B to B Online Marketing on the Rise

A brief synopsis at MediaPost.com of a white paper prepared by Omniture, Inc. describes some interesting statistics about how online marketing efforts will increasingly drive business to business initiatives.

“Traditional direct mail, industry print, and events and promotions will take a back seat to more efficient and sophisticated online efforts.”

This should come as no surprise to the small company marketer. B to B audiences are becoming more sophisticated as online resources grow for analyzing and determining products, services and vendors. Small companies need to step up and make sure they’re on top of online marketing and lead generation tactics.

Discovering “Pain” Can Lift Banner Ad Results

Is there a place for online banner advertising in a small company’s marketing budget? Absolutely! Banner advertising – those flashy graphics you see on websites or email newsletters trying to get your attention – has grown in popularity among advertisers as a way to reach a target audience.

But, small companies need to be aware that this can be a money trap unless you successfully plan out your banner campaigns. Segmenting your audience and targeting specific ads towards those audiences is a must. Buying a large banner ad on CNN. com when you’re trying to sell school supplies to teachers is called a bad career move. Small companies don’t have that budget and need to spend the time researching and finding highly targeted mediums in which to hit their audience. Once you’ve identified your target audience and selected the correct method to reach them, the next step is learning their “pain”. What keeps these people up at night? Learning their pain will allow you to tailor a message about how your products or services can solve their problems. The right audience, the right method to reach them, and the right message can generate alot of interest – not to mention take advantage of valuable budget dollars.

Jamie Roche, Co-Founder and President of Offermatica, wrote a good article called 3 Ways to Improve Banner Ads. In the article he states:

“Top advertisers have heavily increased their online budgets, with many suggesting that at least 15 percent of advertising budgets should be spent online.”

I think 15% is a conservative estimate – I’d say it should be higher. Jamie has some very good suggestions about how to improve the click-through-rate and overall experience a user has with your ad and brand. If you’re a small company marketing manager – take notes!