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The Consumer Blockchain: Is It an Enabler of Business Growth?

Blockchain is the underlying technology of Web3 and can fundamentally change how an organization manages identity, data, brand, copyrights, and digital assets. Businesses must understand the latest consumer behavior and culture to implement blockchain successfully. Jakob Hansen, CEO of the Nordic Blockchain Association (NBA), walks us through the recent developments of blockchain technology, its role in enhancing security and trust, new innovations to expect in the next few years, and more.  

*This article is a recap of our interview with Jakob Hansen at the session, The Consumer Blockchain: Is It Time for the Next Evolution of Digital Enterprises and Brands? 

 
Jakob Hansen is a renowned venture catalyst and business catapult across the Nordics and North American technology start-up ecosystem with vast international experience in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Bay Area. He is currently the CEO of the Nordic Blockchain Association (NBA), a non-profit organization that helps companies and universities understand and explore the technology.
 

What should business leaders know before investing in blockchain technology?

The most important part is to understand the principle behind the project. We have got a great science-based blockchain in the Nordics called Concordium, where one of their key attributes is to simplify building an identity layer into a protocol. There are other protocols where high transaction volumes are extremely important. If you are working in TradeFI or financial institutions, you would want to work with a tool with a lot of speed. It’s important to identify what you want to create. First, the protocol layer and then the middleware or the ecosystem around it. Often, you are not trying to create a standalone system, you maybe need a wallet provider and security provider.  

 

Do you see the perception of blockchain becoming more positive?

I think it’s extremely important to distinguish between blockchain and fraud and TradeFi in general. That’s often done with cryptocurrencies. It’s when a company takes a token, lists it publicly, and trades with it. For me, that’s a trading issue and has nothing to do with blockchain technology. 

Transparency is an inherent part of blockchain that solves many fraud issues.  

I think it’s good that there’s been a lot of dialogue about these issues as it brought awareness to blockchain technology. That’s just a gateway into what the technology can provide. The NBA focuses on what the technology can do for businesses and for the world. 

 

How can blockchain enhance security and trust in applications and systems?

A blockchain process that businesses can put into place right now is product authentication. It provides good security for consumers. Blockchain enables authentication, supply chain visibility, product transparency, and warrant management. Brand loyalty is not the same as it was 10 years ago. Now trust is built on transparency.  

This is especially true for upcoming brands where customers need to figure out whether or not to trust them. Being able to scan a QR code to see the product’s entire supply chain to verify if everything the business claims is true, especially with a business’ sustainability practices, is useful. Imagine if you have a retail product that has been certified, how will consumers know for sure? There are many offline processes to ensure customers can trust a certain certification and is very time-consuming. In a fast consumer space, I think instant and fast verification would ease a consumer’s buying behavior.  

In addition, data security is extremely important, especially in the healthcare industry. Think about all the data that we are giving away. In Denmark, we have an amazing public healthcare system but I still have to provide sensitive information to both private clinics and insurance companies. There is a great project that is already live in South Korea. Basically, you put down your data on the blockchain, and only you have a private key to unlock that data. That means other parties can have your data but not read it.   

Also, a smart contract is a business process in that you can wrap a digital lock around it and put it into motion when certain conditions are met. Smart contracts could optimize businesses tremendously. 

 

What are the key steps businesses must take to facilitate consumers in blockchain?

This is dependent on the company and its consumers. Think about what smart contracts and blockchain can do with customer login data. Both technologies can offer customers a digital wallet with their login credentials. Personally, one of my digital wallets is in a Chrome extension and I use that to sign into Web3 companies. For example, companies can offer customers private digital logins or digital wallets that give them access to certain features. They can also charge a fee if customers want to access more. This allows businesses to interact with customers in a transparent way and opens up a variety of new business models. 

 
Dive into the latest trends and technologies impacting business leaders in the Business Buzz Outlook series. View upcoming sessions here.
 

Can blockchain reduce business costs?

Without a doubt. For example, I was part of a project where we tried to implement blockchain within the supply chain. However, it took some time for the suppliers to accept and learn it because it was a new technology platform. There are also initial implementation costs. From a supply chain perspective, implementation is quite fast if you control the whole supply chain. If you have smart contracts, you can agree on what needs to happen. You can do a consensus within your operations, which can be an expense claim from an auditor.   

I also did a lot of employment reimbursement. With smart contracts, you can set approval settings. You can authenticate it from an audit perspective, just think about the transparency that you have if you are doing transactions online. If you can implement that into your internal processes, you can save a lot of time. You can also have cross-border transactions, instant settlements, and more.  

 

What is your advice for business leaders who don’t know where to start with blockchain implementation?

Identify your purpose and why your business wants to work with blockchain. Is it to generate more revenue or become more cost-efficient? The tough part is that it’s a learning game where you need to cooperate. Blockchain is made on transparency and cooperation. I always say, “work together until lunch, compete in the afternoon.” Don’t try to solve problems by yourself.  I’m sure you have a sparring group within your industry so try to team up with them.  

Blockchain is a technology where you can create an infrastructure, and then you can compete on top of it. I would keep on being curious, and if you are not aware yet, ask around what the best use cases are. Organizations like the NBA are here to help. I know that you want to present a very clear plan to your superior or want to be very certain about a strategy. But with blockchain, being open-minded and asking for advice is the right way to go about it. 

 

Where are we now with the development of Web3?

Web3 is not defined yet, we are still in the learning phase. Also, Web3 is not only blockchain but AI and other tech as well. If we’re looking at the blockchain aspect of it, there are a lot of really good use cases coming up. Even though there is talk of a bad market or crypto winter, we don’t focus on that in the ecosystem. We must distinguish between blockchain and Web3.  

The way that I like to articulate blockchain is simple. It’s transparency, traceability, and trust.  

My passion for blockchain started when I was an auditor because I was tired of old receipts. Now I know there’s a ledger, I don’t need to spend time on paper receipts. Over the last few years, many people have jumped on the blockchain bandwagon. A number of large corporations already have a clear strategy for blockchain implementation. How it should start is to identify the need in the organization, from a shareholder perspective as well as a KPI perspective.  

 

What innovations can we expect in 2023?

We have talked a lot about data protection, and I think that will continue. Blockchain allows consumers to feel comfortable that their data and online presence are secure. 

Next, sustainability and traceability. My personal belief is that we are seeing a huge consumer wave in verifying that companies are acting transparently and complying with the UN’s sustainability goals. Transparency is going to be one of the big drivers that blockchain will be a huge part of. This goes back to what I said earlier about product authentication, supply chain visibility, and product transparency. Also, the Metaverse is going to keep on expanding and create a lot of revenue opportunities. Security and transparency are also key factors here. 

 

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

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ChatGPT: Does it Pose More Opportunities or Threats to Businesses?

The generative AI tool ChatGPT has gained exponential interest and concern in equal measure since it launched in November 2022. Reaching 1 million users in just five days, ChatGPT is expected to bring its pioneer OpenAI $200 million by the end of the year. Before businesses jump on the ChatGPT bandwagon, it’s important to understand the opportunities and risks the tool presents, as well as its ethical considerations and limitations.  

In this exclusive interview, futurist and thought leader Gerd Leonhard shares his thoughts on ChatGPT and gives sound advice to business leaders on how to leverage and manage this emerging iteration of AI.  

*This article is a recap of our interview with Gerd Leonhard at the session, Unleashing the Power of ChatGPT: What Does It Really Mean for Business Transformation?  

 
Gerd Leonhard is a renowned futurist and thought leader. He was named one of Wired’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Europe and ‘one of the leading media futurists in the World’ by The Wall Street Journal. He is widely regarded as a global influencer and has advised business leaders from Fortune 500 companies as well as government officials and NGOs. .
 

What is ChatGPT and what are its limitations?

It’s a language learning model, an AI software that looks for patterns and clues on how to answer a question by looking at millions of statements that are related to the question. Of course, language models and AI have been around for 20 years with deep learning and machine learning. But the fact is that OpenAI decided to release ChatGPT to the public, creating a moon landing moment. ChatGPT is Sputnik, and the people on the moon are Bing and Google trying to integrate it. So, it’s a big deal for many reasons. I think it has great potential but also grave concerns like every big technology.  

However, ChatGPT isn’t going to be like the Metaverse, cryptocurrency, or blockchain. It’s a real game-changing moment and something we should be looking at across the board. 

 

Will ChatGPT replace existing search engines?

Search engines have been integrating ChatGPT gradually. For example, You.com and Bing, and Google soon — in the sense of having an optional chat bar. But we have to be careful of the relevance of those answers and fact check – which ChatGPT can’t do in a meaningful way currently. AI is a tool that we have to remain skeptical of. To paraphrase Kevin Kelly, “humans are for questions, machines are for answers.” I think that is so true. In this case, we should not be overestimating the truth and the validity of the answer.  

I think the key problem is that it’s so tempting. ChatGPT may turn into a huge laziness machine if we are not careful. With OpenAI’s recent partnership with Microsoft, we can expect fast development but it’s not going to replace search engines. Something to keep in mind is that humans make decisions by looking at a decision tree, images, and feelings.  

AI knows nothing about real life, it only knows data life. So, we should remain careful as to how much we rely on AI.  

 
Dive into the latest trends and technologies impacting business leaders in the Business Buzz Outlook series. View upcoming sessions here.
 

What opportunities does ChatGPT present to businesses?

At this point, it’s at a very early stage at the commercial level. It’s not scalable. It’s not real-time. It does not have ethical guardrails. I think it’s far away from large-scale commercial use.  

There’s an old saying that goes, “one machine can replace 100 ordinary workers, but no machine can replace one extraordinary worker.” A person using generative AI will beat a person without it. The tool alone won’t beat anybody.  

It will be the same for businesses. If you don’t use these tools to become faster, smarter, and more efficient, you’re going to get left behind. I’ve said this for a long time, but whatever can be automated, digitized, robotized, virtualized, and chatbot-ized; will be. That has a significant impact on our structure, companies, profit margins, and so on. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to be out of work. Instead, AI frees up my time to do more meaningful work. So far, ChatGPT presents opportunities to the finance, customer service, and airline industries. 

 

Do you think jobs will be lost to ChatGPT?

Technology needs to be used in a wise way. Look at call centers for example, I think 90% of those jobs will be automated but there will still be a need for supervisors. But yes, it will have an impact on routine jobs.  

If you work like a robot, a robot will take your job.  

If you learn like a robot, you’ll never have a job or you end up working for the robots. Think of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the same is true for jobs. The lowest level is data, information, and simple binary law knowledge. Machines have an unlimited repository of knowledge, and this will be clear by 2030. We are moving to the next level of work which is about tacit knowledge, quiet knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and purpose. There are plenty of jobs there. Also, I think if you’re going to save 50% of operating money using AI, that money needs to be put back to create possibilities of re-education and reskilling.  

 

Can ChatGPT measure specific outcomes in terms of customer satisfaction?

I think it could do that well. Imagine feeding all your data into an internal version of ChatGPT. You could ask intelligent questions like, “Do customers really like this product?” It could yield some results that are astonishing. Of course, data security and safety are issues here. In addition, a lot of data that humans use is not data that machines get. So, I think we need to be using it for trivial work. For example, travel agencies can utilize ChatGPT to figure out where their customers most likely want to go. From there, they can create a web page with that offering, alter codes on existing web pages, and more.  

 

How can ChatGPT be used to generate creative and engaging content for marketing and sales purposes?

There’s a great article by The Atlantic about how prompting AI is becoming a skill. Prompting means giving the right commands but if you drill deeper and ask, more complex questions, you will get more complex answers. So, you need to be good at prompting. One thing businesses can try immediately is to prompt their own products. You can ask how customers are receiving the product, what they don’t like about the product and more.  

However, keep in mind that it’s not real-time as ChatGPT’s database stops in 2021. That is one of the great confusions about ChatGPT and generative AI in general. I don’t think it’s possible to make it real-time. Because real-time is an infinite universe with data doubling every two weeks. That is where search engines have an advantage over generative AI.  

 

What is your advice to business leaders who want to implement ChatGPT in their businesses?

Firstly, experiment and try everything but be careful at the same time. For example, many companies thought that social media marketing could replace all marketing activities and save them money. Turns out that wasn’t true. Social media is expensive. So, you’re not going to save money because of this tool, you’re probably going to save some time. Appoint someone to oversee this and go for low-hanging fruits. For instance, explore bots for customer service and microsites. 

Secondly, we should embrace technology but not become technology.  

We should establish clear borders as to what it’s good for what it’s not. You don’t want to risk losing the trust of your customers. Too much of a good thing can be bad, and that is true with technology. Too much technology can really make a mess in your organization and customer communication.  

 

*The interview has been edited for length and clarity.  

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H&M Group’s Data Mesh Journey: From Ideation to Implementation

Data mesh was coined by tech leader Zhamak Dehghani in 2019 to refer to an agile, domain-based approach to setting up data architecture. As organizations become more data-driven, it’s time for IT and digital leaders to explore data mesh and its advantages. Erik Helou, the former Lead Architect at H&M Group, shares pertinent insights on how the organization utilizes data mesh, its benefits, and the challenges encountered during implementation.  

*This article is a recap of Erik Helou’s presentation at the session, Decentralized Approach to Becoming an Agile Business. 

 

Why H&M Group Adopted Data Mesh

H&M Group found itself in the same spot as many organizations, experiencing many iterations of data platforms, ways of working with data, and centralized teams. “In those days, we spent four or five years on new AI efforts, working with data in different ways,” Helou explains. H&M Group’s data systems eventually had to scale with the organization’s growth, and data mesh enabled that.  

Data mesh addressed the following needs: 

  • An accelerated growth of data: “The organization experienced accelerated growth of data, resulting in the need to use data in newer and faster ways.” 
  • A rapidly changing industry that pushed demand to scale AI and data: “The industry was changing as our company was evolving. We needed to onboard, facilitate, and make use of data capabilities at a scale and speed we hadn’t seen before.” 
  • Business knowledge ownership inhibited growth: “A big thing that inhibited growth and expansion in the data space was how to scale and manage business knowledge ownership of the data; and the ways of interpreting the data.” 
  • Business tech organizations move towards product centricity: “We saw a shift towards product centricity in the business development and technology departments, rather than the usual IT delivery way of operating.” 
 

H&M Group’s Interpretation of Data Mesh

H&M Group was drawn to data mesh, and more specifically, the distributed domain model because it solved many of the organization’s pain points. “The idea of this model is to define a map of your business in domains, subdomains, and data products,” Helou explains.  

“In a typical retail case, you would have the business data domain of sales, which is a difficult source-aligned product domain. All source-aligned data domain products should be the most correct and easy-to-use window into the operational business. That way, anyone in the company who needs the data view on insights, discovery, or operational software development knows where to go.”  

Helou explains that data mesh creates an official domain of data products that work well together. There is also a team behind them that the staff can contact to guarantee the operational qualities of that data. “It’s easy to find your way in a data mesh that represents the entire company’s activities,” he adds.  

Next are the aggregate products or the consumer-aligned products, which are refined or engineered products that transform operational business data for different purposes. Consumer-aligned products focus on specific needs in the business. In addition, the aggregate is a typical customer 360 product that takes information from a number of data products with a wealth of business knowledge into something more refined that can be used by people or systems.  

 

The Four Pillars of Data Mesh

  1. Domain-oriented ownership: This enables the distribution of ownership, development, and maintenance of hundreds of data products in an enterprise like H&M Group. Employees need to understand their domain ownership and data product ownership. “That’s the operational model and culture that needs to be established in the organization,” Helou says.  
  2. Data as a product: “Teams supply their data products to present what happens in the business domain they are responsible for. They serve that to themselves and to the rest of the company as an important asset.” 

To make that happen in a structured and sustainable way, there are technological tools that need to be in place: 

  1. Self-service data platform: “This is so we don’t have 200 product teams purchasing software and designing things in completely different ways. There’s a lot to gain in terms of costs and interoperability between different products if they can be on the same platform and use the same tools.” 
  2. Federated computational governance: This is important for the sustainability, compliance, and quality of H&M Group’s data products. “It’s things from the legal parts to logging to data quality to discoverability. You have one catalog where you can browse, discover, and understand the data assets you have rather than browsing through a big database.” 
 
Discover the latest developments in the data world in Aurora Live’s Executive Insights sessions. Learn more.
 

Features of the Data Mesh Approach

  • Enable all teams to autonomously ingest, share, refine, and consume data: “The autonomous way of working was the most important thing for us. The self-service data platform is key to distributing the work. We wanted all new and existing data product teams to be enabled on their own without too much dependency on bottlenecks, like how data engineering teams used to be in a data warehouse space. Everyone should be able to find and consume that data autonomously rather than asking for permission or knowledge. It needs to be self-explanatory and as automated as possible.” 
  • Provide a self-service UI based on standardized infrastructure, modules, and platforms: Data products are shared through friendly UI which provides standardized infrastructure components. “You should be able to create the infrastructure and data pipelines on top of what’s already there for an entire company. Any additional platforms or modules that you need go through the Self-Service UI.” 
  • Provide monitoring, logging, and alerting: As a background capability for the self-service UI, data mesh provides standard monitoring, logging, and alerting systems to maintain consistency among product teams, as well as ensure data quality and operational quality. 
 

Data Centralization is Key

“We want to stay clear of centralizing too much to reduce bottlenecking. Central engineering in data warehousing teams needed to do everything for all the source systems to be represented in the data warehouse. Business teams had to go through the heavily loaded, bottleneck engineering team. Data mesh allows us to get away from that,” Helou says.  

What H&M Group centralizes:  

  • Ensure a holistic one-stop-shop data use experience: “This is the data catalog we need to offer centrally because it has to be federated. Everything needs to be collected in one place.” 
  • Apply governance to all aspects: “We need to centralize the governance, legal aspects, security, compliance, and data quality.” 
  • Establish reusable accelerators and toolkits: “These are the building blocks for all the product teams to establish their data pipelines. That way, the teams don’t have to build specific tools because they cost a lot of time and risk. This makes it easy to fix bugs across a lot large number of data products at the same time.” 
  • Create schema, contract, and landscape fundamentals: “We need also to centralize hygiene factors like schemas, data contracts, and landscape fundamentals to enable stable and trustworthy operations at this scale and manage changes in the integration points.” 
  • Massive communication effort: “The central team needs to continuously talk about how we use data mesh and why we use it.” 
  • Documentation is key: “We need to centralize documentation describing the many data products we offer.” 
 

Data Mesh Lessons and Challenges

  • Mindset shift and upskilling of employees: “It’s a cultural thing to distribute the ownership of data creation, data knowledge, and data use in this way, which is something that is very attractive for a lot of people. But it’s still a big shift and we need to educate each other on how the organization uses data mesh. There will be upskilling, and the addition of new technical tools.” 
  • Decentralize technology (no central DevOps): “The decentralization of technological systems to find the right balance on what to centralize and decentralize.” 
  • Architectural and technological change: “It has an impact on the entire data landscape on how things work in the operational backbone and how data flows.” 
  • Manage legacy platform deprecation: “We need to take legacy into account. There are many well-functioning data solutions for reporting analytics that have to keep running. But we also have to steer our investments towards data mesh products and find our transition from legacy systems to this new platform.” 
  • Onboard key data procedures early: “It’s important to onboard key data early and find a handful of data sets early that enable teams to migrate from legacy data solutions to the data mesh reality.”  
  • Focus on business priorities: “What’s your strongest business case, either that you need to keep operating or something completely new? What data needs to be there? Then, you can get business stakeholders to buy in and find experts that can guide you to create those data product teams.” 
 

The Future of Data Mesh at H&M Group

“In the long run, we hope to gain agility and autonomy. As an online retail business, we need to keep scaling fast and adapt quickly to changes in the business world. We also need to get rid of any bottlenecks in this data expansion. Data mesh provides a strong foundation to enable innovation around data. It allows business analysts to uncover new potential, insights, and value propositions. It also lays the foundation for us to continue growing in the digital era and in the data-centric way of working.” 

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B2B Marketing in a Recession: 3 Value-Creating Strategies

In a trying economic environment, B2B marketers must work harder to prove that their marketing efforts are not just costs, but critical components that determine the survival of their organizations. Gartner’s chief of research, Ewan McIntyre advises, “The current environment demands a relentless focus on customer value, purposeful evolution of the marketing function, and continual optimization of brand value.”  

Here are three value-creating strategies B2B marketers can adopt during an economic downturn.  

 

1. Invest in brand-building initiatives

Brand awareness should never be neglected in any marketing strategy, especially during unstable economic times. In fact, brands that shine during a recession lay the foundation for business growth when the economy eventually stabilizes. Therefore, companies should take the opportunity to make a name for themselves during an economic downturn. Studies also show that recessions produce 47% more up-and-coming brands compared to periods of stability (Bain and Capital).  

Companies with strong branding inch closer to being top-of-mind solutions for potential customers, making it easier for sales professionals to strike up a conversation with them. In addition, it’s vital that B2B marketers stay on top of brand-oriented metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, search volume, impressions, and click-through rates to prove the ROI of their brand awareness strategies.  

Several ways to ramp up branding include:  

  • Increasing digital presence on social media platforms, websites, email marketing, and more.  
  • Pumping out content such as case studies, solution guides, and product demo videos, as well as SEO-friendly articles and website copy.  
  • Attending webinars and in-person B2B networking events as a host or guest. 

Increased brand awareness can result in significant returns over time. For example, Cenareo, a French digital signage technology provider, drove a pipeline of 180k EUR in just one month by pushing out brand-building content and running creative campaigns on social media. 

 
ME Matchmaking offers coveted branding opportunities during virtual and in-person events that are popular among C-level decision-makers. Learn more.
 

2. Explore strategic lead generation tools and services

The possibility of a recession places B2B marketers under a lot of pressure to prove the ROMI of lead generation investments. Searching for top-of-the-funnel leads is much harder in a weak economy as changing market conditions result in shifting budget priorities among B2B customers.  

B2B marketers must conduct a fresh analysis of existing buyer personas and target groups, and update spending habits and customer dynamics accordingly. This data is valuable as it can be utilized to identify gaps in current lead generation activities.  

With 44% of sales professionals citing poor lead quality as one of their biggest challenges (Verse), B2B marketers need to invest in strategic tools that work efficiently and proactively in generating pre-qualified leads. 

A strategic lead generation tool can:  

  • Carry out time-consuming tasks of searching and qualifying leads. 
  • Identify strong leads who are experiencing pain points that their product or service can solve.  
  • Free up the time for sales professionals so they can focus on having valuable conversations and following up with leads, potentially shortening the sales cycle.  

For instance, enterprise IT company Pure Storage utilized the lead generation service by ME Matchmaking to connect with the right decision-makers and secured follow-up meetings with 75% of those prospects.  

 
With ME Matchmaking, sales professionals can have 1-to-1 virtual meetings with decision-makers all year round. Learn more.
 

3. Deepen relationships with existing clients

Customer retention is essential to stay afloat during a recession as B2B buyers re-evaluate their investments and search for more cost-effective alternatives. Therefore, it is imperative that B2B marketers build rapport with existing clients to deepen business relationships. Studies show that existing customers are 50% more likely to purchase new products and spend an average of 31% more than new customers (Forbes). 

B2B marketers can strengthen professional relationships with current customers through: 

  • Personalized emails and social media posts that address the challenges brought by the weak economy.  
  • Tailored content such as blog posts, newsletters, and reports about customer needs and challenges. 

They can also:  

  • Offer more flexible product packages and payment plans.  
  • Catch up with existing customers at in-person industry events and social gatherings.  

In addition, a 5% increase in customer retention can produce more than a 25% increase in profit (Bain and Company) along with higher customer satisfaction scores. For instance, German building materials company HeidelbergCement received a 70% response rate on its surveys after rolling out a customer retention program focusing on strong follow-ups. Representatives set up personalized phone calls with detractors and passive customers to discuss and address their challenges, as well as come up with solutions to win back their loyalty.  

 

B2B marketers have zero cents to waste during an economic downturn. Therefore, they must adjust lead generation strategies and allocate budgets intentionally, while shifting their focus towards brand-building and customer retention.  

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4 Ways to Generate High-Quality Leads in B2B Marketing

Quality lead generation is the top goal of approximately 79% of marketers worldwide, according to eMarketer. HubSpot found that the best approaches for B2B lead generation include search engine optimization (14%), email marketing (13%), and social media outreach (12%). Other valuable methods are networking events, trade shows, and industry-specific panels and forums.  

However, about 19% of marketers find lead generation very challenging (LeadG2) while only 10% say they are consistently effective at generating leads (Invisible Technologies). Ultimately, the quality of the leads you generate via those channels is what determines positive outcomes. With good leads – and an effective pitch during a one-to-one meeting – you’re closing deals and driving profits up.  

We walk you through several B2B marketing strategies that can generate high-quality leads and improve business outcomes. 

 

1. Expand opportunities at networking events 

 

Networking at industry events is as direct as you can get with lead acquisition. In fact, the Demand Generation Report noted that events are the most effective lead generation strategy, at 68%. Content Marketing Institute also found that marketers believe that live events (19%) and online events (16%) are the best approaches to securing high-quality leads. Chief Marketer found live event specifically to be one of the most effective lead generation strategies at 32%.  

Your prospects are in the same space, and they are already in the mindset of looking for potential solution partners. Whether it’s a convention, industry talks, panel discussions, or even online seminars – your brand presence at these events will build credibility and awareness among your target audience. 

What’s more, you can connect with your audience directly, either in-person or online, which allows you to create a stronger relationship than a typical ad. Participating in network events relevant to your industry and engaging potential clients is a great way to humanize your company and answer any questions they may have on the spot, converting them into leads. It’s a chance to not only increase awareness and trust in your company but also build interest among potential clients. 

 
Fill your leads pipeline and create connections with top decision-makers at exclusive networking events with ME Matchmaking.
 

2. Utilize lead generation partners 

 

An effective and efficient way to generate leads is by engaging lead-generation partners who will do much of the legwork for you, thus enabling your sales teams to focus on perfecting their pitch and closing deals. 

Data storage company Pure Storage faced challenges securing meetings with the right decision makers from enterprise-level and commercial high companies using traditional lead generation tactics such as telemarketing.  

With the help of ME Matchmaking’s lead generation service, the company managed to secure virtual one-on-one meetings with their ideal prospects. The service provided qualifying services and a summary of investment data and target group insight which helped Pure Storage refine its approach when pitching and closing deals.  

Approximately 75% of the introductory meetings resulted in follow-ups. As Pure Storage Field Marketing Manager Nordics, Marwin Kroon, noted, the leads they received were “warmer than usual” and meeting decision-makers directly has reduced the length of their sales cycles.  

 

3. Build social proof 

 

In order to attract and convert leads into customers, you need to show your target group that you know what you’re talking about. Social proof is a powerful tool that can move your buyers along on their journey.  

Whether it’s case studies, informative infographics, free and interactive tools, a magazine, or tutorials – social proof can help potential clients make more thoughtful decisions when investing. After all, B2B buyers tend to be highly analytical and risk averse. They also tend to require multiple signoffs from decision-makers before investing. When your company can provide valuable data about your products and services, and build credibility among your target group, it enables you to funnel better quality leads into your sales pipeline who are ready to invest.  

For example, Method CRM released a video tutorial of their product in their own unique voice and brand identity. The tutorial strikes that precarious balance between humour and professionalism while being informative about exactly what their customers need to know. These tutorials help them stand out amongst their competitors and can channel high quality leads their way. 

 

4. Create optimized content campaigns 

 

Creating content related to your products and services is a growing marketing strategy despite the seemingly oversaturated state of the internet. Content creation is among the top three lead-generation strategies in the US according to Chief Marketer. Companies that are able to fine-tune their content strategy – including search engine optimization – will see favorable results in the form of better B2B leads.  

Your content should be relevant to your target buyers. This can include everything from your specific offerings to industry challenges, trends, and evergreen content which will continue to funnel leads into your pipelines.  

A great example of this is Snack Nation being ranked #1 on Google despite being a niche company that initially targeted only low search volume keywords. Boosting their SEO efforts led to increased traffic to their sites and leads generated via their content.  

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How Group CFOs of NIBE and Signify Are Future-Proofing: “Never Waste a Good Crisis”

The unprecedented crisis over the last few years has thrown global supply chains into further chaos, jeopardizing revenue streams across industries. As organizations scramble to find their way onto stable ground again, future-proofing supply chains have reemerged on the CFO’s agenda with urgency.  

We spoke to Hans Backman and Javier van Engelen about how finance leaders can navigate the continental complexities of the current economic landscape.  

 
Hans Backman has been the Group CFO of NIBE Group since 2011, with prior experience in major companies including Alstom Transport, Plastal Group, and SKF.
Javier van Engelen is the Group CFO and Board Member of Signify
 

How do you plan to protect yourself from disruptions and prepare for the coming year? 

 

HANS: What I’ve seen as a finance manager, looking into the numbers, is an enormous increase in working capital, tying up more money on components and raw materials. But we hope that situation will ease going forward. The price increases we’ve seen are tremendous as well. It’s been a vital role of the finance community within the company to ensure and push for price increases so that we are not stuck.  

Looking forward, we see a new type of price increase coming on the fixed costs side, like utilities and wages. We need to cater to that. Because while the prices of raw materials and components seem to be decreasing a little, it’s escalating on the other side. We need to make sure that we compensate for that with price increases or cost savings. Going forward, keeping decent profitability is very important.  

 

JAVIER: First, we keep on working strongly to lower global dependencies. I think products and sourcing can be more regionalized than globalized. But relooking at our footprint and reducing dependency is not easy because the system of electronics is ingrained in the East, especially in China. It’s going to take years to develop an ecosystem on a different continent.  

Another thing is dual sourcing and taking significant price increases to protect our gross margin as a company. Raw material prices are going down, but labor costs are going up. There is inflation and there is a need to do some hardcore cost savings to protect profitability.  

 

“As I say, never waste a good crisis. We’re going to get stronger from the crisis than when we came into it. So, plan for the worst and hope that things will be better.”

– Javier Engelen 
 

What role does a CFO have within a company? 

 

HANS: We’re part of a team and we need to keep discussions ongoing with our colleagues in finding ways to solve this. Of course, the primary focus of a CFO is to look at the numbers and ensure profitability and a sound financial setup. But that is achieved by cooperating with colleagues in the company. I think the benefit of a CFO role is that you have the possibility to meet different people within the group and be part of several different discussions and highlight the importance of making money. If you do make money, that is when you have the possibility to invest in people, new products, and the business.  

So being active with your colleagues about having a good flow of products and ensuring a decent margin is very important.  

 

JAVIER: The first thing I’ve done in the crisis is to stress the importance of fiduciary responsibility in finance. We are here first and foremost to make accurate records and accurate data on time. In situations like these, I’ve found that it’s extremely important to have one source of data. Because if everyone starts inventing their own numbers, you can’t make decisions. Accurate data available on time increases the speed of decision-making. Without doing that, the rest is no use.  

The bigger role comes in how you influence decisions. There are a couple of things we’ve been trying to do. As the CFO, I think there’s a unique opportunity given to us – it’s a blessing and a curse – that in a crisis, you can bring things together. The first part is making sure we help people anticipate. Some things we couldn’t foresee, like the COVID pandemic. But some, like the supply chain issues, there were early signals. There was an overheating of the economy, and chip manufacturers cut down production. There were things hinting that a problem was coming up.  

What I’ve always advocated is that the typical old finance function was looking backward and reconciling numbers. The new finance function as a business partner has to be much more anticipating – scenario planning. What indicators do you have that will give you certain direction? 

Another thing in a crisis is to provide options. Having a more objective view of the business as a finance person allows you to step back and see that there is more than one option. You always must have a backup because you never know what the world is going to throw at you next. 

One of the key things we’re also leading out of finance in this company is risk assessment. Every year, we do a macroeconomic risk assessment looking forward and we translate that into strategic plans. One of the roles of a CFO is to make sure that the rest of the company doesn’t panic. We can take a step back and make sure there’s more rationality in the business. We have to communicate and make sure people don’t panic. 

 

So, communication is very important. What other qualities make a good CFO and leader? 

 

HANS: The fiduciary responsibilities of course are a basis. But then coming into the communicative part, that is certainly very important. Mirroring what Javier said earlier about numbers, it should be the same across the company. You need to ensure that you have a manual that is agreed upon by everyone and it’s understood. You need to keep it simple and based on common sense.  

We only have four financial targets within the group which are clearly communicated. Below that, we look into certain areas that need focus, but these four financial targets are the same for each company.  

 

“Knowing your numbers and the tools around them is important but being able to communicate and bring the message across is also crucial.”

– Hans Backman 
 

JAVIER: Especially in the current situation, being able to anticipate versus explain. The weight put on a CFO’s shoulders now is more on helping to make business decisions without having lost that fiduciary responsibility. It basically means that we are here to anticipate more than to reconcile, to find solutions more than to control. To do that, we have to challenge existing practices and you only get a license to operate if you understand the business.  

The profile has changed. You have to be able to talk business and be more creative in finding new solutions. You have to bring all the functions together. I often find myself in a mediation role between different departments, bringing them back together on the same page, which means communication and interpersonal management skills in a global company become absolutely important. We have to instill trust in people to believe that we’re doing the right thing. 

 

And collaboration with different C-levels is also crucial and something you have to do more, right? 

 

HANS: Absolutely. We try to keep an open dialogue as much as possible. 

What is also important for us with the empowered structure we have with more or less independent companies is setting clear targets for each company rather than telling them what and how to do it. We tell them what they need to achieve. Of course, we also enable people to communicate with each other and take responsibility for the targets that we set. 

JAVIER: I would echo the same – clear values and key operating principles. I will admit that I also see the drawbacks of what Hans was saying. We have a lot of dispersed KPIs and that sometimes does not help as it drives a more siloed mentality.  

I think it’s important to bring cohesiveness to the company through messaging – clear priorities, strategic planning, and setting frameworks. We should not get into micromanaging how to achieve the set targets, but you can count on the creativity and expertise of people at the lower level to tell you how it can be done.  

 

How do you know that you’re ready for future disruptions? 

 

HANS: You never know about the future, right? Just making plans for the next months is hard enough. We tried to broaden our setup. If we talk about supply chain disruptions, having one partner is not good enough. That also puts more demand on your ERP system. Also, redesigning. Is there more we can do in-house? On top of that, we are beefing up our purchasing department and being more struct with suppliers.  

As Javier mentioned, we are also looking ahead with the numbers, doing forecasts to try and anticipate what’s coming and be prepared. In this lies increased flexibility.  

 

How can CFOs ensure they are future-proofed? 

 

JAVIER: It’s going to be hard because you can’t predict everything. Having said that, one of the best practices I’ve seen, at least in Signify, is the risk assessment process. What I appreciated when I came in was having an annual dialogue with the supervisory board about the risk environment. Starting with a good dialogue at least once a year and taking a step back from the day-to-day business to see what is happening around the world – political tensions, natural catastrophes, labor increases – those are predictable, and you can take those into consideration. The risks are often there but incorporating that into your plans is important.  

So having your finger on the pulse of what’s happening outside of the company, you get some predictability of the future and what core things will impact the company, and what you should pursue. This gives you the agility to adjust for what comes next.  

The second thing is to do regular scenario-planning fire drills. This is easier said than done. But doing drills for cybersecurity or business continuity shows a living situation.  

 

“The name of the game is to anticipate as much as you can and be ready to adjust when course corrections are needed.”

– Javier Engelen