Industrial Marketers Expanding Direct & Digital

We have a long track record of helping warehouse, industrial and back-office product marketers via data brokerage, predictive analytics and multi-channel direct marketing, and the good news is that many industrial marketers were inspired to expand investment in 2018. According to the "2018 Budget Trends in Industrial & Technology Marketing" report published by engineering.com, industrial marketing budgets in 2018 are expected to hit "the highest levels of growth (45%) and the lowest reported levels of shrinking budgets (4%), of any of the last five years." More than half (54%) of manufacturing marketers expect their budget to be larger in 2018. But expanded multi-channel spending still needs to be smart spending. As data brokers, we can't overemphasize that successful B2B direct marketing--including direct mail, print catalogs and e-mail campaigns--starts with quality, targeted data. Marketers can boost response by using predictive analytics and buyer profiles to target--and then opt for the rental lists of active product inquirers/buyers that our proprietary list research finds to be top performers in each vertical. Targeting the right message to decision-makers in the buying process is also key; with product and industry factors affecting whether to select a chief engineer, purchasing manager, warehouse manager, human resources chief, or C-suite executive in mailing lists. While direct mail continues its response leadership, there's no denying that most B2B buyers are digital shoppers today. Research by Acquity Group finds 94% of B2B buyers say they conduct some form of online research before purchasing a business product, for example. Forrester Research has found that 59% of B2B buyers prefer not to interact with a sales rep, and 74% find buying from a website more convenient. That makes digital catalog sites into essential sales tools, requiring a good search engine optimization (SEO) strategy given that 73% of global traffic to B2B companies comes from search engine results. But most successful B2B marketers also invest in paid digital efforts. In fact, a 2015 study by Content Marketing Institute, MarketingProfs, and Fathom found that manufacturers ranked search engine marketing highest among paid marketing options in terms of efficacy (52%) and promoted social media posts came in second (39%). For social media ads, B2B marketers see video as a top response tactic, which is why manufacturers in the study ranked YouTube as the most effective social media site, followed by LinkedIn ads. For more, see our blog post at http://www.acculistusa.com/industrial-marketers-bet-more-on-2018-direct-digital/

Demographics Fuel Pet-Owner Spending, Marketing

Direct mail and e-mail lists and data services targeting pet owners are one of AccuList USA's high-demand markets, and we expect trends in pet ownership to grow that marketing interest--and the competition that makes quality data and targeting even more essential. A recent post for The Marketing Insider highlights the demographic trends that are making pet owners such attractive targets: "Americans now own 305 million cats and dogs, an increase of 85 million over the past 10 years. The 50+ demographic is responsible for 60% of that growth. With 50+ population expected to grow twice as rapidly as the 18-49 segment over the next 10 years, brands that include 50+ pet owners in their marketing strategies will improve their odds of maximizing revenue growth," asserts columnist Mark Bradbury. Bradbury makes the point that marketers hoping to cash in on the older pet-owning market will need to adjust their buyer profiles given that 50+ pet owners are mainly empty-nesters (80%), retired (one-in-three), and three times more likely than younger pet owners to be divorced, widowed or separated--leaving more time and disposable income to devote to pet members of the family. Bradbury points to statistical proof that older owners are on a pet-spending splurge: People 50+ spent over $15.6 billion on their pets in the last year, more than all of the other generations combined, according to PetBusinessProfessor.com. The opportunity to market pet-pampering products is expanding, but so is the competition. Bradbury suggests several tactics that put the focus squarely on the growing Baby Boomer pet market, including messaging that celebrates a pet-centric Boomer lifestyle. Multi-channel campaigning is a must for this market. In addition to digital marketing via online, social and e-mail, Boomers are also still heavy users, and responders, of direct mail, magazines and television, Bradbury points out. "Synergistic cross-media marketing plans" are required to maximize reach at every stage in the purchase funnel, he advises. Plus, though Boomers like to spend to dote on their pets, they also want to spend wisely and are attracted to savings opportunities. Direct marketers will want to include discounts or loyalty reward programs to win brand fans. For a link to more pet marketing suggestions, see http://www.acculistusa.com/demographic-trends-drive-growth-in-pet-owner-spending/