engaged with a sales representative.

We’ve all been there before. We spend weeks — even months — developing a piece of content. And we do all the right things: we receive buy-in from all key stakeholders, interview subject-matter experts, conduct extensive research and collaborate with design to ensure everything was executed flawlessly. But when we finally launch the asset, we find that it’s not generating the leads we expected. What went wrong?

Unfortunately, there is no eHarmony-type website that pairs your business with a B2B marketing or demand generation agency through a match-making quiz. (If you know of one, let me know in the comments!)

The SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall has served as an iconic framework shaping the way many B2B organizations have managed and tracked lead management over the past decade.

There’s no better way to drive opportunities—and revenue—than with content. However, it’s especially difficult to create content that keeps your brand at the center of your target audience’s attention. In the book “Top Of Mind,” written by Influence & Co. CEO John Hall, building trust within your target audience is the focal point of delivering consistent value for target audiences. The book features a step-by-step guide for developing content that…