Another case for direct mail.

By Steve Fodor

Pick up any trade magazine from the marketing world and you’ll read about how social media is the “latest and greatest,” even in the B2B world. A recent conversation on LinkedIn even asked, “Is social media overtaking marketing?” No doubt, social media presents B2B and B2C marketers with dynamic venues for optimizing search results and developing conversations with customers.

But, even in the new media world, “old” and proven communications venues still have their place. I’ve always been a fan of direct mail…done right. I’m not of fan of postcards and letters that are not personalized or do not have a relevant offering (I’m also not a fan of push email, either, for the same reasons). Direct mail, when done right, is engaging. Human beings are tactile creatures and direct mail can involve the senses. Direct mail can be read in a more passive environment, which is especially advantageous if you’re selling a technical or information-intensive product or service. Direct mail can (and should be) entertaining and visually interesting. And, with creative use of different paper stocks and printing techniques (remember printing?), direct mail can create brand ambience.

I opened my mailbox the other night and found a nice direct mail piece from a financial planning organization. Actually, the mailing was addressed to my wife, but I was so intrigued by a three-dimensional direct mail piece that I had to open it to see what it was. It’s engaging. It’s interactive. It presents information in a way that’s easy to understand and makes good use of a three-dimensional visual device (the spinning wheel). All in all, it delivers an effective and informative marketing message that got my attention.

Another good use of direct mail is something we did for one of our B2B clients (see photo above). It’s for a new kind of slip -resistant flooring that’s applicable in the trucking industry, as well as many other industries. The marketing challenge is that the product is “alien,” according to the marketing manager. With our help, we put together a targeted mailing list, an engaging three-dimensional mailer that tells the story, and these are being mailed to select prospects with a follow-up call for a personal visit.

We see social media continuing to evolve in the B2B marketing world. It’s a big part of what we do and we’re working with clients to expand how they use and think about social media to tell their brand stories. But, don’t overlook the power of so-called “old school” mediums. The right tool used in the right situation will still work wonders, no matter how old it is.

Photo Credit: Badertscher Communications

Just what do marketing people really do?

By Steve Fodor

Do a Google search on “bringing marketing and sales together” and you’ll get a plethora of content. Sales and marketing working in sync seems to be on the minds of a lot of folks these days, begging the question, just what do marketing people really do?

Forrester Research conducted a study of B2B companies recently and found that only eight percent reported “tight alignment” between sales and marketing. Forrester Research noted that “too often, marketing does not have a deep enough understanding of the buyer’s needs because they don’t have enough interaction with buyers themselves.”

Having spent most of the past 20 years of my life in the agency business working for clients looking to create stronger brand connections with customers, I have to say these findings about sales and marketing do not surprise me. I have on a number of occasions tried to get insights into why customers buy or don’t buy by going through marketing only to hear, “we’re too busy to get out in the field and learn about our customers.” On another occasion, when working as a district sales manager for a safety products company and attending a sales meeting, I was flabbergasted when the marketing director said during her presentation that she “wasn’t aware” of a new marketing communications campaign that was launched by a primary competitor (at that moment, I could see the gap between sales and marketing getting even bigger).

I’ve always been of the opinion that marketing starts with understanding the customer. If marketing people are not out in the field talking with customers about how they get information, how they would like to get information, and what type of information they find most useful, what’s the point of marketing? We call the process of understanding how B2B customers make purchasing decisions and how they would like and need to be communicated with Sales Diagnostics ^TM. There’s nothing “magical” about it. Sales Diagnostics is the process of getting out into the field to meet with end-users and channel members to uncover their needs, and then develop sales and communications strategies to meet those needs. Yet, apparently, from all the recent uproar over the disconnect between sales and marketing, it sounds as though a lot of marketing departments are not partaking in this seemingly simple task. It seems more like a lot of marketing people are staying busy in meetings talking about everything except customers’ needs.

Agree? Have a different point of view on how to bring sales and marketing together? Let us know.

Flickr Photo Credit: HIRAOKA, Yasunobu