B2B Marketing Building Blocks

Growing up in media marketing and communications creates skilled generalists. You become an expert in the media you work in (in my case, magazines, broadcast, digital -- sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish) and your function within it. You also build up knowledge in a whole bunch of other areas.

When I worked in traditional Public Relations, my ongoing work came from each magazine issue. And each of those could have stories as diverse as health, politics, beauty, parenting, science, home and food, and celebrity that were pitch worthy. In one day, I could talk endometriosis, gun control, and reinvention after 40.

When I switched to B2B marketing at a big multimedia company, I was tasked with building key category marketing strategies to support Sales and Business Development's efforts. They were as diverse as pharma and movies.

How could we influence the industry and its decision makers in a way that established our consumer and media as essential to success?

It's a brand-building challenge most B2B companies face. It was technically a new challenge for me. But I soon realized that it was just marketing and communications with an industry twist. You had to identify the places and partners that had wide influence and then provide value across them.

I created this bubble map to help me and others build those marketing plans. It lists industry touchpoints and the questions we should be asking ourselves tied to them. It's about considering every opportunity so that you can choose the right paths for the task at hand.

If you're a skilled generalist, too, then know that the first step is getting close -- very close -- to the subject matter experts in your midst. You will need them to help you identify and evaluate opportunities.

That way you can focus on your marketing communications expertise. They hired you for a reason. Respect that and collaborate wisely.

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