Resource
At the beginning of the month, we explained how B2B marketing impacts the greater good–a relationship that isn’t always clear at first. As we’ve seen, however, B2B marketing can have a profound positive impact on the communities, people, and institutions in which companies operate. It’s not just the bottom line that B2B marketing can influence, it’s also social sustainability: the process of building infrastructure to promote economic, environmental, and social growth in a community.
At Movéo, we know that the best businesses are those that get ahead–and stay in the forefront of innovation–by seeing the world as it will be, not as it is. These businesses know that the best way to grow is by adopting new practices that make them more sustainable, whether that’s through creating new hierarchies for their staff, behaving in an environmentally-friendly manner, or empowering a new generation of consumers to make smart choices. We’ve seen this since we started working with these kinds of businesses more than 20 years ago.
Social sustainability, therefore, is embedded into many great B2B firms. But marketing can take these firms to the next level, allowing their positive messages to reach a larger audience and have a greater impact on communities. When marketing allows firms to communicate the good they do to their target audiences, they get new clients and get the process of building a strong, sustainable social infrastructure started.
We’ve talked before on the blog about how B2B businesses provide the backbone to our society: they allow all the functions of everyday life to go smoothly, making sure that there’s a strong infrastructure in place for our businesses and our communities. As such, the B2B sector is in a prime position to help move social sustainability forward, and B2B marketing allows that to happen.
Let us know: how does your business work to promote social sustainability?
Photo credit: Epicantus via Pixabay
Resource
According to Al Iannuzzi’s book Green Products: The Making and Marketing of Sustainable Brands, “firms have been pressured by market forces to take responsibility for the supply chain.” Iannuzzi, a director of global product stewardship and green marketing at Johnson & Johnson, writes about how major brands have been called on to improve both the environmental and social aspects of how their products are made and brought to market. Initiatives to improve supply chain practices have been called “greening the supply chain,” and B2B marketers are a key player in their implementation.
With major brands increasingly looking to improve the social and environmental impact of their businesses, they are actively seeking B2B solutions that promote the greater good. B2B marketers must honestly and thoughtfully display the ways in which their offerings meet these needs. Through effective marketing, these solutions can be deployed as widely as possible, bringing social and environmental benefits to every level of the supply chain.
One B2B business, DSM, has put marketing to work for the greater good in many areas. Examining three of the company’s campaigns together provides an object lesson in socially responsible B2B marketing.
Better Ingredients, Better Food
DSM describes itself as “a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials.” One arm of DSM sells specialty ingredients to food companies – specialty meaning enzymes, nutrients, preservatives and more. These ingredients are crucial to the safety and stability of foods produced on a large scale and shipped to grocery stores, restaurants and consumers.
This holiday season, DSM publicized the ways that its ingredients allow food companies to waste less while creating healthier options for consumers. A press release and infographic show off the benefits. For example, the use of DSM’s enzymes in the production of fruit juice creates a greater yield – yielding greater profits for clients and lowering producers’ carbon footprints. The infographic also advertises how DSM products can be used to create tasty products that are lower in salt and sugar, and create items like lactose-free ice cream for those with special dietary needs.
Nutrition Around the World
In keeping with its mission to improve food and nutrition around the world, DSM has partnered since 2007 with the UN World Food Programme and begun several initiatives of its own. With malnutrition responsible for millions of deaths worldwide, DSM has made improving global access to vital nutrients an integral part of its mission.
This humanitarian work does not offer DSM clients an immediate benefit, such as lower costs or improved efficiency. Nor does it offer the supply chain benefits of DSM’s sustainability efforts. But companies that purchase DSM’s products can know that they are supporting these efforts. Marketing of these programs is more about building awareness of hunger and malnutrition than focusing on DSM, but the programs and UN partnership in turn build awareness of DSM as a responsible corporation dedicated to improving the lives of people around the world.
Environmental Sustainability
On the topic of sustainable supply chains, the sustainability section of the DSM website emphasizes that creating sustainable products includes choosing eco-friendly suppliers. In addition, DSM promises to become a sustainable link in clients’ supply chains by creating new, ECO+ solutions. The company’s sustainability publications contribute to the branding of DSM as a company that cares about the environment and takes steps to improve environmental impact.
Crucially, all three of these socially responsible campaigns provide concrete data about the practices of each organization, rather than vague promises phrases with no clear support. For example, the environmental sustainability section of DSM’s website includes “Facts & Figures” pages broken into categories including “Emissions,” “Waste,” Energy” and “Water.” These pages track the company’s progress from year to year.
Each of these initiatives addresses different needs, and some are more directly tied to client benefits than others. But all three paint a picture of a B2B business that is educated about the ways it impacts the world, and strives to make responsible choices. Does your B2B marketing send the same message?
Photo credit: SplitShire via Pixabay
Resource
At Movéo, we believe that effective B2B marketing can bring the smart solutions and increased revenue to more businesses, allowing them to better serve their customers. We strive to create value not only for each of our clients but for the greater communities in which those organizations operate. Among other projects, we’ve designed marketing strategies to connect small businesses to top job applicants and improve smart grid energy management.
Movéo believes in using B2B marketing to help our clients better the world around us. To this end, Movéo worked with pharmaceuticals company Abbott to develop a global program to promote the laboratory medicine profession. Abbott had already created a program, called Labs Are Vital, but needed a way to keep Labs Are Vital relevant in the years to come.
Knowing the importance of data in modern B2B marketing, Movéo began work with an extensive discovery process. The team queried healthcare professionals to determine the influence of healthcare lab work on healthcare decision-making. Finding a discrepancy between the perception of laboratory medicine as a “back room function” and its hefty influence on healthcare decisions, Movéo recognized that the role of laboratory research in evidence-based medicine needed greater appreciation. With this in mind, Movéo helped Abbott to launch the campaign with a new website, video featuring a panel of thought leaders and other print and online collateral.
Movéo continued to employ data strategies after the implementation of Labs Are Vital’s new mission and the project’s launch in Berlin. A market survey in eight countries asked laboratory professionals, physicians and hospital administrators about the relevance of the new Labs Are Vital mission, and found that two-thirds found the projects mission statement relevant.
Since Abbott is a global healthcare and research company, the increased appreciation of the role of laboratory medicine in everyday healthcare decisions paved the way for business growth. It also benefitted the status of individual researchers and promoted evidence-based medicine, a boon for people around the world in need of scientifically-supported healthcare.
To read more about the work Movéo has done for our clients, visit our case studies page.
Photo Credit: ChadoNihi via Pixabay
Resource
When we market, it can be easy to fall into the mindset that the only person we’re reaching is the direct consumer. However, marketing has a far reach and can impact others in ways that aren’t always clear at first.
Think of how many people see your marketing efforts every day: how many people walk past a sign, read a tweet, or even view a webinar that you put on. Although these people may not act on your call to action or become a paying customer, they still interact with what you do–and this is a powerful opportunity to engage in a meaningful way and even help out the community. In this post, we showcase three actors who are impacted by the marketing we do: an employee of the client company, the business that client company works with, and the person that that business serves. We also provide examples of B2B companies and campaigns who have gone above and beyond to reach these actors with a meaningful message.
The Employee
Even though B2B companies don’t deal directly with consumers, they’re still marketing to people, and smart, socially conscious B2B marketing knows how to empower those employees. For example, IBM’s marketing campaign A Smarter Planet relied on employee voices from both their own workforce and the companies they work with in order to lend a human voice to their products. However, this also raised the employees’ profiles and introduced them as thought leaders in their field, creating trust in their opinions and IBM’s products.
The Business You Work With
This is the easiest impact we see: in B2B marketing, your entire job is to grow your client business! However, growth can come in unexpected places as a result of your actions: say a project goes unexpectedly well, and as a result, your client takes your advice to hire more data scientists to increase their chances of success. Just from one marketing project, you’ve created jobs and expanded your client’s in-house analytic abilities. Or perhaps a successful project brings in more revenue for your client that they later use in philanthropic endeavors. Your marketing has just contributed directly towards a social good!
The Consumer
Who is the end consumer of your product? As we talked about last Friday, B2B businesses provide the backbone of so many facets of daily life: we make sure cables connect, machines can talk to each other, and consumers can access information they need to succeed. Let’s look back at IBM’s A Smarter Planet campaign: they profile a Brooklyn principal who used IBM’s technologies and resources to help students get associate’s degrees in applied sciences and become competitive job seekers in the science field. This kind of creative application of B2B products shows that the possibilities to impact consumers is boundless.
Our marketing creates business growth, strengthening relationships between clients and the businesses they work with and allowing for more employee stability. Next week, we will look in-depth at different case studies and analyze their contribution to the greater good.
Photo credit: geralt via Pixabay
Resource
Strong B2B marketing creates growth within companies, and in the larger community, by connecting large and small businesses with the products and services they need. This, in turn, fuels economic growth.
Business growth is important on a community level. When a B2B business is doing well, its employees are able to patronize local businesses, and give back to the local community in service. When local businesses are doing well, entire communities can feel more confident and hopeful.
A successful B2B business is built on a commitment to anticipating and serving client and customer needs. When a B2B business supports its clients and customers in a meaningful way, all of the people involved in the transactions between the two companies benefit.
B2B marketing is central to this web of mutually productive business relationships. Without creative and thoughtful marketing, many businesses would never know about the solutions available in their fields. Once they have connected to these products and services, employees at the client companies can streamline their own work and promote the growth of their operations.
B2B marketers can strengthen existing relationships and create new ones through marketing that is informative as well as engaging. For your next B2B campaign, consider: how can you educate potential clients as well as current clients about the features of your product or service? How can you add value to their work?
The best B2B-client relationships are built on strong communication, and they can promote productivity gains and business growth. In your ongoing work as a B2B marketer, remember this aspect of your job. Serve your clients well and you may find that your work creates far-reaching business growth and new opportunities, in your organization and in others.
Photo credit: PublicDomanPictures via Pixabay
Resource
B2B marketing impacts economic growth on a company, community and national level. How? As B2B companies grow, new jobs are created, new solutions are discovered and and new opportunities are developed.
B2B companies are responsible for the research and development of innovative solutions to problems that impact a wide range of industries. Successful B2B businesses drive economic growth by providing their clients with products and services that allow them to work more efficiently, provide better service and grow their businesses.
Strategic, data-driven marketing plays an important role in helping B2B companies achieve this kind of success, and thanks to the evolution of the marketing value chain, its poised to have an even bigger impact in the next year. The New Marketing Value Chain aims for predictability, just as marketing always has. The difference today is that data-driven strategies allow for actual marketing predictability with less waste and inefficiency than ever before. Therefore, the implementation of proven B2B marketing strategy with creative flair can produce a steady, measurable return on investment.
With B2B businesses better able to maintain the desired growth trajectory, they can spread their products and services to more businesses. This not only results in successful growth for B2B businesses, but also allows more of the companies they serve to benefit from their offering.
Strong B2B communication is the backbone of this growth, connecting businesses with the potential to be economic powerhouses with the products and services they need. This relationship is true at the local, state and national levels, as well as within industries.
Throughout the month, we’ll be sharing more insights into B2B marketing’s role in shaping positive economic growth and contributing to the greater good. Keep reading our blog throughout the month to learn more about the meaningful impact made by successful B2B marketing.
Photo Credit: siwan via Pixabay
Resource
In 2014, the impact of marketing grew in new and exciting ways. The evolution of technology made content more targeted and engaging, helped marketers uncover valuable insights about their target customers, and made it easier than ever to determine return on investment. In 2015, it looks like this evolution won’t be slowing down.
But why are we evolving? As we continue to change the way we operate, becoming more efficient and targeted in our operations, what is the ultimate goal behind the way we market? The answer is simple: we want to promote business growth, because that’s how we best can impact the greater good and improve our society.
Business Growth Leads to Societal Growth
When we introduced our fourth evolution at Movéo, we had two goals in mind: increase our efficiency and help our clients grow. What this points to is a commitment to sustainability, in how we operate and how we structure our business. It also points to a commitment to impact the economy and society as a whole through business growth.
Business Growth Benefits All of Us
Sometimes, working at a B2B marketing firm, we come across businesses that most people probably don’t know exist: we work with the people in charge of putting barcodes on cardboard boxes, who supply electronics connectors, or manufacture mobile computing devices for manufacturers–definitely not the kinds of businesses that the average consumer comes across in day-to-day life. However, these businesses connect us all, business and consumer: they’re the ones behind the scenes, making sure that our lives run smoothly.
Imagine what would happen if, say, barcodes didn’t scan one day. People wouldn’t be able to buy food or necessities! At Movéo, we help the businesses who keep these processes running efficiently grow and expand. so that we all have access to the necessary, though sometimes unrecognized utility they provide.
What Does This Mean for 2015?
This year on the blog, you’ll be hearing a lot from us about how marketing improves the greater good. This month in particular, you’ll hear about how Movéo’s fourth evolution allows us to better make a difference in society and grow more than just business, and you may just see these changes reflected in our marketing.
Next week, we’ll be discussing how B2B marketing promotes economic growth in 2015. Stay tuned!
Photo credit: vait_mcright via Pixabay
Resource
Happy holidays from all of us at Movéo! We hope you’re enjoying a relaxing holiday with good food, family and friends.
This holiday week is a good time to sit back, relax, and reflect on the past twelve months. As Bob Murphy said in his guest post on Monday, 2014 has been a year full of lessons in digital marketing, and at Movéo, we’ve worked to evolve along with the marketing landscape. But without a doubt, 2015 will offer new challenges. How can we leverage what we’ve learned in 2014 and turn those lessons into marketing plans for 2015?
Content Quality is Key.
We know that marketing content is changing–we’ve been discussing it on this blog for the past month. 2014 saw B2B leaders come up with effective marketing (like we profiled in last Friday’s post) but 2015 will be the year that all B2B marketers will need to make a conscious effort to combat amateur marketing and make their professional marketing efforts stand out from the crowd. To do this, it’s imperative to combine the emotion and authenticity of amateur marketing and the polish and finesse of professional content. Figuring out how to do this in a way that’s best for your brand is going to need to be a key focus in 2015.
The New Value Marketing Chain Is Here to Stay.
In September, we introduced you to the new marketing value chain: use it to master your operations. Remember its three links: data-driven strategy, truly quantifiable strategy, and the application of creative and technology. The first link discerns hidden patterns in your data that improve the decision making process in the other two links. The second link–strategy–uses that data to minimize waste and streamline operations, and the third keeps your creative work accountable to the data. Think about how these links work together, and develop your 2015 strategy around this insight. By relying on data and insights to guide your strategy, and then keeping yourself accountable to that data, you set your team up for modern, effective marketing.
Demonstrate How You Help Your Company Grow.
As Sheri Granholm, our Vice President of Consulting & Engagement reminded us in her blog post earlier this year, “senior leadership requires that you not only quantify your return on marketing investment but also demonstrate and, more importantly, link your efforts to next-generation, sustainable growth.” In 2015, take initiative and prove your positive impact on the growth of your company. Data is the obvious way to do this, because it provides evidence that backs up your work, but you should also make this upcoming year one where you make a concentrated effort to align your marketing with your company’s overall goals, increase communication between your department and others, and fully integrate marketing into the operations of the company as a whole. This month, take stock of how you can do that, and go into 2015 strong.
It’s only a few days until the New Year. How are you going to use the last bit of the year to prepare your marketing department for 2015?
Photo Credit: PgmJanssen via Pixabay
Resource
Today’s post is by Angela Costanzi, Vice President, Creative Technology.
A video that goes viral. Powerful social media campaigns designed to change behavior. TV spots remembered years later. What do these things have in common? The answer: the ability to make a powerful connection. And, while any smart creative or marketer knows this, it’s gotten much harder to do.
Quite a bit has changed since the “Mad Men” days of mass advertising and “old-timey” ideals. Martini? A catchy slogan won’t get you very far in today’s what’s-in-it-for-me-right-now world. Sure, there’s still plenty of creative talent charged with finding ways to connect on a deeper, emotive level, but how, where and when it’s done now is far more complicated. Even the most savvy creative can’t go it alone. To chart a navigable course, you’ll need lots of information…and individuals who understand how to make sense of it. Meet the data guys.
Right Brain, Meet Left Brain
Gone are the days of making one-size-fits-all assumptions based on large populations or simply measuring and reporting on past performance. To guide today’s sophisticated consumer down a sales-cycle path, we must utilize a forward-looking, data-driven approach.
Thanks to the explosive growth of digital devices and the actionable data derived from them, there is no shortage of information. What’s lacking, however, are the number of data scientists needed to make sense of it all.
Nothing is sure to stifle the creative process more than a whole bunch of numbers. But, if data is modeled to show what is likely to happen if X leads to Y as a result of a particular incentive, image, etc., creatives (and key stakeholders, alike) will most certainly be interested.
“Great creative thinkers typically value actionable insights that can provide them a springboard to more unique and effective creative solutions. Despite concerns by traditionalists, these insights shouldn’t and couldn’t replace creative inspiration, but instead, when properly utilized, be a powerful catalyst for it.” — Wired, Innovation Insights
Cross-functional Brainstorm
Getting to the big idea starts with getting the right people in the room. Today, this means a far more diverse list of attendees. In addition to creatives and the account team, brand and media strategists, developers and data scientists should take a seat.
“In today’s leading edge firms, a diverse group of cross-disciplinary creatives and data scientists not only sit side-by-side but collaborate, finding new ways to hard wire opportunities for data capture and utilization throughout the creative campaigns. This partnership with data scientists is fostering a new breed of creative thinker who is imagining new ways to add value to consumer experiences by deepening stories and tailoring content to individuals.” — Wired, Innovation Insights
This group-think positively influences creative strategy — revealing customer insights so they may be applied directly to the planning, content and creative development process.
“The right message brilliantly communicated to the right people at the right time will resonate, and data-driven intelligence is the only way to ensure that happens to both deepen the relationship and move them to the desired action.” — Graham Clark and Max Fresen, 2013
What’s most exciting is that data-derived insights can make good creative even better. By continually evaluating performance and incorporating learnings along the way, marketers can create highly desirable journey paths.
Photo credit: Intel Free Press via Flickr
Resource
Today’s post is from Bob Murphy, Managing Partner of Movéo.
Digital marketing continues to evolve. In 2014, we used this blog as a space to share stories about the new frontiers of data-driven digital marketing and analyze how they’ll impact people like you. As we come to the end of the year, it’s worth reviewing the top marketing lessons of the past twelve months as we prepare for the year ahead.
Branding
Developing a strong brand includes both internal and external interactions. It’s an investment, but one that can pay off in customer loyalty and positive brand image. Strong brands are resilient in the face of change and even the occasional misstep. In today’s connected world, building a strong brand is more important than ever. Off-brand interactions can easily become public and hurt your brand’s reputation and ability to do business.
In 2015, implement these lessons. Top brands invite customer feedback, and employ tools like social listening to ensure they stay relevant. Top brands value design, keep the promises they make, and constantly stretch themselves to be better and reach further.
The Importance of Data and Insights
More than ever, making a positive brand impression depends on data and insights. Invest in analytics software and work with data scientists to understand what your traffic is telling you. Build a data-driven brand now.
Data insights drive effective digital marketing. Without using these insights, your brand could be relying on stereotypical “best practices” that are anything but. Yesterday’s marketing strategies no longer work in today’s world.
The New Marketing Value Chain
This fall, we wrote about the transition from the Old Marketing Value Chain, which relied on “rules and tools,” to the New Marketing Value Chain, which relies on data insights applied through strategy, creative work and technology. This transition remains one of the most important changes in marketing in recent years. In the digital world, best practices must constantly adapt as data uncovers new winning and losing strategies. Review our whitepaper if your business is still relying on the same “rules and tools” you’ve always used.
Continue to Learn and Adapt
Data insights aren’t the only things marketers can learn from in the coming year. B2B professionals should be on the lookout for lessons from amateur marketers, and from our counterparts in B2C. Amateurs and B2C marketers have at times outpaced the B2B sector in the application of emotion and authenticity in marketing, though savvy B2B professionals are beginning to turn the tide. As we welcome 2015, marketers should strive to combine the passion and risk-taking of amateurs with polish and insights of experience.
More than ever, quality content matters. It is simply a must if you want to set your brand apart from the pack in a crowded online world. In 2015, use the lessons learned in the past year to put your best foot forward and build a better brand.
Photo Credit: PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay
