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Ozometer by Play
The campaign was created to celebrate Foster's famous ‘No Worries’ attitude. In creating the campaign, Play searched for some of Britain’s most, and least, ‘No worries’ people, celebrities and places. More on Play's award winning campaign.Overview and tips
By Jack Wallington, Senior Programmes Manager, IAB
In a world where emailing, social networking, watching video, searching for and reading web content is fundamental to work (let alone personal life), the internet has never been more important if you want to reach and maintain a relationship with your clients in the B2B arena. People spend a large chunk of their work day in front of a computer, using online to trade, learn and communicate. No wonder then that B2B businesses now rely heavily on the broad range of tools that the medium offers, such as display, search marketing, email and the ‘social’ web to not only reach potential clients, but continue a relationship after a sale.
Taking this into account, internet marketing is, in some respects, more in tune with B2B than other media because it can facilitate conversation, essential to building that all important relationship and a direct connection to the client. As such, the internet brings tools to the table that are a revolution for the B2B marketer and closer to the personality of face-to-face. Couple that with the benefits of knowing more about an audience than ever through measurement, tracking and specific targeting and you’ll think you’ve struck marketing gold.
However, there are complications, often brought about through a lack of understanding of what is still a relatively new and sometimes complex medium. Search and email marketing may be familiar, but the display of today is totally different to what we were using at the turn of the millennium. B2B marketing is also very different to consumer marketing because of the increased value of individual clients, the fact they are spending someone else’s money and are therefore detached but more accountable to purchases. This means you have to increase the amount of attention you give to clients prior to a sale and, importantly, post sale as you maintain the relationship.
So how do you use tools in B2B when they are often built for reaching consumers? Hopefully this handbook, produced by the IAB B2B Council (consisting of experts in the field) has helped enlighten you on the fundamentals of using the internet in B2B marketing. Agencies and other B2B specialists are on hand to help in the mind shift to using the internet in this setting, but the proof is really in the execution. As with any marketing plan, you have to think about the person you are trying to reach. Learn how they use the internet and then use the tools at your disposal to deliver great creative executions. Remember at all times that, as this guide states throughout, best practice is key and it’s important to monitor and adjust your marketing messages continuously.
The world of B2B marketing has never been better, with B2B websites producing greater, higher quality content, making display propositions more enticing for brand planners. A large business purchase or deal will involve many face-to-face meetings but once you’ve left the building, it’s the internet that clients will turn to, at some point, to continue and build on their research. It’s here that search and social media marketing are all powerful. If a client is searching for the positives or negatives of your offerings, they will turn to a search engine to find it. If you aren’t managing your reputation in search, a negative find can be incredibly damaging but an abundance of positive results will reassure. This is magnified in social media where a recommendation from peers carries a lot of weight, whether it’s negative or positive.
Your clients don’t consume only the internet and while it can be used as a primary medium, you must also consider how internet works with the rest of your marketing mix. For instance, running a television or press campaign will boost the results of search marketing, but importantly, with online marketing, the results of an offline campaign will be enhanced. You can build upon branding, offer more in-depth information and even collect data online to judge your campaigns offline.
B2B internet marketing is fast paced, exciting and, as the IAB has found, in many cases more advanced than the consumer market. Make the most of the branding, reach and measurability of the internet to bring your campaigns to life and to bring client relationships closer than ever before. The tools are at your finger tips, and so are your clients.
1. Entertain your audiences - just because you’re selling business products or services doesn’t mean that your audience won’t want (or need) to be engaged with your communications.
2. Set objectives - decide what you want to measure at the beginning of your campaign - what are your desired results: sales, registrations, data capture or all three? This will feed into how you execute your messaging/creative.
3. Research competitors - always monitor what your competitors are doing online, whether it’s a display campaign, a viral video or high rankings in natural search listings, you can always learn from others in your sector and apply this to your own marketing activity.
4. Test and tweak - test your website creative, check usability, invite feedback from clients and then tweak things to build on past mistakes or less effective campaigns.
5. BUT don’t try too hard - writing a corporate blog may seem like a good idea initially, but can you invest the time required to do it properly, and are you writing with your audience in mind? In the same way, a token page on a social networking site won’t win you any new ‘friends’ unless you offer a reward of some kind, or useful information and insights.
In a world where emailing, social networking, watching video, searching for and reading web content is fundamental to work (let alone personal life), the internet has never been more important if you want to reach and maintain a relationship with your clients in the B2B arena. People spend a large chunk of their work day in front of a computer, using online to trade, learn and communicate. No wonder then that B2B businesses now rely heavily on the broad range of tools that the medium offers, such as display, search marketing, email and the ‘social’ web to not only reach potential clients, but continue a relationship after a sale.
Taking this into account, internet marketing is, in some respects, more in tune with B2B than other media because it can facilitate conversation, essential to building that all important relationship and a direct connection to the client. As such, the internet brings tools to the table that are a revolution for the B2B marketer and closer to the personality of face-to-face. Couple that with the benefits of knowing more about an audience than ever through measurement, tracking and specific targeting and you’ll think you’ve struck marketing gold.
However, there are complications, often brought about through a lack of understanding of what is still a relatively new and sometimes complex medium. Search and email marketing may be familiar, but the display of today is totally different to what we were using at the turn of the millennium. B2B marketing is also very different to consumer marketing because of the increased value of individual clients, the fact they are spending someone else’s money and are therefore detached but more accountable to purchases. This means you have to increase the amount of attention you give to clients prior to a sale and, importantly, post sale as you maintain the relationship.
So how do you use tools in B2B when they are often built for reaching consumers? Hopefully this handbook, produced by the IAB B2B Council (consisting of experts in the field) has helped enlighten you on the fundamentals of using the internet in B2B marketing. Agencies and other B2B specialists are on hand to help in the mind shift to using the internet in this setting, but the proof is really in the execution. As with any marketing plan, you have to think about the person you are trying to reach. Learn how they use the internet and then use the tools at your disposal to deliver great creative executions. Remember at all times that, as this guide states throughout, best practice is key and it’s important to monitor and adjust your marketing messages continuously.
The world of B2B marketing has never been better, with B2B websites producing greater, higher quality content, making display propositions more enticing for brand planners. A large business purchase or deal will involve many face-to-face meetings but once you’ve left the building, it’s the internet that clients will turn to, at some point, to continue and build on their research. It’s here that search and social media marketing are all powerful. If a client is searching for the positives or negatives of your offerings, they will turn to a search engine to find it. If you aren’t managing your reputation in search, a negative find can be incredibly damaging but an abundance of positive results will reassure. This is magnified in social media where a recommendation from peers carries a lot of weight, whether it’s negative or positive.
Your clients don’t consume only the internet and while it can be used as a primary medium, you must also consider how internet works with the rest of your marketing mix. For instance, running a television or press campaign will boost the results of search marketing, but importantly, with online marketing, the results of an offline campaign will be enhanced. You can build upon branding, offer more in-depth information and even collect data online to judge your campaigns offline.
B2B internet marketing is fast paced, exciting and, as the IAB has found, in many cases more advanced than the consumer market. Make the most of the branding, reach and measurability of the internet to bring your campaigns to life and to bring client relationships closer than ever before. The tools are at your finger tips, and so are your clients.
Some final rules…
1. Entertain your audiences - just because you’re selling business products or services doesn’t mean that your audience won’t want (or need) to be engaged with your communications.
2. Set objectives - decide what you want to measure at the beginning of your campaign - what are your desired results: sales, registrations, data capture or all three? This will feed into how you execute your messaging/creative.
3. Research competitors - always monitor what your competitors are doing online, whether it’s a display campaign, a viral video or high rankings in natural search listings, you can always learn from others in your sector and apply this to your own marketing activity.
4. Test and tweak - test your website creative, check usability, invite feedback from clients and then tweak things to build on past mistakes or less effective campaigns.
5. BUT don’t try too hard - writing a corporate blog may seem like a good idea initially, but can you invest the time required to do it properly, and are you writing with your audience in mind? In the same way, a token page on a social networking site won’t win you any new ‘friends’ unless you offer a reward of some kind, or useful information and insights.
