Research of the Week filters through hundreds of research studies and finds the most interesting and thought-provoking research for marketing professionals. Then we provide practical strategies and tips on how to apply the research to influence your marketing programs. Enjoy!
Many B2B marketers depend on live events to fuel their lead generation and sales programs. I recently talked to a company that had 24 live events planned for 2020 and in one week in March, all of those plans were destroyed.
But can B2B companies stop marketing and sales because of the challenges they encounter with COVID-19? No.
The good news is that B2B companies are already adjusting marketing plans and finding new ways to allocate marketing and sales budgets to meet goals. A survey fielded in April by B2B Marketing Zone and published in eMarketer revealed how US B2B marketers will reallocate event marketing budgets this year.
Using the budget for content creation, paid media, webinars, and more is a savvy decision for the following reasons:
- Multi-purpose of high-quality content. Content is the backbone of most of your marketing. You can use your content for SEO, advertising campaigns, sales outreach, content syndication, video, webinars, etc. Content will help improve every aspect of your marketing and sales programs.
- Webinars. I would add video content to this category. B2B companies can use the content of an ebook, research report, or case study to create webinars and videos. Webinars and videos are an effective way to engage your audience, build thought leadership, and generate leads. New Perfect Audience tests find that video as part of an advertising program increases the conversion rate.
- Paid Media (search and social): The pandemic has created much change in buying cycles, messaging, product positioning, budget spend, and more. Marketers can use paid media to test messaging and keep up-to-date with the needs of their customers and prospects. A steady flow of testing will keep B2B marketers one step ahead of their competition.
The pandemic has not stopped B2B marketing, it has only changed the tools available to generate, nurture, and close deals. Most B2B companies have a complex sales process. A complex sale is one that has many individuals part fo the process and requires a long sales cycle. Even if you do not expect a sale to close during the pandemic, you need to position your company to be ready to close deals when the budget is available. Think thought leadership and building goodwill during the pandemic.
If you want to run tests with digital advertising campaigns, Perfect Audience has experts available to work with you. We will share with you what we are learning and help you apply those learnings to your specific situation. Click here to schedule a meeting.
Digital Marketing Coordinator – Perfect Audience: Kathleen is an enthusiastic marketer experienced in marketing automation, campaign management, and digital analytics. She’s previously worked on direct mail campaigns, spear-headed lead generation efforts, and managed a team of interns at SharpSpring.
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