Description
The Internet and its associated digital promotional tools are the fastest-growing presence on today’s industrial B2B media grid.
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INTEGRATED MEDIA
STRATEGIES FOR
B2B MARKETERS
Maximizing Traditional and Online Marketing Media ROI
With an Integrated Media Strategy
2
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This paper outlines integrated media strategies that marketers of complex
engineered products and services can use to meet three key marketing program
objectives: 1. brand building and price support; 2. customer education; and 3.
quali?ed lead generation.
Summarizing current industrial marketing trends in North America, we examine which
traditional and new media tools are producing a higher return on investment and
highlight those that offer marketers better and more precise control, easier-to-use
tracking capabilities and measurable results. We also provide general guidelines for
budget allocations that will allow marketers to optimize and track media performance.
Given the exponential rate of adoption of web-based technologies, our
recommendations should be viewed as projections for the 2007 calendar year only.
OVERVIEW
The Internet and its associated digital promotional tools are the fastest-growing
presence on today’s industrial B2B media grid. A recent B2B study
1
analyzing the
effectiveness of marketing strategies in reaching the technical buyer shows that
a record number of technical and industrial customers use the Internet as their
primary source for accessing trade research and new product information. As a
result, B2B advertisers are searching for new ways to exploit these online channels
and connect directly with customers.
Balancing Brand Health and Short-Term Sales Goals
The two factors most important to the success of a B2B brand are brand health
and pro?tability. While print media is still invaluable for maintaining long-term
brand health and awareness, online promotional efforts are more ef?ciently
translated into immediate sales. Consequently, a B2B brand marketer must
achieve the optimal mix of traditional and online media to maintain a balance
between long-term value and short-term capital.
For the purposes of this white paper, traditional media is de?ned as
conventional (and usually tangible), time-established advertising and marketing
methods, and includes display ads in target print publications, direct mail, and
PR vehicles such as case studies and white papers. Online media is de?ned
as web-based promotional material with which the customer can interact,
including rich-media ads, search engine marketing, newsletters, direct e-mail,
webcasts, webinars and online PR.
1
GlobalSpec
®
3
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De?ning Objectives
The ?rst step in determining the optimal media mix is
to de?ne the primary marketing objectives (Figure A).
The dominant aim — such as boosting brand credibility,
educating a broader base of potential customers, or
generating quality purchase leads within a narrow market
— will determine the proportion of traditional to online
media placement.
Traditional media (particularly print ads in trade
publications) is highly effective in building brand familiarity,
top-of-mind customer awareness, and strong brand
reputation. It is perhaps surprising to some, that even in
this era of interactive ubiquity, traditional media remains
the cornerstone of brand awareness and image campaigns.
Increasingly, however, online media advertisements
generate higher-quality leads, more timely capitalization on customer aperture,
and a more customized B2B purchase experience — thus more ef?ciently
translating advertising efforts into sales.
2
Integrated Media Mix Optimizes ROI
By incorporating both promotional channels into the media mix, the B2B
marketer can best attain the optimal advertising and marketing objectives—
including increasing brand awareness and image, providing customer education
and service, and generating quality leads.
This paper summarizes data from studies conducted by nine leading B2B
media research groups and compiles their results into recommendations for an
objective-oriented media mix to optimize marketing budget ROI.
3
In addition,
this paper analyzes the effectiveness of a media mix through the different
stages of the purchasing process:
• Brand awareness
• Customer and product education
• Lead generation
• Finalizing the sale
2
All recommendations assume that the marketer has a well-organized, functional, and user-
friendly web presence to effectively capture leads generated by promotional efforts.
3
Koroberi, Inc.’s recommendations are based on agency experience and the sources listed in
this report.
GOAL ORIENTATION
BRAND HEALTH PROFITABILITY
TRADITIONAL ONLINE
GOAL:
Brand Awareness
and Image
GOAL:
Customer Education
& Product Information
GOAL:
Quality Lead
Generation
Figure A. The balance between traditional
and online media emphasis should vary
according to the marketing objectives.
4
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BRAND AWARENESS AND IMAGE
Traditional Media
A strong promotional foundation provided by traditional media is imperative
for maximizing brand awareness, developing a positive image, and establishing
a solid reputation.
Methods include:
• Advertisements in print publications
• Display ads in trade publications
• Display ads in business publications
• Custom company magazines
• Direct mail
• Public relations
• Case studies
• White papers
• Corporate and product PR
Although online media is gaining signi?cant ground in generating brand visibility,
traditional media (particularly in printed trade publications) should remain the
dominant focus. Not only has traditional media long proved to increase the likelihood
that the customer will perceive a brand as viable and time-tested, but it typically
offers a more cost-ef?cient reach (with lower CPM) to top-level management.
Online Advertising
An effective, functional, and user-friendly
corporate website is the foundation on which
successful online promotion is built. The website
must be easily accessible and support downloads
of digital information assets such as:
• White papers
• Case studies
• News articles
• Press releases and technical articles
To fully exploit sales opportunities, the website should also provide company
contact information and e-commerce options.
PRINT ONLY ONLINE PRESENCE
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
% LEAD INCREASE
% BUDGET INCREASE
Figure B. Value of interactive budget
increase to ad media mix.
5
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Three key elements contributing to the success of online media are immediacy,
accessibility, and accountability. An allotment of 11 percent of a B2B advertising
budget to online media can increase purchase intent by 20 percent (at 4+
exposures) over a traditional print-only media plan
4
(Figure B).
Online Tactics
The well-stocked online toolbox should include
vertical and general search engines and rich-media
advertisements (ads featuring digital audio and visual
enhancements, e.g., live links, sound, animation,
video feed) on trade publication websites. Online ads
alone can cost-effectively boost brand awareness by
6 percent, and by 14 percent when integrated into a
traditional print media campaign.
5
Rich-media ads, despite their higher CPM over static
banner ads, are signi?cantly more cost- effective in
turbocharging a print campaign — rich media ads
generate a 5 percent increase of brand message retention over banner ads, and
a 10 percent increase over print media alone. (Figure C).
Research has shown that a branding advertising program should be geared to
reach approximately 75 percent of a target audience through traditional media
and approximately 25 percent through online rich media ads.
6
(Figure D).
4
Marketing Evolution™
5
Forrester Research
®
6
Interactive Advertising Bureau
®
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
PRINT
MEDIA
ALONE
BANNER
ADS &
PRINT
RICH
MEDIA
& PRINT
12%
Figure C. Comparative effectiveness
of rich media in message retention and
brand awareness.
Figure D. Optimal branding advertising market reach.
Online Media Allocation for Brand Awareness
• Rich media online ads (4%)
• Search engines (4%)
• Corporate website (2%)
Traditional Media Allocation for Brand Awareness
• Display ads (45%)
• Case studies (15%)
• Corporate and product PR (15%)
• Direct mail (15%)
TRADITIONAL MEDIA ADS: 75%
ONLINE RICH
MEDIA ADS: 25%
6
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Figure E illustrates media allocation guidelines for increasing brand awareness
and image. Traditional media is the dominant player here, accounting for 90
percent of the total.
CUSTOMER EDUCATION AND PRODUCT INFORMATION
Workers now allot a staggering 62 percent of their daily “media minutes” to the
Internet, devoting only 6 percent to traditional print media
7
. When industrial
professionals search for information about new products, 57 percent choose the
Internet as their primary research vehicle and 31 percent choose magazines.
Although it’s important to maintain a strong advertising presence in both traditional
and online formats, these statistics indicate that the at-work Internet trend is
growing exponentially. Strategic solutions for capitalizing on this trend include the
following traditional and online promotional tools:
• PR news and editorial programs
• Custom magazines mailed to a list generated from online registration
• White papers available for online download
• Case studies available for online download
• Digitized customer newsletters
• Self-promotion on well-developed corporate website
• Webcasts and webinars — these tools, both relatively inexpensive, deliver
maximum exposure in a highly informative editorial environment and
provide in-depth demographic details of quali?ed leads.
8
7
GlobalSpec
8
Reed Research™
Figure E. Suggested media allocation
to increase brand awareness and image.
See Appendix, page 10, for sample
integrated media budget for customer
education.
TRADITIONAL MEDIA: 90%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 10%
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF ONLINE MEDIA
Print Ads:
45%
Print Ads:
15%
Corporate &
Product PR:
15%
Print Ads:
15%
Rich Media
Online Ads:
4%
Search
Engines:
4%
Corporate
Website:
2%
7
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Developing comprehensive customer education programs and producing product
information materials are valuable marketing objectives that require slight shifts in
media programming from traditionally oriented brand-building and support strategies.
These objectives operate at a midpoint between brand health and pro?tability, and
should be focused on information-heavy, highly interactive promotional formats that
cover both traditional and new media.
Optimizing Customer Education Strategies
Traditional vs. online media allocation guidelines for optimizing customer
education and product information strategies are illustrated in Figure F.
Online Media Allocation for Customer Education
The suggested online media allocation, which accounts for 55 percent of the
total, is weighted toward the corporate website (20 percent), with the balance
split about equally between online:
• PR media centers and newsletters (12%)
• Product PR and technical articles (10%)
• Webcasts and webinars (13%)
Traditional Media Allocation for Customer Education
On the traditional media side, the remaining 45 percent of the suggested media allocation
for customer education and product information might be weighted as follows:
• Case studies (15%)
• White papers (15%)
• Direct mail (10%)
• Product PR and technical articles (5%)
Figure F. Suggested media allocation
to provide customer education and
product information.
See Appendix, page 10, for sample
integrated media budget for customer
education.
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF ONLINE MEDIA
Product PR
& Technical
Articles
5%
Case Studies:
15%
White Papers:
15%
Custom
Direct Mail:
15%
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 45%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 55%
Online
Newsletters
12%
Product PR
& Technical
Articles
10%
Corporate
Website
20%
Webcasts
& Webinars:
13%
8
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QUALITY LEAD GENERATION
Lead generation is a comparatively short-term marketing objective, and one which,
when executed effectively, can move signi?cant product volume and generate
opportunities for near-term pro?ts. In addition to an easy-to-navigate, appealing
corporate web presence, quali?ed lead generation depends heavily on a solid
phone-based customer service system backed by a highly ef?cient and responsive
sales force. Promotional efforts should be intensely focused on building an online
presence that supports traditional promotions by enabling immediate access to
existing materials (e.g., white papers, case studies, press releases, news articles) and
updates to evolving materials (e.g., products).
Enhancing Online Effectiveness
Ideally, online promotions should offer real-time access to the customer
through registration, and enable real-time accountability for the marketer.
Registration-required online communication provides more than the basic click-
through information (i.e., IP address of visitor’s path to site) afforded by general
search engines. However, such processes should be as simpli?ed and as user-
friendly as possible.
Landing sites should feature lead capture mechanisms that obtain each prospect’s
company name, contact information, preferred communication method, speci?c
area of interest, timeframe for purchase decision, and timeliness of lead. Highly
customizable promotional tools leveraged predominantly through online media
are most appropriate for lead generation, supplemented by traditional media that
maintains a foundation of brand quality.
Online Media Allocation for Lead Generation
The media allocation guidelines for generating quality sales leads are illustrated
in Figure G. Here, online media dominates, accounting for 65 percent of the
suggested allocation. The importance of establishing and maintaining corporate
visibility to search engines is re?ected in the suggestion that 25 percent of online
media be devoted to search engine optimization and paid placements (see
additional discussion in “Top 10 Media Tools” section below). Online ads account
for the next largest portion in the suggested breakdown followed by an equal split
between the corporate website and custom e-mails and webcasts and webinars:
• Online ads (15%)
• Search engines (25%)
• Corporate website (10%)
• Webcasts and webinars (5%)
• Custom e-mail (10%)
9
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Traditional Media Allocation for Lead Generation
As is the case with the suggested allocation for customer education and
product information (Figure F), case studies and white papers once again
account for the lion’s share of the suggested traditional media breakdown for
generating quality sales leads:
• Print ads (7%)
• Case studies (10%)
• Corporate and product PR (5%)
• Direct mail (3%)
• White papers (10%)
Figure G. Suggested media allocation to
generate quality sales leads.
See Appendix, page 10, for sample
integrated media budget for customer
education.
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF ONLINE MEDIA
Print Ads:
7%
Case Studies:
10%
Corporate &
Product PR:
5%
Direct Mail:
3%
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 35%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 65%
Online Ads
15%
Search
Engines:
25%
Corporate
Website:
10%
Webcasts
& Webinars:
5%
White Papers:
3%
Custom
Email:
10%
TOP 10 MEDIA TOOLS FOR OPTIMIZING ROI
An effective lead-generating mix should include the following tools:
Print advertisements. Print display advertising remains a cornerstone of
successful industrial marketing, and offers more value in today’s media mix than
ever before. Traditional print media delivers a perception of value and brand
quality to a highly quali?ed audience. Additionally, the expansion of online
advertising has sparked an increase in print advertising ROI — as the ratio of
print advertising pages to editorial content shrinks, print ads compete with less
clutter to reach their audience. Finally, print advertisements are more permanent
and accessible than online advertisements, allowing brand messages to bene?t
from a longer lifecycle.
1.
10
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Vertical and general search engines. More than 90 percent of engineers and
technical buyers use search engines to research and ?nd products and services
from suppliers.
9
Among B2B users, 82.9 percent use Google
®
over any other
general or vertical search engine. Employing Google Adwords
®
provides the added
advantage of decreasing cost-per-lead while improving the click-through rate.
10
Business vertical and subvertical search engines such as Business.com
®
,
GlobalSpec, and ThomasNet
®
are historically exceptional at generating strong
B2B customer alliances and highly specialized leads.
11
Search engine marketing
is expected to dominate the advertising scope with 40.6 percent of buyer-
in?uencing power in the next ?ve years.
12
When incorporating search engine marketing into an online media plan, a one-
position decline in rank translates roughly into a 1 percent decline in click-through
rate. Paid placement or search engine optimization is vital to search engine
visibility and automatic impressions. If the top three ranks are unattainable, the
brand’s link should appear on the ?rst search page.
E-mail. E-mail cannibalized 13 percent of traditional direct mail revenues
between 1999 and 2005, and shows no sign of slowing.
13
E-mail professionals
can ensure that e-mails are targeted to the right audience and can optimize the
legitimacy and delivery of bulk e-mails.
Webcasts and webinars. Webcasts and webinars provide high brand visibility
to a targeted audience. To avoid potential compatibility issues, make sure you
know what systems your audience members will be using, and have live technical
support available. Tailor your webcasts to the needs of your audience. Keep it
simple and on topic. For additional ROI, archive webcasts or webinars and make
them available to an expanded audience 24/7.
Rich-media online advertisements on trade websites with links to company website.
Online ads alone can increase customer conversions by 10 percent, and by
signi?cantly more when combined with traditional media campaigns.
14
Corporate website. The most effective websites capture lead information,
provide feedback within 24 hours, and offer downloads of white papers, articles,
event invitations, relevant links, etc.
White paper programs supported by online promotions. Online advertising
dramatically outpaces traditional print media in generating direct-action
information-seeking. Print display ads featuring a call-to-action that targets
upper-management decision makers generate less than 1 percent of white paper
downloads; the other 99 percent is from online ads.
15
9
GlobalSpec
10
Atlas Institute™
11
DigitalGrit
®
12
Penton Media™
2.
3.
4.
13
JupiterDirect
®
14
Atlas Institute
15
Interactive Advertising Bureau
5.
6.
7.
11
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16
Penton Media™
Case studies available for online download. Creating PDFs of your printed case
studies and posting them to your website is a simple, low-cost way to increase
the visibility of your successes to a potentially vast audience. Custom publishing
can also be effective as a customer direct marketing tool.
Strong product PR presence in print and online. The synergistic effect of
maintaining a strong product PR presence in print as well as online will produce
better results than a single-media strategy.
Custom magazines mailed to registration-generated in-house list. Although
traditional direct mail advertisements have been gradually dwarfed by e-mail,
custom-published magazines, newsletters, and white papers are projected to
show an increase in buyer in?uence in the next ?ve years, accounting for 34.0
percent of aggregate advertising in?uence.
16
SUMMARY
The effectiveness of integrated media strategies is now well-documented. What was
once a pioneering strategy is emerging from its infancy and establishing itself as a pro
forma element of mainstream industrial marketing. As a growing number of businesses
adopt integrated media strategies and allocate more of their budgets to web sites,
e-mail, search, webcasting and video, marketers may ?nd it helpful to consider the
lessons learned by those who have been employing these promotional tools the
longest. Following is a summary of the ?ndings and suggestions covered in this paper.
Brand Awareness and Image
To jump-start brand awareness and image, and set the purchase process in
motion, the focus should be on traditional media (90 percent), supported by a
complementary online presence (10 percent).
Customer Education and Product Information
Because customer education and product information require content-heavy
promotional formats, maximize impact by combining online media (55 percent)
and traditional media (45 percent) into a single promotional structure.
Quality Lead Generation
At this point in the sales process, user-friendly online promotions that provide
real-time accountability should assume media dominance (65 percent),
supported by traditional media (35 percent). As with education- and
information-based objectives, the impact of traditional media is maximized
through continued online support and accessibility.
8.
9.
10.
12
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Fine-Tune Media Mix to Meet Objectives Ef?ciently
Studies show that the most effective way to market complex products and
services is by employing an appropriately proportioned combination of online
and traditional media. Begin by assessing your marketing needs in relation to
each step in the sales process — from long-term awareness generation and
brand-building, to customer education and product information delivery, to
quality lead generation, to purchase and follow-up.
The proportion of a total marketing budget allocated toward meeting speci?c
objectives will vary according to the maturity of the brand, the number of new
product launches planned, product sales objectives, etc. For example, marketers
whose companies or products already enjoy strong brand recognition and
awareness may consider allocating more resources toward meeting product
information and lead generating objectives. Companies with little or no brand
recognition, on the other hand, may consider deploying a greater percentage of
available resources toward brand building and awareness strategies.
The sample budgets shown in the Appendix illustrate hypothetical media
allocations based on the guidelines discussed previously and summarized in
Figure H below. They are included to provide a comparative view of how the
objective-speci?c strategies detailed in this paper translate into marketing
expenditures. Since the relative importance of speci?c marketing objectives
varies considerably across companies and markets, they are not to be
construed as recommendations.
Figure H. Matching the media mix to the marketing objectives optimizes ROI
Suggested media allocation
to increase brand awareness
and image
Suggested media allocation to
provide customer education
and product information
Suggested media allocation to
generate quality sales leads
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 90%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 10%
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 45%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 55%
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 35%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 65%
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13
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ABOUT KOROBERI
Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com) is a full-service marketing ?rm serving the strategic, creative and
tactical marketing needs of a diverse list of business-to-business clients. Koroberi also provides research
and technical communications services to a range of global business-to-business industrial ?rms.
APPENDIX
SAMPLE $500,000 INTEGRATED MEDIA BUDGET FOR BRAND AWARENESS
Traditional Media . . . . . . . . . . $450,000
Print Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $225,000
Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000
Corporate and Product PR . . . . . . . . . . .$75,000
Direct Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000
Online Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Rich Media Online Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . .$20,000
Search Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$20,000
Corporate Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000
SAMPLE $500,000 INTEGRATED MEDIA BUDGET FOR CUSTOMER EDUCATION/
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Traditional Media . . . . . . . . . .$225,000
Product PR and Technical Articles . . . .$25,000
Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000
White Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000
Direct Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Online Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . $275,000
Online Newsletters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60,000
Product PR and Technical Articles . . .$50,000
Corporate Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000
Webcasts and Webinars . . . . . . . . . . . $65,000
SAMPLE $500,000 INTEGRATED MEDIA BUDGET FOR QUALITY LEAD GENERATION
Traditional Media . . . . . . . . . . .$175,000
Print Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$35,000
Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Corporate and Product PR. . . . . . . . . . . $25,000
Direct Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,000
White Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Online Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . $375,000
Online Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$75,000
Search Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$125,000
Corporate Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Webcasts and Webinars . . . . . . . . . . .$25,000
Custom Emails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
SOURCES
Atlas www.atlassolutions.com
DigitalGrit www.digitalgrit.com
Forrester Research www.forrester.com
GlobalSpec www.globalspec.com
Interactive Advertising Bureau www.iab.net
JupiterResearch www.jupiterresearch.com
Marketing Evolution www.marketingevolution.com
Penton Media www.penton.com
Reed Business www.reedbusiness.com
doc_703823512.pdf
The Internet and its associated digital promotional tools are the fastest-growing presence on today’s industrial B2B media grid.
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INTEGRATED MEDIA
STRATEGIES FOR
B2B MARKETERS
Maximizing Traditional and Online Marketing Media ROI
With an Integrated Media Strategy
2
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This paper outlines integrated media strategies that marketers of complex
engineered products and services can use to meet three key marketing program
objectives: 1. brand building and price support; 2. customer education; and 3.
quali?ed lead generation.
Summarizing current industrial marketing trends in North America, we examine which
traditional and new media tools are producing a higher return on investment and
highlight those that offer marketers better and more precise control, easier-to-use
tracking capabilities and measurable results. We also provide general guidelines for
budget allocations that will allow marketers to optimize and track media performance.
Given the exponential rate of adoption of web-based technologies, our
recommendations should be viewed as projections for the 2007 calendar year only.
OVERVIEW
The Internet and its associated digital promotional tools are the fastest-growing
presence on today’s industrial B2B media grid. A recent B2B study
1
analyzing the
effectiveness of marketing strategies in reaching the technical buyer shows that
a record number of technical and industrial customers use the Internet as their
primary source for accessing trade research and new product information. As a
result, B2B advertisers are searching for new ways to exploit these online channels
and connect directly with customers.
Balancing Brand Health and Short-Term Sales Goals
The two factors most important to the success of a B2B brand are brand health
and pro?tability. While print media is still invaluable for maintaining long-term
brand health and awareness, online promotional efforts are more ef?ciently
translated into immediate sales. Consequently, a B2B brand marketer must
achieve the optimal mix of traditional and online media to maintain a balance
between long-term value and short-term capital.
For the purposes of this white paper, traditional media is de?ned as
conventional (and usually tangible), time-established advertising and marketing
methods, and includes display ads in target print publications, direct mail, and
PR vehicles such as case studies and white papers. Online media is de?ned
as web-based promotional material with which the customer can interact,
including rich-media ads, search engine marketing, newsletters, direct e-mail,
webcasts, webinars and online PR.
1
GlobalSpec
®
3
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De?ning Objectives
The ?rst step in determining the optimal media mix is
to de?ne the primary marketing objectives (Figure A).
The dominant aim — such as boosting brand credibility,
educating a broader base of potential customers, or
generating quality purchase leads within a narrow market
— will determine the proportion of traditional to online
media placement.
Traditional media (particularly print ads in trade
publications) is highly effective in building brand familiarity,
top-of-mind customer awareness, and strong brand
reputation. It is perhaps surprising to some, that even in
this era of interactive ubiquity, traditional media remains
the cornerstone of brand awareness and image campaigns.
Increasingly, however, online media advertisements
generate higher-quality leads, more timely capitalization on customer aperture,
and a more customized B2B purchase experience — thus more ef?ciently
translating advertising efforts into sales.
2
Integrated Media Mix Optimizes ROI
By incorporating both promotional channels into the media mix, the B2B
marketer can best attain the optimal advertising and marketing objectives—
including increasing brand awareness and image, providing customer education
and service, and generating quality leads.
This paper summarizes data from studies conducted by nine leading B2B
media research groups and compiles their results into recommendations for an
objective-oriented media mix to optimize marketing budget ROI.
3
In addition,
this paper analyzes the effectiveness of a media mix through the different
stages of the purchasing process:
• Brand awareness
• Customer and product education
• Lead generation
• Finalizing the sale
2
All recommendations assume that the marketer has a well-organized, functional, and user-
friendly web presence to effectively capture leads generated by promotional efforts.
3
Koroberi, Inc.’s recommendations are based on agency experience and the sources listed in
this report.
GOAL ORIENTATION
BRAND HEALTH PROFITABILITY
TRADITIONAL ONLINE
GOAL:
Brand Awareness
and Image
GOAL:
Customer Education
& Product Information
GOAL:
Quality Lead
Generation
Figure A. The balance between traditional
and online media emphasis should vary
according to the marketing objectives.
4
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BRAND AWARENESS AND IMAGE
Traditional Media
A strong promotional foundation provided by traditional media is imperative
for maximizing brand awareness, developing a positive image, and establishing
a solid reputation.
Methods include:
• Advertisements in print publications
• Display ads in trade publications
• Display ads in business publications
• Custom company magazines
• Direct mail
• Public relations
• Case studies
• White papers
• Corporate and product PR
Although online media is gaining signi?cant ground in generating brand visibility,
traditional media (particularly in printed trade publications) should remain the
dominant focus. Not only has traditional media long proved to increase the likelihood
that the customer will perceive a brand as viable and time-tested, but it typically
offers a more cost-ef?cient reach (with lower CPM) to top-level management.
Online Advertising
An effective, functional, and user-friendly
corporate website is the foundation on which
successful online promotion is built. The website
must be easily accessible and support downloads
of digital information assets such as:
• White papers
• Case studies
• News articles
• Press releases and technical articles
To fully exploit sales opportunities, the website should also provide company
contact information and e-commerce options.
PRINT ONLY ONLINE PRESENCE
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
% LEAD INCREASE
% BUDGET INCREASE
Figure B. Value of interactive budget
increase to ad media mix.
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Three key elements contributing to the success of online media are immediacy,
accessibility, and accountability. An allotment of 11 percent of a B2B advertising
budget to online media can increase purchase intent by 20 percent (at 4+
exposures) over a traditional print-only media plan
4
(Figure B).
Online Tactics
The well-stocked online toolbox should include
vertical and general search engines and rich-media
advertisements (ads featuring digital audio and visual
enhancements, e.g., live links, sound, animation,
video feed) on trade publication websites. Online ads
alone can cost-effectively boost brand awareness by
6 percent, and by 14 percent when integrated into a
traditional print media campaign.
5
Rich-media ads, despite their higher CPM over static
banner ads, are signi?cantly more cost- effective in
turbocharging a print campaign — rich media ads
generate a 5 percent increase of brand message retention over banner ads, and
a 10 percent increase over print media alone. (Figure C).
Research has shown that a branding advertising program should be geared to
reach approximately 75 percent of a target audience through traditional media
and approximately 25 percent through online rich media ads.
6
(Figure D).
4
Marketing Evolution™
5
Forrester Research
®
6
Interactive Advertising Bureau
®
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%
MEDIA
ALONE
BANNER
ADS &
RICH
MEDIA
12%
Figure C. Comparative effectiveness
of rich media in message retention and
brand awareness.
Figure D. Optimal branding advertising market reach.
Online Media Allocation for Brand Awareness
• Rich media online ads (4%)
• Search engines (4%)
• Corporate website (2%)
Traditional Media Allocation for Brand Awareness
• Display ads (45%)
• Case studies (15%)
• Corporate and product PR (15%)
• Direct mail (15%)
TRADITIONAL MEDIA ADS: 75%
ONLINE RICH
MEDIA ADS: 25%
6
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Figure E illustrates media allocation guidelines for increasing brand awareness
and image. Traditional media is the dominant player here, accounting for 90
percent of the total.
CUSTOMER EDUCATION AND PRODUCT INFORMATION
Workers now allot a staggering 62 percent of their daily “media minutes” to the
Internet, devoting only 6 percent to traditional print media
7
. When industrial
professionals search for information about new products, 57 percent choose the
Internet as their primary research vehicle and 31 percent choose magazines.
Although it’s important to maintain a strong advertising presence in both traditional
and online formats, these statistics indicate that the at-work Internet trend is
growing exponentially. Strategic solutions for capitalizing on this trend include the
following traditional and online promotional tools:
• PR news and editorial programs
• Custom magazines mailed to a list generated from online registration
• White papers available for online download
• Case studies available for online download
• Digitized customer newsletters
• Self-promotion on well-developed corporate website
• Webcasts and webinars — these tools, both relatively inexpensive, deliver
maximum exposure in a highly informative editorial environment and
provide in-depth demographic details of quali?ed leads.
8
7
GlobalSpec
8
Reed Research™
Figure E. Suggested media allocation
to increase brand awareness and image.
See Appendix, page 10, for sample
integrated media budget for customer
education.
TRADITIONAL MEDIA: 90%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 10%
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF ONLINE MEDIA
Print Ads:
45%
Print Ads:
15%
Corporate &
Product PR:
15%
Print Ads:
15%
Rich Media
Online Ads:
4%
Search
Engines:
4%
Corporate
Website:
2%
7
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Developing comprehensive customer education programs and producing product
information materials are valuable marketing objectives that require slight shifts in
media programming from traditionally oriented brand-building and support strategies.
These objectives operate at a midpoint between brand health and pro?tability, and
should be focused on information-heavy, highly interactive promotional formats that
cover both traditional and new media.
Optimizing Customer Education Strategies
Traditional vs. online media allocation guidelines for optimizing customer
education and product information strategies are illustrated in Figure F.
Online Media Allocation for Customer Education
The suggested online media allocation, which accounts for 55 percent of the
total, is weighted toward the corporate website (20 percent), with the balance
split about equally between online:
• PR media centers and newsletters (12%)
• Product PR and technical articles (10%)
• Webcasts and webinars (13%)
Traditional Media Allocation for Customer Education
On the traditional media side, the remaining 45 percent of the suggested media allocation
for customer education and product information might be weighted as follows:
• Case studies (15%)
• White papers (15%)
• Direct mail (10%)
• Product PR and technical articles (5%)
Figure F. Suggested media allocation
to provide customer education and
product information.
See Appendix, page 10, for sample
integrated media budget for customer
education.
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF ONLINE MEDIA
Product PR
& Technical
Articles
5%
Case Studies:
15%
White Papers:
15%
Custom
Direct Mail:
15%
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 45%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 55%
Online
Newsletters
12%
Product PR
& Technical
Articles
10%
Corporate
Website
20%
Webcasts
& Webinars:
13%
8
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QUALITY LEAD GENERATION
Lead generation is a comparatively short-term marketing objective, and one which,
when executed effectively, can move signi?cant product volume and generate
opportunities for near-term pro?ts. In addition to an easy-to-navigate, appealing
corporate web presence, quali?ed lead generation depends heavily on a solid
phone-based customer service system backed by a highly ef?cient and responsive
sales force. Promotional efforts should be intensely focused on building an online
presence that supports traditional promotions by enabling immediate access to
existing materials (e.g., white papers, case studies, press releases, news articles) and
updates to evolving materials (e.g., products).
Enhancing Online Effectiveness
Ideally, online promotions should offer real-time access to the customer
through registration, and enable real-time accountability for the marketer.
Registration-required online communication provides more than the basic click-
through information (i.e., IP address of visitor’s path to site) afforded by general
search engines. However, such processes should be as simpli?ed and as user-
friendly as possible.
Landing sites should feature lead capture mechanisms that obtain each prospect’s
company name, contact information, preferred communication method, speci?c
area of interest, timeframe for purchase decision, and timeliness of lead. Highly
customizable promotional tools leveraged predominantly through online media
are most appropriate for lead generation, supplemented by traditional media that
maintains a foundation of brand quality.
Online Media Allocation for Lead Generation
The media allocation guidelines for generating quality sales leads are illustrated
in Figure G. Here, online media dominates, accounting for 65 percent of the
suggested allocation. The importance of establishing and maintaining corporate
visibility to search engines is re?ected in the suggestion that 25 percent of online
media be devoted to search engine optimization and paid placements (see
additional discussion in “Top 10 Media Tools” section below). Online ads account
for the next largest portion in the suggested breakdown followed by an equal split
between the corporate website and custom e-mails and webcasts and webinars:
• Online ads (15%)
• Search engines (25%)
• Corporate website (10%)
• Webcasts and webinars (5%)
• Custom e-mail (10%)
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Traditional Media Allocation for Lead Generation
As is the case with the suggested allocation for customer education and
product information (Figure F), case studies and white papers once again
account for the lion’s share of the suggested traditional media breakdown for
generating quality sales leads:
• Print ads (7%)
• Case studies (10%)
• Corporate and product PR (5%)
• Direct mail (3%)
• White papers (10%)
Figure G. Suggested media allocation to
generate quality sales leads.
See Appendix, page 10, for sample
integrated media budget for customer
education.
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA
SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN
OF ONLINE MEDIA
Print Ads:
7%
Case Studies:
10%
Corporate &
Product PR:
5%
Direct Mail:
3%
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 35%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 65%
Online Ads
15%
Search
Engines:
25%
Corporate
Website:
10%
Webcasts
& Webinars:
5%
White Papers:
3%
Custom
Email:
10%
TOP 10 MEDIA TOOLS FOR OPTIMIZING ROI
An effective lead-generating mix should include the following tools:
Print advertisements. Print display advertising remains a cornerstone of
successful industrial marketing, and offers more value in today’s media mix than
ever before. Traditional print media delivers a perception of value and brand
quality to a highly quali?ed audience. Additionally, the expansion of online
advertising has sparked an increase in print advertising ROI — as the ratio of
print advertising pages to editorial content shrinks, print ads compete with less
clutter to reach their audience. Finally, print advertisements are more permanent
and accessible than online advertisements, allowing brand messages to bene?t
from a longer lifecycle.
1.
10
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Vertical and general search engines. More than 90 percent of engineers and
technical buyers use search engines to research and ?nd products and services
from suppliers.
9
Among B2B users, 82.9 percent use Google
®
over any other
general or vertical search engine. Employing Google Adwords
®
provides the added
advantage of decreasing cost-per-lead while improving the click-through rate.
10
Business vertical and subvertical search engines such as Business.com
®
,
GlobalSpec, and ThomasNet
®
are historically exceptional at generating strong
B2B customer alliances and highly specialized leads.
11
Search engine marketing
is expected to dominate the advertising scope with 40.6 percent of buyer-
in?uencing power in the next ?ve years.
12
When incorporating search engine marketing into an online media plan, a one-
position decline in rank translates roughly into a 1 percent decline in click-through
rate. Paid placement or search engine optimization is vital to search engine
visibility and automatic impressions. If the top three ranks are unattainable, the
brand’s link should appear on the ?rst search page.
E-mail. E-mail cannibalized 13 percent of traditional direct mail revenues
between 1999 and 2005, and shows no sign of slowing.
13
E-mail professionals
can ensure that e-mails are targeted to the right audience and can optimize the
legitimacy and delivery of bulk e-mails.
Webcasts and webinars. Webcasts and webinars provide high brand visibility
to a targeted audience. To avoid potential compatibility issues, make sure you
know what systems your audience members will be using, and have live technical
support available. Tailor your webcasts to the needs of your audience. Keep it
simple and on topic. For additional ROI, archive webcasts or webinars and make
them available to an expanded audience 24/7.
Rich-media online advertisements on trade websites with links to company website.
Online ads alone can increase customer conversions by 10 percent, and by
signi?cantly more when combined with traditional media campaigns.
14
Corporate website. The most effective websites capture lead information,
provide feedback within 24 hours, and offer downloads of white papers, articles,
event invitations, relevant links, etc.
White paper programs supported by online promotions. Online advertising
dramatically outpaces traditional print media in generating direct-action
information-seeking. Print display ads featuring a call-to-action that targets
upper-management decision makers generate less than 1 percent of white paper
downloads; the other 99 percent is from online ads.
15
9
GlobalSpec
10
Atlas Institute™
11
DigitalGrit
®
12
Penton Media™
2.
3.
4.
13
JupiterDirect
®
14
Atlas Institute
15
Interactive Advertising Bureau
5.
6.
7.
11
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16
Penton Media™
Case studies available for online download. Creating PDFs of your printed case
studies and posting them to your website is a simple, low-cost way to increase
the visibility of your successes to a potentially vast audience. Custom publishing
can also be effective as a customer direct marketing tool.
Strong product PR presence in print and online. The synergistic effect of
maintaining a strong product PR presence in print as well as online will produce
better results than a single-media strategy.
Custom magazines mailed to registration-generated in-house list. Although
traditional direct mail advertisements have been gradually dwarfed by e-mail,
custom-published magazines, newsletters, and white papers are projected to
show an increase in buyer in?uence in the next ?ve years, accounting for 34.0
percent of aggregate advertising in?uence.
16
SUMMARY
The effectiveness of integrated media strategies is now well-documented. What was
once a pioneering strategy is emerging from its infancy and establishing itself as a pro
forma element of mainstream industrial marketing. As a growing number of businesses
adopt integrated media strategies and allocate more of their budgets to web sites,
e-mail, search, webcasting and video, marketers may ?nd it helpful to consider the
lessons learned by those who have been employing these promotional tools the
longest. Following is a summary of the ?ndings and suggestions covered in this paper.
Brand Awareness and Image
To jump-start brand awareness and image, and set the purchase process in
motion, the focus should be on traditional media (90 percent), supported by a
complementary online presence (10 percent).
Customer Education and Product Information
Because customer education and product information require content-heavy
promotional formats, maximize impact by combining online media (55 percent)
and traditional media (45 percent) into a single promotional structure.
Quality Lead Generation
At this point in the sales process, user-friendly online promotions that provide
real-time accountability should assume media dominance (65 percent),
supported by traditional media (35 percent). As with education- and
information-based objectives, the impact of traditional media is maximized
through continued online support and accessibility.
8.
9.
10.
12
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Fine-Tune Media Mix to Meet Objectives Ef?ciently
Studies show that the most effective way to market complex products and
services is by employing an appropriately proportioned combination of online
and traditional media. Begin by assessing your marketing needs in relation to
each step in the sales process — from long-term awareness generation and
brand-building, to customer education and product information delivery, to
quality lead generation, to purchase and follow-up.
The proportion of a total marketing budget allocated toward meeting speci?c
objectives will vary according to the maturity of the brand, the number of new
product launches planned, product sales objectives, etc. For example, marketers
whose companies or products already enjoy strong brand recognition and
awareness may consider allocating more resources toward meeting product
information and lead generating objectives. Companies with little or no brand
recognition, on the other hand, may consider deploying a greater percentage of
available resources toward brand building and awareness strategies.
The sample budgets shown in the Appendix illustrate hypothetical media
allocations based on the guidelines discussed previously and summarized in
Figure H below. They are included to provide a comparative view of how the
objective-speci?c strategies detailed in this paper translate into marketing
expenditures. Since the relative importance of speci?c marketing objectives
varies considerably across companies and markets, they are not to be
construed as recommendations.
Figure H. Matching the media mix to the marketing objectives optimizes ROI
Suggested media allocation
to increase brand awareness
and image
Suggested media allocation to
provide customer education
and product information
Suggested media allocation to
generate quality sales leads
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 90%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 10%
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 45%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 55%
TRADITIONAL
MEDIA: 35%
ONLINE
MEDIA: 65%
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ABOUT KOROBERI
Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com) is a full-service marketing ?rm serving the strategic, creative and
tactical marketing needs of a diverse list of business-to-business clients. Koroberi also provides research
and technical communications services to a range of global business-to-business industrial ?rms.
APPENDIX
SAMPLE $500,000 INTEGRATED MEDIA BUDGET FOR BRAND AWARENESS
Traditional Media . . . . . . . . . . $450,000
Print Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $225,000
Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000
Corporate and Product PR . . . . . . . . . . .$75,000
Direct Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000
Online Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Rich Media Online Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . .$20,000
Search Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$20,000
Corporate Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000
SAMPLE $500,000 INTEGRATED MEDIA BUDGET FOR CUSTOMER EDUCATION/
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Traditional Media . . . . . . . . . .$225,000
Product PR and Technical Articles . . . .$25,000
Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000
White Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000
Direct Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Online Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . $275,000
Online Newsletters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60,000
Product PR and Technical Articles . . .$50,000
Corporate Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000
Webcasts and Webinars . . . . . . . . . . . $65,000
SAMPLE $500,000 INTEGRATED MEDIA BUDGET FOR QUALITY LEAD GENERATION
Traditional Media . . . . . . . . . . .$175,000
Print Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$35,000
Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Corporate and Product PR. . . . . . . . . . . $25,000
Direct Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,000
White Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Online Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . $375,000
Online Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$75,000
Search Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$125,000
Corporate Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
Webcasts and Webinars . . . . . . . . . . .$25,000
Custom Emails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000
SOURCES
Atlas www.atlassolutions.com
DigitalGrit www.digitalgrit.com
Forrester Research www.forrester.com
GlobalSpec www.globalspec.com
Interactive Advertising Bureau www.iab.net
JupiterResearch www.jupiterresearch.com
Marketing Evolution www.marketingevolution.com
Penton Media www.penton.com
Reed Business www.reedbusiness.com
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