Manufacturers are increasingly looking for new ways to generate leads online. In the process, decision-makers ask tough questions about social media ROI – questions that may be hard to answer early in a brand’s digital efforts. Most boil down to this: Is social media worth it?

As content marketing becomes a more important part of your B2B marketing strategy as a whole, traditional roles of sales and marketing teams are being revised.

The best, and sometimes worst, part of these digitized times is that an abundance of information is a few clicks, taps or swipes away.  The upside is that, if you are a stealthy enough, you can triumph in any trivia game. The downside is that consumers are inundated with a staggering stream of information on a daily basis.  The average urban American is exposed to an outrageous 5,000 advertisements each day through television, radio, websites, billboards and various social media portals, according to NYTimes.com. 

Happy Star Wars Day, everyone! Yep, it's a real thing, and yep, we're celebrating here at Jül. Not only did we host a themed webinar today on the force of inbound smarketing, I'm also bringing you the best of the best advice from Star Wars - in GIF format. Normally, people think that marketing for B2B companies has to be kind of boring, straight-laced, and rigid. Not so, fans! In fact, that was our first episode today - Episode IV: Know Your Target. Here's a recap of the important smarketing lessons we touched on today. 

As more organizations eye a strategic switch from traditional outbound marketing (print ads, cold calls, TV, and billboards) to consultative inbound marketing, it’s grown essential to drive greater alignment between sales and marketing. No longer is it possible for sales and marketing to exist as separate silos with a contentious relationship – the advent of smarketing means these functions are two sides of the same coin.

You have completely updated your website as part of an effective manufacturing marketing plan; it is mobile friendly, has great images, and is easy to navigate. Now you sit back, and wait for your investment to churn out quality leads left and right. And you wait. All that time and energy and your website is still not generating enough quality leads. Everything you’ve read up to this point has told you – fix the website, and generate more B2B sales. So why aren’t you seeing enough quality leads?

As a builder of homes, you're an expert in your field. You follow the same steps each time you take on a new building project. Similarly, building a marketing strategy for home builders utilizes a series of steps that can be repeated for a successful project. When marketing your home builder company, build your strategy like a building a home: start with a blueprint, a solid foundation, and framing to increase your prospect list and client base.

Change is hard, and driving change in marketing strategy can be even harder. Sales, marketing, product development – all these teams have something to add when it comes to customer-centered content that ignites conversions. But trying to get everyone to see that is a challenge, especially once you factor in usual tensions between sales and marketing.

Brand awareness is one of the most important intangibles your company can have. Everyone recognizes Coke, Microsoft, and Google, for example. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you know what “promised experience” you'll get with these companies.

If you want crystal clear insight into buying behavior, sales qualified leads, and strategic marketing process development, “smarketing” is for you. The word might sound silly, but the concept is indispensable.  Simply, it’s the alignment of sales and marketing into a cohesive unit.