I’ve never been shy when it comes to discussing how ‘boring’ B2B marketing can be. The combination of lifeless creative, dull content and endlessly exhausted communication channels (such as direct mail and telemarketing) meant B2B marketing was considered ‘mind-numbingly dreary’. But times have changed…
The advent of digital media thrust the industry from direct mail to emails and the continued technological advances are changing the face of B2B marketing on a daily basis. For years, B2B was the older and balder monochrome brother of the stylish young upstart B2C, but over the past decade B2B’s got himself a hair transplant and he’s more ‘cool’ than ever.
Thanks to today’s technology and savvy B2B marketers, ingenious multi-channel marketing campaigns are providing amazing results and huge ROI.
With communication channels such as telemarketing, direct mail and email now joining forces with the likes of social media, blogs and forums, marketing in the B2B space can now be more targeted and segmented than ever before. And, when you take into consideration the different media available such as ebooks, infographics and 3D printed designs, the future is looking bright for B2B marketers.
By utilising inbound marketing techniques like SEO, social media and viral advertising to attract prospects to your business, you can now track their conversion to a lead using content such as ebooks and white papers. Once the lead has been identified you can nurture them down the sales funnel using techniques such as email, telemarketing and more targeted content. When the lead is at the sales tipping point, a piece of high-impact direct mail may be all it takes to secure a sale and generate new business.
The days of individual marketing channels all using the ‘hit and hope’ method to generate leads are long gone. Today, B2B marketing is highly-targeted, personalised and tech-savvy. Using multiple branded channels to communicate with prospects, leads and customers, B2B is pushing the boundaries of the marketing landscape and it’s leaving its boring past well behind.