As 2006 faded and died and 2007 bursts into life what was the big thing for 2006 and what will it be for 2007?
In B2B, the growth of digital and interactive channels of communication has continued its exponential rise. As 18 million people now have broadband in the UK, the correlation between broadband penetration and online spending is stark. For me, the biggest single feature was the growth and use of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). B2B marketing managers were aware of SEO before 2006, of course, and many organisations were ahead of the game in implementing SEO strategies. But, as searching is the number one activity among email users, so this year real money from all organisations – whatever their marketing level of expertise has been spent on SEO. It was as if 2005 was spent getting the websites right and 2006 was spent getting people to look at them.
So what’s coming in 2007? More of the same is the easy answer. But it’s now Web 2.0’that will hit B2B. Social search’ (services that let users save and categorise link to sites and share these links with others) will be the new black’. So companies now know that you need to spend real money on digital marketing.
Of course traditional media and integrated campaigns will still be important, but B2B is now spending the kind of money on digital that consumer markets were. They know the power of Web 2.0 as an information provider, a positioning tool and an essential brand touch point. The trick is still getting people to look at it.