XDBS: Enhancing Accuracy and Preciseness of Marketing Campaigns

Sales and marketing departments are working under pressure to generate significant ROI out of their processes. From basic marketing campaigns to sales follow ups, the departments are expected to produce revenue from every stage in sales operations. Such business imperatives around marketing landscape are driving the deployment of IT solutions that can proficiently offer valuable insights to sales people.

Spotlight

Lake B2B

Lake B2B is a Growth Enablement Partner for Clients across 83 countries helping extend reach to over 32 Million top global executives across the world. Lake B2B has transformed the way businesses work with cutting-edge data management technology, exhaustive data reach and digital marketing solutions. We pride ourselves on offering customized solutions based on the clients’ requirements and business scope. Lake B2B is into making business processes smooth and jobs easier. Its keeping the sales, marketing and customer services teams in sync is what makes a business smooth. We at Lake B2B offer services that help clients with their complete business cycle and keep their teams in sync. Our services and applications help clients bring all their business processes together and make their jobs easier.

OTHER ARTICLES
Buyer Intent Data

Effective Email Marketing Campaigns for Marketing Success

Article | September 11, 2023

More than half the world’s population uses email. It is one of the most preferred means of communication today. For businesses, emails are a medium for account-based marketing. They help nurture leads, sell products, create brand awareness, drive website traffic and increase sales and revenue by conveying lucrative content to the target audience. Sending emails to current and potential customers with the goal of improving your brand's standing, content engagement, and eventually landing a sale is an example of an effective email marketing campaign. Neglecting email marketing while carrying out your marketing strategy can be dangerous because it has the highest conversion rate compared to other marketing channels. According to a 2020 Statista report, 3.9 billion people use their emails daily. By 2023, this number is projected to rise to 4.3 billion. Moreover, 78% of marketers have seen a steep increase in email engagement in the past year, based on Hubspot’s Not Another State of Marketing 2020 report. These statistics highlight the importance of email marketing in a marketing campaign. Email Marketing: Implementation and Challenges Ever since the pandemic hit, the importance of digital marketing has skyrocketed. Without utilizing all the digital marketing channels, it is impossible to reach the target audience. In the realm of successful digital marketing, email marketing has a big stake. It has the highest conversion rates, is preferred, and is simple and affordable. In an interview with Media 7, Mike Dickerson, Chief Executive Officer at ClickDimensions talked about the importance of digital marketing in the current reality impacted by COVID-19. "Digital marketing, and all the channels included within that, is more essential than ever before for businesses around the globe." Businesses use email marketing to build brand credibility, deliver crisp and accurate messages to their target audience, and generate leads. They strengthen existing customer relationships, boost sales and achieve higher ROI, gauge the response of customers to content through metrics, and automate marketing workflows to streamline marketing processes. By interconnecting their marketing channels, they create a fluid buyer journey to increase the chances of conversion. Like every other marketing campaign, an effective email marketing campaign needs effort, vigilance, testing, and upgrading. Email marketing can be challenging, but the good news is that you can remedy the issues easily. Here are some snags you might hit: Ideal Email Frequency Achieving the right frequency of emails can be challenging. If you send too many emails, the recipient might unsubscribe from your email list. However, if you don’t send enough emails, the recipient might not remember your brand. You can review your subscription process to know what frequency and information you have promised your recipients. You can consider revising the frequency based on the click rate, subscribe and unsubscribe rates, and post-click activity. Low Subscriber Engagement If your subscribers are not engaging with the emails, you can start by testing the segments and personalizing the content. Data Syncing You need to ensure that the data that comes from CRM and ESP responses is synced. Irrelevant Content Keep reviewing your click-through rates to pinpoint content that works. If your content is not relevant, your subscribers might stop opening your emails and may go as far as unsubscribing. Content includes everything from your subject line to your call to action, so make sure your content quality is high. Unsatisfactory Campaign Results If your delivery rates are lower than expected, consider subscribing to a list validation tool and reevaluating your subscription process. If the open rates are too low, try using different ‘from’ names to create a better impact. If the click rates are low, then align your content with your goals. Creating Effective Email Marketing Campaigns for Business Success To create an effective email marketing campaign, follow these crucial steps: Decide Your Goal Efforts without direction go nowhere. Define and understand the goals of your campaign. They can be anything from increasing website traffic, lead nurturing, creating brand awareness, or getting customer feedback. Aim for tangible results once you figure out what you want to achieve. Your goals should ideally align with larger organizational goals. Define Your Target Audience Identify the unique needs and pain points of the customer base you want to target. Create special campaigns for a specific group of customers. You can segment the customers based on their age, location, interests, gender, online activity, or engagement levels. Choose a Relevant Type of Email Campaign Depending on your campaign goal and target audience, choose a relevant email campaign. Some of the most popular email campaigns include welcome emails, cart abandonment campaigns, newsletters, re-engagement emails, announcements, holidays, invitations, promotional, seasonal, and testimonial or rating emails. These email campaigns can be executed using marketing automation workflows. Time Your Campaign Correctly Timing is important for effective email marketing campaigns. For maximum engagement, consider the ideal day of the week and time of day. Based on data from co-schedule, the best days to send out emails are Tuesday, Thursday, and Wednesday, while the ideal timings are 10AM, 2AM, and 8PM. Proactively verifying your target audience’s time zone and location before starting your campaign is advisable. Marketing automation makes it easy to time your campaign effectively. Use a Conversational Tone Nobody wants to read drab emails with no personal touch. For the recipients to respond, you need to create a relatable copy and an attractive subject line that compels them to open your email. How Conversational Emails Helped the Obama Campaign with Fundraising By using a conversational tone in the email and creating effective, attention-grabbing subject lines, the Obama Campaign raised a huge chunk of the $690 million. They used great opt-in forms, which helped them collect more email leads. They also sent a follow-up/thank you page to encourage subscribers to donate to the campaign. They also kept on constantly testing email conversions using split testing of key pages. Test Your Emails A/B testing your emails is a good way to understand which of your email designs and content creates the most impact. Look at campaign performance metrics like open rate, bounce rate, click-through rate, spam complaints, and unsubscribes. Make Great Opt-ins Experiment with different opt-in forms like welcome gates, exit pop-ups, and lightbox pop-ups. They can help you get new subscribers. Focus on Design and Content Your content should offer value to your recipient. It should also be pleasant to look at, concise, and effective. Focusing on the design and content elements is vital to the success of your campaign. Wrapping it Up If executed correctly, effective email marketing campaigns can be a game-changer for your conversions and, in turn, your revenue. FAQ What are the benefits of email marketing? Effective email marketing campaigns help businesses create brand awareness, outreach to new and existing customers, and achieve high conversions. What are the important email marketing metrics? Some of the important email marketing metrics are open rate, bounce rate, click-through rate, spam complaints, and unsubscribes.

Read More
Buyer Intent Data

How to Improve ABM Programs with Interactive Content

Article | March 6, 2023

Account-based marketing, also known as ABM, is an effective yet efficient way to seek out high-value leads and close sales. A B2B marketer can align his sales and marketing strategies to break into the industry. However, there’s one thing that needs all the attention from the marketing team- the content. The B2B marketers from around the world are shuffling their budgets to focus more on account-based marketing. As of now, 28% of the budgets were allocated to support account-based marketing. When considering ABM, marketers often jump to the execution part instead of planning, identifying, and targeting the target accounts. Therefore, they fail to understand the critical needs of the clientele. The whole process of connecting with the customers with their accounts goes into vain.

Read More
Buyer Intent Data

Adjusting ABM Strategies During COVID-19

Article | August 23, 2022

Empathy is an emotion that many marketers invoke when they are developing their positioning and messaging for various campaigns. They consider questions such as: “If I put myself in the buyers’ shoes, what do I think they think or feel about this particular pain point?” “Do I understand the challenges they are facing?” “How can I help them overcome this issue and provide long-term value?” Over the last few years, many B2B marketers have leveraged account-based marketing (ABM) to address these questions with specific use cases and examples tailored to their target accounts, in order to boost engagement and drive high-value conversions.

Read More
Account Based Execution

Cookie-less ABM: What Should B2B Marketers Expect?

Article | July 8, 2022

Third-party cookie restrictions or outright bans were an inevitable step in the evolution of data protection. As a result, B2B marketers are preparing for a cookie-less future in which third-party data will no longer direct them to potential clients. They must now prepare new tactics to execute account-based marketing (ABM) strategies. Abhi Yadav, the founder of Zylotech, states that ABM strategies greatly depend on trustworthy data: “We believe the foundation for any successful ABM program lies in the ability to “trust” your data. This requires scalable, repeatable processes for data management and governance across all people, accounts, and activities.” Abhi Yadav, the founder of Zylotech, states that ABM strategies greatly depend on trustworthy data: “We believe the foundation for any successful ABM program lies in the ability to “trust” your data. This requires scalable, repeatable processes for data management and governance across all people, accounts, and activities.” In light of the demise of third-party cookies, where can B2B marketers turn for reliable information? Let us find out. First-Party Cookies When it comes to potential customers, first-party cookies are the most dependable source of information. These cookies assist in monitoring audience behavior when they visit our websites and engage with our content. Based on recent interactions, first-party cookie data will produce more relevant content. Data Points When developing ABM strategies, delve deeper into first-party data and use locations and keywords. B2B marketers can then contextualize the content and figure out what prompted the viewer to interact with it in the first place. Tracking Technologies Tracking technologies like reverse IP tracking are legal and can aid your ABM campaigns. This technology enables businesses to conduct reverse IP searches and access the top-level domain data that IP produces. The name of the business hosting that IP and the other details of those who registered the business IP can be accessed. Using this information, B2B marketers can develop an effective target list and pursue the target accounts with personalized content. Contextual Advertising Contextual advertising displays advertisements to website visitors based on the content they are currently viewing. As a result, the visitors find these ads relevant to their needs and are more receptive to them. ABM Success Requires Reliable Data Using primary data sources will provide direct feedback on the relevance of your content based on interactions with potential clients. As we enter this first-party world, you must remain agile, with new ABM tactics ready to guide clients toward successful partnerships.

Read More

Spotlight

Lake B2B

Lake B2B is a Growth Enablement Partner for Clients across 83 countries helping extend reach to over 32 Million top global executives across the world. Lake B2B has transformed the way businesses work with cutting-edge data management technology, exhaustive data reach and digital marketing solutions. We pride ourselves on offering customized solutions based on the clients’ requirements and business scope. Lake B2B is into making business processes smooth and jobs easier. Its keeping the sales, marketing and customer services teams in sync is what makes a business smooth. We at Lake B2B offer services that help clients with their complete business cycle and keep their teams in sync. Our services and applications help clients bring all their business processes together and make their jobs easier.

Related News

Account Based Execution

G2 Annual Report Ranks Sendoso as Best Account-Based Direct Mail Provider for Third Consecutive Year

Business Wire | March 31, 2023

Sendoso, the global industry leader in direct marketing automation, has been named the No. 1 provider in Account-Based Direct Mail for the third straight year by G2, the world’s largest tech marketplace. Sendoso’s top recognition out of nearly 150,000 companies on G2 highlights the company’s continued commitment to providing innovative solutions to help sales and marketing teams engage with customers in more personalized and effective ways. G2’s Account-Based Direct Mail Report, which is based on verified reviews from actual users, evaluates software solutions that enable businesses to send targeted, personalized, and trackable direct mail to prospects and customers. Sendoso scored the highest in both customer satisfaction and market presence among verified reviews, culminating in its top billing. “We continue to develop new and innovative ways to strengthen relationships between businesses and their clients, and this achievement validates our efforts,” said Kris Rudeegraap, Sendoso CEO and co-founder. “Personalized and impactful outreach has been at the forefront of our values since day one, and to be recognized by G2 not just multiple times but in three consecutive years is truly an honor. This ranking motivates us to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to make those connections deeper and more authentic.” According to G2, to be included in the Account-Based Direct Mail category, a product must: Provide the ability to send personalized, one-to-one direct mail, or gifts, to contacts within a company’s targeted accounts. Enable companies to measure the impact and ROI of an account-based direct mail campaign. Sendoso’s sending platform empowers businesses to send highly personalized gifts, eGifts, and branded merchandise, as well as direct mail and handwritten notes, to prospects and customers at scale. "Sendoso's total commitment to customer satisfaction continues to be validated by nearly 900 authentic customer reviews, and thus have earned G2 Leader recognition in the Account-Based Direct Mail category for a third-straight year,” said Godard Abel, co-founder and CEO of G2. To learn more about Sendoso and its award winning platform, visit sendoso.com. About Sendoso Sendoso is the global leader in Direct Marketing Automation, creating, curating and delivering automated, meaningful experiences for customers of all sizes. The trusted partner of Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies worldwide, Sendoso helps customers generate new pipelines, utilize account-based efforts, boost customer retention and increase upsell and cross sell. Sendoso has locations across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, and has had more than 800 customers leverage its proven automated solution to deliver nearly four million sends worldwide. Learn more at sendoso.com. About G2 G2 is the world’s largest B2B tech marketplace, connecting millions of businesses with the products and services they need to grow. G2 offers unbiased ratings and reviews of software and services based on user feedback and market presence, making it easier for businesses to make informed decisions when selecting technology solutions. The platform is home to over one million reviews and counting, with more than five million visitors each month. Headquartered in Chicago, G2 has offices in San Francisco, London, and Bangalore. For more information, please visit www.g2.com.

Read More

Account Based Analytics, Targeted Account Strategy

New B2B Sales and Marketing Approach by Influ2 is Based on Person-based Advertising

Influ2 | January 10, 2023

Influ2, a person-based advertising platform, is hosting a webinar titled "Beyond Alignment: A New Approach to Sales and Marketing for B2B," which addresses how businesses can adapt to changes in preferred buying methods in light of an economic downturn. The webinar will show how to get your sales and marketing teams to work together so that you can react quickly to changes in how your customers act. The webinar, led by the CEO of Influ2 and featuring a principal analyst from Forrester, will discuss how businesses can structure their approach to B2B marketing, sales, and customer success to drive revenue, how marketing can support sales, and what metrics are important for a customer-focused organization. The webinar aims to help organizations become more agile in their approach to B2B marketing, sales, and customer success, enabling them to create better customer experiences that drive greater ROI. “Marketing and sales alignment is impossible if these teams focus on different stages of the funnel,” said Dmitri Lisitski, CEO and co-founder of Influ2. “True marketing and sales alignment arises when they talk to the same audience in the unified funnel where there is no hand-off between marketing and sales and MQL/MQAs are secondary, if not obsolete.” (Source: Globenewswire) The webinar will also focus on the importance of understanding buyer personas and reaching each individual with personalized content. The event will also detail the importance of marketing and sales alignment, the buyer group experience, and how to achieve pipeline momentum. The webinar will serve as a valuable resource for businesses looking to adapt to the changing buying habits of their customers, especially in the midst of an economic downturn. About Influ2 Influ2 is a Person-Based Advertising platform for B2B companies. It was developed specifically for B2B marketers who want to expand the reach of their businesses and increase their revenue. It serves advertisements to specific decision-makers through display and social networks and provides sales with person-based and buying group insights that drive engagement within their target accounts. These insights can be driven by the fact that it serves advertisements. In environments where people's attention is limited, Influ2 helps you get in front of people who want to engage with you and drives engagement with them.

Read More

Account Based Advertising, Targeted Account Strategy

The changing face of brand building in B2B boardrooms

transmission | August 10, 2022

Despite historic skepticism from B2B boardrooms, brand building has been going through somewhat of a renaissance over the past few years. For all too long, the B2B marketing function was seen as a cost-center whose existence was to support sales in accelerating pipeline and maximizing ROI. Mentions of brand in the boardroom could be met with disinterest and to a certain extent, fear, driven by difficulties in measuring its impact on the bottom line. The effects of a negligent approach to B2B brand building were clear. In 2019, the Financial Times partnered with the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) – a professional institute for agencies and individuals working in the UK’s advertising, marketing, and communications industry – to publish the ‘Board-Brand Rift’ report revealing that over half of business leaders rated their knowledge of brand building as ‘average’ to ‘very poor’. But things are changing. In just a few short years, brand has made its way to the top of B2B marketing leaders’ priority lists. Our ‘State of B2B Brand Building 2022’ research report reveals that 71% of B2B marketing leaders acknowledge that boardroom views of brand building have changed significantly in the last 12 months – with over 60% now believing that brand marketing is a strategic business priority. B2B buyers want more from business: The marketplace has seen a huge shift in B2B buyer behavior driven, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns over public health, the environment, and job security contributed to a climate of fear and anxiety in which buyers looked to make more ethical purchase decisions – turning to business as a bastion of societal leadership. Two years on, B2B buyers are increasingly looking to engage with highly resonant and authentic brands. They want to know that the companies they buy from reflect their own values and whether they contribute to wider society, putting purpose above profit. "COVID-19 has accelerated the need for our brand to have a real and meaningful purpose; one that contributes more to the local community and improves lives. This is what our buyers now expect from us." - Survey response from a B2B marketing leader. B2B brands need a clear and defined purpose to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. Brand trust, transparency, and authenticity are all high on the list of customers’ brand selection criteria, and organizations need to respond to match. Thankfully, it seems like they are: Over one-third of those surveyed said they needed to reset their brand strategy and proposition to strengthen the emotional connection with their audience. Competition is at an all-time high: The pandemic, however, was not alone in shaping today’s B2B marketplace. A surge in mergers and acquisitions across B2B industries has intensified market competition, reducing the effectiveness of demand generation campaigns on revenue growth. As a result, B2B organizations have started taking a progressively long-term view of brand. Many are turning to brand awareness campaigns to build memory structures in the minds of prospective future buyers – reflecting Professor John Dawes’ 95:5 heuristic. "We need to keep our company in users’ minds. Creating memorable impressions and standing out from the crowd through our brand is more important than ever before." - Survey response from a B2B marketing leader. However, as brand continues to skyrocket in importance, so does the role of creativity in B2B brand building. Of the B2B marketing leaders we surveyed, 42% highlight the need to better define their brand to help differentiate themselves. Buyers today can be fairly confident that a range of companies can deliver what they require, leaving differentiation to brand rather than a product or service. And this is reflected in how our respondents agree that a shift away from the B2B ‘safe and steady’ approach enables more unique brand positioning and ultimately, improved standout in the hearts and minds of their audience. New approaches, old problems: Perhaps unsurprisingly, shifts in boardroom priorities aren’t without their challenges. While over half of our survey’s respondents said that brand building is equally as important as demand generation in achieving their marketing goals, 40% told us that only 5-20% of their annual marketing budget is allocated to brand building programs. This comes in stark contrast to Les Binet (Head of Effectiveness at adam&eve DDB) and Peter Field’s (a seasoned Marketing Consultant) seminal research piece stating that B2B brands should look to spend 60% of their budget on brand and 40% on demand for optimum effectiveness. For B2B brand marketers to allay boardroom concerns and win increased brand investment, they need to become more market-oriented and talk the language of finance. Providing a clear link between authentic, purpose-driven brand building initiatives, customer acquisition, and increased revenue growth – along with the ability to command higher prices, negotiate better supply chain contracts, and attract better employees – can help demonstrate the commercial value and competitive edge of a brand. Alternatively, B2B marketing leaders can look to relate brand investment to the challenges that keep their CFO awake at night. The B2B Institute’s Jon Lombardo recently spoke on Fergus O'Carroll’s ‘On Strategy’ podcast about the importance of the relationship between marketing and finance. In general, 20% of a company’s stock price is based on short-term cash flows, while the other 80% is based on the long-term. Lombardo argues if CMOs work with their CFO to pair this cash flow-centric view with a customer-centric marketing strategy, they can pave the way for a rebalancing of the marketing budget in favor of brand building initiatives – enabling greater investment in capturing the 80% of future buyers.

Read More

Account Based Execution

G2 Annual Report Ranks Sendoso as Best Account-Based Direct Mail Provider for Third Consecutive Year

Business Wire | March 31, 2023

Sendoso, the global industry leader in direct marketing automation, has been named the No. 1 provider in Account-Based Direct Mail for the third straight year by G2, the world’s largest tech marketplace. Sendoso’s top recognition out of nearly 150,000 companies on G2 highlights the company’s continued commitment to providing innovative solutions to help sales and marketing teams engage with customers in more personalized and effective ways. G2’s Account-Based Direct Mail Report, which is based on verified reviews from actual users, evaluates software solutions that enable businesses to send targeted, personalized, and trackable direct mail to prospects and customers. Sendoso scored the highest in both customer satisfaction and market presence among verified reviews, culminating in its top billing. “We continue to develop new and innovative ways to strengthen relationships between businesses and their clients, and this achievement validates our efforts,” said Kris Rudeegraap, Sendoso CEO and co-founder. “Personalized and impactful outreach has been at the forefront of our values since day one, and to be recognized by G2 not just multiple times but in three consecutive years is truly an honor. This ranking motivates us to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to make those connections deeper and more authentic.” According to G2, to be included in the Account-Based Direct Mail category, a product must: Provide the ability to send personalized, one-to-one direct mail, or gifts, to contacts within a company’s targeted accounts. Enable companies to measure the impact and ROI of an account-based direct mail campaign. Sendoso’s sending platform empowers businesses to send highly personalized gifts, eGifts, and branded merchandise, as well as direct mail and handwritten notes, to prospects and customers at scale. "Sendoso's total commitment to customer satisfaction continues to be validated by nearly 900 authentic customer reviews, and thus have earned G2 Leader recognition in the Account-Based Direct Mail category for a third-straight year,” said Godard Abel, co-founder and CEO of G2. To learn more about Sendoso and its award winning platform, visit sendoso.com. About Sendoso Sendoso is the global leader in Direct Marketing Automation, creating, curating and delivering automated, meaningful experiences for customers of all sizes. The trusted partner of Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies worldwide, Sendoso helps customers generate new pipelines, utilize account-based efforts, boost customer retention and increase upsell and cross sell. Sendoso has locations across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, and has had more than 800 customers leverage its proven automated solution to deliver nearly four million sends worldwide. Learn more at sendoso.com. About G2 G2 is the world’s largest B2B tech marketplace, connecting millions of businesses with the products and services they need to grow. G2 offers unbiased ratings and reviews of software and services based on user feedback and market presence, making it easier for businesses to make informed decisions when selecting technology solutions. The platform is home to over one million reviews and counting, with more than five million visitors each month. Headquartered in Chicago, G2 has offices in San Francisco, London, and Bangalore. For more information, please visit www.g2.com.

Read More

Account Based Analytics, Targeted Account Strategy

New B2B Sales and Marketing Approach by Influ2 is Based on Person-based Advertising

Influ2 | January 10, 2023

Influ2, a person-based advertising platform, is hosting a webinar titled "Beyond Alignment: A New Approach to Sales and Marketing for B2B," which addresses how businesses can adapt to changes in preferred buying methods in light of an economic downturn. The webinar will show how to get your sales and marketing teams to work together so that you can react quickly to changes in how your customers act. The webinar, led by the CEO of Influ2 and featuring a principal analyst from Forrester, will discuss how businesses can structure their approach to B2B marketing, sales, and customer success to drive revenue, how marketing can support sales, and what metrics are important for a customer-focused organization. The webinar aims to help organizations become more agile in their approach to B2B marketing, sales, and customer success, enabling them to create better customer experiences that drive greater ROI. “Marketing and sales alignment is impossible if these teams focus on different stages of the funnel,” said Dmitri Lisitski, CEO and co-founder of Influ2. “True marketing and sales alignment arises when they talk to the same audience in the unified funnel where there is no hand-off between marketing and sales and MQL/MQAs are secondary, if not obsolete.” (Source: Globenewswire) The webinar will also focus on the importance of understanding buyer personas and reaching each individual with personalized content. The event will also detail the importance of marketing and sales alignment, the buyer group experience, and how to achieve pipeline momentum. The webinar will serve as a valuable resource for businesses looking to adapt to the changing buying habits of their customers, especially in the midst of an economic downturn. About Influ2 Influ2 is a Person-Based Advertising platform for B2B companies. It was developed specifically for B2B marketers who want to expand the reach of their businesses and increase their revenue. It serves advertisements to specific decision-makers through display and social networks and provides sales with person-based and buying group insights that drive engagement within their target accounts. These insights can be driven by the fact that it serves advertisements. In environments where people's attention is limited, Influ2 helps you get in front of people who want to engage with you and drives engagement with them.

Read More

Account Based Advertising, Targeted Account Strategy

The changing face of brand building in B2B boardrooms

transmission | August 10, 2022

Despite historic skepticism from B2B boardrooms, brand building has been going through somewhat of a renaissance over the past few years. For all too long, the B2B marketing function was seen as a cost-center whose existence was to support sales in accelerating pipeline and maximizing ROI. Mentions of brand in the boardroom could be met with disinterest and to a certain extent, fear, driven by difficulties in measuring its impact on the bottom line. The effects of a negligent approach to B2B brand building were clear. In 2019, the Financial Times partnered with the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) – a professional institute for agencies and individuals working in the UK’s advertising, marketing, and communications industry – to publish the ‘Board-Brand Rift’ report revealing that over half of business leaders rated their knowledge of brand building as ‘average’ to ‘very poor’. But things are changing. In just a few short years, brand has made its way to the top of B2B marketing leaders’ priority lists. Our ‘State of B2B Brand Building 2022’ research report reveals that 71% of B2B marketing leaders acknowledge that boardroom views of brand building have changed significantly in the last 12 months – with over 60% now believing that brand marketing is a strategic business priority. B2B buyers want more from business: The marketplace has seen a huge shift in B2B buyer behavior driven, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns over public health, the environment, and job security contributed to a climate of fear and anxiety in which buyers looked to make more ethical purchase decisions – turning to business as a bastion of societal leadership. Two years on, B2B buyers are increasingly looking to engage with highly resonant and authentic brands. They want to know that the companies they buy from reflect their own values and whether they contribute to wider society, putting purpose above profit. "COVID-19 has accelerated the need for our brand to have a real and meaningful purpose; one that contributes more to the local community and improves lives. This is what our buyers now expect from us." - Survey response from a B2B marketing leader. B2B brands need a clear and defined purpose to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. Brand trust, transparency, and authenticity are all high on the list of customers’ brand selection criteria, and organizations need to respond to match. Thankfully, it seems like they are: Over one-third of those surveyed said they needed to reset their brand strategy and proposition to strengthen the emotional connection with their audience. Competition is at an all-time high: The pandemic, however, was not alone in shaping today’s B2B marketplace. A surge in mergers and acquisitions across B2B industries has intensified market competition, reducing the effectiveness of demand generation campaigns on revenue growth. As a result, B2B organizations have started taking a progressively long-term view of brand. Many are turning to brand awareness campaigns to build memory structures in the minds of prospective future buyers – reflecting Professor John Dawes’ 95:5 heuristic. "We need to keep our company in users’ minds. Creating memorable impressions and standing out from the crowd through our brand is more important than ever before." - Survey response from a B2B marketing leader. However, as brand continues to skyrocket in importance, so does the role of creativity in B2B brand building. Of the B2B marketing leaders we surveyed, 42% highlight the need to better define their brand to help differentiate themselves. Buyers today can be fairly confident that a range of companies can deliver what they require, leaving differentiation to brand rather than a product or service. And this is reflected in how our respondents agree that a shift away from the B2B ‘safe and steady’ approach enables more unique brand positioning and ultimately, improved standout in the hearts and minds of their audience. New approaches, old problems: Perhaps unsurprisingly, shifts in boardroom priorities aren’t without their challenges. While over half of our survey’s respondents said that brand building is equally as important as demand generation in achieving their marketing goals, 40% told us that only 5-20% of their annual marketing budget is allocated to brand building programs. This comes in stark contrast to Les Binet (Head of Effectiveness at adam&eve DDB) and Peter Field’s (a seasoned Marketing Consultant) seminal research piece stating that B2B brands should look to spend 60% of their budget on brand and 40% on demand for optimum effectiveness. For B2B brand marketers to allay boardroom concerns and win increased brand investment, they need to become more market-oriented and talk the language of finance. Providing a clear link between authentic, purpose-driven brand building initiatives, customer acquisition, and increased revenue growth – along with the ability to command higher prices, negotiate better supply chain contracts, and attract better employees – can help demonstrate the commercial value and competitive edge of a brand. Alternatively, B2B marketing leaders can look to relate brand investment to the challenges that keep their CFO awake at night. The B2B Institute’s Jon Lombardo recently spoke on Fergus O'Carroll’s ‘On Strategy’ podcast about the importance of the relationship between marketing and finance. In general, 20% of a company’s stock price is based on short-term cash flows, while the other 80% is based on the long-term. Lombardo argues if CMOs work with their CFO to pair this cash flow-centric view with a customer-centric marketing strategy, they can pave the way for a rebalancing of the marketing budget in favor of brand building initiatives – enabling greater investment in capturing the 80% of future buyers.

Read More

Events