9 B2B Online Marketing Courses to Win at AI and Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence and machine learning weren’t on the agenda in most marketing courses ten or even five years ago.

Nevertheless, AI and machine learning are nearly standard practice these days as part of your business and marketing strategies.

Whether you’re a sales rep, CMO, CEO, manager, or marketer, it’s worthwhile to spend some time learning about how AI works and how you can apply it to your general activities.

Coding AI engines and machine learning systems might seem complicated but using them definitely isn’t. Tools like Hushly are specifically designed to be user-friendly with no need for coding knowledge.

These AI and machine learning courses are perfect for developing the knowledge you need for B2B online marketing applications.

9 B2B Online Marketing Courses to Help You Understand AI and Machine Learning

Below you’ll find a handful of affordable online courses from Google AI, Coursera, and Udemy. Each course is a cost-effective way for C-level employees, marketers, and sales staff to boost their AI understanding without investing in a serious degree.

1. AI Foundations for Everyone

IBM’s AI Foundations for Everyone is a three-course specialization designed to give anyone a better understanding of basic AI and machine learning. This specialization is designed for beginners with no background in technology, so it’s perfect for B2Bs and marketers.

Students learn terminology, use cases, and coding-free applications in three courses:

  • Intro to AI
  • Getting Started with AI
  • Building AI Chatbots without Coding

The whole specialization takes about three months to complete if you devote two hours each week and costs $39 per month.

2. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Introduction to AI is the first course in IBM’s three-course specialization mentioned in the bullet above. However, this course deserves its own attention because it’s brief, generalized, and accessible to everyone.

Like all courses in the specialization, Introduction to AI requires no IT, engineering, coding, programming, or tech experience.

Students learn the basics of AI and machine learning through four modules:

  • What is AI? Definitions and examples
  • Basic AI concepts, terminology, and applications
  • Ethics surrounding the impact of AI on jobs, society, and biases
  • The future of AI and putting use cases into action.

You can finish this course in a single day or eight hours.

3. Google AI Education

As a company on the forefront of AI and machine learning technology, Google offers a wide range of courses, games, interactive content, podcasts, and more.

You can sort resources by your background or experience level. Some resources and courses are specifically designed for business decisionmakers and “curious cats” as Google calls them.

Some courses specifically focus on preparing and managing data for machine learning applications which is especially useful for B2B online marketing.

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Google AI

4. Machine Learning for All

The University of London sponsors this exciting course on AI for beginners.

Creators designed this course for people without backgrounds in mathematics, coding, or engineering. There’s no intro to Python or other types of coding either.

Once finished, you’ll understand how modern machine learning technology works, the importance of high-quality data, and AI’s impact on society.

The course takes 22 hours to complete and charges a flat rate of $49.

5. Machine Learning and Reinforcement Learning for Finance

Anyone in the finance industry might be interested in Machine Learning and Reinforcement Learning for Finance from NYU.

This specialization dives into the basics of using artificial intelligence and ML for stock and options trading. Students can take four courses in succession or each as a standalone to broaden their knowledge of machine learning in finance.

As an intermediate course, only those with a beginner’s background in algebra, programming, and statistics should sign up. 

6. Artificial Intelligence for Business

This course on Udemy is for anyone with a basic high school math education and minimal knowledge in Python.

Students learn about a wide range of use cases of AI and machine learning in business such as optimizing internal processes, increasing efficiency, implementation, and more.

It takes about 15 hours to complete the entire course – perfect for a long weekend.

7. Artificial Intelligence in Digital Marketing

This course is specifically designed for anyone with at least a minimal background in digital marketing, so it’s perfect for B2B online marketing applications. Specifically, content marketers will benefit from this course.

Students learn various ways to incorporate AI into their digital marketing through tactics like content creation, augmented reality, apps, lead generation, influencer marketing, analytics, and more.

As a primer, the entire course only takes less than five hours to complete so you can walk away with practical knowledge in as little as an afternoon.

8. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Business

Billed as the “ultimate” AI and machine learning course for CXOs, managers, and leaders, this course requires no knowledge of programming or AI – just some managerial experience.

You’ll learn practical applications of AI with use cases like human resources, sales, marketing, supply chain management, and more. Individual modules break down AI in various verticals like e-commerce, banking, healthcare, and communications.

As an intro course, students also learn AI and machine learning terminology, limitations, and common programs for creating AI among other important basics.

Although jam-packed with resources, this Udemy course takes less than six hours to complete.

9. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence for Managers

While designed for business managers and not coders, students should have a basic understanding of algorithms and high school mathematics.

This course dives into the technical details of AI and associated machine learning algorithms.

You’ll walk away from the course with an understanding of where to apply AI in your business, what types of algorithms you’ll need, essential programs to use, and potentially what tools you’ll need or who you’ll need to hire.

For the hands-on project, you’ll design and implement a cancer-detecting AI system through Python.

The entire course takes less than two hours to finish and explains coding line-by-line so only minimal knowledge is required.

User-Friendly AI-Driven Marketing Tools Designed for You

Hushly makes it easy for anyone to use artificial intelligence and machine learning in B2B online marketing regardless of their knowledge. Our user-friendly interface lets you personalize your website experience for different segments, accounts, or individuals.

Take your B2B online marketing to the next level with Hushly AI tools.

How to Market B2B Products and Build Relationships in 2020

Your leads and customers expect more these days. B2B decision-makers are young, diverse, and grew up with smartphones, internet access, and automation.

Research shows 42% of millennials working in B2B hold managerial positions while 21% are vice presidents or in C-level roles.

They want fully optimized digital experiences from your B2B company.

At the same time, they also demand human interaction and helpful advice to navigate your industry.

7 Ways to Market B2B Products and Build Meaningful Relationships in 2020

Unfortunately, many B2Bs have not kept up with evolving expectations. Use the tips below to market your B2B products and forge meaningful relationships with both your customers and leads.

1. Develop Helpful and Relevant Content

Content is essential for starting conversations with your audience. Producing content isn’t enough though – you need a dedicated content marketing strategy.

69% of B2Bs with the most successful content have a documented content strategy. However, only 16% of the least successful brands have one.

Research is key to creating effective content that stands out from all the noise out there (and there’s plenty of noise):

  • Long-tail keyword research to answer queries.
  • Reading competitor content to stand out.
  • Analyzing the top-three ranking pieces for each keyword and adding nuance to the discussion.
  • Following relevant subreddits to understand your audience.
  • Following hashtags on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Consistent content can also boost your search engine rankings across the board and increase your chances of website visibility.

2. Give Away Free Trials or Products

Look at Google: one of the most successful companies on the planet. Google offers tons of free – yet extremely useful – products.

Now, you don’t have to follow Google’s lead and open the floodgates. However, it is shrewd to offer free trials so your leads can figure out whether your product is a perfect fit.

Figure out how freebies would work best for your overall strategy. This might include:

  • Free trials (of a week or so) of your full premium product.
  • Free registration and access to limited tools – like SEMrush and BuzzSumo.

At Hushly, we don’t charge anything to add our AI engine to your website. Our customers only pay for genuine leads they collect through our tools – they never pay just to use our platform.

Freebies are vital for showing leads why your product is so valuable. They can read case studies and talk to your sales team all day but there’s nothing quite like trying something for yourself.

3. Harness the Power of Social Selling

Some industries, particularly those in the tech sector, see over 50% of their revenue coming from social selling tactics. Some research says social selling delivers a 57% higher return than traditional tactics too.

social selling

LinkedIn

Social selling isn’t about broadcasting from your company page and waiting for sales to roll in. Instead, focus on using social media for its true purpose: meeting people and having conversations.

That means ditching the cold LinkedIn messages in favor of genuine interactions and questions.

4. Hyper-Personalize Your Website Experience

Research shows nearly half of B2Bs fall short with their personalization efforts. 60% of marketers say they’re not implementing AI or machine learning to improve their website experience.

That’s not ideal because B2Bs expect hyper-personalization.

Instead of sifting through your blog categories and tags to find relevant content, AI should hand-select the most relevant piece of content for each visitor based on behavior.

An adaptive content hub and self-nurturing landing page offer unique solutions. Like Netflix or Amazon, an AI engine uses machine learning to study each visitor’s browsing behavior and provide relevant content. Plus, the AI engine chooses content to gently guide them down the sales funnel.

5. Create Lead Nurturing Email Marketing Campaigns

Aside from self-nurturing landing pages, email marketing is one of the best tools for nurturing B2B leads.

You get a direct line of communication with their inboxes. However, it’s still important to implement AI in your email campaigns as well.

Design personalized lead nurturing campaigns for different accounts, segments, or roles. Each lead should get a unique email series.

Make sure to lead with value here. Focus on highlighting your eBooks, blogs, podcasts, and videos as it fits each subscriber.

6. Take Your SEO Seriously

Search engine optimization is crucial for improving visibility and building an inbound marketing strategy.

No one uses the yellow pages anymore. People type their questions and problems into Google to find answers. Ideally, they should find your content on the first page of results.

Consistent blogging is the best thing you can do to improve your SEO and rankings. Companies with blogs in place enjoy 434% more indexed pages on Google than those that don’t.

Before anything else, however, make sure your website is optimized for mobile browsing. Not only do 70% of all B2B searches happen on mobile devices but Google switched to mobile-first indexing back in 2018. This translates to:

  • Making sure your site loads in less than three seconds.
  • Removing lead magnet forms and gated content.
  • Using CTA buttons instead of hyperlinks.

7. Create an ABM Strategy or Adapt Some Tactics

Account-based marketing isn’t just for landing new leads – it’s also vital for building customer loyalty.

Design custom ABM campaigns for your best clients. This is also a lower-risk way to test your ABM tactics before expanding to new accounts and leads.

Consider ABM tactics like:

  • Peppering company names into your blog posts
  • Developing case studies for similar companies/a target account’s competitors
  • Using LinkedIn’s ABM targeting tools
  • Building targeted social media lists

Companies with ABM strategies generate 208% more revenue than those that don’t, so definitely consider ABM if you haven’t already.

Learn How to Market B2B Products with an AI Engine

Your leads see AI-driven personalized experiences everywhere they go online. From Amazon and Etsy to Spotify and Facebook, machine learning delivers optimized content just for them.

They know the technology exists and they expect the same personalized experience from your B2B website. Adding an AI engine to your site is fast, easy, and creates the experience your leads crave.

Artificial intelligence doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn how Hushly makes it simple and easy.

3 B2B Marketing Ideas to Overhaul Your Results

b2b marketing ideas

With so many B2B marketing ideas out there, it’s tough to know where to begin.

However, if you’re like most B2B marketers, you know it’s definitely time to make some changes. In recent years, competition has heated up among some B2B companies, but many have been left behind because they rely on outdated ideas that no longer produce a reliable ROI.

3 B2B Marketing Ideas to Implement Right Now

If you’d like to shake things up this year and potentially find a brand-new opportunity to completely overhaul the results you’re used to seeing, here are three B2B marketing ideas that are worth trying.

1. Rethink Your Brand Voice

This might not seem like the kind of suggestion that belongs on a list claiming to be the absolute bestB2B marketing ideas, but it’s easily one of the simplest ideas to implement considering its potential for returns.

That’s because it could be your secret weapon for increasing engagement.

The better you’re able to engageyour market, the better allB2B marketing ideas will do. When your brand’s voice sounds bland, uninterested, or just doesn’t exist, you’re standing in your own company’s way when it comes to attracting and converting leads.

Of course, “use an engaging tone” is always good advice. The reason it has the power to overhaul your company’s marketing results is because B2B companies are notoriously boring when it comes to their content.

So, try out a new tone. You can even start with just a single channel first (e.g. social media, email marketing, guest posts on other sites) to be sure you have the right one before spreading it far and wide.

2. Start Becoming the Go-to Industry Authority

There may be no better example of this than HubSpot. Do they make incredible CRM software? Absolutely.

However, a far greater number of people all over the world probably know about HubSpot for their incredible content, which they post multiple times a day.

It means they cast an extremely wide net – most of their readers probably aren’t prospects – but they also absolutely dominatetheir market. The potentially low conversion rate probably doesn’t worry them too much because:

  • They’re still making huge profits
  • They’re keeping their competitors from doing the same

HubSpot still posts plenty of blogs that deal directly with what they have to offer, but the majority of what they publish sets up their company as the most trusted source of information for any business that wants to do well online.

Do the same with your content marketing. Share and comment on industry news. Provide helpful advice that doesn’t involve a pitch for your products or services. Conduct interviews with other authorities. There are countless ways you could go about doing this and it will probably take some experimentation, but once you discover what works best, you’ll enjoy all the benefits that come from being a recognized authority.

3. Implement Some Level of Account-Based Marketing

We’ve covered account-based marketing (ABM) on this blog a lot, but it’s for a very good reason: it works. It works extremely well.

For example, 87% of marketers report that ABM exceeds anything they’ve tried before. This is easily one of the most important B2B marketing ideas in the last 10 years.

Still, it’s a big step to leave behind what your company may have been doing for years – even if your results were never outstanding – to switch over to something that you’ve never tried before.

Fortunately, you can also make the switch piecemeal.

For example, brainstorm with your team about an account you’d absolutely love to have. Don’t name the biggest possible prize you can think of – not yet. For this initial run, just consider a current lead you’d like to convert ASAP, a past client you’d like back, or a company you think would be a good fit that you know is in market.

Then, put together a team of some of your best marketers andsalespeople with the goal of converting them earlier than the timeline you generally see for your funnel.

Whether you succeed or fail, you’ll no doubt see the potential for ABM. You’ll also have learned a lot for improving your second attempt. Then, slowly but surely, you can transition over to harness the power of account-based marketing.

How to Take These B2B Marketing Ideas Even Further

Implement just one of the B2B marketing ideas above, and you’ll be rewarded with more qualified leads who are excited to become clients.

Then, let our software assist with that conversion. Contact us today to see for yourself how we increase conversions for our clients by 51% – guaranteed.