B2B Marketing Spotlight: August 2022
Are hybrid sales the future of B2B marketing? Could there possibly be a catchier name for an aircraft than E190-E2? Now that August’s drawn to a close, let’s take a look at the news and insights that caught our eye last month in the world of B2B marketing.
Just Announced: August B2B Marketing Awards Shortlist
This month the B2B Marketing Awards Shortlist was announced. There’s quite a variety of awards up for grabs, so we thought we’d take a moment to highlight one of our favourites from the shortlist: ‘Profit Hunter’ by Gravity Global.
This campaign is no stranger to award recognition; last year it won the B2B category at The Drum Awards for Marketing. What makes the campaign so unique? A blend of artistry, AR, and video.
It’s been a rough couple of years for the aviation industry, so Embraer were in need of a rebrand. Gravity Global’s campaign managed to not only outperform the competition, but also dominate industry headlines during the Paris Air Show. ‘Profit Hunter’ was a multifaceted campaign that combined paid, owned, and earned channels as well as opportunities at air shows.
But aside from renaming the E190-E2 and the E195-E2 to the far more striking ‘Profit Hunter’ (not that E190-E2 and E195-E2 don’t roll off the tongue), the most memorable decision of Gravity Global’s campaign was painting real-life predators, like lions, on the nose cones of the aircraft. Customers were so impressed that some are now requesting their own aircraft be painted in such styles.
The winners of the B2B Marketing Awards will be revealed on the 16th of November in London, when many businesses will gather to celebrate B2B marketing.
New Digital Trading Platform Launches for Sainsbury’s Nectar360
The group known as Nectar360, who are responsible for managing the loyalty programme at the Sainsbury’s supermarket chain, have launched a new digital trading platform. Its purpose? To make it easier for both suppliers and brands to target their customers directly.
At its core, it’s a self-service platform that allows clients (largely marketing agency clients) to launch digital marketing campaigns faster and for better results.
Thanks to the data gathered by Nectar, Sainsbury’s loyalty programme, clients will have valuable access to personalised shopper insights. The director of Nectar360 hopes that the easy-to-use trading platform will propel them to the front of the queue when it comes to digital retail marketing.
August Marketing B2B: Is Reaching B2B Buyers Getting Harder?
Is B2B marketing getting harder? It can certainly seem like that, as B2B buyers grow more independent and thus harder to reach, due in large part to the pandemic.
It’s not exactly all doom and gloom, though. If anything it just makes the role of B2B marketing all the more crucial. To adapt in this fluctuating market, marketers must now focus on capturing prospects at any stage in the buyer’s journey, whether it’s the awareness stage, the consideration stage, the decision stage, or anywhere in between.
What does this look like in practice? In short, it’s about ensuring that your prospects are getting something of value regardless of where they are in the buyer’s journey, and making that journey as painless as possible.
At the end of the day, some B2B marketers have been thriving since the pandemic (like The Lead Generation Company, for example). It’s all about learning to adapt.
Hybrid Sales: The Future of B2B?
Since the pandemic, lead generation has largely been conducted virtually. In fact for many B2B marketing agencies, an in-person appointment would be a rare exception. Even an actual phone call tends to be less common than an online video call (although the line between the two continues to blur).
With the state of hybrid sales, it would be fair to assume that this is the future of B2B marketing. And for most companies that’s absolutely the case. But what B2B marketers need to remember is that while the constraints of selling have been reduced (when it comes to factors like geography and scheduling), the same is also true for your competitors.
Buyers are facing a constant bombardment of options, and it’s up to you to make sure your messaging is personalised, compelling, and creative enough to stand out.
