Tracey Shell

💥 Every mid-to-large sized b2b company needs a *Chief Communications Officer* in the C-suite. Full stop. 👇 If you can afford a marketing leader you can’t afford NOT to have a dedicated comms leader. It’s not either/or. It’s not the same job. It’s both—especially in an AI world that serves up answers based on *earned media* and *3rd party validation* vs owned content and ads. The game has changed. Don’t sleep on the head of Comms. This is the way ✊

356

41 Comments

B2B technology leaders have been dealing with some hard stuff.    During the first four months of 2025, they continued to navigate a complex and constantly changing landscape. A recent Gartner study also reveals that only 27% of CEOs and CFOs believe their marketing and communications leaders have exceeded expectations in the past year.    Building on Big Valley Marketing's mission of helping B2B technology companies grow, win, and lead, the firm introduced three new consulting practices designed to help B2B marketers and communicators meet their organization's rising expectations. They are: 🆕 Brand Strategy Practice: led by Scott Friedman, a 30-year industry veteran in technology brand building. Scott and team will help companies maximize the value and impact of their marketing and communications efforts. 🆕 Market Intelligence Practice: Directed by our Founder and CEO, Tim Marklein, and drawing from decades of his communications research leadership and experience working with organizations such as AMEC and IPR, this team focuses on providing marketers and communicators with "so what" insights and "now what" recommendations that inform better decisions, strategies, and actions. 🆕 Marketing Strategy Practice: led by Mel Johnson, a B2B marketing leader with 15+ years of experience in corporate and product marketing for software and digital health companies, Mel and the team will ensure that marketing is recognized as a growth engine rather than a cost center.   In the world of professional consultancies, the need to drive service innovation, increase the value of client deliveries, and help clients achieve their most critical priorities has never been more important. The formation of these new practices is significant, and I couldn't be more proud of our team for all the hard work.    The links for the announcement and Tim’s post are included in the comment section. We look forward to partnering with more marketers and communicators to tackle their key challenges and drive growth. Let’s change the 27%. 

28

4 Comments

Planning your marketing budget for 2026? Don't forget to factor in thought leadership. Work with a PR pro to develop content by collaborating with your thought leaders to ghostwrite contributed articles, blog posts and more. Thought leadership isn't new, but it IS getting more attention. Why? 🔹 It's now ranked as the third most important decision driver for buyers (up from ranking 20th in the previous year) 🔹 73% say that an organization’s thought-leadership content is a more trustworthy way to assess capabilities versus marketing materials 🔹 More than half (54%) of buyers surveyed said a solution provider “that consistently produces high-quality thought-leadership content has prompted them to research the organization’s offers or capabilities” Having a dedicated resource to manage an ongoing program consistently - versus a one-off effort here and there - can yield bigger benefits in terms of visibility and sales. Public relations practitioners are often experienced in not only interviewing thought leaders and writing the content, but also placing it as earned media in publications like industry trade journals. We know that this helps position B2B companies as experts in their space, and it's also an essential factor in whether they'll appear in search results (be it traditional SEO or AI-driven search/GEO). So, don't put it off. If you haven't started dedicating time and resources to a consistent, ongoing thought leadership effort, 2026 can be the year you kick it off and begin to see the benefits. #B2BPR #ThoughtLeadership

30

7 Comments