This post is a continuation of our interview with Jason Durham, Social Media Director for PacTec.  You can read the first half of our interview with Jason here.

Now, back to the interview:

Ryan: Specifically, what inbound marketing techniques have you used at PacTec to attract leads and which of those have been most successful?

Jason: I am not really a proponent of techniques, or technologies, being more important than the “method to the madness”. I really am a firm believer that the first thing a company has to do is realize their assets. A company should look at the data they have, look at their current market, and develop a plan on how to merge those two together! It’s the strategy right?

That’s what you are killer at doing Ryan. When a company has a plan, it really doesn’t matter what technology they use, however, the right tools makes the difference in the angle of the mountain they have to climb.

When a foundation has been laid on the why, who, and when, a company can discern the content they need to create in order to reach their market. It builds that whole trust thing.

At PacTec, we are the established industry leader in what we do. People know who we are and what we manufacture, and that was through many conjoined efforts company wide, including hardcore outbound marketing. The motivation to use inbound marketing was two fold:

• Establish ourselves as the knowledge leaders of all things dealing with industry we do business with.
• The second was, of course, lead generation.

The optimal technique for us was . . . blogging. Using blogging, landing pages and call-to-actions out the wazoo has been a sick mixture of success for us! We are averaging a ton of unique qualified leads, and the revenue to boot. I will say this though – our web presence has been such an influential part of our success. Most B2B sites are really nothing more than glorified brochures, right? How many companies will actually admit that? We did, and we changed that with a focused push to utilize call-to-actions.

We want the visitor to have every opportunity to get more information, or quote, from anywhere on the site, as well as giving them the ability to connect with us on the big bad daddy’s on the internet(s). You know, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Ryan: Blogs should be a BIG part of a B2B strategy, I agree, and your use of Calls to Action is great.  They are all over.  Let customers decide how they want to contact you.  Make it easy for them in every step of the sales funnel.

What advice would you give B2B companies that haven’t fully committed to inbound marketing to get them off the fence?

Jason: Wow. Great question! I can share with you why we decided to get into the inbound marketing game, if that would be cool?

For us, we have always focused on being “ahead of the curve” of our competitors. I personally had been using social media for years, and started, on my own, to start using social media methods to push our company. I think the turning point for us, as well as many other B2B’s is this – traditional, or outbound, marketing costs were increasing, while the main cost for much of the startup of inbound marketing was sweat equity. It took over a year to convince management and sales of the validity of inbound marketing, but when revenue started to flow from qualified leads, their mindset changed!

I really am convinced that a company has to come to the realization, on their own, that we did. You can’t convince, or influence, someone who doesn’t first want to grow, change, or be successful.

Ryan:  I hear ya.  With Social Media and Inbound Marketing just coming on the scene, people are slow to change, slow to adopt.  So we as marketers have to do what we can to help educate them and convert them to the new methods. 

Now it’s your turn for your 5 minute pitch…why should someone connect with you for your consultation?

Jason:  My five minute pitch is really not a pitch but it’s this . . . buy me a killer cup of coffee and let’s hang out and chew the fat. I know that may make no sense to some, but that really is social media. It’s connecting. It’s socializing. It’s community, right?

I love to talk shop. I love to talk marketing, and when it’s done right, it can help a company be successful. My passion is to see companies become successful in their efforts, and if I can help usher them to that, or even just help them figure out the maze of this crazy internet, man . . . that’s my thing!

So, I guess that’s not really a pitch, but rather a mission statement. I have been blessed with success, and love to share it. I get a buzz out of seeing someone realize that inbound marketing is doable, and that success is attainable, in spite of what they have always known as . . . what they have always done!

Ryan: One last thing…How can someone get in touch with you either on or offline?

Jason: Thanks man for letting me ramble, and I love to connect with people. Anyone can connect with me through these links:

Twitter: @jasondurham and @pactec

Web: www.pactecinc.com and www.jasonmdurham.com

Email: Jason@pactecinc.com and Jason@jasonmdurham.com

Our thanks goes out to Jason for his time for this interview.

If you’d like more info on how he can help you with B2B Inbound Marketing, check him out at the links above.