www 2012 key themes

What Works Where in B2B? 2012 How marketers are marketing. How buyers are buying. In association with The Marketing Society and Circle Research #wwwb2b

What Works Where in B2B Digital 2012

© Omobono Limited 2012. We are happy for you to reproduce the information contained in this slide, but please acknowledge the source.

Background

What Works Where in B2B digital marketing 2012 was conducted in Spring 2012.

• 98 B2B marketers - collective budgets of £78m.

• 224 B2B buyers – with £150m spending power.

Four key sectors: financial services, professional services, manufacturing, IT/telecoms.

Conducted in partnership with Circle Research and The Marketing Society in the UK.



Four key themes

Relationship Building • Deepening customer relationships remains the number one objective for B2B

marketers. Are they doing it well?

Thought leadership • Marketers recognize that the name of the game is thought leadership – ensuring that

buyers come across your name and expertise when they are keeping up to date with issues in the marketplace. What impact are they having?

Channels of influence • Digital remains a crucial part of the marketing mix. The challenge is to understand

which channels work most effectively in each situation.

Spend vs effectiveness • As in 2011, the research reveals exactly where marketers are spending their

budgets, and what they perceive as being effective. What are the significant gaps between what they are doing and what buyers want?



Building relationships – an overview

1. • Marketers’ top objectives

2. • Buyers – contact by existing vs prospective suppliers

3. • Buyers – open to contact via social media

4. • Marketers – low spend on extranets

5. • Buyers – high reliance on supplier information

6. • Buyers most likely to buy from personal /existing relationships

7. • Marketers – lack of focus on internal engagement

8. • Buyers – heavily influenced by influencers



Relationships matter



77% 56% 50% 44% 26% 24% 16%

Deepen customer relationships

Raise brand awareness

Strengthen ‘thought leadership’ position

Develop brand position

Better understand target market

Launch product/service

Ensure organisation is living the brand

8% 1% 3%

3% 4% 3%

% increase from 2011

% decrease from 2011

1. Marketers top 3 objectives



2. Buyers are contacted more often by prospective than by existing suppliers.

36% 32% 27% 17% 15% 15% 13%

Personalised email

Generic marketing email

Direct mail LinkedIn Email sharing useful content

Telemarketing Personal visits

19% 17% 18% 9% 8% 9% 12%

Personalised email

Generic marketing email

Direct mail LinkedIn Email sharing useful content

Telemarketing Personal visits

Prospective suppliers contacting buyers

Existing suppliers contacting buyers

% receiving contact at least once a week



3. B2B buyers are open to contact via social media

% positive reactions to contact by prospective suppliers

% positive reactions to to contact by existing suppliers

Personal visits 79% 79%

Trade events 70% 68%

Bespoke events 69% 76%

Email sharing content 63% 65%

LinkedIn 56% 53%

Webinars 53% 55%

Personalised emails 52% 65%

Industry sponsorship 51% 55%

Twitter 47% 56%

Mobile messaging 43% 37%

Direct mail 36% 42%

Facebook 35% 40%

Generic email 16% 21%

Telemarketing 13% 16%



4. Marketers – low spend on extranets

% of buyers reacting positively to these channels % of buyers contacted by suppliers through this channel

92% 90% 86% 85% 84%

Personalised email

Personal visits Trade events Bespoke events

Email sharing content

82% 79% 74%

Direct mail Generic email Industry sponsorship

67% 65%

Webinars Extranet

61% 59% 84% 25% 25%

LinkedIn Telemarketing Mobile messaging

Twitter Facebook

65% positive 79% positive 67% positive 76% positive 66% positive





5. Buyers – high reliance on supplier information

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Supplier websites

Email newsletter

Trade events

Online business press

Seminars

White papers, similar content

Online trade press

Print business press

Print mainstream press

Online mainstream press

Online trade communities

Print trade press

LinkedIn

Advertising campaigns

Webinars

Trade blogs

YouTube, online video

Podcasts

Facebook

Twitter

Offline Channel Online Channel

LinkedIn the only ‘B2B’ social network? 65% of B2B buyers use it regularly for business

How frequently do you use each of the following in order to keep yourself informed on developments in your profession or industry?



6. Buyers most likely to buy from personal relationships and existing contacts

10%

5%

3%

5%

5%

9%

9%

10%

11%

12%

16%

17%

22%

Don't know

Other

Known brand

Previous relationship

Not too pushy

Made a personal visit

Offer was relevant

Quality of product/service

Good timing

Understood my needs, tailored offer

Competitive price

Good, compelling pitch

Personal relationship - honest and open

% making a purchase after being contacted



7. Marketers –lack of focus on internal

33% 17% 15% 11% 9% 9% 3%




Develop brand position

Better understand target market

Launch product/service

Ensure organisation is living the brand

1% 9% 3%

8% 2% 3%

• If marketers think that developing customer relationships is the most important objective. Why isn’t making sure the entire organisation is living the brand the second most important objective?

• Only 3% of marketers believe that it’s of primary importance.

• 16% (1 in 6) think its in the top 3 things in terms of importance.





8. Buyers – heavily influenced by influencers

• When identifying potential suppliers, 42% of Large Corporates use word of mouth as primary source of information (ask peer, work colleague, finance department or consultant), compared to 18% of SMEs

• Similar patterns are seen when evaluating potential suppliers and defining specific need

• The relationship may not be direct. 51 % of buyers say Professional advisors and consultants are the most useful source for identifying and evaluating a supplier, making it the most influential source in the research.



Thought leadership – an overview

1. • Marketers being known for something

2. • Buyers – visit wide range of places to keep up to date

3. • SM may not be as effective as marketers think

4. • Marketers – SM trajectory continues

5. • Marketers – challenges of delivering Thought Leadership

6. • Marketers – internal co-ordination not happening

7. • Buyers – importance of search



Thought leadership is the name of the game



1. Marketers want to be known for something

Deepen customer relationships Raise brand awareness


9% 3%

8%

33% 17% 15%

What is your organisation’s highest B2B marketing priority?

Deepen customer relationships Raise brand awareness


77% 56% 50%

What are your organisation’s top 3 B2B marketing priorities?

8% 1%





2. Buyers – wide range of places to keep up to date

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Supplier websites

Email newsletter

Trade events


Seminars


Online trade press





Print trade press

LinkedIn


Webinars

Trade blogs


Podcasts

Facebook

Twitter

Offline Channel Online Channel

Industry focused events and the press still have a role to play.

How frequently do you use each of the following in order to keep yourself informed on developments in your profession or industry?

29% of B2B buyers don’t use any social networks regularly for business



3. Are marketers using social media for the wrong thing?



Strengthen thought leadership

Develop brand positioning

Social media effectiveness

54% 88% 91% 75%


Strengthen thought leadership

Develop brand positioning

69% 80% 79% 85%


Website effectiveness



4. Marketers – SM trajectory continues

-10%

10%

-10% 10%

Ch

an

ge

in

pe

rce

ive

d e

ffe

ctiv

en

ess

Change in budget allocation

Website development

Email marketing

Social media

Online video

Microsites

SEO

PPC

Display advertising

Mobile apps

Affiliate marketing

Extranets

SMS/MMS

Mobile optimisation

Fall in budget despite rise in perceived effectiveness

Increase in budget allocation despite slight fall in perceived effectiveness



5. Marketers – challenges of delivering TL



6. Marketers – internal co-ordination not happening

• But thought leadership puts additional pressure on an already pressurise marketing department.

• Creating cut through, staying innovative and creating quality content are all significant issues for marketers.

• But with only 1 in 6 putting it as a priority there is evidence that marketers either don’t feel that this is central to their roles, or it slips off the long list of things they need to achieve.



7. Buyers – importance of search

• One element of thought leadership that shouldn’t be overlooked is the importance of search, right through the buying process.

• 58% of buyers use Search to define their specific need – second only to using the suppliers’ websites themselves.

• 54% of buyers use it to identify potential suppliers.

• At 98% it’s the most useful tool for evaluating suppliers.

• SEO, which the majority of clients outsource, only takes 6% of the total budget, less than what was spent in 2011, suggesting that marketers are, perhaps wrongly, de-emphasising search as a valuable activity.

• 21% of clients don’t do any search engine marketing at all.



Digital channel usage – an overview

1. • Digital very firmly part of the marketing mix.

2. • But digital is not the only thing that marketers are doing

3. • Buyers’ connectivity with digital

4. • Best practice is personal

5. • Marketers don’t really vary channel by objective

6. • What channels work where for looking, choosing and buying.

7. • Some channels are more effective than others.



The role of digital in communications



1. Digital very firmly part of the marketing mix

• 94% of marketers view it as critical or important.

44%

51%

3%

43%

51%

6%

Critical

Important

Less important

Not relevant

• There is a slight rise in those who think it’s less relevant or important vs last year.

2012

2011



2. But digital is not the only thing that marketers are doing

Almost two-fifths of B2B budgets are invested in digital customer loyalty remains the primary focus

<20% 2011 = 27%

11%

17% 18%

17%

8%

11%

6%

8%

5%

2%

10% 11%

22%

15%

8%

19%

5% 4%

3% 2%

<10% 10-19% 20-29% 30-39% 40-49% 50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-89% 90-100%

2011

2012

Mean* 2011 = 37%

2012 = 38%

>70% 2011 = 14% 2012 = 10% 2012 = 22%

20-70% 2011 = 60%

2012 = 68%



3. Buyers connectivity with digital

11%

8%

2%

4%

4%

5%

8%

10%

11%

13%

16%

16%

20%

25%

28%

45%

None - no-one made a compelling case

None - no need for any goods/services

SMS/MMS

Facebook

Twitter

Telemarketing

Generic email

Webinars

Industry sponsorship

LinkedIn

Direct mail

Email sharing content

Bespoke events

Trade events

Personalised email

Personal visits

Offline channel Online channel

Don’t provoke particularly negative reactions, but don’t lead buyers to act, either



4. Best practice is personal

• Buyers use a range of on and offline ways to keep up to date, clarify needs, identify and evaluate suppliers.

• 41% of buyers say personal visits are the best way to get in contact with them.

• And they are the best way to get people to act.

• Of top 4 methods, 3 rely on face to face contact.

• Buyers are slightly more likely however to get a personal visit from prospective suppliers than from their existing suppliers!

45% 31% 25% 22% 17%

Personal visits Personalised email Trade events Bespoke events LinkedIn

Average % of channels which lead to sales



5. Marketers don’t really vary channel by objective

0%

25%

50%

75%

0% 15% 30%

Pe

rce

ive

d e

ffe

ctiv

en

ess

of

cha

nn

el

Budget allocation

Website development

Email marketing

Social media

Online video

Microsites

SEO

PPC

Display advertising

Mobile optimisation/

apps

Affiliate marketing Extranets SMS/MMS

Too much budget allocated?

Not enough budget allocated?

How effective are digital marketing activities? And what proportion of your organisation’s B2B digital marketing spend have you allocated to each of them over the next 12 months?



6. For buyers, some channels work better than others

Passive - Buyer keeping informed about industry developments

Passive - Buyer contacted by suppliers

Active - Buyer searching identifying and selecting suppliers

CORE CHANNELS

Online • Content on websites and microsites

• Email newsletters • Online display advertising • Webinars

• Email (personalised, sharing content)

• LinkedIn • Webinars • Extranets/ Twitter (for

existing suppliers)

• Website and microsites • SEO • PPC

Off line • Print display advertising • Seminars, trade events

• Personal visits • Bespoke/trade events

• Word of mouth

SUPPORT CHANNELS

Online • Online communities • LinkedIn • Mobile?

• Twitter (prospective suppliers)

• Mobile messaging

Offline • Ad campaigns • Industry sponsorship



7. And some are more effective than others

Financial services Engineering/

manufacturing Business/ prof. services Technology/ telecoms

1 Personal visits (83%) Personal visits (87%) Bespoke event (75%) Bespoke event (78%*)

2 Trade events (73%*) Trade events (69%*) Personal visits (74%) Personal visits (69%)

3 LinkedIn (71%) Industry sponsors (65%*) Trade events (69%*) Trade events (69%*)

4 Email sharing content (67%) Bespoke events (62%*) Email sharing content (66%) Email sharing content (64%)

5 Webinars (67%) Personalised email (56%) Personalised email (60%) Twitter (54%*)

% reacting very or quite positively to contact % reacting very or quite positively to contact

% who had actually purchased something as a result of contact through this channel

Financial services Engineering/

manufacturing Business/ prof. services Technology/ telecoms

1 Personal visits (36%) Personal visits (58%) Personal visits (53%) Personal visits (33%)

2 Personalised email (20%) Personalised email (27%) Trade events (45%) Personalised email (31%)

3 LinkedIn (19%) Trade events (25%) Personalised email (33%) Bespoke events (24%)

4 Bespoke events (17%) Direct mail (22%) Bespoke events (29%) Email sharing content (20%)

5 Trade events (17%) Bespoke events (10%) Industry sponsors (24%) LinkedIn (16%)



Spend vs effectiveness – an overview

1. • Top 3 spend

2. • What Works Where

3. • ROI issues

4. • SM – marketers vs buyers pov

5. • Spend on mobile vs use of mobile

6. • Video expenditure and usage

7. • Variations by sector



What works where in 2012



1. Top 3 spend

• As in 2011, corporate websites, email marketing and social media take the lion’s share of the spend, with microsites and online video/podcasts and webinars following close behind.

• Mobile’s share now up to 7%, comparable to display, SEO and PPC.



2. What’s working where?

Mobile optimisation

7%

24%

75%

5%

Website development

64%

Email marketing

4%

51%

Microsites

2%

Social media

10%

74%

Online video

3%

66%

42%

SEO

1%

Mobile apps

1%

25%

28%

Display advertising

1%

20%

Affiliate

20%

Extranets

9%

13%

SMS/ MMS

PPC

1%

29%



3. ROI issues

10%

49%

34%

7%

17%

39%

28%

15%

Yes, and confident in its accuracy

Yes, but not with accuracy we'dlike

No, but plan to start

No, and no plans to start

2012

2011

% measuring ROI:

Total (2012) = 57% Financial services = 61% Engineering/manuf. = 67% Business/prof. services = 54% Technology/telecoms = 64%



4. Social media – marketers vs buyers

9%

19%

11%

11%

9%

8%

14%

8%

13%

15%

18%

23%

25%

22%

23%

16%

14%

15%

24%

31%

30%

24%

43%

44%

46%

49%

45%

53%

52%

54%

53%

49%

48%

54%

53%

61%

63%

63%

55%

51%

49%

34%

33%

30%

38%

35%

30%

32%

27%

26%

28%

25%

25%

20%

22%

18%

21%

16%

18%

17%

10%

21%

11%

13%

6%

8%

10%

5%

7%

5%

5%

YouTube, other online video

Facebook

Twitter

Podcasts


Trade blogs

LinkedIn





Webinars

Trade events

Print trade press

Seminars


Online trade press

Email newsletters


Supplier websites

Very useful Quite useful Not very useful Not at all useful Don't know

Channels’ effectiveness at keeping buyers informed increasing customer loyalty remains the primary focus



5. Spend on mobile vs use of mobile

5%

6%

6%

9%

15%

9%

11%

9%

8%

14%

15%

17%

24%

29%

35%

17%

21%

23%

19%

27%

22%

24%

25%

33%

28%

32%

31%

35%

39%

33%

37%

33%

37%

21%

19%

40%

33%

29%

29%

23%

25%

20%

10%

9%

Supplier websites

Online trade press



Trade blogs


LinkedIn


Facebook

Twitter

Always Most of the time Half of the time Rarely Never

Use of mobile device to visit website



6. Video expenditure and usage

• Users are the most vociferous - saying they find it more useful for defining specific needs than any other channel’s users do.

• Marketers now pump 9% of their budget into online

video, podcasts and webinars – up 2% on the previous year.

• Marketers perceive it as more effective across a range

of objectives, than email marketing, although they spend less money on it.

• Despite pressure on resources and expertise, 27% of

marketers do it in-house. • Sharing such content is part of best practice for

contacting buyers - 63% find it useful, with 20% in the technology sector saying they had bought as a result.

• YouTube is only used by used by 5% of respondents,

although they are the most positive. • Focus should be on hosting such content on supplier

websites or microsites, not on YouTube or other online video sites



7. Variations by sector

Financial services Engineering/ manufacturing Professional services Technology/ telecoms

Website dev. 20%

Social media 16%

Email marketing 14%

Microsites 18%

SEO; online video 6%

PPC; display advertising 4%

Other – 4%

Mobile site; mobile apps 3%

Extranets; affiliate; SMS/MMS 1%

Website dev. 22%

Website dev. 25%

Website dev. 16%

Microsites 25%

Microsites 12% Microsites 12%

SEO; mobile apps 4%

SEO; online video 6% SEO; display advertising 7%

PPC 5% PPC 4%

PPC; online video 9%

SMS/MMS; extranets 1% SMS/MMS; extranets 0% SMS/MMS; affiliate 0%

Mobile site; mobile apps; affiliate 2% Mobile site 2% Mobile site extranets 2%

Mobile apps 3%

Social media 9%

Social media 15%

Social media 13%

Email marketing 12%

Email marketing 19%

Email marketing 17%

Online video 6%

Display advertising 8% Display advertising 8%

Affiliate 0%

Other – 1% Other – 0% Other – 3%

% of B2B marketing spend allocated over the next 12 months according to sector



In summary

• Relationships matter – and needs consistent investment and planning

• Thought leadership works – but throws up its own challenges which need to be tackled.

• Digital is a major contributor – think not only about how it works but also how it could augment the personal.

• Matching spend to objectives more closely creates value.



About The Research

Omobono’s What Works Where in B2B Digital Marketing research has been produced in partnership with The Marketing Society and Circle Research.

The research was conducted in spring 2012 with 96 senior B2B marketers, responsible for budgets totalling over £78 million. Many of these are heavyweight marketers from big companies. In addition, 224 senior B2B buyers responded with their views, spread across business & professional services, financial services, engineering & manufacturing and technology & telecoms. Collectively they have a buying power of £150m.

Omobono is an award-winning digital agency, specialising in brand engagement for large

corporates and government.

Omobono works with some of the world’s largest companies to drive their relationships – with customers, employees and stakeholders. Which leads to increased sales, loyalty and share of voice.

Our combination of business expertise, creativity and technical delivery is unique.

We offer a full service, from strategy and communications planning to creative delivery

and implementation of complex, dynamic websites, through to mobile and social media

marketing.

©2012 Omobono Ltd. All ideas, concepts, brand-related names, strap lines, phrases, copy/text and creative concepts developed and contained in this document remain the intellectual property of Omobono Ltd until such time as they are procured by a third party. Anyone viewing this document may not use, adapt or modify the contents without our prior consent.

Omobono Ltd. St Giles Hall Pound Hill Cambridge CB3 0AE, UK

T +44 (0)1223 307000 F +44 (0)1223 365167 www.omobono.com

Thank you

For further information on the research or on how Omobono can help you tackle the challenges outlined please contact Francesca Brosan [email protected] or call 01223 307000

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