The website of a highly regarded B-to-B agency states that B-to-B is dead. Because everyone is so independently connected using this and that mobile device, the agency believes marketing messages now need to be directed to the individual. I thought this was a pretty bold statement to make. Our esteemed leader, Doug, said the agency is wrong.
Why are they wrong? Because with B-to-B, you have never really marketed to the business. CompanyX will never buy anything from you. But Bob from CompanyX might. So you need to talk to Bob.
Ten or twenty years ago, we would help you talk to Bob, gearing you up for successful trade shows and sales presentations so you were ready for Bob when he stopped by and designing and printing slick corporate brochures, fact sheets, and mailers that you could send right to his mail stop in case he didn’t.
Today, we have even more ways to talk to Bob. Our arsenal now includes social media tools, customer relationship management tools, clever apps, mini websites, and other electronic wizardry to help Bob make his purchasing decision, in addition to the marketing tools we’ve always had. Having more tools to work with means having more avenues to talk to Bob, which means having a better likelihood that you can get his attention.
So in the Sage opinion, B-to-B isn’t really dead. If anything, it’s more alive than ever.
