Integrating your marketing 2.0 efforts cannot be overlooked nowadays. Search, social media components, email and direct mail all need to work together to help the customer along the buying process. Each element in itself does some pretty heavy lifting, but combining them to work in conjunction, you develop an assembly line of integration.

For example, some B2B companies are not only sending targeted emails to potential customers, but including blog elements into their campaigns. A simple combining of technologies not only allows them to reach and listen to their audience, but helps build a community – a community who likes to talk to each other.  They have been able to reach an audience they did not directly target and find out more than they originally expected. When you add a search element into the mix, you drive even more traffic to the community.

Following up your efforts with the correct analysis and constant realignment will have your
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One of the most important – and often overlooked – aspects of an effective B-to-B direct marketing piece is strong offer or “call to action”. Targeted lists, clever copy, and a uniquely styled piece are all important but you cannot forget your main goal: action. Let your literature and website do the heavy lifting for information, your direct piece needs to get your audience to act.

According to many marketing gurus, 40% of a direct marketing piece’s impact comes from the value of the offer. That percentage is equal to the importance of sending to the targeted list in the first place, with the last 20% coming from the design/writing of the piece itself.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many B-to-B marketers place a majority of the importance (70%) on how the piece is designed and written, followed far behind by purchasing a list (20%) instead of building one, and lastly (10%) on a compelling call-to-action.
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In the B-to-B marketing world, most companies sell products and services to relatively well-understood market niches or groups of prospects. So even though you may use broader communication tactics such as advertising and public relations to communicate branding and product messages to markets in total, it makes sense to use direct marketing tactics to deliver more tailored messages to smaller sets of potential customers.

To build brand affinity and deliver important messages, B-to-B marketers have long relied on direct mail and newsletters to deliver important company news and product information to known customers. These tools help supplement direct sales contact and keep you “top of mind” to your audience. Digital communications channels such as e-mail, e-newsletters and other tactics are making the task of customer cultivation, easier, faster, and more efficient.
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E-mails, E-newsletters, Blogs, Social Networks, RSS feeds, Widgets, Wikis, Wireless – there are A LOT of online applications and services for a marketer to learn and use properly.   “How do I reach the right audience, at the right time, with the right message?” looms large in the ever growing B2B-shaped world.

According to Stefan Pollard, of EmailLabs, the key is to look at these channels as just “parts” of a strategic “whole”. Focusing on any one strategy can leave you with limited options to offer and virtual holes in reaching your customers - many of whom may be using different forms of communication (including non-Web 2.0).

So how can these channels of communication help you market effectively through e-mail?

• Blogs – helpful in gauging customer feedback or as a source of marketing research for your future emails or e-newsletters.
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Relationship Marketing evolved in the 60’s and became popular in the 80’s.  It’s a classic and essential form of marketing that we should all strive to put into practice with existing and developing clients.

 

Relationship marketing emphasizes the understanding of your customers needs through their buying life cycle, providing products and services as they need them and, mostly importantly, building long-term relationships.

 Relationship Marketing is a powerful tool that can substantially increase the profitability of a business. According to Harvard Review contributors Riechheld and Sasser, a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 25-85% rise in profits, depending on the industry. How does this occur?

• High cost of acquisition – the longer the relationship, the lower the amortized cost
• Long-term
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I don’t know about my fellow marketers, but I for one have had enough of the “buzz word” phenomena. In fact, buzz word is a buzz word anymore. There’s even a buzz word for when a buzz word becomes abused: buzz word backlash. I’d like to take that one step further and state that I believe we have serious case of buzz word whiplash in this country (hopefully that word won’t get picked up by the Web Bugs).

Googling my subject matter, I found there are hundreds sites on the internet dedicated solely to the proliferation of  buzz words - which buzz words to use to get your
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As marketers, we are trained to go through a series of “steps” when measuring the ROI of our client’s programs. These steps are included in various forms, like the AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action), to help us understand what buyers go through before the actual purchase. They are well- defined and easily followed. But lately, I’ve been reading about a new way to create and measure buzz: word-of-mouth marketing.

Measuring word of mouth? I wasn’t sure how that worked. I had heard the adage that people tend to tell two people if they like something and 10 people if they don’t, but how do you measure something so elusive and subjective?

Apparently very effectively. According to author Seth Godin, the oldest forms of communication can bypass the expensive and diverse media we know today.
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How do you endure a smooth working relationship with your clients? It’s not all about smiles and handshakes. A good Account Manager cannot not rely on the idea that because you have their account, that you also have their trust. I’ve found over the years that going the extra mile to assure even your best and busiest client, will make your life much easier in the long run.

What works? First and foremost: Keep the client well informed. Your first reaction may be to dodge the issue, when jobs don’t quite hit that projected target date. After all it was an “estimated” date, right? A quick and personal phone call to alert the client of potential issues will save you the hassle of later trying to explain the perception of failure.
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