B2B Marketing: A Fresh View on Client Prospecting

B2B Marketing: A Fresh View on Client Prospecting

Published: 06/04/2022
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

It is now clear that the B2B Marketing discipline has yet to reach a “New Normal” and probably will not get there soon. Disruption after disruption shuffles the effectiveness of doing B2B lead generation and client prospecting. Let’s review the market directions and how we should acquire new business clients today.

B2B Marketing Challenges

The marketing field is constantly evolving. What worked yesterday cannot necessarily deliver results today. The key element is to constantly gauge the effectiveness of your marketing strategies and tactics and ADJUST. Let’s take a bird’s eye view and identify first what are the multiple factors that influence marketing for businesses nowadays. Here are the 5 main challenges that are driving a sharp change in B2B Marketing:

Influx of information and buying options – With over 200 million active websites and over 3.5 billion Google searches per day (Internetlivestats), the purchasing decision is becoming more complex every day and the B2B buyers are overwhelmed by the amount of data they need to process and validate. This makes the buying journey complex, non-linear, and thus, involves more decision-makers in the process (see Gartner’s typical buying journey below).

The B2B customer journey is no longer linear or straightforward (Gartner)

Decreasing buyer’s attention span – A recent study by the Technical University of Denmark indicates that the abundance of information is narrowing our collective attention. This does not mean that humans lose concentration after 8 seconds, as was previously suggested. Instead, B2B buyers are now highly selective with their time allocation when it comes to content. Due to their limited resources, they will only focus on high-quality, reliable, and riveting content (Note: We hope that you will reach the end of this blog to learn new ways to conduct business client prospecting).
Low B2B buyer’s trust in vendors – When making a purchase decision, B2B buyers have lots at stake and thus they crave trust. B2B buyers often look to build a relationship with a vendor that instills strong confidence and their deliverables will yield positive business outcomes (i.e., address the challenges their organization faces effectively). Nevertheless, research results from Forrester and Edelman show a widening gap between how B2B clients perceive vendor providers and how vendors grasp their own reputation. See the diagram below regarding your specific industry sector.

The B2B buyer’s trust perception is much lower than how vendors believe their actual trust level.

The loss of physical selling – It is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to give up on the very few in-person marketing interactions that were still viable. Conferences turned into virtual events and sales reps’ meetings are now mostly through chats, video conferencing, or phone (if required). McKinsey & Company demonstrates this change in the below diagram.

70-80% of interactions of B2B sellers are digital (remote or self-serve)

The rise of the millennial buyers – As you might know, the global workforce today consists mostly of the millennials generation (1981-96) workers. Generation X (1965-80) is still occupying some management positions.

Generation millennials and generation Z are shaping the B2B buyer characteristics (NGA/LinkedIn – Anita Lettink)

In just another decade, generation Z (1997-onward) is threatening to take over with millennials being mostly in management positions. Thus, it is critical to understand the unique characteristics of these generations.

For these generations, online search is the first step in researching a B2B solution. Digital interaction is the preferred client prospecting method with an emphasis on convenience and availability. Thus, mobile interaction is taking a stronger part, as it is a speedy way to gain knowledge whether through quality content or interaction with social friends/reviews, not with sales representatives.

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The table below explains the shift in the buyer characteristics (by generation):

Area	Millenials	Generation Z	Trend Impact
Values	Convenience & flexibility	Product quality & availability	Client experience is above other vendor features, including product quality
Purchase	Impulse buying	Browse online and then in-store	Easy and immediate access to vendor data
Device for purchase	Desktop & mobile	Mobile	Unique preferences on how and when they want to interact with vendors during the sales process
Shopping Experience	Personalized & traditional	Customization & crowdsourcing	Expectations for personalized sales and marketing outreach
Social Channels	Facebook & Instagram	Snapchat & Instagram	High reliance on the perspectives of family, friends, and acquaintances

Sources: Pew Research & Direct Objective Consulting

Achieve Growth with Practical Tactics

To address the above challenges we would like to show you how incorporating the correct B2B marketing strategies or lead generation tactics will yield the business growth that you are looking to gain. While the above-listed challenges are interconnected and certain strategies and tactics can address multiple objectives, our exercise below will only demonstrate a few examples of adjusting or adding certain B2B marketing strategies/tactics that in turn will derive a strong impact on your business growth.

Too Much Information Out There – How Can I be Found Out?

Gartner’s research finds that when B2B buyers are considering a purchase, they spend only 17% of that time meeting with potential suppliers. In fact, this is because 33% of all buyers desire a seller-free sales experience – a preference that climbs to 44% for millennials, which is in line with the above McKinsey & Company findings.

How B2B tech buyers split their time during the buying process (Gartner)

When you realize that your website is no longer the center of the world for your potential buyers, it means that your B2B marketing must also invest in external properties so that you will be able to drive back prospective clients to your website. Here are a few ideas to assist you in doing it:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Invest in having your web properties dominate the first page of highly searched key phrases/ keywords. Make sure you are found in the most relevant keywords. Most buyers will not go beyond the second page.
Influencers Marketing – Let industry experts, opinion leaders, and technology analysts recognize the value of your solution. Prospective clients are looking to rely on 3rd party opinions.
User-generated Content – A strategy that would entice or facilitate client involvement in creating content such as increased social media presence, solution reviews, or media coverage about your client’s success will allow potential customers to receive additional confirmations that are external to your website

Replacement of the Physical Selling

As most clients are leaning first toward a seller-free buying environment, B2B marketing’s role is to identify who is really interested in your solutions, expose them to a content that would engage them and based on their level of engagement decide which client (account) to pursue further.

The following examples demonstrate this strategy:

Highly-Engaging Content Development – Create quality content with great relevant value to your future clients and by that gain authority in your field and client engagement. Content comes in various forms, for example, an interactive webinar about a hot topic, a buying checklist document, or a brief insightful video. The type of content must match the buying stage of the prospect. In the diagram below, you can see B2B content assets that produced the best B2B lead generation results based on a 2021 survey of MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute. Remember, it’s the quality of the content and the matching into the buying stage that matters!

In-Market Intent Data – As prospective clients are conducting research first with third-party resources, such as online events, industry newsletters, solution directories, review sites, and many other sources, these third-party collect data (with consent) about buying intents of various organizations. This intent data indicates who is likely to be in-market for your solution. Having the ability to narrow down who’s looking for your solution will enable you to reach higher conversion rates than the traditional advertising approach that broadcasts to all potential clients without knowing if they have the intention to buy or not.
ABM/ABX and Marketing Automation Tools – Using sophisticated tools, you will be able to identify the contacts that are part of the buying decision committee and bundle them all under one account – this strategy is called Account-Based Marketing/Experience (ABM/ABX). Analyzing the level of engagement of the combined contacts within the account will provide you signals on whether this account is ready to be handed into the sales team or further nurturing is needed to build trust, knowledge, and engagement. Martech (Marketing Technology) is a set of practical tools that allow you to gain insights regarding prospective client behavior and then support semi-automated decisions on how to advance accounts toward a purchasing decision.

The Traditional Sales Process is Broken – What do I Offer as an Alternative?

While it is important to maintain a sales-free environment at the early stages of the buying process, the sales team has a critical role throughout the middle or bottom of the sales funnel. The new role of the salesperson is to validate the sales opportunity, identify the obstacles that prevent clients from making decisions, and facilitate the buying decision by providing critical content that will tip the decision toward your solution.

Another strong trend that we see the market evolving into is a high demand for a self-service environment that minimizes the interaction with people. Instead, implement sophisticated chatbots and well-designed websites that walk the prospects through a process where they receive information for every little interaction they do. Each potential client receives a personalized experience that satisfies their specific needs. If this process is well-thought, you can even offer a B2B ecommerce site that shortens the sales cycle and enables you to better customize and support the experience of the millennial and generation Z B2B buyers.

B2B Marketing and lead generation have evolved into a complex integrated process where sophistication, automation, and tactic integration are key to success. Continuous measurement provides you the ability to constantly adjust, improve and surpass previous results, leading your business to high growth.

If you would like to see how the new directions in B2B marketing apply to your organization, please do not hesitate to contact us for a consultation session.

Testimonials

“Ranking our Web site high on search engines results, designing a professional Web site look and developing engaging relevant content for a heavy technology company like us resulted in a dramatic increase in client leads that we receive from our Web site.”

Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

May 5, 2020February 2, 2023

B2B Marketing: Welcome to the “New Normal”, Post-COVID-19

Marketing B2B Le début de la Nouvelle normalité à la suite de la crise du COVID-19

B2B Marketing: Welcome to the “New Normal”, Post-COVID-19

Published: 05/05/2020
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

As some regions are planning their return to work post the COVID-19 lockdown, it is critical for B2B marketers to understand that unfortunately, we are returning to a “new normal”.

While the first phase has been to prevent the spread of the virus, the new business situation that we are finding ourselves in is mostly impacted by the following main drivers:

- Attention is still on “COVID-19” – While we see some decline, the level of attention on the topic is very high. See global COVID-19 coverage by CISION (from 138,000 online sources and 190 countries).

- Budget cuts – Companies are cutting spending in order to mitigate losses, prevent layoffs, and avoid going out of business.
- Businesses’ priorities are shifting to recovery mode – Organizations are in need of confidence in themselves and their own ability to survive, if not thrive, during times of disruption and uncertainty.
- Businesses are looking for answers – There is a lot of confusion and uncertainty with very little ability to forecast the mid- and long-term future.
- Higher buyer-seller dependency – Organizations have complex challenges that are in need of fast resolutions and many vendors have an almost ready-made solution for them.
- Stay-at-home and remote working – Potential clients are spending more time online, but this disrupts strategies and marketing tactics that are based on geolocation and IP address analysis.
- No in-person meetings or events in the foreseeable future – All meetings and events have swiftly migrated to the digital space.

“According to Darwin’s Origin of Species, it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives.
It is the one that is most adaptable to change. ” ¹

¹ Prof. Megginson, Professor of Management and Marketing at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge (1963)

B2B Marketing Actions in the Post-COVID-19 "new normal"

Here are a few actions that we suggest you employ:

1. Act early – Boston Consulting Group assessed the recovery of 5,000 companies across the last five downturns. An average of 14% of companies increased both their sales growth rate and EBIT margin (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) despite the challenging circumstances, while 44% declined in both metrics. The thriving companies acted much earlier in the process than the others. Apart from essential defensive actions like cost-cutting, companies need to be proactive in conducting radical changes that will enable them to grow in the long run.
2. Revise your B2B marketing message – Adjust your positioning strategy to the new situation and under no circumstance seek to profit directly from the vulnerabilities and hardships of your customers/prospects. While we are now flooded with content about COVID-19, find the angle that addresses the genuine needs of your target audience.
3. Make marketing “clean-up” a priority – Ensure your website is ready for lead generation acquisition. Start revising your content. Improve your Search Engine Optimization, so that you can easily be found by your prospective clients. Confirm that data stored in your various marketing platforms (e.g., CRM, Marketing Automation, CMS) is of high quality.
4. Implement Agile Process – Reexamine your strategy and go-to-market plan. Aim for the long-term, while constantly altering it based on the short-term results and the new wildcard situations you are presented with.
5. Cause marketing – “We’re all in this together.” Build new vendor-client partnerships with increased transparency and trust. Focus on the problem-solving process. Build collaborative relationships from the start, reducing formalities, and enabling both sides to ask critical questions.
6. Explore new potential markets – IMF (International Monetary Fund) anticipates that the projected Canadian’s annual growth in 2020 will be decreased by 6.2%. Companies should explore non-traditional regions, for example, India and China, that are forecasted to experience slow acceleration and Southeast Asia that is supposed to remain strong. Research a new sector or industry that you previously did not cater to.
7. Analyze data for upselling and cross-selling – Gather data from the field and other analytics indicators to create a scenario-based forecast that deducts on real opportunities for demand. Start with your most trusted clients as they will be the ones who most appreciate your added offering.

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The COVID-19 crisis presents major challenges in the short run, but it also offers the opportunity to introduce transformed marketing and sales operations in the “new normal”, which in turn will help companies come out of the crisis stronger.

If you have specific questions, please contact us and we would be happy to assist you.

Testimonials

Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

March 17, 2020February 2, 2023

Five Simple Tips to Guide Your B2B Marketing During the COVID-19 Crisis

Five Simple Tips to Guide Your B2B Marketing During the COVID-19 Crisis

Published: 17/03/2020
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

While life is halted and most companies have decreased their operations to a minimum by sending their employees home, it seems that this period will not be a short one. Our clients ask us what we can do to ensure their survival. We suggest five simple tips during these difficult times:

1. Look for ways to help – This is not a time for selling – it is a time to join forces and help each other. It might not affect your company immediately but your employees, your community, and your clients will remember your efforts when the crisis is over.
2. Make sure you are being found – As the business community sits at home, the Internet is the dominant tool to search for information and solutions; thus, we encourage you to improve your search engine optimization. This way, customers seeking your product/services will be able to find you.
3. Stop non-essential marketing activities and refocus – Define what marketing activities still yield results and place a temporary hold on those that fall on deaf ears. Remember, much research has been conducted on business behaviour in slowdown times and it all indicates how companies that did not stop 100% of their marketing activities performed dramatically better (after the crisis) than companies that halted all of theirs.
4. Stay relevant and sensitive to your audience – If you have something to say that relates to the current situation, say it! Develop relevant and useful content that potential clients will appreciate reading that might assist them during this crisis. After all, they have tons of time to spend at home.
5. Invest moderately in your digital channels – This is the time to make sure your social channels are up-to-speed. Why not organize free webinars on important matters for your clients, conduct live broadcasts, or record brief, useful videos for distribution?

We hope to overcome this period quickly and safely. Maintain physical isolation and be well!

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If you have specific questions, please contact us and we would be happy to assist you.

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Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

February 20, 2020February 2, 2023

B2B vs. B2C Comparison Table

B2B vs. B2C Comparison Table

Published: 20/02/2020
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

After my recent interview with The Globe and Mail, I found myself overwhelmed with questions about the major differences between B2B (Business-to-Business) marketing and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) marketing. Since it seems that there are a lot of myths and assumptions out there, I felt that a quick B2B vs. B2C comparison would help clarify things for everyone. Let’s first define the two terms.

Business-To-Business Marketing

This refers to the process in which an organization is targeting other organizations as potential clients. A key example of this is SAP, a B2B software corporation which offers enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations, mostly known for its ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system.

Business-To-Consumer Marketing

This type of endeavour refers to an organization which provides an offering aimed directly toward the consumer market. Take, for example, Spotify, a B2C audio streaming service. Spotify subscribers have access to large music libraries without the need for the subscribers to own a single track.

B2B vs. B2C Comparison Table

The following table compares the B2B and B2C sales processes. Additionally, the table highlights the essential considerations that a company should take into account when they choose the B2B route:

Parameters	B2B	B2C	B2B Considerations
Sales process	Complex decision-making	Straightforward decision-making	Invest in strategy
Players	Multiple personas (various stakeholders)	Individuals (for personal consumption)	Personalize according to stakeholder
Process length	Longer	Faster	Plan the journey and automate
Dominant decision criteria	Rational (value/ROI, productivity, efficiency, edge, advantage	Emotional (status, security, comfort, and quality)	Develop highly detailed and customized content to emphasize value and ROI
Marketing focus	Lead generation	Branding development	Increase customer engagement
Scale	Finely segmented markets	Large markets	Focus on the best-match market
Marketing role	Building a dialogue (awareness, market education & trust)	Broadcast	Branding is not enough
Language	Industry jargon	Simple language	Choose your terminology
Sales team	Larger	Smaller	Build relationships
Tactics (examples only)	SEO, business blogs, webinars, email marketing, social (LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, SlideShare, google Business), automation tools, analyst relations, case studies, whitepapers, press releases, telemarketing	Social (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter) TV & radio ads, outdoor advertising (billboards), mobile marketing, telemarketing, conferences	Tailor the tactics to your end goal

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If you require further B2B vs. B2C marketing clarifications or if you would like to see how it applies to your organization, please do not hesitate to contact us for a consultation session.

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Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

November 19, 2018February 2, 2023

What Customer Experience Has to Do With Marketing?

Businessman hand giving five star rating, Feedback concept

What Customer Experience Has to Do With Marketing?

Published: 19/11/2018
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

While most of our clients contact us in search of new customers, it is imperative to remember that continued investment in your existing customers will create good customer experience and will promote higher rates of loyalty. It costs dramatically more (i.e., 5-7 times) to campaign for new clients than to simply retain existing clients. So, no matter how potent and effective one’s marketing strategies may be, without the ability to retain customers, you will have a very inefficient system. Client retention tactics are therefore an integral part of a successful marketing arsenal.

Organizations that consistently deliver excellent experiences for their clients are far more successful than those that do not. Esteban Kolsky, a leading Client Experience Management (CXM) researcher, extensively studied the effects of negative experiences on consumers. His research shows that 67% of ex-customers named a poor experience as their reason for leaving. Furthermore, 91% of dissatisfied customers simply shift to another solution without even voicing their grievances.

These statistics show how intertwined the client’s experience is to the likelihood that they will return, stay, or leave. Thus it is absolutely crucial to your success, especially in this modern age of technology. If a customer has a bad experience, not only are they likely to leave, but they may also vent their frustration through word of mouth or various social media platforms. This can easily spoil an otherwise exceptional reputation that you have managed to build.

Benefits of Excellent Customer Experience Through the Marketer’s Lens

1. Strive to demonstrate to clients that you consider their state of mind, and focus on exceeding their expectations in every interaction. Your goal is to ensure that, regardless of their opinion on the product/service itself, their takeaway from each interaction is nothing but positive. Through these actions, customers will see that you genuinely care and their satisfaction levels will extend beyond tangible benefits for you.
2. Satisfied clients can act as advocates to new prospective clients which will allow you to broaden your client base significantly. Clients may reflect their satisfaction with your organization through word of mouth and social media channels-, a very beneficial form of organic marketing.
3. Personal recommendations from friends and professional acquaintances seem more trustworthy than a traditional “one-size-fits-all” advertising approach. Consider what would happen if each of your clients advocated for your service/product to even just one other person. This surpasses the reach of many marketing campaigns and quickly establishes a high level of trust for your future customers, thus creating an opportunity to shorten your sales cycle.
4. Ensuring your clients consistently receive the best treatment allows you to stand out from the competition. Customers notice when their needs are being met. If you acknowledge these needs and continue delivering the best experience possible, they will consistently choose you over the alternative options.
5. An often overlooked benefit is the way that positive customer experiences impact revenue. Kolsky’s study on CXM also found that 55% of surveyed customers would be happy to pay more for a better experience. That means that over half of your customers don’t mind giving your organization more of their hard-earned money if it means they are guaranteed better treatment.
6. Finally, great customer relations allow you to devote fewer of your precious resources to crisis management. By prioritizing the customer’s experience, you can anticipate potential crises before they happen. Dissolving customer concerns produces a positive interaction, which may turn into additional purchases from the same client.

Employing the Best Client Experience Strategies

Direct Objective Consulting has over 20 years of experience in implementing marketing tactics and will be happy to help your organization realize its full potential.

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It is evident why successful organizations focus on delivering outstanding client experiences and why retaining existing customers is just as important as recruiting new ones. If you are seeking advice on how to create, implement, and solidify retention techniques to give your clients a memorable customer experience, contact us today!

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Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

September 18, 2014February 2, 2023

Marketing Contributes to Increased Technology Adoption

Marketing contribution to technology adoption

Technology Adoption Rates: How Marketing Contributes?

Published: 18/09/2014
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

Picture the world ten years ago. How different was the technology we used then compared to what we use now? The Internet was just starting to become commonplace and smartphones and social media were barely in existence! It is difficult to imagine living in a world like that today. Yet, if you had imagined the same thing a hundred years ago, a ten-year difference meant hardly any change in lifestyle. It is clear that today’s technology adoption rates are rapidly increasing and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. So, how come so many technology companies fail while overall technology adoption rates are accelerating? What is the differentiating factor that makes some successful and others a total failure? The answer is simple: marketing. How can marketing be used to accelerate new product adoption when technology adoption rates are increasing at unprecedented speed?

Fortunately, we have the answer to this question thanks to a concept conceived at the mid-20th century that still applies today. This concept is Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Theory which seeks to explain the process behind new concepts and technologies and their spread through cultures. The theory states that there are four main elements that influence the new product adoption rate:

- Innovation: an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual
- Communication channels: the means by which messages are transferred from one individual to another
- Time: the time from which the innovation is first known until it is either accepted or rejected by a potential user
- Social system: a set of interrelated units that are engaged in joint problem solving to accomplish a common goal (an institution, a neighborhood, a nation)

Being aware of these four elements, we can now see how they can relate to technology adoption rates and discuss ways in which we can improve them. Let’s examine each element and how technology companies can use marketing to reduce the amount of time it takes for their product to be accepted and adopted by their clients.

Innovation: What does your product bring to the table that isn’t already there? In order for your innovation to create a buzz, it must present something worth talking about. This is where a good positioning strategy can make all the difference. Your product must be perceived as new and special, whether it is a breakthrough innovation or not.

Communication channels: As a tech company, you must be able to identify the channels that your target market listens to. What blogs do they visit? Are they a member of a certain social media group? Do they go to a particular professional meeting or conference? You must learn how to use these and other channels to effectively highlight your solution if you hope to increase your technology’s adoption rate.

Time: Thanks in large part to the Internet, modern communication channels have allowed for faster communication than ever before. To boost your new product’s adoption rate, your marketing strategy and execution must communicate your product’s value as clearly and concisely as possible or risk being rejected by potential clients who are already accustomed to instantaneous communication. Time is money. If clients don’t understand your product within five seconds, they will move on and not look back.

Social system: Today, a social system encompasses more than just physical examples such as neighborhoods, offices, or schools. Increasingly, there is emphasis placed upon online social systems such as review sites, forums, wikis, video/photo sharing sites, social networks, and other digital communities. These are very powerful tools that can quickly and easily spread messages in a timely manner. You must choose your target market appropriately and decide how to incorporate these online communities into your customer acquisition strategy in a way that still allows for the potential use of more traditional social systems.

The bottom line is that for a successful adoption rate of your new technology, you must invest in marketing that addresses all four of these factors. Technology is changing our world and evolving at an ever-increasing pace. To be a winner, you must find a way to keep ahead of this pace.

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Contact Direct Objective Consulting to discuss your marketing challenges and learn how to take advantage of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory and use its insights to boost your solution’s technology adoption rate.

Testimonials

Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

June 25, 2013February 2, 2023

B2B Lead Generation: Marketing Tactics and Trends

B2B Lead Generation: Marketing Tactics and Trends to Increase Your Client Base

Published: 25/06/2013
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

It’s time to take a look at some of the marketing tactics and trends in B2B lead generation. In a recent survey conducted by Chief Marketer, we can find several insights into how marketers are tackling lead generation and the current trends in attracting new clients.

According to the results, 41.5% of respondents were focusing primarily on finding new customers in 2013, with 43.6% focusing on current customers, but still hoping to build awareness among potential customers. It is clear that in the current market, demand creation and lead generation are as hot as the summer season. For companies that are planning on staying stagnant with their customer base, with little efforts on creating new leads, there is great potential for them to lose out to companies that are more aggressive with their marketing tactics.

With the importance of lead generation highlighted, the focus then shifts to the marketing tactics and how these companies are planning to drive customers to their business. The top trend continues to be email marketing, with 86.7% of respondents planning on using email campaigns in 2013, up from 80.3% in 2012. Whether it be newsletters, promos, or simple correspondences, email marketing continues to dominate the landscape as one of the most effective methods of generating leads.

The use of social networks in marketing has also continued to be a favourite among companies for B2B lead generation. In fact, 67.5% of marketers intend to use social networks in 2013, up 10% from 2012. More broadly, companies are turning to sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube to increase brand awareness and build new client leads.

The biggest method to have gained traction in 2013 was content marketing, with 60.2% of respondents planning to focus on web copywriting to bring in clients, up 14% from 2012. The importance of strong, search engine friendly content on web pages and blogs is essential in order to get your name out there and generate traffic to your site.

While each of these marketing tactics can be effective, there is no comparison to when they are combined in an integrated marketing strategy, which creates a cohesive plan that is sure to attract clients. A business that employs consistency across their email campaigns, social media feeds, and website content, using the same style, layout, and content voice among all marketing tactics, will always be more successful than those that lack cohesion.

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Wondering what marketing tactics will make your B2B lead generation more effective? Don’t hesitate to contact us and see how we suggest addressing your marketing challenges.

Testimonials

Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

October 31, 2012February 2, 2023

Business-To-Business Marketing Horror Stories

Business-To-Business Marketing Horror Stories

Published: 31/10/2012
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

Every year on Halloween, people of all ages turn off the lights, cuddle up on the couch, and watch their favorite horror movie. While Halloween only happens once a year for everyone else, I am faced with horror stories all year long. On a weekly basis, I meet with companies that are living their very own nightmares as a result of their own marketing inexperience and unpreparedness. While I am the first to agree that business-to-business marketing is no easy task, I am also the first to admit there are always ways to try and avoid problems. So for this Halloween, we here at Direct Objective have a little treat in store for you. Turn off the lights, cuddle up on your office chair, and get ready for our very own Business-to-Business horror stories… candy not included.

Chapter 1 - Marketing Without Measuring

Companies who spend large amounts of money on marketing should live by one word: measuring. If marketing initiatives are put in place without the ability to measure key performance indicators, then why bother? Make sure that you have the right plan in place in order to fully reap the benefits of your marketing initiatives and not fall victim to the Marketing Grim Reaper.

Chapter 2 - Branding Is NOT Forever Young

The branding of your company is not where you should cut corners. While a substantial investment into your online content, signage, and logo is definitely recommended, remember that over time, as the industry around you changes, so too should your branding. Allocate an annual budget for revamping your website,marketing material, and even your logo, if necessary, to avoid being viewed as the Mummy of your industry.

Chapter 3 - Marketing Tactics Are Not Automated

So, your company wants to invest more in various marketing tactics? While this is a step in the right direction, do not think that merely setting it up is enough. Integrate and automate your tactics to ensure that your social media, email campaigns, SEO, PR, and other campaigns are aligned accordingly. Not doing so would be the equivalent of getting lost in a haunted house. Avoid it and plan ahead!

Chapter 4 - To Go International or Not to Go International

Every year innovative products are developed, successfully tested in local markets, and 7 years later there is still no attempt to break into the international arena. In today’s business market, the world has become a global village, easily accessible to all who want to access it. Cut down your time-to-market by daring to enter the international market – you’ll find that it’s a lot less trick and a lot more treat.

Chapter 5 - International Expansion Needs International Experience

Breaking into the international market is better when you have someone that you trust with the knowledge on how to capitalize in that market. Before embarking on this new endeavour, make sure your company is ready for a new market and that you are attracting new leads in the market for when your senior salesperson takes over. Remember, if the sales are not there… R.I.P.

So there you have it, your very own guide to avoiding B2B Marketing Nightmares. Now turn on the lights and get back to work!

Happy Halloween!

What's Your MarketingReady^TM Ranking?

The above-mentioned marketing consulting and lead generation services are how our B2B marketing agency accompanies organizations in their quest to grow. Contact us today and allow us to look at your specific marketing challenges and suggest how we can assist you specifically.

Testimonials

Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

August 17, 2011February 2, 2023

What’s Special This Coming September?

What's Special This Coming September?

Published: 17/08/2011
(Revised: 02/02/2023)
Reading time: 2 minutes

If this September is anything like the last one, a lot of organizations are going to be ramping up their B2B marketing efforts. Last year, when the end of summer came around, the search volume for business-to-business marketing in the United States started to increase, reaching its apex near the end of September. Canada saw similar results, as demonstrated in the charts below.

The summer months, in comparison, are much more relaxed. Many people take their vacations and delay major B2B marketing projects until the fall. This means the competition is lower during the summer season. But, when September comes around, what are you going to do to stay ahead?

The Slowdown and Marketing Strategy

The economy has experienced another slowdown this summer, but does that mean it is time to halt your B2B marketing? Make no mistake, this time it will be most challenging for the companies that target federal clients. Private businesses have mostly recovered since the last economic crisis. A good indication of this is a recent report by Gartner, Quarterly IT Spending Forecast July 2011, which claims that despite the current global economic climate, IT spending forecast has been revised up from 5.6% to 7.1% quarter over quarter. That means it is unwise to cut back on B2B marketing, instead adopting an aggressive marketing strategy to get ahead.

Similarly, a report published a few years ago by BMO Financial Group investigated how Canadian businesses were affected by the global economic recession. It indicated that the most successful and least impacted organizations all had a few things in common: they were always seeking to expand into new and unknown markets, they were refocusing their customer bases and getting rid of non-core business, and they were not afraid to forego the familiar and instead embraced the risks that can ultimately lead to further success.

Take your cue and use these times to go on the offensive. Ramp up your B2B marketing, introduce new products, and invest effort into reminding your customers that you’re still there and of course your value. By taking a weaker economy head-on, not only can you plow through the tough times, but you are ideally poised for rapid growth the moment there is an upswing.

What's Your MarketingReady^TM Ranking?

This coming September, your competitors might be considering all of the above, which means you should too! Don’t fall behind, call Direct Objective to grow your customer base and expand into less familiar B2B marketing tactics or strategies.

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Simon Robin CEO, Hardent

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