B2B Lead Generation Archives - Starfleet Media

Restaurant Solution Providers: Get Free Access to the Largest U.S. Database of Pre-Opening Restaurants

adminElan — Sat, 23 Nov 2019 22:06:03 +0000

For a limited time, Starfleet Media is offering a 1-month subscription (a $1,150 value) to Restaurant Activity Report (a premier content distribution and lead generation partner) to restaurant technology solution providers that participate in Smart Decision Guides and/or Starfleet Research co-branded eBooks as an added benefit at no extra cost. Advertisers in Restaurant Technology News (a Starfleet Media publication) or solution providers that purchase 36 credits for publication of press releases and bylined articles are also eligible. Restaurant Activity Report is the world’s most extensive and comprehensive database of pre-opening as well as existing restaurants in the U.S. market. Many of the world’s leading restaurant technology solution providers rely on Restaurant Activity Report in support of their prospecting activities. The benefits include pre-opening restaurant leads sent twice per week, with complete contact information and restaurant descriptions, and access to the entire Restaurant Activity Report searchable database of both pre-opening and existing restaurants. Additional benefits may include three regional and/or national marketing email blasts sent to up to 20,000 restaurant owners and operators.

To learn more about this special opportunity, please contact marv.allen@starfleetmedia.com.

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Reflections and a Look Ahead

adminElan — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 01:31:21 +0000

Looking back, as people tend to do this time of year, we are grateful for the opportunities we’ve had this year to expand our reach and influence for the benefit of the customers we serve as well as for our global audience of industry practitioners in need of guidance for making smart technology decisions. We are grateful for the continued loyalty of our clients, many of which have been with us since the beginning, and for the continued collaboration of our ever-expanding partner network. It was truly a banner year for Starfleet Media and Starfleet Research, our IT market research arm, with the addition of more than twenty new clients in the hospitality, retail and healthcare IT sectors, the addition of several high-profile content distribution (and other) partners and expanded relationships with others, including UBM (medical IT), HospitalityNet, 4Hoteliers, Nevistas, (hospitality IT) and Restaurant Activity Report (restaurant IT), the rollout of new types of custom research projects and content deliverables, and the official launch of two new industry publications, Hotel Technology News and Restaurant Technology News, that have fast become leading resources in their respective domains. Which isn’t to say we accomplished all that we set out to accomplish (not by a long shot) or there isn’t a lot of work ahead and room for improvement as we continue to scale our operations and expand the scope of our research coverage areas and content marketing and demand generation capabilities. On the contrary! We look forward to tackling a host of new business challenges in 2019 while finding new ways to better serve our customers.

While some of these business challenges are new, such as growing our new publication subscription bases to industry-leading levels (we’re well on our way, with “weekly dispatch” email newsletters launching this quarter!), many of the challenges are the same ones we have faced since day one. Ensuring we deliver the highest quality content for our clients in ways that enable them to educate their target prospects in the most compelling way possible, for example, and generating the highest quality leads on behalf of our clients, ultimately helping them grow their customer rosters. In short, we are forever focused on the art and science of incorporating a range of content assets, tools, methodologies and channels to meet and exceed client expectations when it comes to helping them demonstrate thought leadership, raise brand visibility, grow their businesses and rocket to success.

We wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year. And remember: Content is still king.

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Making a Splash with Smart Decision Guides – Case Study: Oracle Corporation

adminElan — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 03:16:59 +0000

No introductions are needed for Oracle Corporation, which ranks as the third largest software company in the world. We’re proud to count Oracle — in particular, the Oracle Hospitality and Oracle Food & Beverage divisions of the company — as a loyal client partner. Their top-notch marketing professionals excel at utilizing co-branded content assets such as Smart Decision Guides and commissioned eBooks (here is a new one) from Starfleet Research, our IT market research arm, to do what every leading technology solution provider needs to do so as to compete effectively and progressively grow their business: demonstrate thought leadership and educate target prospects (preferably, in an unbiased manner), raise brand visibility and stand out in the crowd, and fill their sales pipelines with qualified leads. The good news is that a solution provider need not have the marketing resources of a multi-billion-dollar software behemoth in order to make a big splash with their licensed version of a Smart Decision Guide. To be sure, many sponsors run marketing campaigns that include paid tactics such as email blasts and banner ads on industry trade publications. That said, some of the most effective tactics, including ones that leverage the company’s own website and social media channels, cost virtually nothing. Here are examples of how this client partner is promoting a new Smart Decision Guide that even a small solution provider can successfully emulate.

1. Facebook

2. Twitter

3. LinkedIn

4. Website homepage

5. Blog

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Starfleet Leads the Pack with Co-branded eBooks in the Hospitality Sector

adminElan — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 21:41:35 +0000

It was a busy summer at Starfleet Media and Starfleet Research, our IT market research arm, in terms of content production and demand generation of co-branded eBooks, with more than a dozen new titles recently (or soon to be) released in partnership with some of the world’s leading technology solution providers. Hospitality IT has long been one of our industry focus areas. It’s no surprise, then, that more than half of the new eBook titles (some of the covers are shown below) explore various aspects of technology-enabled business improvement for hotels and resorts. We are proud to lead the pack of market research firms (and all others) in the production and distribution of commissioned eBooks for this dynamic industry sector. Starfleet Research brings an unmatched “cloak of credibility” in the eyes of hotel operators that invariably results in more leads and higher quality leads. And our market presence in this sector continues to grow with the success of Hotel Technology News, which is fast becoming a leading industry resource. The fact that all of the solution providers previously partnered with us on other co-branded eBooks speaks to the value of these resources for use in content marketing and lead generation activities and the overwhelming demand we continue to receive for new commissioned eBooks.

The new collection of co-branded eBooks stands out for the attractive, state-of-the-art designs as well as the original, highly compelling content, all of it based on custom research. Each eBook averages 18-25 pages in length. A co-branded eBook program may include a guaranteed number of qualified leads generated by Starfleet Media and its network of industry partners that are exclusive to the client sponsor (or sponsors, in the case of multi-sponsored eBooks).

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Want to See Your Data? All You Have to Do is Ask

adminElan — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 18:43:19 +0000

Starfleet Media, its affiliates and subsidiary properties deliver high-value content to industry practitioners. We also deliver qualified prospect information (“leads”) to B2B technology solution providers. GDPR regulations allow people in the EU to review their personal data from an organization. If you would like to see the data that Starfleet Media may have collected and retained about you, please fill out the Request My Data form and submit your request. We will deliver the information on record, if any, or provide you an update on your query. We generally respond within three (3) business days.

In May, we signed a data processing addendum (DPA) with Unbounce, the marketing platform we use as the basis for our lead generation activities. Unbounce is a GDPR compliant platform with privacy and security safeguards built into its business practices. This DPA is available upon request.

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Starfleet’s B2B Content Assets Speak Your Language

adminElan — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 18:11:33 +0000

Given that most of our client partners have a global presence, many of them with offices scattered across various parts of the world, including Europe and Asia, it’s no surprise that we’re often asked to translate our content assets into foreign languages for localized content marketing and lead generation campaigns. We’re happy to comply and are humbled by the fact that, increasingly, our content assets on technology-enabled business improvement in industry sectors that include hospitality, retail and healthcare are becoming recognized as authoritative resources even in non-English speaking markets.

To date, our co-branded eBooks and Smart Decision Guides have been translated into more than a dozen languages, including French, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese and German. Apparently, the content assets perform well in all of these languages. We’re pleased to know that our guidance, recommendations and research findings aren’t lost in translation.

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Capturing Purchase Intention: The “If”s and “When”s of B2B Lead Gen

adminElan — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 19:42:35 +0000

The dictionary definition of intention is: “An act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.” In the context of B2B lead generation, we talk about intention in terms of whether – and when – a decision maker or influencer plans to purchase a specific type of technology solution. Granted, it’s hard to read people’s minds. The best we can do is ask them about their role and responsibility in the decision-making process and also their plans for making the decision as far as timeframe. In the next 6 months? In the next 6-12 months? We do this in the last field of the lead capture form they are required to complete in exchange for gaining access to the desired content asset — e.g., a Smart Decision Guide. Do people answer honestly? In our experience, the answer, in most cases, is a resounding “yes.”

Executives and others who are charged with researching, evaluating and, often, selecting a technology solution on behalf of their company are usually happy to make their information available to relevant solution providers. Because they are in the market to make a purchase decision (typically, coming to our landing pages via keyword searches), they likely want to learn about the leading solutions and ask questions of experts in the field. In fact, they may well be in the process of identifying and contacting these experts themselves.

Our landing pages explicitly state that they should expect to be contacted: “By accessing this Smart Decision Guide, you are agreeing to be contacted by one or more company underwriters who made complimentary access to this content possible and who may be able to provide additional guidance.” People who mark “none of the above” are likely not in the market or simply don’t wish to be contacted. Their names are automatically excluded from our leads validation and distribution process.

Capturing purchase intention is critical. Basic demographic and firmographic information (name, title, contact info, etc,) tells the marketing and sales teams absolutely nothing about whether – and when – a decision maker or influencer plans to purchase the type of technology solution they offer. Without purchase intention info, there is no way for these teams to assess the quality of a new lead. Purchase intention info gives them a good sense for a prospect’s receptiveness to their message and readiness to convert. It helps them prioritize the opportunity. It helps them know where to place it in the sales pipeline and which internal resources should be assigned to pursue it.

Ultimately, having intention context is what separates qualified leads (prospects who are in the market to buy) from compiled contacts (people who downloaded the content asset but may not be in the market to buy or want to be contacted). For solution providers, that can make all the difference in the world between wasted sales resources and adding a new company to the customer roster.

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Content Marketing Tactics: Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

adminElan — Sun, 02 Apr 2017 17:42:14 +0000

Sometimes, as they say, the pioneers are the ones with arrows in the back. Astute B2B marketers recognize that improving the outcomes of their content marketing campaigns means learning from others – preferably, from other companies operating in the same competitive arena. Marketers need to understand what works and what doesn’t in terms of tactics, tools, channels and content assets.

It only makes sense, therefore, to closely observe and emulate the practices of top-performing companies. In fact, according to preliminary research for The 2017 Benchmark Report on B2B Content Marketing and Lead Generation, which publishes next month, 72% of B2B content marketers indicate that they spend time benchmarking best practices in content marketing and lead generation. This helps them mitigate failure and replicate success stories in the context of their own content marketing activities.

The 2017 Benchmark Report on B2B Content Marketing and Lead Generation will offer fresh insights into how B2B companies have evolved their content marketing and lead generation capabilities over the previous year. Click here to take the survey that serves as the basis for the research.

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Fewer Than One-Third of B2B Companies Use Social Data to Improve Content Marketing

adminElan — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 04:45:29 +0000

According to preliminary research findings for The 2017 Benchmark Report on B2B Content Marketing and Lead Generation, 0nly 30% of survey respondents report that their companies use social data (monitoring online conversation in social networks) to try to improve content marketing activities — e.g., by identifying more relevant topics and/or audiences. And only 24% say that their social listening efforts have been “somewhat successful” or “very successful.” More than half (56%) indicate that social data is not currently being used at their companies for content marketing purposes.

Set to publish next month, The 2017 Benchmark Report on B2B Content Marketing and Lead Generation will offer fresh insights into how B2B companies have evolved their content marketing and lead generation capabilities over the previous year. Click here to take the survey that serves as the basis for the research.

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