Thursday, June 5, 2014

Why Inbound Can't Replace B2B Direct Marketing

Inbound strategies are grabbing more marketing budget these days, and that can be bad news for business-to-business prospecting. Inbound marketing -- social media, e-newsletters, video, podcasts, white papers and some permission marketing -- should not displace traditional direct marketing -- cold calling, networking events and direct mail -- for three reasons, argues a recent article for LifeHealthPro.com. First, inbound marketing is designed to leverage a prospect's knowledge of needs. But, except for industrial commodities, most businesses aren't aware of the need for discretionary purchases until persuaded by a sales contact. This is especially true for business financial and insurance sales. Second, most business owners and executives are so busy with daily management that there is little window for inbound to break through. That's why the "interruptive prospecting techniques" of traditional cold calling, events and direct mail have higher response, the article proposes. Finally, if the goal is to increase leads while lowering cost per sale, marketers should be aware that the addition of inbound marketing may actually raise cost per sale. For example, if all inbound costs for an appointment with a decision-maker are included, the cost of cold calling alone is cheaper on a cost per lead basis than combining inbound marketing and cold calling to boost leads, based on the article's actual campaign data analysis. Assuming the same conversion rate for leads, the cost of sales is thus increased by adding inbound to a cold calling campaign. That's not to say inbound doesn't have its benefits in warming up prospects, providing compelling online support, or developing targeting data to improve response. The point is that b2b inbound marketing is no substitute for b2b direct marketing, since "waiting for the phone to ring has never been a particularly good strategy," the article concludes. For more on the analysis, see http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2014/03/05/is-inbound-marketing-right-for-prospecting-to-busi?t=life-practice-management

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Secrets to Getting Your Video Ad to Go Viral Online

If you're envious of ads that go viral online, with shares and brand recognition expanding exponentially, here are some hints to the secret sauce. MarketingProfs recently shared an Unruly study of online sharing of Super Bowl video ads via social media, blogs, etc. What do the top viral performers have in common? Don't count on the pull of a celebrity spokesman, the study shows. Only three of the top 12 most-shared ads online from this year's Super Bowl featured celebrities, and only 13% of the 100 most-shared ads of all time. Instead, try to trigger emotional response (reactions of sadness, anger, happiness, and so on). The most-shared Super Bowl video online this year was Budweiser's feel-good "Puppy Love," for example. Reaching for a humorous response may be risky, however. Most of the Super Bowl ads that tried to generate laughs fell flat as measured by online sharing. The Unruly analysis also cites inclusion of social motivators (appeals to social good, shared passions and opinions, for example) as a way to give an ad viral momentum -- with highest shares earned by ads that included multiple motivators to tap different viewer segments. Of course, sharing isn't much good without brand recall. Unfortunately, the study also found that brand promotion often fell short so that heavily shared ads did not always have equally high brand recall. For details of the analysis, see the MarketingProfs report at http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/25217/what-makes-an-ad-go-viral-online