B2B Needs Digital Marketing More Than Ever

There’s something we need to say out loud:  B2B marketing is often considered second class.  Minor league.  An after thought. Mary-Kate instead of Ashley.  Compared to the flashy, high-publicity efforts on the consumer side, we’re often seen as small potatoes, less creative, and even boring.  Let’s be honest about something else, namely that we on the B2B side have not given marketing its fair share of attention.

Historically, B2B companies have prioritized and funded sales departments and initiatives over marketing.  No judgement there.  However, the world is changing, and reaching niche decision makers, whether within healthcare, HR, government, or construction, has become more difficult, especially via traditional channels like phone and print.

Don’t worry, those contact lists – the ones you’ve spent good money and time sourcing and curating – are still your foundation.  What’s changed is the channel that’s going to drive performance.  Just as consumer attention is fragmented more than ever, so is the attention of business people.  Digital, then, becomes the only unified channel through which to reach your target audience, and to do so at a high frequency, with a diversity of messages, and all the tracking you need, not to mention at a more cost-effective rate.

B2B customers need to be reached as early in their journey as possible, with a brand-(re)introduction message, and regularly nurtured with consideration, reasons-to-buy, product, and promotional creative.  Digital is where this happens now, whether across LinkedIn, Meta, programmatic, email or, most often, all of the above.

If you run a business that speaks to other businesses, it’s time to embrace digital marketing for what it is, a sales-driving, target-friendly, dollars-and-cents way to grow your company.