B2B Marketing Blog

According to “2008 Marketing Priorities and Plans,” the much-heralded report in BtoB Magazine’s December issue, marketing budgets are on their way up. The biggest winners in this marketing lottery are online/interactive media portals, which are likely cheering all the way to the bank (for more information about the online marketing tools poised for the most growth, see Brent Wilson’s post). BtoB marketers are cheering too, and with good reason; interactive media provides a wealth of engaging, innovative ways to reach customers, grow leads, and with the right follow-through, close sales.

I’m as excited to ride the interactive marketing wave as everyone else. As I read the survey summary, though, I was struck by the very last paragraph, which read in part, “The primary marketing goal for 2008 is customer acquisition, followed by brand awareness, customer retention, and other objectives.” That information wasn’t necessarily striking in and of itself, but the placement of the information within the report surprised me.

When did marketing’s actual goals become secondary to the tools used to achieve them?

Being on the cutting edge of interactive marketing media is a key step in projecting a knowledgable, cutting-edge imaging of your company. To ignore the trend is to antiquate the public image that your company has worked so hard for - or, worse, make it obsolete. To acquire new customers, though - apparently the number one concern for 2008 marketers - you need to make your message count. Interactive media moves fast, so the need for strategic messaging that supports long-term lead nurturing is more important than ever.

BtoB marketing media may have changed, but the rules haven’t. Interactive media only helps you reach customers; to make them act, you need strong, hard-hitting messaging that acknowledges their pain points. Helps them overcome their challenges. Teaches them how to operate their businesses more efficiently and effectively. Positions your company is the only company that does what you do as well as you do it. And, most importnatly, messaging that makes customers call your sales team so they can close the deal.

Does your messaging do that? If not, take another look. If you don’t, the interactive marketing wave will be a fun ride, but won’t take you anywhere.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Public Relations, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.