B2B Marketer
Issue No. 56 - Month/Month year
B2B advertising: who needs it?
by Kimon Lycos and Kimon Lycos
The only thing I can promise is that I will continually contradict myself, and you may wind up very confused, so to avoid the latter, I’ll start with two solid truths about advertising.
1. Advertising is a poor substitute for personal selling. But it is a marvelous means to pave the way for personal selling.
2. Only spend money on advertising you can afford to lose.
Advertising does work, the question is, to do what?
Well, at the very least, advertising that is compelling, memorable and relevant will build your brand. And what is the business case for that? That’s the tricky bit.
It depends upon the size and maturity of market, life cycle of product being advertised, if there is an exit strategy for the business and a range of other issues.
To start with, let’s list the things that advertising is good for; in other words, the results it has generated for those who have used it. You can then use that list to try to place a dollar value next to it.
Things to achieve by advertising
• Position the business as a leader in the market
• Build the brand in order to own something specific in the market
• Support sales people, making them look like winners
• Support sales people who are afraid of cold calling
• Reduce the number of steps required in the sales process
• Position the business for investors/exit strategy and pump up the value of the company
• Make the business attractive t...
