Build skills from the comfort of your couch

Let’s face it; we’ve never had to deal with circumstances like this before. COVID-19 has spread its tentacles across the globe in an alarming way, cutting us off from our friends, families, and colleagues with surprising speed. Like other companies, Demandbase’s marketing team has gone from weekly in-person meetings in Journey, our main conference room, to entirely virtual Zoom-fests. Granted, we have done our level best to keep the energy up and maintain our sense of humor, but it’s still a world away from the usual level of casual chat and informal catch-ups that accompany in-person meetings.

As a marketer, the shelter-in-place ordinances have not only separated us from each other, but we’re also isolated from our target audience of customers and prospects—no more mingling over cocktails at industry conferences or chatting with peers at hosted dinners. We’re experiencing a sudden vacuum of in-person interaction, which everyone is struggling to fill with virtual bonhomie. But we shouldn’t harbor unrealistic expectations; despite our valiant digital efforts, it’s never going to be quite the same as our previous casual connectedness.

Is There a Bright Side to Shelter-In-Place?

I’d argue that there are some compelling ways to compensate for our current limited and lonesome situation. For all the color and vibrancy of in-person events, digital marketing channels now hold the key to success for B2B marketers. It’s worth remembering that we can still reach people at key accounts (arguably at greater scale) despite all the headwinds and social distancing that inhibit us. For example, Russell Martin’s excellent blog post shows how B2B identification and targeting can still be highly effective—Your Target Accounts Are Working From Home? The purpose of this blog is to look at the positives of navigating the work-from-home restrictions as a B2B marketer and finding ways to thrive in the midst of our current limitations.

Shift to Digital Marketing

For one thing, your customers and prospects simply have more time on their hands—time that they are largely spending on digital channels, by the way. Key decision-makers at your target accounts aren’t attending in-person conferences, booking lunch meetings, or planning business travel. While my calendar was a solid block of red for the first fortnight of quarantine, now it has started to level out and I can see some daylight in my schedule. In many ways, you’re now marketing to a captive audience, hungry for content and insight, with few physical distractions to pull them away from your outreach.

Build Skills for Your Future

One positive I see emerging from the shelter-in-place restrictions is the opportunity to build skills now that will benefit your future marketing career. When we finally come out of social hibernation (and I’m not even going to hazard a guess on timing), wouldn’t it be nice to have cultivated a fresh set of marketing skills? Now is the right time to pursue your learning goals and gain core skills that will enhance your career and marketing knowledge for years to come. In that spirit, Demandbase is offering our online ABM Certification courses at no cost through July 31st, 2020. As hard as things are right now, these learning opportunities are 100% upside—if you invest your time wisely!

Ready. Set. Learn.

Don’t be stranded in solitary isolation—make this time count towards your overall career goals.

But where should a B2B marketer look to build skills that will help you to thrive in the new world order? I’ve compiled a list of six top-notch (and totally free) learning resources for any B2B marketer looking to kick-start their marketing credentials and core competencies.

1. Account-Based Marketing

Demandbase is making both our Foundations and Advanced ABM certifications available to everyone, free of charge, from April 20th to July 31st. Even better, we’ll donate $1 for every person that completes ABM certification to United Way.

2. Content Marketing

Coursera is offering a free marketing course titled Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content with Professor Jonah Berger at The University of Pennsylvania. I’m currently working through this course and it comes highly recommended.

3. Social Advertising

With Facebook and Instagram eating the paid social advertising world, you won’t regret investing time in becoming a Facebook Blueprint certified professional and learning the ropes when it comes to running successful paid social advertising campaigns.

4. SEO Skills

Check out this free online training offer from MOZ Academy which includes a dozen on-demand courses to “level up your SEO skill set” using the exceptionally cool promo code “wegotthis”. Nice work, Moz team.

5. Strategic Thinking

LinkedIn Learning is offering a course on Strategic Thinking, which is available on a free 1-month trial. Learn to embrace a strategic thinking mindset, both for yourself and your marketing team, so that it becomes a habitual part of your everyday work routine.

6. Web Analytics

Check out Google Analytics Academy for a useful collection of free online courses that focus on data collection and web analytics so that you can glean insights on your site’s traffic patterns and key conversion events.

Please feel free to add additional learning resources that you can share with the group in the comments section of this blog. I hope you find the learning resources above helpful, and let’s all return to the new normal of work a little smarter and primed for B2B marketing success.