🔊 How B2B buyers rely on content to guide vendor purchase decisions

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Plus, why out-of-home might be the ideal medium for location-based marketing.

Feb 19, 2020

Good morning marketers, do you read up before investing in new marketing technology?

The average B2B buyer consumes 13 different pieces of content before deciding on a vendor, according to a new survey from market research firm FocusVision. The report found that marketers are turning to content like videos, blog posts, white papers, customer testimonials, software reviews, and analyst reports before making a decision. The top source of content was the vendor’s website, followed by search and social media. The report makes clear the broad range of first- and third-party content types that influences B2B buyers, while emphasizing the importance of the vendor website is in the buying process.

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising has grown up. These days, OOH can deliver high-impact creative with digital targeting, giving it major potential as a location-based marketing medium. In particular, digital OOH (especially programmatic) is growing rapidly. The combined sector this year will exceed $8 billion in ad spend, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. In many ways, OOH is the perfect hybrid medium for this fraught media moment. It combines the high-impact creative associated with TV with the advanced audience targeting and attribution capabilities of digital marketing.

To get an idea of how Amazon advertising fits into the digital commerce marketing landscape, we surveyed advertisers to find out if and how they use the platform. We found that digital ad budgets dedicated to Amazon remain relatively small: of those advertising on the platform, 66% dedicate less than a quarter of their annual digital advertising budget to Amazon — 34% spend less than 10%. We’ll be diving deeper into these insights and exploring many more on stage at SMX West this morning. See you there!

Taylor Peterson,
Deputy Editor

Soapbox

The 80/20 rule is a fallacy, customer-driven product innovation drives revenue

Many business leaders subscribe to the old adage that it costs more to win a new customer than to retain an existing one, also known as the “80/20” rule – stating that 20 percent of your customers represent 80 percent of your sales. This is actually a fallacy and usually leads to higher churn rates due to misaligned customers who will likely jump ship after a short time.

It’s difficult to drive a profit margin if you’re chasing the back of the cart. Instead, companies should focus their energy, resources and investments into delivering high-value products or services that solve the real-world pain points of their target customers. Rather than bleeding themselves dry to stop potential turnover, this growth-minded approach leads with a customer priority-centric view that enables the business to produce what their customers actually require. With that model in place, churn naturally reduces due to increased alignment with customer needs and the resulting customer engagement.

This concept is easier said than done, but it is long overdue. Solution providers must build their businesses around a foundation of sound offerings that are designed to meet their target audience’s specific needs – and be willing to adapt their products as those needs rapidly evolve. This will ultimately lead to organic growth and remove the threat of churn overall.

– Bill Dinan is the president of the not-for-profit trade association Localogy

Post-holiday analysis: connected TV becomes performance TV

Sponsored content from Steelhouse

The dust has settled on another holiday shopping season, and now it’s time to evaluate and analyze what went right for advertisers. As usual, brands and agencies turned to the tried and true ad channels. This year, however, there was a new entry to the list — Connected TV (CTV).

Read more »

On the Move

Starbucks and Tailored Brands get new CMOs, Papa John’s hires a P&G veteran

Brady Brewer has been promoted to the role of CMO at Starbucks, reporting directly to the company’s COO, Roz Brewer. As CMO, Brewer will lead the development and execution of the company’s marketing plans, as well as manage the food and beverage portfolio, the digital customer experience, creative and brand management, data analytics, and consumer insights. An 18-year veteran of Starbucks, Brewer previously led the company’s digital customer experience and was responsible for product discovery, ordering, payment, pick up, delivery and more. Brewer will continue to lean on that experience in his new role, with a focus on making further progress on creating a frictionless customer experience between the company’s online portal and physical stores.

Tailored Brands, Inc. – the company behind retailers like Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, and Moore’s Clothing for Men – announced last week the appointment of Carolyn Pollock as CMO. She will report to the company’s chief customer officer, Carrie Ask, and will oversee marketing for all of the company’s retail brands. Pollock boasts more than ten years of experience in consulting and interim marketing leadership roles at established companies such as eBay, Dolby, and Facebook, as well as leading startups like Thumbtack, Dashlane, and One Kings Lane. Prior to consulting, Ms. Pollock held marketing leadership roles at eBay and started her career with Unilever and Labatt Breweries of Canada.

Former Procter & Gamble Co. brand manager Amanda Clark has been hired by Papa John’s International Inc. as chief development officer, responsible for leading the company’s strategy to expand its restaurant footprint in North America and internationally. She will oversee franchise development and sales, building design and new concepts for Louisville-based Papa John’s. The company’s CEO, Rob Lynch, is also a P&G veteran.

Search marketing training this week in San Jose

Join us this week at SMX West, February 19-20, for actionable SEO, SEM/PPC, and Digital Commerce Marketing tactics (three lanes, no limits!) and invaluable networking with a community of smart, friendly marketers.

Secure your pass now! »