B2B emarketing: promise, problems and prescription

Abstract

eMarketing i.e. use of electronic media for marketing purposes has been used extensively in B2C (business-to-consumer) marketplace. However, the fact is that only about 25% of online commerce involves sales of products to consumers. The remainder of online activity isB2B (business-to-business). The research suggests that eMarketing has not been exploited fully in B2B scenario. As part of this project we attempt to understand various eMarketing tools in B2B marketing context in terms of their benefits and potential they offer. It also analyzes the barriers which are holding eMarketing tools back from achieving their full potential. Finally, for each ofthese tools, recommendations and best practices have been suggested to marketers. Various B2B eMarketing tools analyzed in this report are: Whitepaper E-mail and E-news letter o User Generated On-line media (Blog, RSS, Podcast)o Search Engine o Website o Webinar The analysis methodology involved a combination of secondary research and primary research (personal interviews with marketing managers of IT firms). Refer to Section 2 for list of firms interviewed. Secondary research was used for data collection, detailed study ofthe tools and developing hypotheses about eMarketing and various eMarketing tools whichwere then validated through primary research. Some of the key findings of this research suggest: o Today users are overloaded with information from multiple media. With the advent oftools like RSS, search engine users can now filter information and get only what they want. Hence, companies need to strive hard to figure in customer subscribed information. Marketers are consciously investing in initiatives like search engine marketing to increase their visibility to users.o Email is no more a preferred medium for reaching out to prospects because of spam issues and going forward marketers will resort only to opt-in and opt-out kind of emails. o Blogs despite their growing popularity are not seen as reliable medium for marketing but companies do monitor reputed blogs to find out what people had to say about them and their competitors. However, companies do realize the collaboration potential it offers and have been using it internally for employee collaboration and knowledge management initiatives. Whitepaper is still considered to be a very important tool which communicates the expertise and thought leadership. Companies use multiple tools for marketing their whitepapers like syndication sites, emails, website, conference distribution, paid search etc. o A website represents a company on the Internet and all the marketing campaigns are targeted towards a common objective - making users visit company's website to spend more time with the brand.o eMarketing tools individually are not sufficient. Marketers use a combination of these tools to effectively utilize their marketing campaigns. For e.g. a webinar campaign can be made more effective by mailing a white paper as follow up.o Marketers see eMarketing complementing traditional marketing channels rather than substituting them. Though eMarketing offers enormous potential, marketers view it as an integral part of their overall marketing strategy. They believe that going forward they will not only continue innovating with existing channels but also explore new channels as and when they evolve.