Priorities for B2B Marketers

I came across 2 interesting pieces this week. The first, a piece from B2B Marketing on 'Rebounding from the Recession' where a debate between senior figures on the IDM's B2B Marketing Council tackled this topic. Interestingly enough, one participant claims that 'The difference between B2B and B2C has been the acknowledgement of the need to retain relationships'. I'm not sure if they are trying to say that this is a difference between B2B and B2C or whether it's taken B2B time to acknowledge the need to retain relationships'.

In both cases I disagree.

New Marketing vs Old Marketing

Email/Mobile Marketing - Direct Mail

Social Media - Events

Word of Mouth - Word of Mouth

Banner Advertising - Press Advertising

Any more offers?

Walking Adverts

Do you remember the heyday of the Sandwich Board? According to Wikipedia they are still in use. Well it would seem that the modern equivalent could very well be us...the consumer.

John Moore at WOMMA 2010 states that the average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers.

So although we do not walk around promoting brands visually as a Sandwich Board Man( although wearing a Superdry, Gio-Goi, Nike item of clothing or driving an Alfa Romeo or BMW, of course does this), we do, it seems, in our day to day conversations. It is this type of Advocacy (positive) brands aspire to tap into.

Especially when you mix in what I highlighted in a previous post about how according to Nielsen,90% of consumers trust product and brand recommendations from people they know.

So why do I need a 'refer a friend' programme?

According to Nielsen,90% of consumers trust product and brand recommendations from people they know. Socialnomics finds that only 14% trust adverts!

A Little More Conversation

Is an article written by Andrrew Walmsley. My take on the piece is that as long as the little more conversation is a little more ''good' conversation then the Brand is on the right track.

Social Media is 'all about the conversation'. There can be no excuse , therefore, to ignore the real bedrock of any conversation...and that is 'Listening' .

The ability to listen to conversations already happening before you join in is key. Any brand worth its salt realises that it needs to be able to play a part in the real world of its customers. and if that world includes Twitter, then it has to be a part of the mix. Dell is a great example of moving the conversation to where the customer was, getting closer to the customer and even demonstrating that ROI that so many non marketers on the board crave.