Altering strategies in Business-to-Business (B2B) promotion

In the dynamic world of business-to-business (B2B) marketing, creativity and tool utilization have never been more important. As impulse buying is rare in B2B transactions, marketers are increasingly recognizing the power of branding in driving the bottom line. One emerging strategy that is making waves in this sector is Connected TV (CTV) advertising.

CTV, which allows marketers to cast brand and demand-generation videos into the households of targeted prospects, is extending television's branding prowess to the B2B world. This democratic nature of branding is particularly evident in the ability of CTV to hyper-target key business decision-makers.

JCDecaux/DAVID Madrid, for instance, used remnant media space and creative that mimicked Instagram posts as part of their campaign, generating earned media. Their efforts earned them the Cannes Grand Prix for Creative B2B awards.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is another key strategy for B2B, excelling at identifying the right accounts to pursue based on intent data. ABM is especially good at hyper-targeting key accounts and boosting brand visibility. Doremus, a marketing agency, has been using traditional media tools for hyper-targeted advertising, even hijacking the exterior of trade shows for over 20 years.

Doremus also employs innovative strategies such as airport advertising, highway bulletins, programmatic out-of-home (OOH), taxi tops, and wraps to intercept target audiences before they reach trade shows. These traditional media tools, when used strategically, can still be an effective way to reach audiences in a focused and efficient manner.

In the realm of B2B marketing, strategies should ramp up creativity and utilize all available tools. This is evident in the partnership between LinkedIn and NBCUniversal, which has seen LinkedIn offering CTV advertising for B2B marketers. LinkedIn's CTV platform, equipped with new video ad formats and worldwide options, is aimed at increasing brand visibility in the B2B sector.

Brands like IBM, SAP, UPS, and FedEx can afford to leverage broadcast and cable TV, but CTV has made TV advertising accessible to B2B advertisers with limited budgets. CTV, through programmatic media buying, can help B2B marketers blanket their targets as part of an omni-channel brand-to-bottom-line media approach.

As 'brand to demand' becomes a common phrase in the B2B marketing industry, it is clear that the focus is shifting towards creating a strong brand identity and leveraging it to drive demand. This shift is echoed in the strategies of companies like Festina Uhren GmbH and small organizations like Elterninitiative Karl und Liesl e.V., who are using CTV platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to support their branding and recruiting campaigns.

In conclusion, the B2B marketing landscape is evolving, with CTV advertising emerging as a powerful tool. By harnessing the power of CTV, B2B marketers can effectively target their audiences, boost brand visibility, and drive demand in a competitive market.