Today’s Pro Interview features Dafne Orbach, she is the President of NicheMktg and an expert in B2B lead generation programs. Dafne and NicheMktg were recently covered in our post Content Marketing Hotshots, which highlights Canadian companies pushing the boundaries of content marketing.
Pagezii – Dafne, please tell us a bit about yourself.
Dafne – I was born and raised in Buenos Aires. In 2003, I moved to Canada with my young family – my husband and two-year-old son. Today, I’m a proud Canadian, mother of three and the head of NicheMktg. I love to cook and I also devote my time to projects with non-profit organizations.
I have an academic background in Marketing and Communications. From the start of my career, I’ve been involved with technology or technology-related companies. I’ve been in this industry for almost 20 years.
Pagezii – What is NicheMktg?
Dafne – NicheMktg is a marketing firm based in Winnipeg. Our mission is to assist clients in finding their potential customers within global and niche markets. Our clients are B2B companies in the areas of industrial manufacturing, ICT, and science. Through big data analytics, market segmentation, research and strategic marketing we help clients match their technical solutions with prospects that need them.
Pagezii – What techniques do you use for generating new topic ideas for your clients?
Clients don’t run out of new topics to talk about
Dafne – To date, I haven’t come across any client that runs out of new topics to talk about! We work with companies that promote innovation, invest heavily in R&D, and set trends within their own fields.
Considering the audiences we need to reach are sophisticated and skeptical of marketing techniques, we focus on a thought leadership approach. Our clients are industry experts and understand that their products can be used in niche markets. The interests of each niche audience differ from one another, even when selling the same solution. So when we run a new campaign, we encourage our clients to come up with a unique twist.
As for filling up our editorial calendar, we have a tried and tested method that we follow. It includes the client’s expertise, SEO, strategic marketing goals and calls-to-action and our own secret sauce in order to succeed.
Pagezii – What is the best way to promote B2B blogs?
Dafne – We can create the most riveting blog posts but that’s only half of the battle. To win, we need to promote the posts. This can be done with on-page SEO. Then distribution and promotion of the blog post start with social media and drip emails. Additionally, the sales team can add a link to the blog post with their signature, and reference the blog posts in any discussions with the client.
A thought leadership strategy promotes word-of-mouth
A thought leadership strategy promotes word-of-mouth. It’s easier to recommend a solution when you have a link with support information to share with a colleague. Additionally, we see people approaching our clients at trade shows, willing to discuss something they read on a recent blog post. Person-to-person conversations are always the best channel.
Pagezii – What has been the most memorable campaign you’ve worked on?
Dafne – Several campaigns have become memorable, as each presents their own challenges and require unique solutions. We get into new niches every time and every time we connect with a number of leads in sub-markets we had no idea they existed – i.e. ‘Beam Spot Size as a Function of Excitation Levels of Magnetic Quadrupoles’, ‘Disinfection of Hospital Water Supply Systems Post – Construction or Renovation’ or ‘Electromagnetic Sensor Design: Key Considerations when selecting CAE Software’.
One example that comes to mind is a recent lead generation and nurturing campaign, Wireless Control and Monitoring of Agricultural Equipment through ISOBUS, Tablets and Smartphones’ – where we identified over 350 leads. Design engineers working for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other individuals in the field, interested in learning more about these innovative technologies and how they apply to agricultural machinery and related areas.
Thanks to the marketing automation software powering our campaigns, we’re able to target our audience on various demographic, psychographic and industry-specific interests.
Pagezii – What trends in content marketing do you see taking place in 2017?
Dafne – Content marketing has proven effective and has a key role in the buying cycle, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Our most precious asset is the attention we can get from a high-quality lead, as distractions are just a click away.
In 2017, I see marketing teams becoming even more selective about their content marketing tactics – especially in companies with smaller teams. It’s impossible to do everything and still do it well. Without that high-quality standard and a laser-focus strategy, content marketing easily becomes ineffective.
At the same time, sales will continue to work closely together with marketing, eventually converging into a single team, with everyone being measured by the same sales-driven KPIs.
Pagezii – Thank you, Dafne, for your insights into the content marketing.
