I recently found an interesting survey on marketing collateral for B2B technology vendors. "Eccolo Media 2009 B2B Technology Collateral Survey Report".

There's alot of detail in here about trends, etc but a couple of key points are that white papers are still the most influential form of collateral influencing technology purchasers and that it's "highly viral" in nature.

The last point is very interesting when you consider that the survey found "nearly as many (85 percent) share case studies; 81 percent share brochures/data sheets; 80 percent podcasts; and 79 percent video"

This seems to echo our experience where we often use white-papers, case-studies and "thought-leadership" collateral as a tool to both engage and develop relationships within a prospect organisation.

Indeed, the survey makes it clear that "collateral acts as the 'front door' to the sales process.

Another interesting area is the channel preference: "A download from a direct response campaign was the second most frequently used channel for receiving a white paper, behind the corporate Web site. This implies both the frequency with which the white papers are used as direct response offers, and the respondents' preferences to receive them through this channel"

Just as this survey has seen the use of video rise in last years. I think this is one area where social media marketing will dramatically increase. At the moment it's behind direct response but I definitely see that changing.

After all, I found this piece of collateral via the Inbound Marketers group on LinkedIn.

Labels: b2b marketing, demand generation, digital marketing, marketing collateral, social media

In a recent interactive poll for B2B marketing magazine, 80% of it's readers voted "Yes" to the question "Should B2B be focusing all it's efforts on 'pull' marketing (otherwise known as 'outside-in' marketing) therefore turning its back on 'push' marketing techniques (known as 'inside-out')?"

I find that staggering!

80% of B2B marketers think they should be focusing all their efforts on 'pull' marketing.

Whilst I'm not surprised to find myself in the minority with all the buzz and hype around how on-line and social media has changed the B2B landscape, I still find it amazing that so many B2B marketers are prepared to throw out proven push marketing tactics such as DM and telemarketing.

I totally agree that the landscape has changed, and that returns on some traditional direct marketing tactics are falling, but equally, many of the stars of 'pull' marketing, such as social media, still have to deliver tangible and robust ROI.

Like many things in life, it's seldom a "either-or" choice; it's about how you choose the best of all available options to deliver the results you need.

Labels: b2b marketing, push marketing, social media

The jury's out but, with some degree on scepticism, I've decided to start a twitter account.

As I've posted on my blog before, see Is Twitter a B2B marketing channel? I'm still trying to work out where the return is (truth be told, I'm sure everyone else is too!) but I've seen a growing number of clients, associates, prospects and organisations I know join so... who knows?

If you're interested in my 140 character musings - follow me here

Labels: b2b marketing, social media, social networking sites