Today, fake Internet traffic schemes are as common as bad drivers in Florida. Sadly, getting the short shrift on advertising exposure is pretty commonplace. While some B2B marketers may not know the technical details of how this happens, the bottom line is screamingly clear: Shady characters are getting their jollies, and advertisers (and publishers) are paying for it. Draining marketing budgets and skimming publishers’ profits are fairly mortifying on their own. But there’s another disturbing layer to the story: Ad fraud is killing trust – not just between brands and buyers, but also between media agencies and advertisers. However, B2B marketers don’t have to be powerless tokens in this ill
Want to shut down a prospect faster than Garfield finds pizza? Break out some discovery questions. I’m a marketer, so I get it: Sellers want to learn as much as possible about potential buyers. But for heaven’s sake, asking about a prospect’s role and responsibilities isn’t the way to jumpstart a cold call. When hit by a litany of canned questions, most buyers inevitably thinking, “Good grief! Why doesn’t this rep know all of this already?” Why indeed. Discovery questions, rather than moving a buyer closer to a deal, actually take an interaction several steps back. This unfortunate circumstance can be remedied — at least in part — with better sales intelligence. But knowing more about prospe
