B2B Messaging – finding the most effective channel

B2B, Business, differentiation, differentiation, ideal customer, Marketing, Marketing Ecosystem, messaging, segmentation, single target market

In consumer items there are a lot of ways to reach a customer – television, print, social media etc. Depending on where your demographic audience is and how the psychographics work out, you could also use good old direct mail and leaflets and tele-callers.

In B2B markets there are unique challenges. There’s a massive fall in print magazine circulation especially the business focused magazines. Not sure how many people watch television to check out the next business strategy.

In the B2B market, mail does not reach the person on the desk, because a lot of times people don’t have a desk and are mobile. So the mail has to be collected by the person by going to the mail room. Since people don’t come to the office so often and with Covid19, even fewer are coming to office so no one visits the mail room and the mail you send does not reach the intended recipients. So if you are targeting professional services companies, financial services etc. I have found direct mail to be a tough ask.

On the other hand if you were looking at companies which were more into manufacturing, utilities etc. I would guess direct mail would work especially for the back office functions and factory / warehouse functions.

Email is a quick, free medium and that’s it very basic problem. In B2B all the people are inundated with mail and you get a fraction of a second on the mobile phone, before the person ignores or deletes your mail. That is if your mail even reaches the person’s mailbox, because the spam filters will block your mail if they even observe a single item in the mail which smells of spam.

Before the pandemic started, webinars was a good way to get people to join you and hear your message, but I am observing a definite sense of exhaustion with webinars. The registration and attendance and company sponsored webinars has fallen dramatically. It may still be possible to get some attendance if the webinar is being run by an industry body or an independent analyst or a reputed media group with some respected industry veterans.

As a B2B marketer I am always looking out for some effective ways to get in front my audience. By ensuring that I target a “single target market”, and try and target only my ideal customer profile, I try to learn from each interaction that we have with a client and see how we can incorporate that learning into our next interaction. Its always a good idea to send a personal email to a person so that the spam filters don’t think you are spamming. You try to use as much knowledge you have of the industry to make this email so that the person reading it finds it useful.

Please let me know in case you have found any other method to reach your prospects in B2B in the comments below.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

B2B messaging – Using Triggers – 2

B2B, Business, differentiation, Marketing, messaging, persistence, single target market, Triggers

Yesterday I wrote about one of the best triggers that I have found in B@B messaging, when someone joins in a new role from outside the company in the executive position.

There are multiple other triggers that can be used based on the environment the company is operating in.

New regulation / compliances in the industry which everyone has to comply with especially if followed with a time limit
Going out / End of Life – of a license/regulation – again if there is a time limit it is even more critical
Entry of a new competitor in the market
Entry of a new technology
Impact of an event on a competitor and how it can apply to them
Global crisis and many more….

The reason I addressed the “new joinee trigger” as an independent post yesterday was because I have found that to be the most effective. With the above triggers the challenges are seen as more long term and people may not react to your messaging immediately.

Apart from the timing issue the other challenge is again related to targeting the right person in the organsiational matrix with the messaging for the above.

If you have been following my blog, I have given so many tactics for messaging whether its with dissonance or now with triggers or earlier with pain areas and aspiration areas.

The reason you have to test for so many different types of messaging is because you don’t know what kind of messaging will invoke a response from which prospect. You have to keep persisting with trying various options continuously.

So keep testing.

Till next time then

Carpe Diem!!!

B2B Messaging – Using Triggers

B2B, messaging, Triggers

I have written a lot of posts on B2B Messaging. Here’s one more.

The reason for this is that while the database is critical, once you have identified it , there’s no more variability. On the other hand you don’t know which message will resonate with your audience. Here you have to try multiple iterations and improve on each “control” by changing one variable at a time.

One item which I have observed work for my team a lot of times is “triggers” especially when someone new has joined at an executive position.

If you can track the priorities of the CEOs when they take over and/or other CXOs, then you can figure out if your solution can fit into their priorities.

If you send out a consistent set of messages after that, then you will end up building a recognition so that when the CXO is willing to work out on the priority, they will definitely ask their staff to “check you out”.

That’s when you get a chance to make an impression and wow them with your commitment to service.

Does it always work. No. But it does work a considerable amount of times. So its worth trying. Let me know if it works for you as well.

Till next time then

Carpe Diem!!!

Database or list versus message

B2B, differentiation, Marketing, messaging, segmentation, single target market

You know I keep talking about identifying a single Target Market to start with, a single niche in the market with a market in the niche.

One of the key reasons for that is because when you look at a small market then identifying the right people in your market to whom you will give the message becomes easier.

There are a lot of people who would bother about the message and spend a lot of time on tuning the message. My belief however has always been on identifying the right list/database/audience. In B2B if you can identify the right set of people to whom you can be messaging on a regular basis, then you have won half the battle.

To these people even if you were to give an average message, you will get a response. However an excellent message to the wrong audience will get you nowhere.

In my team, whenever a campaign doesn’t work, my first emphasis is always on first getting to identify if the database has been audited for the criteria on which we wanted it. Most expensive failures happen because we keep sending a message to the wrong audience. As Mary Ellen Tribby said “you can’t sell lingerie to a lumberjack”.

In B2B messaging there are multiple people in multiple departments, at multiple levels, who need to be covered with your messaging. Get that piece right for a small audience and then scale and you are on your way to success.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!