New eBook on Inbound Marketing for IBM Business Partners

The attached eBook on Inbound Marketing for IBM Business Partners will help partners start the transition to Inbound Marketing. It is clear that some partners have started to embrace Inbound Marketing or at least elements of Inbound Marketing, but many partners have not evolved their marketing plans beyond static web sites and legacy marketing tactics.  I would like to reinforce why IBM Business Partners should start the transition if they have not already, share some of what IBM has published for its partners in this area, and introduce a new eBook on this topic which hopefully will help some partners begin the transition.  

Why Inbound Marketing? 

Inbound Marketing is about enabling prospects to find you and then converting those prospects to leads. Effective Inbound Marketing relies on Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Blogging, Content Marketing, Lead Capture, and Lead Nurturing. Following are a few data points that reinforce the importance of Inbound Marketing versus traditional Outbound Marketing (HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing Report 2010). 

• B2B companies that Blog generate 67% more leads per month that those who do not 
• 45% of B2B Companies that utilize LinkedIn reporting capturing a lead from that channel
• 98% of B2B buyers search online via Google

IBM Paid, Owned & Earned Model

IBM shifted it's marketing model to what they refer to as a Paid, Owned & Earned Model; the goal of P.O.E. is to win at search and create a network of influence.  P.O.E. is defined in the following way: 

• Paid - Media channels that you do not own but you pay to use(e.g. advertising) 
• Owned - Media where you control the message and the channel(e.g. website)
• Earned - Media generated when customer is advocate for the message (e.g. social media)

IBM references similar data points for P.O.E. model:

• 85% of the time the digital journey starts with Search
• 4.4M Business Decision Makers use LinkedIn
• 3X increase in marketing budgets allocated to Social Media by B2B companies

The shift of resources from primarily a Paid model to Owned and Earned is analogous to the shift to Inbound Marketing. IBM is enabling its Business Partners to support the P.O.E. model by providing a collection of marketing deliverables and assets. (Information on the IBM P.O.E. model was cited from the "IBM Midmarket Marketing Strategy: Integrating Paid, Owned, and Earned Media. An introduction and guide for our Business Partners".)

Inbound Marketing effectiveness requires a unique set of skills and tools. To learn more about the Inbound Marketing Process and how to get started, you can download the following Marketing eBook for IBM Business Partners - Guide to Leverage Inbound Marketing to Generate Leads and Grow your Revenue.  

About Pereion Solutions:

Pereion Solutions helps technology companies grow their revenue, primarily through Channel Development and Inbound Marketing. Pereion Solutions is an IBM PartnerWorld member and a reseller of the HubSpot Inbound Marketing platform. If you have questions about this blog post or would like to be contacted directly, you can reach Steve Perry at slperry@pereion.com or (781) 944-1666.