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A recent study by Penn,
Schoen and Berland Associates of Denver refuted several
common myths in business-to-business marketing. A key
finding was the effectiveness of PR as a marketing tool
versus direct sales, collateral and advertising. The
conclusions may have a direct impact on your future
communication strategies.
A telephone survey of
purchasing executives at Fortune 1000 companies found
that many widely held beliefs on how to reach and
influence businesses do not apply in today’s
environment.
A very complex marketplace
has been created due to more information sources than
ever before, global trading opportunities, multiple
buyers, and decision-making processes that span multiple
company levels.
Previously, companies would
target top levels of potential customers to gain their
attention and sell products and services. But the days
of executive-level purchasing decisions appear to be
over, according to this study, as only a minority of
companies reported this type of decision-making.
Department heads and procurement directors now take the
lead on purchasing, with C level executives in the
minority.
This is important when
developing a communication strategy. To get your message
to top executives, you may want to first target middle
managers to gain acceptance and credibility.
Most marketers have believed
that advertising, direct marketing and collateral are
the best methods to reach potential customers. However,
the study suggested that word of mouth and events are
now key drivers to purchasing decisions - 71 percent of
information managers cited word of mouth as the key to
landing on their short list of prospective vendors,
followed by 56 percent for events, 46 percent for Web
sites, and 40 percent for news coverage. Collateral,
direct marketing and advertising brought up the rear,
with numbers of 29 percent, 16 percent and 13 percent
respectively.
If you need to send a
message, what channel do you want to use? One with the
best chance of reaching the intended audience, of
course, and one that carries the most weight. According
to the numbers above, businesses would be well served by
creating communication strategies aimed at influential
industry people. Being present and getting attention at
events is important, and every company should have a
clearly defined Internet communication strategy. As
always, strong positive media exposure is also crucial.
Finally, most marketers cite
price as the governing factor in most purchasing
decisions. However, according to the survey, executives
stated that relationships and reputation are also
crucial factors in determining whom they want to do
business with.
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