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As 2010 was coming to a close, Arketi Group hosted a roundtable of more than 30 PR and marketing executives from leading business-to-business companies. The group gathered to discuss the current and future state of marketing and PR in the B2B tech sector.
Most executives in the group were much more optimistic about the 2011 business environment than was the case in the previous year, and some were even bold in their predictions. One stated, “we’re going to go in aggressively,” while another remarked, “we need to plan on growth… [after being] flat for three years.”
Some consistent themes emerged from the roundtable, including the following.
â–¶ Recruiting Content Creators Inside and Out: Content remains the lifeblood of today’s marketing and PR departments. Generating relevant and quality content for an ever-wider array of communications channels has for many become more than a full-time job.
Among the tactics discussed by the group was reaching deep within the organization to leverage colleagues outside the marketing and PR teams to generate content.
One executive had created a “Communications Alliance” in which she handpicked the people in the company—“not the vice presidents who get invited to everything”—but those who can write. These unsung employees are now part of a 50-person network that she taps regularly for content creation.
â–¶ Influencing Influencers with Strategic Social Media: There was no doubt that social media is established as a legitimate communications channel. Nearly everyone had all the popular social media channels in play—Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and blogs.
That said, there was a clear consensus that social media has yet to prove its value. Over the next 12-18 months, social media must generate a tangible return on investment, or be subjugated to a less strategic role.
Some participants were considering funding social media efforts with dollars reassigned from media and advertising budgets. As the discussions turned to budgeting, it was apparent that the realization has hit home that social media is not “free,” and may not be as cost-effective as once perceived. Budgets were being established and tied to performance metrics. “The platform is free. The labor, the content, the monitoring is not,” observed a participant.
The overwhelming majority expressed the opinion that social media was proving less effective as they had hoped in engaging prospects. However, it was highly effective in reaching influencers, making it a valuable tactic nonetheless.
â–¶ The Form and Function of Content Matters: PR and marketing executives are actively working to repurpose, reshape and reuse every piece of content they have. And, they are paying much more attention to matching content to specific buyers’ needs and to stages within the buying cycle.
A 12-page white paper can be sliced and diced with a magic Ginsu knife to become so much more. Deploying the same content across multiple delivery vehicles ensures a wider reach to prospects with different communication preferences—and was deemed a best practice by all. While some buyers may still enjoy a well-written technical white paper, others prefer a video that presents a similar message, or a live or recorded webcast.
Taking it a step further, many roundtable participants said they are actively working to map the delivery of different types of content based on where the buyer resides in the sales funnel. Doing so allows them to directly address a business executive’s current key concerns, while demonstrating a higher level of understanding of the buyers’ issues.
â–¶ High-Touch Creates Customer Intimacy: Roundtable participants plan on devoting dollars to customer intimacy events and technology. Smaller, customer-focused events, customer advisory boards and user group meetings were part of the 2011 budgets for a number of the technology companies represented at the roundtable.
The sense was that connecting with customers in an environment that makes them feel valued, offers more one-on-one interaction and lets the company drive the agenda and message, was an investment worth making.
During this year, as B2B communications professionals seek to advance messages that will resonate within their respective markets and help sales sell more, we feel these four trends will do more than their share to ensure marketing generates revenue. PRN
CONTACT:
Mike Neumeier is a principal at Arketi Group, a high-tech B2B PR and digital marketing firm. He is a member of the Executive Committee of PRSA’s Counselors Academy. You can reach him at [email protected].