by Siddharth Bawa
Michelle works at Render*, a big conglomerate. As the group marketing lady, she’s due to present the customer segment reports to the CEO and has a sinking feeling he is not going to be impressed. Enter Render’s competitor, Aldop*. Their recent annual results show the company has increased its customer base using a digital communications platform. The same system Render considered a year ago but didn’t use. Consider that Aldop spent 2/10th of the marketing budget of Render, yet it managed to grow its customer segment by 200%, capturing a further 15% of the market share of the industry Render and Aldop operate in.
Here’s the difference that makes Aldop the leader in B2B communication over the last year, not Render:
Having a clear email, mobile and social media marketing strategy: The extraneous costs of traditional media forced Aldop to revisit its marketing strategy in a recessionary economy; a clear decision was made by its management to implement digital marketing strategies, with specific ROI objectives.
Management has to seriously consider digital communication as a key marketing strategy in order to yield the ROI companies expect. Using reporting to drive segmentation and focus: Understanding the company’s market and segments is something traditional marketing doesn’t have that digital communications can provide, live tracking and reporting.
A unified system that allows email, SMS, and social media communication with live reporting and tracking from ONE system helps identify which segments were more engaged with their email, SMS, and social media content. This customer segmentation and focus allowed Aldop to be more efficient from a cost and time perspective for regular campaigns.
Using key tools for growth: Any platform should have additional features that help clients grow their customer or contact base. This was a big deal for Aldop and why it was part of its digital strategy. Subscription forms on its website captured customer signups and social media integration let existing customers share and forward relevant content.
B2B companies need to see email communications as more than just sending newsletters and avoiding spam traps. There should be more emphasis on customer segmentation, creating exciting campaigns and generating quality, relevant content.
*The companies used above to illustrate the importance of B2B communications are fictitious; however the principles remain the same.
