Strategies for Aligning Content With Lead Generation in B2B Marketing

Each year, thousands of content marketers make their way to Content Marketing World to gain insight from a wide variety of experts. For the first time, the show moved from its original home in Cleveland to Washington, D.C. Look Left’s David Sprague and Skylar Cohen spent two days attending multiple sessions that covered many emerging—and traditional—content-related topics.  To no one’s surprise, the most talked-about topic was generative AI, which has created a  whirlwind of disruption in the content marketing sector in recent months. As you’ll hear, most at the conference stand firm in their belief that human beings are necessary to harness the power that AI can give a marketing team.  02:53 - On “Evolve,” the theme of Content Marketing World 2023 06:36 - Skylar and David share their favorite sessions: SEO, AI and editing 12:26 - Insights from Content Marketing World that can be applied to our client service 15:32 - The most common theme at Content Marketing World: AI needs humans 20:34 - Content needs to be more personalized 20:10 - Making content more accessible 25:53 - Many sessions contradicted each other in a healthy way Resources Content Marketing World David Sprague’s CMW takeaways Skylar Cohen’s CMW takeaways 

For those dwelling on the dirt and worm sides of rocks, the term “generative AI” probably doesn’t spark a conversation. For the rest of us, there hasn’t been a day over the last year when we didn’t talk or read about it. Almost every company is trying to figure out where they fit into the AI conversation and how to use it to their advantage.As a B2B tech marketing and PR agency, we get a ton of questions about generative AI from our clients (but not our moms—they still don’t understand what we do for a living). In this edition of the Look Left @ Marketing Podcast, we grabbed three of our Smartypants—Geena Pickering, Matt Raven and Bryan Scanlon—to answer some of the most common queries we get about this disruptive technology.3:08 - Dispelling the notion that AI will make B2B tech marketers obsolete.7:30 - Generative AI can save time, but efficiency shouldn’t supersede content quality and accuracy.11:52 - Using human smarts and generative AI to develop messaging.14:43 - Companies positioning themselves as an AI company should do so with caution.17:34 - AI can help with SEO and content marketing, but sweat equity is necessary to achieve desirable results.21:50 - Generative AI will compete with search engines moving forward.22:43 - Companies must be vigilant about having an AI policy to address copyright and data privacy issues.Resources:Look Left blog: How We’re Using Generative AILook Left blog: Is AI the New Mail Merge?Look Left blog: AI Prompt Engineering to Produce Better OutputsLook Left blog: How to Edit AI-Generated Content in B2B TechLook Left blog: The Impact of ChatGPT on Your SEO Strategy

For B2B tech companies, rebranding exercises are incredibly involved and require expert teamwork, creativity and decision-making. Look Left recently underwent a rebranding, and we decided to use the podcast to share some of our most important learnings.Look Left’s David Sprague, Liesse Jayalath and John Masserini offer lessons learned from the Look Left rebrand project and touch on other topics like expanding AI budgets and (ridiculous) child-to-parent litigation stories. 3:07 - David, Liesse and John start with an icebreaker: The fast emergence of generative AI9:27 - The impetus for Look Left’s rebranding process.11:40 - The importance of ‘starting with the why’ in a rebrand13:25 - Before you tell the world about you, it’s critical to determine the right SEO keywords15:49 - Creating a rebranding team that represents a diverse group of people19:30 - Everyone’s opinion should be welcomed, but there should be a single decision-maker20:48 - Tips for sticking to your rebranding timeline22:58 - Once a decision is made, you have to move forward and be all-in25:36 - One key to launching a rebrand successfully and on time is internal empathy26:49 - Maintaining ‘the why’ and consistency throughout the rebranding process30:04 - Updating the rebrand after the launch32:50 - The roundtable shares things that made them LOL recentlyResources:AI spending report Lex Fridman podcastRASCI responsibility frameworkLook Left blog: The Ultimate Rebranding Project Plan to Bring a New Brand to LifeLook Left blog: How to Build a Successful Website Migration Strategy

Cybersecurity expert Deb Radcliff returns to the Look Left @ Marketing podcast. Since 1996, Deb has been embedded in the hacker and law enforcement communities learning the techniques, lifestyles, and philosophies that make them unique.This conversation covers current cybersecurity topics as well as Book 2 of Deb’s exciting Breaking Backbones trilogy, which is now available. Deb still writes articles and does research, and she hosts the Cy Beat podcast from ITSPmagazine. Here are some highlights:01:01 - Overview of the Breaking Backbones trilogy03:55 - Breaking Backbones has been in the works for 25 years07:10 - How the case of former Uber security chief Joe Sullivan impacts the role of CISOs11:20 - CISOs need documented processes and indemnification before taking jobs17:00 - A look ahead to RSA 2023 22:15 - New cyber threats like “deep fake” phone calls24:20 - Awareness of cyber threats is higher, but criminals are finding new ways to wreak havoc 

Over the past 45 years, Wayne Rash has covered every inch of the tech space. Among his many notable posts, Wayne was executive editor at eWEEK, eWEEK.com, and Ziff Davis Events. He was a senior contributing editor and a senior analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. Additionally, Wayne worked as a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. He also ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek and was a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. Today, Wayne is based in Washington, DC, and contributes to Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, CNN_Underscored, and Red Ventures. In addition to his work as a reporter, editor, and reviewer, Wayne has authored five books, including Politics on the Nets: Wiring the Political Process, a 1997 work examining the emerging role of the internet in politics. Wayne also pioneered the use of big data analysis in his reporting. As part of his coverage of the 2016 presidential primary season, he was able to show a likely win for Donald Trump. Wayne is a retired naval officer and a former news director for a number of radio and television stations in Virginia.  In this episode of the Look Left @ Marketing podcast, Davida Dinerman gets Wayne Rash’s insights on a wide variety of topics. Here are a few of the highlights: 01:51 - 20 years of service in the U.S. Navy03:31 - Technology advances through the years04:45 - Early online communities that foreshadowed social media05:48 - Tech that had promise but went bust06:53 - The current state of tech journalism09:52 – How content properly generated by companies can be helpful and influential11:45 - How to break into the news business13:29 - The best way to grab the attention of a tech journalist16:59 - Predictions for what’s ahead in technology20:29 - The problem with building security into products22:18 - The bleak outlook for tech journalism

Welcome to the second part of our conversation about aligning content with lead generation. In the previous episode, Bryan Scanlon and Matt Raven examined the ways that different types of content appeal to prospects at different stages of the sales funnel. In this episode of the Look Left @ Marketing podcast, the sixth in our content marketing series, Bryan and Matt take a look at pillar pages and the importance of focusing on retention after a customer is on board. Here are a few of the highlights: 00:41 - The importance of pillar pages05:01 - Don’t force marketing structures on prospects08:38 - Delivery and experience are more important later in the funnel10:31 - The value of complete honesty, even about a product’s weaknesses16:56 - The sales funnel doesn’t end at conversion. Retention is as important as conversion.18:30 - Show the ways your product solves real-world problems

One of the primary objectives of a B2B content marketing program is to attract the attention and interest of potential customers. There are a lot of factors to be considered—after all, certain content may be more effective with prospects at different points in the sales process.   In this episode of the Look Left @ Marketing podcast, the fifth in our content marketing series, Bryan Scanlon and Matt Raven provide insight and suggestions for B2B companies looking to properly produce content that supports lead generation. 00:51 - A look at the classic marketing funnel01:30 - The role of search and science in identifying customer interest03:46 - Understanding the B2B audience05:49 - How to plan for search when your emerging tech isn’t well known yet07:59 - Appealing to “top of the funnel” prospects09:41 - Companies that don’t fit in well-defined categories need to explore a variety of place12:32 - Consideration and evaluation in the middle of the funnel, where comparison-based content works well 15:07 - The value of product reviews has changed in recent years

The 2022 RSA Conference returns June 6-9 in San Francisco and online. Two people who know a thing or two about the evolution of security are Jill Aitoro, SVP of content strategy for CyberRisk Alliance and editor in chief for SC Media, and Bill Brenner, VP of custom content at CyberRisk Alliance. Jill and Bill joined Look Left’s Davida Dinerman to preview the upcoming show and to dig into what they’re looking forward to:01:17 - The excitement of returning to live events03:25 - What Jill and Bill are most looking forward to at RSA04:45 - The impact Zoom has had on SME interviews7:06 - What topics they’re looking to cover at RSA11:27 - Changes they’ve seen at RSA over the years15:11 - RSA as an opportunity to produce a lot of interesting content18:38 - What they look for in a good interview21:49 - What challenges there are to pitching media24:50 - Favorite “hot spots” at RSA28:06 - Interesting stories from past RSAs29:58 - How security blogging has evolved 

The RSA Conference, the world’s leading information security conference, will hold its annual cybersecurity conference June 6-9 at The Moscone Center in San Francisco. 50,000 people in the industry -- from vendors and company executives to policymakers and academics -- will converge to talk about current and future cyber and privacy concerns, ideas and solutions.In this episode of the Look Left podcast, Davida Dinerman speaks with award-winning cybersecurity and privacy journalist Mathew Schwartz. Since 2014, Mat has been with Information Security Media Group, where he now serves as the executive editor for DataBreachToday and for European news coverage. For a preview of what will be new and exciting at RSA 2022, check out these highlights:02:31 - The ISMG team that will be at RSA04:56 - After a two year in-person hiatus, what is Mat looking for at RSA this year?06:29 - 2022 trends in cybersecurity08:45 - The latest coverage areas for ISMG12:02 - Burnout factors impacting CISOs14:49 - Changes in RSA through the years19:40 - The evolution of today’s cyber threats20:52 - Mat’s “shock and awe” approach to covering RSA26:41 - Mat’s advice for first time attendees at RSA30:38 - Having fun at RSA

HIMSS22 takes place March 14 - 18 in Orlando, Florida. As always, thousands of people in the industry -- from vendors, clinicians and health system executives to policymakers and patient advocates -- will participate in person or via the Digital Experience.   In this episode of the Look Left @ Marketing podcast, Davida Dinerman chats with John Lynn, founder of HealthcareScene.com, and Colin Hung, chief marketing officer and editor of HealthcareScene.com. John and Colin have been at the vanguard of digital health and consumer engagement for decades - and they have plenty of valuable information to share in this podcast about health IT conferences. Here are some of the highlights:01:35 - HIMSS is about connecting with people throughout the industry03:55 - How to approach a conference with so much content05:35 - It’s a mistake to skip the conference because it’s “too big”08:29 - The evolution of HIMSS 11:40 - The merging of technology and healthcare16:08 - Where is telehealth is going17:13 - Advice for first time attendees - “Have a plan, but be brave.”19:59 - Extending the value beyond HIMSS22:44 - Possible competition between HIMSS vs. ViVE26:05 - Don’t miss the community photo