Brand Blog

Six Drivers Shaping the Next Phase of B-to-B Marketing
Joel Goldstein, President
Goldstein Group Communications, Inc.
www.ggcomm.com

Anyone wishing for 2008 to return?  For most companies, 2008 was a year of strong performance, and many of us are anxious for those marketing patterns and programs to return.

But they won’t.  The financial collapse and global recession hasn’t been just a momentary pause in the way we do business – it’s led to a significant change in how companies operate.  It’s certainly led to a change in how they go to market.  The way we built marketing campaigns for business-to-business companies has changed structurally and permanently.  Things will not get “back to normal.”

In developing an approach for marketing going forward, there are several structural factors we’d suggest applying to b-to-b and technology marketing: 

1. The idea that marketing is shifting from traditional to online methods is so well-documented now that it’s become an inadequate and even incomplete explanation for what’s taking place in marketing today.   Online is here.  It’s where engineers live.  Embrace it in every way you can.
2. The structure of trade media that has existed for 60+ years is irrevocably splintering.  Once the dominant path to customer communications, it has now been replaced by more than a dozen other new avenues.
3. The few media outlets that survive will be stronger, not weaker, and they will remain a viable partner for gaining access to customers and prospects, although in new ways.
4. Marketing is math.  The role of analytics and ROI performance tracking will assume a greater priority for the successful b-to-b marketer, and anything created will have metrics and analytics attached to it that measure its impact.  Google is driving this movement, as the adoption of Google Analytics takes hold and spreads to dozens of other marketing automation and analysis platforms.
5. The philosophy of mass lead generation and low cost-per-lead programs will be replaced by “engagement.”  Companies will use technology more effectively to target and cultivate relationships with customers and prospects in ways that don’t generate a lead, but foster relationships and experiences with individuals.  There will be some high-tech/high-touch moments connected to this, which explains the growth of video and face-to-face event marketing in the past 12-18 months.  Content, particularly for technical companies, will be critical for creating meaningful engagements.
6. The velocity of marketing will increase.  It will be faster to build a brand, as well as easier to harm it.  The risks in marketing for b-to-b companies have increased along with the greater transparency inside companies that new social media networks have created.  (Example:  Twitter post on 4-30-10 from rickyg_sco – “Woohoo no longer an Acme employee)