Given the impact of Web 2.0 and social media in the online world, it was inevitable that the changes unleashed on the public would eventually find its way to the business world. I've sat in on webinars touting the benefits of inbound marketing with titles like, "The Marketing Playbook is Broken" - Hubspot. And it's a scary thought, isn't it? Do our customers finally have the upper hand with all this online information at their disposal?
As marketers we want to actively influence and impact customer purchasing decisions. Set up a compelling marketing program, create some assets, push out the assets with a call-to-action (CTA), measure the results, re-calibrate. But is the average person so overwhelmed with information that they prefer to research purchase decisions themselves, guaranteeing the quantity AND quality of information they get? Think about it, how many complaints have you heard from prospects and customers about marketing fluff? The reality is on the B2B software side of the world, you may move through a path of software developers, product managers, product marketing, marketing programs and marcomm people before your outbound content reaches the ears of your prospect. And like a game of Telephone, the further down this path the information takes, the more diluted the marketing copy becomes.
I personally have written up many pieces of marketing collateral that absolutely HAD to go through the brand team for edits before being approved. Having been an IT manager, I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what needs to get communicated and with my marketing background, how it needs to be communicated. When the final document was approved by my brand team, the verbiage had changed a bit. In all honesty, I don't think much value was added and some of the sharpness had been lost along with three weeks of time. But if you need to get your assets blessed and printed, you don't have much of a choice.
When you talk to technology people from administrators to executives, losing the authenticity and credibility in your voice isn't a wise idea. So how can you blame B2B technology folks for putting your emails aside and going online to search for more unbiased and accurate information? IT people are as busy as anyone else in the building with little time to spare and guess what? They're also pretty darn bright and understand what marketers are trying to do, regardless of any social awkwardness.
The reality is that certainly, marketing focus may be shifting towards inbound (passive) marketing versus the more traditional playbooks that focus on emails, direct mail, events, roadshows and sales enablement materials. But regardless of which marketing vehicles you use, inbound, outbound or otherwise, you need to have quality content! Content that reassures and validates concerns of all technology stakeholders as they go through the awareness, evaluation, consideration and purchase cycle. The ability to provide needed and credible information to your prospects ultimately relies on the same item: quality content. Whether that content is sourced internally, crowd-sourced or through analysts and third-party groups is another question.
So let's not argue about whether or not inbound or outbound marketing is the way to go for your customers. As usual, you need to find the right marketing mix and vehicles to communicate your value prop and message at the right time. Just make sure you've got informative, interesting content, regardless of how it gets delivered. If you do, your marketing efforts will be rolling downhill and driving your business to the next level.
