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Regarding Media, B2B Marketers and Business Decision-Makers Don't See I2I

The media that B2B marketers rely on to sell products and services aren’t necessarily those that business decision-makers use to help them do their jobs, according to (PPT slideshow) a Forrester Research study conducted for American Business Media, writes B-to-B Magazine.

For example, asked to cite the digital media they most rely on at work, business decision-makers (BDMs) ranked industry-specific magazines first (70%), email or electronic newsletters (70%) and vendor websites (64%).

B2B marketers, however, don’t place as much importance on industry-specific websites: Asked which digital marketing tactics they had used in the previous12 months, they ranked ads on industry-specific websites fifth (50%).

Other digital media that marketers cited: corporate websites (87%) and ads and listings on web portals (71%); email solicitations (66%) and web-based events (54%).

“B2B marketers are not taking advantage of the media that are most important to the people they’re trying to reach,” Gordon Hughes II, president-CEO of ABM, is quoted as saying.

Among other key findings of the study:

• Most (82%) of decision-makers say product messages in B2B media make them more receptive to salespeople.
• 69% of decision-makers say they see sales reps less than once a month
• 78% say the amount of time spent with sales reps has remained unchanged or decreased during the previous 12 months.
• Both buyers and sellers agree that integrated marketing increases sales:
  • 91% of decision-makers agreed that it is easier to recognize a brand, product or service after they see a message in multiple media.
  • 93% of marketers agree that integrating messages across various media is more effective at reaching buyers than using a single medium.

About the study: The online survey compiled responses from 878 business decision-makers and 816 B2B marketers from 21 industry categories. Among the decision-makers, 86% approve the budget for purchasing products/services and 87% purchase products/services.