2008: B-to-B Marketing Preview

It comes as no surprise that b-to-b marketers plan to increase their spending online and decrease print advertising in 2008. What may surprise folks, however, is that spend on direct mail and events is forecasted to rise in 2008.

We’re finding this to hold true with our own clients, too. I think this is because, in our technology-driven lives, we welcome a chance to re-connect with folks in a tangible, one-to-one way. Whereas maybe three years ago direct mail effectiveness was on the decline, folks are so overwhelmed now with email and online banter that they are starting to glaze over those and once again pay attention to what’s coming in the mail, especially if the creative is eye-catching and the offer relevant. And as great as virtual tradeshows are, you can’t beat the chance to pitch your product or service face-to-face at an event. Besides, we wouldn’t want to put the tchotchkes vendors out of business.

In other forecasting news, the same study found that two-thirds of b-to-b marketers plan on increasing their overall marketing budgets – largely because they also plan on embarking on new campaigns. And, in terms of what online areas marketers will invest in, Website, Webcasts, email, search and video leads the pack. Finally, despite all of 2007’s hype around social media, only 20% of marketers are currently using it as part of their strategy and 69% are not planning to increase spend in this area.

– Posted by Melissa Coyle

Hide and Search

Recent research from Jupiter Research reveals that the top challenge facing search marketers is rising key word prices (62%), followed by:

• ROI tracking (44%)
• Management of multiple engines (43%)
• Expansion of keyword (42%)
• Measure of off-line impact (34%)
• Click fraud (28%)
• Bid tool functionality (21%)
• Declining ROI (21%)

According to Jupiter, spending on search will rise to $11.1 billion by 2011 and paid search spending will increase by 65% this year alone. However, despite the concern over rising costs, marketers do not seem as worried about declining ROI – insinuating that even with costs rising, search is still profitable.

– Posted by Melissa Coyle

Make Way for Online Videos

 A recent report from ABI research suggests that the online video market (both pay and ad supported) will be worth $15.6 billion by 2012. What does this mean for marketers? Well, not only do you have a new medium for communicating your brand and commercializing your content, but thanks to innovative reporting tools, you’ll learn more about your audience than you ever could with traditional broadcast TV advertising.

Shameless Plug Alert: If you’re interested in learning more about delivering innovative and interactive video experiences on the Web, check out our client PermissionTV.

– Posted by Melissa Coyle

Online Surveys on the Rise

 According to a new report from AdWeek and Equation Research,

online surveys are now the current “market research tool of choice” for both agencies and brands. 80% of those surveyed say they utilize online surveys with “relative frequency,” and 41% utilize them “often.” Download the full report at: http://www.eqr1.com/w1/leads.html?refer=MRR_mw.aw.bw

– Posted by Melissa Coyle

Stat of the Week: New IT Marketing Research

According to a recent telecast from Marketing Sherpa, the biggest challenges marketers face when marketing IT software and services include how to market to a growing number of people involved in the buying process, followed by multi-channel lead generation and creating a PR buzz. The research also revealed that tech buyers are more likely to find you than you are to find them. Where are the top places buyers are looking? Google, vendor websites, IT publications and communities, directories and analyst sites.

BluePoint Venture Marketing – www.bluepointmktg.com

Stat of the Week: Snail Mail is Back!

A new study commissioned by Pitney Bowes and conducted by International Communications Research finds that mail – and not digitial communications like email – is the best way to reach consumers.

Some key findings from the survey:

• 73% of consumers prefer mail for receiving new product announcements or offers from companies they already do business with, as compared to 18% for e-mail
• Mail was also preferred by 70% of respondents for receiving unsolicited information on products and services
• Consumers are less likely to discard unopened mail than unsolicited e-mails
• Respondents found mail to be less intrusive (45.3%), more convenient (40.2 %), less high-pressured (30.2%), more descriptive (22.7 %) and more persuasive (12%) than other communication channels inlcuding email and phone

BluePoint Venture Marketing – www.bluepointmktg.com

Stat of the Week: 53% of Email Subject Lines Broken

Did you know that 53% of subject lines in email communications appear broken? According to new research from Pivotal Veracity, thanks to simple and common formatting errors, many of those email marketing items you’re sending on behalf of your company or clients may be dismissed as spam due to funky subject lines. Click here to read the full article from Marketing Sherpa on the study.

BluePoint Venture Marketing – www.bluepointmktg.com

Mass Media Advertising

 Accenture recently issued a report called “Mass Advertising: Consumer Attitudes and Creative Opportunities.” The study had many interesting findings, including the following:

• 43% of consumers feel they have been exposed to the same amount of advertising this year compared to prior years, while 15% much more often and 9% said less often
• TV still leads the pack in places where consumers view ads (97%), but the internet comes in second at 79%, followed by radio (73%), print (68%), and outdoor (62%)
• Women are more likely than men to be influenced by advertising – they also have a more favorable view of ads
• Adult consumers aged 18-44 are more likely to notice and be influenced by ads than those over 45
• Consumers with a higher income are more likely to see ads, but are less influenced by them
• Consumers with children are more influenced by advertising than those without

– Posted by Melissa Coyle

List Renters Beware!

According to Epsilon’s recent report “E-mail and Spam 2007: Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors,” 14% of all consumers either recently have changed email providers or plan to within the next 6 months. Why do they switch? Nearly 25% cited costs, and 20% are upgrading their service. Read more in the latest issue of Direct.

– Posted by Melissa Coyle

Marketers’ Goals for 2007

 According to the CMO Council’s Marketing Outlook 2007 report, quantifying the value of marketing programs and investments is the #1 goal for marketers this year (44%). Other priorities include improving marketing organization’s efficiency (39%), increasing customer knowledge (34%), and improving ROI (28%). Interestingly, 23% said they want to boost credibility and perceived value with senior management.

When asked what top 5 analytics tools they like to implement to help them do their jobs better, performance measurement dashboard won out by 42%, followed by e-mail campaign management, lead-generation qualification, CRM, and customer intelligence/analytics.

And what were the top accomplishments from 2006? Restructuring marketing to better support sales led the pack (46%), followed by overhauling brand image (29%), new messaging (28%), implementing new campaigns (27%), and adding internal resources (24%).

– Posted by Melissa Coyle