Business Data & Lists

B2B marketing professionals need to have an excellent knowledge of the corporate clients they are targeting before going ahead with their campaign strategy.

That is the advice from Stefan Topfer, chief executive and chairman of WinWeb, who explained that business clients tend to have different needs from consumers, so marketers should thoroughly research prospects before sending content to them through B2B mailing lists.

"It always helps to have at least a passing knowledge of the industry that your business customers operate in," he commented in an article for Nasdaq.com.

Mr Topfer also highlighted the significance of personalised and tailored pitching, which makes prospects and clients feel that content is relevant to their own specific needs.

"When trying to win over potential B2B customers, you need to convince them on a personal level that your product will have some sort of positive impact on the business," he said.

A recent report from Forrester reveals that social media is one of the major areas that will witness a marked rise in B2B spending over the next four years.

Posted by Suzanne Stock – Communications Director, HR, Online Advertising, General Marketing

 

B2B marketing professionals are poised to significantly increase their social media expenditure over the next five years, a new report suggests.

According to a study from Forrester Research, B2B marketing firms are expected to spend $54 million (£35 million) on social media marketing in 2014 - up from just $11 million in 2009.

The survey shows that an increasing number of marketers are taking advantage of social media platforms to generate quality leads, and as firms become more familiar with the channel, they will continue to exploit its benefits even further.

"Companies will communicate directly with customers, learn how to effectively leverage their presence on social sites by measuring which programmes are successful and generate brand awareness via social channels like Twitter and Facebook," the study's researchers said.

Faye Weeks, director of digital media research agency Connect Insight recently echoed the study's findings, suggesting that B2B marketing firms need to fully understand their customers' digital habits in order maximise the impact of their marketing communications.
 

 

A marketing expert has advised businesses of the importance of a profitable lead nurturing programme.

Jim Lenskold, founder and president of the Lenskold Group, explained that in order to develop a successful and money-making lead nurturing programme, firms have to first align their strategies and objectives to the business outcomes their programme are likely to influence.

Mr Lenskold pointed out that nurturing can increase three primary variables - lead volume, customer value and conversion rates, as well as provide an opportunity to decrease costs. He thus urged firms to maintain awareness and interest for increased lead volume.

"The frequent touch points from nurturing marketing, combined with the educational content and engagement opportunities, keep awareness and interest high so that your solution is top of mind as prospects' needs change," he commented on Marketing Profs.

Mr Lenskold added that when a programme to nurture stalled leads is integrated into acquisition marketing, the lead volume should increase, as more prospects contact or accept a contact from sales.

Don Davis, editor of Internet Retailer magazine, recently extolled the sales generating benefits of corporate videos within an effective marketing strategy.

Posted by Suzanne Stock – Communications Director, HR, Online Advertising, General Marketing

 

The worldwide market for direct mail services is expected to reach $25 billion (£15.8 billion) within the next five years, new forecasts suggest.

According to a report by Global Industry Analysts, in Europe alone, the market for direct mail advertising services is expected to rise by more than £525 million by 2015, as the benefits of one-to-one interactive marketing become increasingly apparent.

The study found that the direct mail market is also positioned to benefit from the growing popularity of multi-channel direct advertising strategies that combine online channels with traditional offline platforms.

Marketers are also becoming more creative with their direct mail campaigns, the report suggests.

"With advertising service providers innovating to fend off threats from substitutive alternatives, unimaginative, dull and ineffective mails are receiving a quick makeover," Global Industry Analysts said.

The firm pointed out that multi-dimensional mailers, which are creative alternatives to traditional flat mail pieces, provide an effective platform to deliver effective marketing messages and elicit customer responses.
Posted by Daryl Jay, Business Development Director – Sales, Industry News, General Marketing
 

 

The response rates enjoyed by direct mail marketing campaigns are still robust, an industry expert has said.

Russell Parsons of Marketing Week highlighted the British Population Survey's Marketing Channel Trends report, which found that direct mail or leaflets posted through the door scored the highest among all marketing methods when it came to response rates.

The survey found that the majority of respondents visited a website or rang a call centre after receiving direct mail or leaflets posted through their door.

"[The results] underline the giant strides made in targeting and analytics that puts mail through the letterboxes of the potentially more receptive," Mr Parson commented.

"The message for marketers seems to be: direct mail works but don't expect consumers to like it."

A quarter of people said they believe it is acceptable for brands to communicate to them via leaflets, while a third (34 per cent) of respondents are fine with being targeted by way of newspapers and magazines, the survey found.

Posted by Daryl Jay, Business Development Director – Sales, Industry News, General Marketing
 

 

Poor regulation was one of the principal reasons for business data breaches, an industry expert has said.

Alexei Lesnykh, business development manager for endpoint data leak prevention software solutions provider DeviceLock, revealed that previously, low pressure to comply with business and consumer data security were the main reasons attitudes were so lax among companies.

Even among vertical industries where data security was paramount, such as financial institutions and government agencies, data breach reporting was not high enough.

"Another reason is that organisations in other industries do not feel this pressure and have not yet really suffered from data leaks," Mr Lesnykh said, adding that this makes firms believe the risk of financial and reputation loss from insider originated data breaches is low.

Mr Lesnykh pointed out that the situation has changed now because as of April 6th 2010, organisations can be fined up to £500,000 for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act.

A recent Devlock survey found that one in three IT decision makers is still failing to deploy any form of data leak prevention, including device control.

Posted by Daryl Jay, Business Development Director – Sales, Industry News, General Marketing

 

Incorporating incentives and offers into direct mail content will encourage more sales, an expert has suggested.

Mark Haslan of business advice website Overnight Prints maintained that promotions are one of the pillars of successful direct mail marketing campaigns.

He advised marketers to tempt sales leads with various offers such as sales discounts, free shipping and promotional items such as free merchandise.

"By utilising lucrative offers, entrepreneurs may be able to encourage customers to make purchases they wouldn't have made otherwise," Mr Haslan commented.

He added that whichever approach marketers use, they should always first and foremost determine the goal of their direct mail campaign.

Mr Haslan concluded that if customer acquisition and brand awareness are primary objectives, firms should consider promotions that will help them will break even, but if the bottom line is their main issue, they should opt for more conservative offers.

A recent survey by PreferenceCentral found that more than half of respondents would like to receive free content in exchange for targeted online ads.

Posted by Suzanne Stock – Communications Director, HR, Online Advertising, General Marketing

 

Companies have been advised to collect crucial feedback from their customers in order to gain an insight into their preferences.

According to Service Unlimited, marketers should simply ask consumers for answers and then gather the data to improve customer satisfaction.

The blog explained that feedback from consumer and employee questionnaires and surveys can deliver constructive criticism that lets marketers know where they are going wrong and what they need to do to improve.

"Employee responses are the best resource and most reliable method to gather customer feedback," Service Unlimited said.

"As sales and service representatives build a rapport with consumers and clients, trust builds and it becomes a natural part of an interactive conversation."

Businesses were also advised to study and monitor their competitors by observing their service and trying out their products, and then applying what they have learnt to their own companies.

A recent study compiled by the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University on behalf of Royal Mail found that over half (56 per cent) of small firms that solicit advice from their customers rate the feedback as crucial to their business success.

Posted by Suzanne Stock – Communications Director, HR, Online Advertising, General Marketing

 

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has released its latest Digital Marketing Practices and Trends report showing the recent developments within the industry.

The report, which was compiled in conjunction with David Shepard Associates, reveals that digital media has grown rapidly, with social networking sites shown to be the most used platform.

Although many marketers are using digital media to sell and nurture stronger bonds with their customers, very few companies have fully mastered the analytics of the platform or found ways to accurately measure the incremental effective of each media within a multi-media campaign.

Nearly three-quarters (71 per cent) of marketers said they cite brand building as the main objective of their digital marketing.

The study show shows that direct mail is still an important part of the marketing landscape, and represents 17 per cent of overall marketing budgets.

Rus Rempala of David Shepard Associates said: "We expect to see much more advanced strategic testing in the near future as more and more marketers navigate the multichannel digital age."

Posted by Daryl Jay, Business Development Director – Sales, Industry News, General Marketing

 

Marketers should look closely at their existing mailing lists to uncover the most profitable sales leads, an expert has said.

Industry specialist Kirk Harbison explained that there are a number of different analytical tools marketers can use to mine their databases and extract useful and promising prospects.

He also suggested that companies can enlist the help of a reputable mailing list provider to append demographics to customer files or append cluster codes, as this will significantly help create a targeted mailing list.

"If you are a new business starting out without a current client base, it is essential to implement market research to find out who is interested in your product or service," Mr Harbison commented.

He added that once marketers discover the characteristics of their ideal prospect, they should contact a marketing list provider, who will be able to give them guidance about how to customise their mailing list to fit their needs.

In related news, Dylan Jones, founder and editor of Data Quality Pro, recently urged marketers to make sure they prioritise business data quality.

Posted by Julie Knight, Managing Director – General Marketing, Industry News