Marketers in B2B companies have reluctantly moved into the digital era, forsaking expense accounts, business trips and person-to-person contact in favor of a more hybrid model that combines the best of traditional, physical tactics, print and broadcast advertising, and signage, with a bi-directional digital model and an inbound funnel, which begins long before you even know who the prospects are.
As we forge headfirst into the era of digital marketing though, understanding the balance between traditional and digital is often the key to success – and while digital marketing becomes increasingly essential, using it to the exclusion of traditional means may result in losing out on forging those customer connections. The more holistic ‘toolbox’ approach simply takes what works – whether digital or physical – and applies it to the overall marketing strategy.
Going along with that holistic strategy is the realization that not everything old is obsolete. “Signage will always be important, and it’s very much a part of that philosophy of creating an inbound funnel,” says Mark Fick, president of commercial signage company Allstate Sign. “On the digital end, you’re seeding the landscape with relevant content, so the customers will come to know who you are and what you offer. On the physical end, appropriate signage, which often points to that digital media, accomplishes the same goal and reinforces digital tactics. Successful marketing will continue to evolve into a hybrid of both digital and physical tactics.”
Getting the customer’s attention before you even know who they are
“78% of buyers have done tons of research long before they end up calling a sales rep about a product,” says Michael Smith, senior MD at Blue Ridge Partners. “The way you influence that, besides having a product that works really well, is using great digital content. And it’s not just about the quantity of content, it’s about the quality, and having someone who is curating that content is critical.”
Because buyers are looking for information first and establishing content with vendors second, Smith says there are three key steps to a successful content strategy which seeds the landscape with that information.
Content leaders are brought into the mainstream, to develop meaningful and impactful content that tells the company’s story to the public. These content leaders work closely with stakeholders on the product side who understand both the products and the intended market.
A supporting tier of specialists is brought in, who understand how to take that content, make sure it’s modified in the appropriate way, and distributed across all available channels in the marketplace, including any relevant trade publications, brand journalism sites, or social media.
Content strategists across the board understand the target market, and build up a repository of knowledge about what the potential buyers need to know.
The predictability of sales
Nineteenth-century merchant John Wanamaker is often credited with the quote, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is, I don’t know which half”. Wanamaker would not have quite that level of difficulty today, where marketers place a high premium on predictability, tracking and analytics.
That predictability is dependent on a combination of traditional and modern tactics. “B2B companies frequently make the mistake of neglecting visible, physical marketing tactics that are more common in the retail arena,” says Fick. “What those marketers must realize is that their corporate customers are people who, just like retail customers shopping for shoes, kitchen gadgets or groceries, respond to what marketers physically put in front of them.”
Further enhancing predictability of sales is a combination of sales automation tools, predictive analytics, and big data. “Today we have sales reps determining probability and the likelihood of a close, or a high price,” says Smith. “We have sales automation tools that help you base on the historical performance of the pipeline, as well as within a geography, under a given manager or sales rep, and what the true likelihood of a close may be. This helps drive up the predictability of revenues in a big way. But it’s all part of having great data.”
A tipping point in B2B marketing
The shift to the cloud has dramatically changed how companies approach marketing, and it’s much more of a two-way conversation now and less of the one-directional advertising we saw many years ago. “The buyer is changing,” says Smith. And not only that, the account rep is changing too, and the traditional face-to-face sales rep is taking advantage of digital tools, as the sales team moves to a more virtualized model.
“The virtual account executive is becoming really important here,” adds Smith. “An account executive doesn’t have to wear a hole in their shoes from the pavement. By leveraging tools and knowledge, they’re able to engage with their prospects and existing customers, and manage those relationships in a much more sophisticated way. I think we’re just in the beginning of the transition to that world. The future of selling will be very, very different.”
