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2021 | Buch | 1. Auflage

B2B Marketing

A Guidebook for the Classroom to the Boardroom

herausgegeben von: Uwe G. Seebacher

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Management for Professionals

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This unique book comprehensively presents the current state of knowledge, theoretical and practical alike, in the field of business-to-business (B2B) marketing. More than 30 of the best and most recognized B2B marketers address the most relevant theoretical foundations, concepts, tried and tested approaches and models from entrepreneurial practice. Many of those concepts are published for the first time ever in this book.

The book not only builds on the existing classic literature for industrial goods marketing but also – and much more importantly – finally closes the gap towards the rapidly growing ecosystem of modern B2B marketing terms, instruments, products, and topics. Technical terms such as Account-Based Marketing, Buyer Journey, ChatBots, Content AI, Marketing Automation, Marketing Canvas, Social Selling, Touchpoint Sensitivity Analysis, and Predictive Intelligence are explained and examined in detail, especially in terms of their applicability and implementation. The book as a whole reflects the B2B marketing journey so that the readers can directly connect the content to their own experience and use the book as a guide in their day-to-day work for years to come.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Basics and Theories: A Good Base Is Half the Rent

Frontmatter
1. The Big Picture: Why the Going Gets Tougher!

This chapter deals with the big picture, in the context of which the enormous dynamics of change in B2B marketing must also be considered. The question is not whether Amazon will 1 day also sell, manufacture, and immediately ship industrial products using 3D technology, but when. After all, the necessity of rethinking in the field of B2B marketing is not an end in itself. The Netflix industry is moving in an ever-increasing direction. It is the increasingly transparent, virtual, and accelerating environment that will hit the B2B sector next. Companies and their decision-makers—and especially those who want to and will be successful in the long term—must face this change in order to survive in the long term. Because if they fail to leverage the enormous potential of modern B2B marketing, they will be left behind in terms of competition. But today’s competition only plays a minor role, because the true competitors of the future are the Amazons and Alibabas of this world. This chapter is intended to highlight the causes of this pressure for change and thereby create awareness that not only the entire training sector in the discipline of marketing but also the entire top management of industrial companies must rethink their approach.

Mike Kleinemaß, Uwe G. Seebacher
2. The B2B Marketing Ecosystem: Finding Your Way Through the World of Colorful B2B Terms!

When one deals with the concept of industrial goods marketing today, one must be aware of how rapidly this discipline is developing. This development is underpinned by the rapidly increasing number of approaches, concepts, and information technology solutions, but above all by the new definitions and terms that have come with them. Therefore, this chapter in the introductory section of this book will deal with the current ecosystem of business-to-business (B2B) marketing. The aim is to define and substantiate a congruent and consistent B2B marketing vocabulary for the entire work. This is to ensure that there are no differing conceptual allocations and thus no misunderstandings.It is important to mention that this overview of terms only claims to reflect the current state of knowledge and development. As already mentioned above, the knowledge discipline of industrial goods marketing is currently undergoing a process of change similar to a paradigm shift. Furthermore, we do not claim to be exhaustive, as different, divergent terms are sometimes used in industry for terms that are actually the same. For the B2B ecosystem in the context of this publication we will go into the essential, generally valid, and accepted terms and concepts and also limit ourselves to these.

Uwe G. Seebacher
3. The B2B Marketing Maturity Model: What the Route to the Goal Looks Like!

Industrial goods marketing, like any other organizational function in companies, is subject to constant change. Throughout the industry, marketing departments of different types and levels of development can be found. To ensure that the approaches, instruments, concepts, and models described in this publication can be implemented in marketing practice in the best possible way, it is essential to use a congruent frame of reference in the form of the B2B Marketing Maturity Model (MMM). This model allows B2B marketing managers to evaluate the respective maturity level of their own marketing department and, on this basis, to identify the appropriate measures in this book. This approach is intended to avoid that too complex activities and projects are implemented in the departments that do not correspond to the level of maturity, or that MarTech tools are purchased that would only be a sensible investment at a later date or when a higher level of marketing maturity is reached. The goal is to protect B2B Marketing Managers from mistakes and a not well thought-through, stringent, and above all promising approach in order to achieve a sustainable positioning of B2B Marketing in industrial companies.

Uwe G. Seebacher
4. MarTech 8000: How to Survive in Jurassic Park of Dazzling Marketing Solutions

Between 2011 and 2020, the number of available products and solutions in the field of sales and marketing automation exploded from 150 to over 8000. This chapter provides a procedural model for minimizing costs and risks by finding a sustainable way through this Jurassic Park of colorful, supposed all-rounders and not drowning in a swamp of perfectly prepared case studies.

Uwe G. Seebacher

Practical Concepts and Models: Applied Science from the Experts

Frontmatter
5. B2B Marketing Strategy: Finding the Needle in the Haystack

The age of inaction in B2B marketing is coming to an end. With the explosion of Marketing Technology (MarTech), the democratisation of publishing/distribution and the evolution of more sophisticated competitor approaches there has never been a more important time to recognise and address the strategic challenge of industrial, technological and wider services based B2B marketing as a core specialism.Good B2B marketing in practice is often as much about a scientific and strategic approach as it is about creativity. Marketing to highly specific customers in niche segments means navigating a haystack in itself but that term can also be applied to selecting channels or MarTech tools, sifting through content or making sense of an avalanche of data—it actually ends up relating to many different facets of modern B2B marketing. Strategy helps quantify the value of marketing to an organisation.Anyone who manages a B2B marketing team, budget or campaign inevitably faces this planning headache on a regular basis. Great ideas are still the main output, but those ideas ultimately cannot flourish without the foundation of a strategic platform. Over the course of 20 years, from in-house blue-chip strategies to award-winning campaigns for my agency’s clients I have developed an eight-step model to ensure success in your B2B marketing planning and strategy execution. The methodologies used in putting this strategy model together have been rigorously tested, applied, adapted and enhanced over the course of more than 200 marketing audit and planning processes for SME manufacturers, industrial, B2B service/technology and science-based companies, typically with an annual turnover of £10–£30 million.

Alex Cairns
6. The Marketing Canvas: A Template for Powerful Go to Market Strategies

Whether they are a young professional or a seasoned expert, all B2B marketers are driven by the same goal: They want to successfully market their company’s products, services, and technologies with persuasive messages. The B2B Marketing Canvas is a visual method of thinking based on the Business Model Canvas, which allows you to quickly and comprehensively identify the specific benefits of complex products and thus accurately address the relevant target audience. The starting point is a joint Marketing Canvas Workshop with the experts in your company, to systematically summarize the knowledge of your entire team on just one page. In this chapter, you will get to know the nine categories that make up the Marketing Canvas step by step. For each field, there is also a checklist that will help you to filter essential information so that you can easily get to grips with even unknown facts and circumstances. Through this process, you will be able to recognize the higher-level connections and gaps in your knowledge at an early state, develop goal-specific strategies, and uncover the hidden potential of your product or service. Finally, you will be able to put your newly acquired knowledge to the test and think your way into a real B2B marketing canvas. You will learn how this method leads to maximum clarity and gives you access to a 360° perspective on developing communications plans that deliver results.

Susanne Trautmann
7. To Brand or Not to Brand: An Introduction to B2B Branding

Lead generation, marketing automation, performance marketing, or content AI are only a few of the recent developments that have re-shaped the face of B2B marketing. Perhaps even thus far that conventional elements such as branding have become obsolete?Branding has always been a tricky issue in the B2B environment. Originating in the B2C world, the importance of brands has never quite reached the same status for B2B companies. Once a logo and some associated guidelines were created, the task of branding is usually considered to be done. It starkly shows that even today’s B2B companies still tend to underestimate the extensive power successful brands can have on the business.Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to revisit the issue of branding to re-justify its importance in modern B2B marketing by giving a general introduction to B2B branding. After a theoretical examination, the following can be said: Smart branding ensures a substantial and consistent positioning of companies towards its customers. By creating trust and establishing organizations as industry experts and thought-leaders, branding can become a fruitful basis for a strong and loyal partnership between customers and companies. Additionally, branding acts as an underlying red line for all activities from marketing and sales to HR. It saves time and money by trendsetting and keeping the focus on the business and customers.

Kirsten Juliet Ives, Vera Müllner
8. Marketing Automation: Defining the Organizational Framework

Marketing automation plays the central role in inbound strategies. Marketing automation not only changes customer interaction throughout the entire customer life cycle, but also the way the organization works together. This chapter shows how marketing and sales are empowered by Marketing Automation and explain why Marketing Automation is an organizational framework and therefore a management issue.

Alexander Mrohs
9. Marketing Automation: Exploring the Process Model for Implementation

Once the decision has been made to invest in marketing automation, the necessary framework conditions should be created for its optimal use. The introduction has cross-departmental effects and only through coordinated action can the maximum potential be tapped. It is not just a question of software, but of the strategic reorientation of the company. This chapter provides an overview of accompanying measures that should be implemented independently of the selected technology provider. It describes the central role that use cases play, what the organization should look like and how they ensure adoption by all stakeholders. The aim is to prepare all stakeholders in the best possible way, including a description of the relevant processes, so that everything is in place for the successful operation of the technology. Depending on the size of the company and the information already available, the six steps can ideally be implemented in 6 months. If operations are already running, the process model can be used for optimization.The purely technical implementation including integration with the CRM system and the website is not covered. This requires close cooperation with experts from the selected provider or technical implementation partner.In the end, frequent mistakes in practice are shown and how they can be avoided.

Lutz Klaus
10. Successful Lead Management: Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now

This chapter outlines the importance of lead management and its position within the organization. It is important to realize that the well-established AIDA model still provides a framework on the modern journey of a potential customer to a converted sale. The author gives an overview of the funnel concept including all funnel steps and their definitions, as well as details on how these are connected to marketing and sales. Further, the chapter describes B2B market specifics related to the funnel concept. The transitions between the funnel parts mark important states of the customer journey and reveal most critical KPIs. Successful lead management is only possible if the goals of the lead and marketing funnel are derived from sales targets. An organization is bound to fail if the aims of these important departments are not aligned. All aspects of lead management and the relationship between marketing and sales, are combined in the Lead Management Maturity Model. For the first time, publicized LMM Model provides a framework for the assessment and the development of company organizations. This scheme allows an organization to assess and act on striving toward the ideal state of marketing, lead management, and sales.

Stephan Wenger
11. Digital Lead Capturing at Trade Fairs: Understanding the Low-Cost Quick Win Generator

The capturing of leads at trade fairs or in the field by the sales force is still a challenge for many B2B companies. Through the use of smartphones and tablets in sales, more and more companies rely on a digital lead capturing solution. This chapter explains the advantages of digitalization and automation of the lead capturing process and the cost savings that can be realized with an appropriate solution.

Boris Ringwald
12. User Experience and Touchpoint Management: A Touchpoint Performance Management Toolkit for the Buyer Journey

The growing influence of customer experience strategies poses great challenges for B2B companies in many industries. The traditional winning formula of being in the right markets at the right time, offering superior products and services, or being the lowest cost producer, is no longer a guarantee to secure a sustainable competitive advantage. Creating unique customer experiences has become a critical success factor. But what brings customer experience to life? Touchpoints.As customer satisfaction alone is not enough anymore, B2B marketers have to inspire and surprise customers along their path-to-purchase and make B2B buying easier by identifying the most significant customer challenges at each touchpoint throughout the customer journey. The chapter educates B2B marketers on the specifics, influencing factors and changes in B2B decision-making, the role of customer experience, and the importance of touchpoints in B2B buying. Furthermore, insights in how to visualize and measure customer experience, and how to manage touchpoints along the customer journey, are given.Based on this, a touchpoint evaluation tool is introduced, helping B2B companies to identify and analyze for customers’ most relevant touchpoints regarding their impact on purchase decisions.

Fabienne Halb, Uwe G. Seebacher
13. Content Marketing Process: Embrace Art and Science

Many marketers treat content creation as a purely artistic job. Content ideas are based on their intuition, the authors in one team create in completely different standards and attempts to impose discipline are treated as an attack on the creative process. Meanwhile, content marketing must be included in the process in order to be effective. The use of a process framework in content marketing management provides space for creative work, but it also ensures the consistency and predictability necessary for the work of the organization. This chapter will guide you through the best practices of professional content creation process management developed and constantly refined by leading editorial teams. You will also find a specific description of the content management process phases and even specific task and jobs which need to be executed at each stage of the process.

Łukasz Kosuniak
14. Contingency-Centric Content Management: Mastering Content Overload with Smart Content Marketing

Content is elementary for every communication measure, is expanded daily, and is subject to constant change. In the introductory section, the article explains why content has changed a lot in recent years and why it often no longer functions as usual today. Today, we can play or place content on over 8000 ( https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/ . Accessed: April 27, 2020.) different marketing channels/technologies. In addition, adblockers, firewalls, the explosion of touchpoints, and scarce time reserves in the target group make things more difficult.It is questionable which content in today’s content overload still has a chance and how it can be successfully placed with a target group and within the search engines and channels.The CCCM (Contingency-Centric Content Management), which is also based on behavioral psychology and belongs to the category of soft-selling, is considered promising here. This content shows that psychosocial benefits for customers can often be more relevant than factual-functional benefits (Esch 2016). The application increasingly uses industry-relevant information from the legal-political environment, the trend toward further education, and the social environment. The company positions itself as a knowledge pioneer and supporter with concrete benefits for the target group. In extreme cases, the company even protects the target group from legal consequences. These measures create a high level of trust among the target group and ultimately ensure higher sales of the company’s products/services. In this article, it will be shown how this has already been successfully implemented in practice and how smart content marketing works against content overload.

Olaf Mörk
15. Buyer-Centric Content Approach: Design Thinking to Market to Humans in the B2B World

This article explains why B2B Marketers cannot rely solely on technological solutions like marketing automation for more effective marketing: Customers are being confronted with growing information overload. This leads to ever-increasing “banner blindness,” which affects not only advertising banners, but any kind of content (e-mails, etc.). This presents marketers with the challenge of how to guide potential customers through the decision to buy: more than half of the journey is already taking place without sales. To stand out from the flood of information, marketers have to create relevant content. B2C companies usually have a large budget available for market research (focus groups, surveys, etc.), while B2B companies usually have to manage without these possibilities. In this article you will learn about tools used within the framework of Design Thinking to create this empathy, to better understand your customers (or potential customers), to derive relevant communication ideas from there, and to understand which content is relevant in which buyer’s phase.

Alexandra Ender
16. From Keywords to Contextual Frameworks: New Take on B2B SEO Enabling Next Level Content

SEO is not a new concept in B2B marketing, but its techniques, concepts, and potentials have changed dramatically in recent years. With analytics tools and Google algorithms evolving rapidly, SEO has become more contextual and intelligent. This has opened up unseen opportunities for B2B marketers to not only optimize their content strategy but to organize online content in completely new ways. This article gives a fresh perspective on SEO and explains how B2B marketers can use advanced analytics to build frameworks and network taxonomies. By tailoring content specifically to the persona and stage of the buyer journey in the context of the user’s search, marketers can significantly enhance the performance and visibility of their web content. Furthermore, this article gives two practical examples of how this method can be applied, first for creating new information architectures for websites and blogs and second to identify relevant influencers for niche topics. The content optimization approach presented in this article does not only give website performance a huge boost, but also has the power to change the way B2B marketing is done by introducing the concept of “content-as-a-service” and pushing content marketing to a new level of customer-centricity.

Jonathan Barrett, Mark Herten
17. Strategic Account-Based Marketing: How to Tame This Beast

In recent years ABM has been the hottest topic for many Enterprise CMO’s with 93% saying it is either extremely or very important to future marketing plans. Since this report by Sirius Decisions in 2017, ABM has continued to dominate the global B2B Marketing industry, with few signs of slowing. Investment in ABM continues to take an increasing share of marketing investment.It is widely believed that ABM has become synonymous with best practice B2B marketing (right message, to the right people at the right time), and rather than a discrete budget line item, it now forms the umbrella go-to-market strategy.With all businesses seeking to optimize return on marketing investment, the clear evidence that a well-executed ABM strategy delivers significantly better results than many other activities inevitably makes adoption so compelling.In this chapter, we will define ABM, why it is different from conventional demand generation, the three breeds of ABM, and a best practice guide to successful implementation.

Andy Bacon
18. Social Media in B2B: The New Kids on the Block

Social media has long established itself in everyday marketing. In the field of B2B content marketing, social media channels are rated with 95% approval as almost as important as the companies website with 98% approval according to the Statista Content Marketing Trend Study 2020. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, and the like are regarded as the social media classics or newcomers and are currently used much more in the B2C than in the B2B environment.More and more social media channels are springing up like mushrooms and it is difficult to keep track. Scott Brinker provides an impressive overview of his annual Marketing Technology Landscape ( https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/ . Accessed: April 27, 2020). The following chapter shows which channel is suitable for B2B at all, what can be transmitted from B2C, what targeting possibilities the respective channel offers, and where the B2B social media trend is heading.The Millennials have arrived in everyday business life and form an important target group. In the 2019 Millennial Survey, 40% of millennials are concerned if they cannot access their profiles for more than a day ( https://www2.deloitte.com/de/de/pages/innovation/contents/millennial-survey-2019.html .Accessed: April 29, 2020). For B2B there are often still undiscovered opportunities to build business relationships for the future based on B2C social media. Social media targeting provides important information on this to derive opportunities for B2B social media marketing activities.

Connor Moseler, Olaf Mörk
19. Social Selling in B2B: How to Get Jump Started

How can social media today be used intelligently and efficiently in the sales process to achieve goals and maintain customer relations? One possibility is the application of social selling—sales employees use social media, in the B2B sector especially social networks, to increase their knowledge of customers and customer needs, to establish contact with relevant players and potential customers, and to position themselves as topic experts in the pre-sales phase. The advantages for the company are many and varied, for example, high reach in the target groups, early presence with the customer, low financial expenditure, contact with important decision-makers, and in complex buying centers. The requirements: Sales staff with an affinity for social media. This article sheds light on a sales approach that has been investigated in academic research for quite some time now. With the further spread and use of the Internet and social media, this approach is gaining more interest and becoming more interesting for companies. From the practical side, the interest is also growing and it can be observed that social selling is increasingly used. The article deals with theory and practice of Social Selling, for example, how it works, core elements, success factors of a Social Selling strategy, and much more.

Beatrice Ermer, Jens Kleine
20. Corporate Influencing in B2B: Employees as Brand Ambassadors in Social Media

How can companies place their content in the global communication landscape without large budgets? One method is the use of corporate influencers—own employees who take up the company’s topics on social media platforms and transport them with an authentic, personal touch. The advantages for the company: A wider reach beyond the official corporate channels, a richer communication design by the experts, as well as positive effects on the brand and overall perception.

Markus Weinländer
21. Digital Marketing in China: How B2B Companies Can Successfully Expand into the Chinese Market

China’s economy is booming and offers great opportunities for foreign B2B companies. It is important to analyze the basic cultural and technical characteristics of the Chinese market in advance and to take them into account in a locally adapted marketing and sales strategy. Especially digital channels such as WeChat and Baidu are of central importance in the B2B market and are therefore important factors for sustainable business success.

Nils Horstmann

Case Studies and Showcases: Applied Success Featuring the Ambitious

Frontmatter
22. Finding the Right Path: A B2B Marketing Journey SME Showcase

As a medium-sized Austrian company without a large investor in the background, it is a particular challenge to survive and develop in the emerging industry of 3D printing and to assert yourself in the increasingly tough competition. The right marketing mix, where the focus is increasingly shifting to the online area, is crucial. I try to explain why online marketing is indispensable, trade fairs nevertheless enjoy a certain importance and traditional forms of advertising have their justification and their place in the marketing mix too. I will also try to point out, how we tried different approaches and analyzed our strengths and weaknesses (S.W.O.T.), developed our buyer personas, and thus found our marketing path. I also want to explain why it is necessary to always reinvent this marketing path and how we try to handle it in order to maintain one of the European market leaders, achieve sales targets and healthy growth and even remain a technological pioneer in some areas.

Stefan Prath
23. Digital Transformation in Shipping: The Hapag-Lloyd Story

Hapag-Lloyd is one of the largest liner shipping companies in the world. The long-established company has existed for 173 years and has around 13,000 employees in 129 countries. The container shipping industry is characterized by fierce competition and a backlog demand in the field of digital transformation. Against this background, transformation means the digitization of the value chain and therefore the development of digital products. Furthermore, it is about taking the organization and the people along on this journey of change. Hapag-Lloyd’s recipe for success is based first of all on changes in structure, which then support and drive the cultural change. Digital marketing plays an important role in this transformation. This case study shows how digital marketing came on board the company within 2 years, what hurdles and challenges we had and still have to overcome, and how we have used it to build up a global, scalable marketing model. The focus is always on the customer and continuous optimization. This case study describes a double pioneering work. Thanks to the customer-centricity approach with the online quotation tool Quick Quotes, we developed a very good digital product for the industry. We simultaneously designed and launched our first ever multichannel online marketing campaigns in 144 countries to sell digital products in the container industry.

Jenny Gruner
24. Choosing the Right Marketing Automation Platform: A SME Success Story

Marketing automation can serve as a central docking station that brings together other important marketing technologies (MarTech), which according to research amount to about 8000 solutions as of 2020 ( https://chiefmartec.com/2020/04/marketing-technology-landscape-2020-martech-5000/ . Accessed May 18, 2020). This and the fact that the decision-making processes for technology investments within B2B organizations are driven by cross-functional stakeholders, makes choosing the right marketing automation platform an endeavor that involves a great deal of alignment efforts and probably a redefinition of the role of marketing within the organization. This case study shows how a medium-sized enterprise successfully deployed that essential process for building the basis for a sustainable MarTech stack infrastructure as part of the journey toward predictive profit marketing.

Mariana Romero-Palma
25. How to Improve with a Strategic Lead Management: The Go-to-Market of Innovative Energy Solutions—Case Energy Industry

B2B sales have also taken off digitally. Buying centers are experiencing their zero moment of truth with new products and services today before they contact the supplier. This article reflects the approach innogy has taken to reach its target groups more effectively and efficiently. It also shows how innogy is actively shaping the energy turnaround and reinventing itself as a solution provider. As a consequence, new products are developed, and new markets are entered. For the successful commercialization and scaling of one of its new products, an energy monitoring solution, innogy has identified the Pains and Gains of its buying centers, sharpened its USPs and developed a concept for market entry which takes into account the changed framework conditions. An essential part of this concept is a strategic lead management, which was developed and implemented by end2end.

Beatrice Ermer, Sabrina Weiß, Markus Niehaus
26. Marketing and Sales Excellence: A Practical Showcase for Organisations

Customer centricity is a central element in the business-to-business (B2B) environment. As soon as the customer is looked at more closely, the topic revolves around changing customer behavior and the resulting expectations. Almost always the Figs. 67% and 57% are quoted in this context and that B2B sales can only “go down the drain” if 67% of its customers embark on the digital journey and 57% have already made the purchase decision before they themselves are included (Google and Berger 2015).

Stefan Schulz
27. Winning and Retaining Customers Successfully Through Lead Management: The Intralogistics Provider STILL Success Story

In B2B marketing, the generation of high-quality leads for sales plays an important role. In addition to generating leads at trade fairs and via online media (especially inbound), telephone lead generation has once again become a central topic in the B2B marketing mix, at the latest after the implementation of the GDPR. This article describes the implementation of professional lead management with the support of an external service provider at the intralogistics provider STILL. It shows how the topic is implemented in terms of organization and processes and which factors lead to sustainable success in achieving the company’s objectives.

Oliver Nolte, Sönke Caro
28. User Experience and Touchpoint Management: A Case Study for the Mechanical and Engineering Industry

Touchpoints are the moments of truth. At these contact points, it decides whether customers will buy and be loyal or not. To make it easier for customers to buy, B2B marketers must not only understand the course of the buyer journey, but also address the greatest challenges for decision-makers at every point of contact on their path-to-purchase. For this reason, at the beginning of every user experience initiative, the goal should be to identify and evaluate the touchpoints relevant to potential as well as current customers.The deployment of a B2B touchpoint evaluation tool enables an interactive and multidimensional evaluation of individual touchpoints not only from an internal point of view, but also from a buyer perspective and thus helps to derive customer-oriented recommendations for future management of the identified contact points.Building on this, an international industrial technology group has conducted a research project on touchpoint identification and evaluation in their industry. The case study provides insights into how the technology group involved customers in the touchpoint analysis, how results were evaluated with the help of a B2B touchpoint evaluation tool, and to which findings the project has led, influencing decisions on the distribution of marketing resources per touchpoint.

Fabienne Halb, Uwe G. Seebacher
29. Sales Channel Management: A Low-Cost Quick Win Showcase for External Salesforce Excellence

This case study shows how B2B marketing can use a modern MarTech infrastructure for sales channel management in coordination with the sales department in the short term and with a high turnover. This important sales channel is hardly or not at all handled by most B2B marketing departments, although especially in this area enormous potentials in terms of so-called “low hanging fruits” can be realized. The project is presented and described in terms of content. The article deals with challenges as well as pitfalls and problem areas in detail. The case study makes it possible to set up a modern Sales Channel Management 4.0 easily and effectively.

Klara Gölles, Uwe G. Seebacher
30. Central Business Intelligence: A Lean Development Process for SMEs

The aim of this paper is to examine the possible benefits of a centralized business intelligence department in the industrial b2b segment. The focus will be on market-centered business intelligence, therefore labeled as market intelligence. A big issue in the strategic planning of industrial companies is the fact, that they often do not even know the size of the markets they are competing in, which is mainly the result of a lack of reliable data and data handling skills.Powerful data visualization software, which emerged in the 2010s, is identified as the critical element in the evolution of market intelligence methods. These tools allow even smaller organizations to harvest the full potential of the data and enable an efficient knowledge distribution within the organization.The case study analyzes the market intelligence landscape of a multinational industrial engineering company pre and past implementation of a centralized market intelligence department. The analysis concludes, that the company was not aware of its market intelligence costs prior to establishing its business intelligence unit and that a significant savings potential has been discovered. Furthermore, the newly established Business Intelligence ecosystem significantly improves the credibility & reliability of the business planning activities.

Lukas Strohmeier
31. From Zero to Hero: B2C Practice as Revenue Generator in B2B

B2B communication is undergoing digital change. But how can websites be used to generate visibility, leads, and sales even for high-priced capital goods? This case study provides a process model for supporting technical sales through digital marketing to generate revenue with a manageable investment.

Mike Kleinemaß
32. 365 Days B2B Marketing Turnaround: A Fact-Driven, Bullet-Proof Showcase Guide

This case study shows how an international industrial engineering company successfully deployed a turnaround of its marketing department in just 365 days. The paper deals with the most critical and crucial steps of this turnaround process and puts forward the organizational challenges and complexities.

Miroslav Negovan, Uwe G. Seebacher

Closing

Frontmatter
33. What Did This Guidebook Present, and Where Does It Go from Here?

It was our common goal to summarize the current state of knowledge in B2B marketing in an aggregated and clearly structured way in this publication. It was our intention to create a compilation for theory and practice, because B2B marketing is hard work day after day. Especially in the current times of massive change, not only in the economy, but especially in the area of industrial goods marketing, B2B marketers are faced with enormous opportunities but also challenges. Above all, it is also about the responsibility of B2B marketers in relation to the companies they work for. It is up to B2B marketers alone to draw attention to the enormous possibilities of modern and well structured marketing in the industrial sector. As experts in this field, it can only be the responsibility of B2B marketers to carry this information into the organizations. However, this will and can only be successful in the long term if this change process is implemented in a gradual, professional, reflective, structured, and transparent manner.

Uwe G. Seebacher
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
B2B Marketing
herausgegeben von
Uwe G. Seebacher
Copyright-Jahr
2021
Verlag
Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-54292-4
Print ISBN
978-3-030-54291-7
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54292-4