Marketing in the B2B world

In the world of B2B marketing, a very thin line demarcates marketing and selling. In fact, it would be fair to say that the term marketing here is generally synonymous with business development.

This is perhaps a result of the fact that B2B players do not have many avenues to engage in pure brand-building. The very process of business development also results in brands being built as a natural consequence. After all, what could be better for the brand than a successful sales pitch to an important customer?

The primary route to brand building in this sector would be customer service, which is the best way to bind the customer more strongly and to ensure that positive word of mouth reaches prospects.

Advertising in this sector is a difficult proposition. While the existing media vehicles do provide access to the target audience, they also result in huge wastage i.e. the advertising reaches a vast number of people who are not the target. For instance, for a company providing facility maintenance services, the target audience could be reached by advertising in a national daily, but the ad would also reach thousands of others who are not targeted.

One very useful route is the newsletter with content that is relevant and interesting to the prospect. While online newsletters are quite popular they are probably not as effective as printed copies. The frequency of the newsletter could be anywhere from once a fortnight to once a quarter. A good newsletter, properly distributed, confers significant advantages — a highly targeted audience, zero clutter, and a way to build a good reputation among the audience without explicitly asking for business.

Another brand building option is that of trying to become a thought leader. This could be best done by delivering talks at industry seminars and writing articles in the business press, among others. Writing a book is a particularly effective route to achieving thought leadership.

A rewarding way to achieve thought leadership as well as good public relations mileage is by creating events that involve student participation — inter-college contests, for example. I use the term rewarding because such activities are win-win all around, since the students benefit from the exposure and the interaction (the Bournvita quiz contest, though it was not for a B2B player, is powerful proof of the power of such activities). The key is to think of relatively un-crowded routes that are likely to be noticed and respected.

(Contributed by Ashok R. Sankethi, CEO, Kaybase, a business consulting firm. Mail: ashok@kaybase.com)