Forrester gets the new B2B technology marketing

Peter is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, the analyst house that seems to really understand the new B2B technology marketing better than any other.

I enjoy Peter’s work not just because it validates the way we at Velocity think about technology marketing, marketing automation and revenue performance management; but also because he backs up our hunches – and his insights – with data.

Here’s a quote that kind of sums it all up, I think:

“The B2B evaluation and purchasing process is now more than ever controlled by the customer, not the seller.

Critical to that process is content that the buyer finds, that the marketer
sends, and that sales delivers. However, one size does not fit all when it comes to content.

As such, marketers must develop a content marketing strategy that provides the right content, at the right time, to the right buyer/influencer via the right marketing vehicle.
While not easy, increased leads, accelerated sales cycles, and larger marketing-attributed revenue are the spoils for the B2B marketers who get it right.”
Peter’s report, “Content Marketing as a Key Differentiator for Tech Marketers” talks all about mapping content to the purchase journey, including cases from SAP, Dell and HP — yes, even the technology giants are turning to content marketing in a big way (and Michael Brenner of SAP — with his B2B Marketing Insider blog – is really leading the way).

He backs up his points with data from the Forrester Tech Marketing Navigator, a survey of 15,000 technology decision-makers. It all points to an undeniable trend: those hoof-beats you’ve been hearing are all the top technology marketers stampeding towards content marketing. We like that.

Peter is also doing interesting work on what he calls Digital Marketing Service Providers (DMSPs), agencies that combine technology competence with marketing strategy and digital creativity (yeah, I know, the word ‘Velocity’ popped into your head just then didn’t it?).

It all comes together in the DMSP model – analytics, content, email, mobile, social, ad serving and apps like CRM and marketing automation.

Check out Peter’s technology marketing blog and see what you think. We’re marketing in interesting times.