Q3 2012 gold trophy

The “Best Content” series brings you a handful of the most thought-provoking and informative articles and webinars related to technology branding and marketing published over the last quarter, broken down into bite-size pieces for your convenience.

1. Digital Marketing Gets a Boost with Big Data

There’s a whole new ballgame happening in the world of digital marketing. This article from Technorati discusses the rise of ‘big data’ within the world of marketing, with the IDC estimating that by 2020, the total amount of electronically stored data will reach 35 trillion gigabytes. Technology marketing companies must take note of the revolution– by using advanced data analytics tools, marketers can take advantage of the now accessible data to understand how their campaigns are performing as well as tap into overlooked opportunities. 

2. B2B Content Marketing Trends for Tech Marketers

This webinar includes panelists who are writers and thought-leaders within the world of tech marketing, featuring a slideshow presentation as well as a question and answer segment. The webinar is based on a NetProspex report that surveyed 30,000+ members of the B2B technology marketing community on LinkedIn on the state of content marketing. Questions explored include how content marketing results are measured as well as what kind of content is working, and what is not.

3. Tech Marketing Budgets Rising

According to a 2012 CMO Tech Marketing Benchmark Study conducted by the IDC, tech companies will be increasing their marketing budgets by 1.7% this year. The state of tech marketing has fluctuated over the years, which reflects the uncertainty these companies are feeling about the future, as well as a desire to keep up with industry trends. The article discusses the “marketing transformation” that is occurring within the world of tech marketing, as well as what the landscape will look like in the upcoming year.

4. Advisors Fed Up with Mediocre Financial Planning Technology

This article from Financial Planning outlines the insights reported from a survey conducted by Tiburon Strategic Advisors. Overall, the survey shows that advisors are generally unhappy with the current technology offerings available. Tiburon outlines the three main reasons for discontent with the systems- lack of portfolio integration, inconsistency due to modular vs. comprehensive planning, and narrow investment planning tools within financial planning technologies. Read the article.