You’ve probably heard the saying, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” In business to business (B2B) marketing now more than ever, there’s a lot of hammering going on – and a lot of noise out there – because marketing tactics keep changing.
I see many vendors approaching B2B marketing with the “tool du jour,” because they hear something new is the next best thing. That’s using a hammer and hoping everything is a nail. I also see a good number of B2B companies stick with traditional tactics, believing that new tools such as social media and digital marketing don’t apply. That’s a toolbox that doesn’t contain the most effective tools and isn’t competitive.
I believe in integrated and strategic marketing. So when a B2B company comes to me saying, “We need SEO!” or, “We need social media!” it’s at least a yellow flag, because what we really need to do is look at the whole picture. There is no use doing SEO or driving traffic to a website via social media if the brand is wrong or the website is ineffective.
On the other hand, dropping traditional marketing tools altogether and focusing on new tactics like content marketing and social media alone is also risky. Some traditional tactics, like trade shows (I’ve had great success with these – see my list of B2B trade show resources here) or published articles or even print ads (in some cases), still work!
The key is choosing the best marketing tools for each situation, which of course depends on your target audience and your marketing budget. Find out the best way to reach your audience and stay within budget, using the m0st effective tools out there, old and new.
So, B2B marketer, what’s in your toolbox?
If you want to do the right marketing, to the right audience, and generate the right results, call New Incite today. We’ll work with you to find the right marketing tools for success, and we can also execute them for you as your outsource marketing resource.
Photo from Flickr by Kyle May, Some Rights Reserved.
