B2B Marketing Blog

Before the internet, marketing would “fish” for new customers much like deep sea fishing. Get out to the deep water, get the right bait for the fish you’re trying to catch set your line out and wait. You feel the rod jerk, set the hook and reel em’ in. As my grandfather would say, through billows of cigar smoke as I forlornly watched my still rod on his boat anchored off some shoal in Atlantic waters… “you need to have patience”.

The internet has now changed the game of fishing for customers from deep sea fishing to fly fishing in a mountain stream for willey cutthroat trout. (more…)

Yahoo’s stock jumped 50% on Friday’s announcement that Microsoft has made a 41 billion dollar offer on the number two search engine. That is great news if you have your money in Yahoo stock but don’t pull your marketing dollars out of Google just yet. Google is the number one search engine and even if Yahoo and MSN combined their total search traffic they would still be a distant second. (more…)

As media director part of my responsibility is to research appropriate advertising outlets for our B2B advertising clients. Seems straightforward and it is. But what continues to amaze me is the lack of foresight by B2B publications and outlets. Many still don’t get it. They are clinging desperately to the old model, the old way of doing things, and at times, it is maddening.

Over the last week or so, I have been researching online outlets for a specific client request. My Internet travels took me to many places, some better than others. Many of the sites have a good grasp of how to allow access to rate information to people like me. They require some kind of registration, easy enough.

Others insist on offering a simple email address to write for information. Even more offer just a phone number (whatever that is). Apparently, I must speak with a sales rep. Not really a big deal, except the sales team almost never responds in a timely fashion.

The point? Instead of allowing me access to rates so I can continue to consider their site, I am at the mercy of the ad rep to get back to me. Unfortunately, their window of opportunity is closing. They have lost the advantage. More importantly, they fail to see the advantage. Too bad, too, because some of the sites had promise.

According to BtoB’s “2008 Marketing Priorities and Plans” survey, 60.1% of marketers plan to increase their overall marketing budgets next year… the biggest growth area??? Web site development… (more…)

How important is new media? The fact is most executives are still spending more of their budget in old media. In fact, 45% of them allocate less than 10% on new media. So says a survey from Gundersen Partners.

Is that a true picture of the reality B2B marketing executives must deal with today? One glimpse at the wafer-thin thickness of any trade journal and you get a different picture

A survey of chemical industry buyers conducted by Schubert Communications provides another glimpse of what’s real today. True enough, the Schubert survey collaborates that 78% of the responders say they reference old media for information on new products, while 60% reference the Internet and 53% reference company Web sites. Have we reached a tipping point? You decide.

FACT: Today a B2B company has to deliver their message to markets in the form of and through media the buyers prefer. So that puts a great deal of pressure on marketing to optimize their Web site, search opportunities, and web publication of their information content.

“Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear” - Frank Luntz

Is a rose as sweet by any other name? Apparently not, according to Frank Luntz in his blockbuster book. From electing Presidents to garnering support for Social Security reform to gaining advocacy for the Oil & Gas Industry or for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Luntz has tested the words that work and the ones that don’t in politics, in labor relations and in industry.

Luntz doesn’t talk generalities; he gives you the numbers. For example, 17% more Americans favor eliminating the “Death Tax” than favor eliminating the “Inheritance Tax” – even though they are the same thing. Luntz shows how industries have rebranded themselves by changing their names: from gambling to gaming, liquor to spirits and banks to credit unions. Even Newt Gingrich relies on Frank’s Ten Rules of Effective Language to get his message through.

As marketing communicators, can we ignore these realities? Read “Words that Work.” Then you decide.

What ROI are you getting for your marketing bucks? 

The book, “Your Marketing Sucks,” really puts it to you. Author Mark Stevens doesn’t mince words. He’s a slick New York ad agency guy who’s not shy about getting to his key point: “If you aren’t getting a known ROI on your marketing bucks…your marketing sucks.”

Admittedly, the author is not a B2B marketing specialist. Yet a good portion of what he’s pushing makes sense for all of us. Stevens claims traditional agencies offer “lazy marketing,” which is marketing done with no strategy to increase sales or business profitability.

In our view, once you get past the outrageous title, the book is well worth the read. “Your Marketing Sucks” urges you to expect more, demand more and so get more for every marketing dollar you spend. Now that’s an idea that certainly doesn’t suck.

You’ve heard the 50 year old quote “Half of our advertising is working. We just don’t know which half.” Yet, it’s astonishing how many CEOs at B2B companies still accept vague marketing performance as a fact of life.

Batting 500 may be great in baseball, but not in marketing or sales. CEOs have to demand that every marketing activity has a measurable ROI. No more strikeouts. No more pop ups. Marketing objectives like branding and positioning are simply a means to an end. The true measure of marketing success has to be sales success. 

In today’s Internet-enabled world marketing has to be held accountable. Why? Because B2B buyers have changed. They no longer wait for sales people to inform them about products. They are more independent. According a July 2007 survey of buyers in the chemical industry, less than 28% said they rely on sales people for information on new products. Buyers are out there on the web beginning the buying process long before your sales people call. Without marketing, you will be left on the bench. So be aware. Be demanding. Be a winner.

Marketing pieces (adveritising, direct mail, brochures, web sites) are supposed to be relationship starters. They grab attention, communicate your sales proposition to buyers, and drive buyers to take action. They motivate buyers to check out your web site or call you for a demonstration. In short, they produce sales leads and make it easier for your sales team to win business. Or do they? I have found that more often they do none of those things. (more…)

As we enter another planning and budgeting season many marketers are evaluating what they’ve done this year and what they should do for next year. The question often posed is “how much should my marketing budget be next year?” This can also be prompted by the direct request of senior management who needs “your budget number” to fit into the marketing line item space of their overall plan. There is no simple accurate answer to this question.

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