It has never been more difficult to be a marketer than it is in 2017. But why?
There are three main reasons.
1. We’re increasingly sceptical
In 2017, customers are no longer the passive recipients of content and communications from companies; today, they are savvy, discerning individuals who can sniff out the slightest inaccuracy in any marketing message we receive. Research from Nielsen found that trust in UK marketing communications was at its lowest levels for the past two years. Content marketing is now seen as a self-serving means of pushing a business’s product – without any real attempt to add value for the customer.
2. Abundant choice
Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet, Inc. (Google’s parent company) recently pointed out that the amount of content on the web doubles every 24 months. The reaction to this is to create even more content in an attempt to shout even louder than the competition. At the same time, audiences are finding better ways to filter it out: priority inboxes, spam filters, and ad blockers are now pervasive.
3. Splintering of media
If you wanted to target a type of buyer, you simply contacted a handful of news papers, magazines and TV stations to place your ads. Not anymore. Now your target audience is spread across several media channels at once.
Critics have said the modern B2B prospect is now elusive and the end of marketing is near. But while these are all real challenges for the marketing community, there has never been a better time to target your ideal customers – if you know how.
The way to achieve success in this age of abundance is to stick to the fundamentals of how the web works. When done well, content marketing, organic search and PR hold the key to driving more relevant traffic to your site – converting the educated and uneducated buyer into qualified leads.
As marketers, we must infuse our content with more feeling to appeal to the emotional side of the brain – as opposed to the rational side of the brain which is what most B2B marketers do. Because ultimately, we humans are far more emotional than we are rational. We make our decisions based on feeling and intuition rather than pure, impassive logic.
The stories in Disney movies mesmerise us and capture our attention because they make us feel something.
The question for the modern B2B marketer is how can we become more emotionally involved in our clients’ lives? How can we get them to feel something and add more value to their lives?
To find out, register for our webinar on April 21, 2017. The session will serve as a primer for any marketer hoping to survive, thrive, and generate leads in the complex modern B2B landscape.