Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend, with family and friends. Thanksgiving marks the start of the holiday season; which is synonymous for quality family time and the time for unwinding and planning ahead for the New Year. For B2B businesses, it’s a mad dash towards meeting those yearly targets with sales guys trying every trick in the book to get last minute deals inked. It seems as if the end of the year is all about bottom-line growth and sales revenue.
What about B2B marketing then? What should the end of year /holiday strategy be for B2B marketers? Should marketers just focus on campaigns that are currently running and not venture into any new ones? Given the common perception that executives are on a break during the holiday season, should they try and target new prospects? Is it an exercise in futility to nurture leads now and is it better to wait to start afresh with new marketing ideas in the New Year?
In today’s blog post, I’ve tried to provide my perspective on why B2B marketing activities should not lose steam, especially in the holiday season.
Not everybody is on a holiday: Quite a few executives do take a well deserved break this time of the year, but there are quite a few who don’t! With lesser meetings scheduled and year-end travel freezes, it is very likely your prospect has the time to read your email, or talk to you on phone. So use the opportunity to connect with him when he is most receptive to listen to you.
The field is clear: It is a good strategy to utilize the lean season to get an edge over the competition. With lesser mail and call traffic to your prospect, it is easier to make your presence felt when compared to the rest of the year, where you have to battle it out for your prospects’ time with the rest of the competition. Make a compelling offer that your prospect will find hard to refuse.
Be in your prospective buyer’s mind space: Your prospective customers are likely to be evaluating current vendors and analyzing new alliances and business plans for the next year. This will be a great opportunity to tell them about your product/service and give yourself a chance of being part of their vendor evaluation list for the coming year. Don’t forget your current customers too. This is the time to reinforce their trust in your solution.
People have budgets to spend at the end of the year: Companies will be looking to wisely spend their unutilized budget during this time. They may want to freeze on the right products/ services to use up this budget. If you are not marketing and selling now, you are missing out on a golden opportunity.
It is time to take stock: As a B2B marketer, there is no better time than the holiday season to dispassionately and thoroughly analyze your marketing campaigns and see what worked and what didn’t in the current year. See which campaigns have been successful and why, which marketing channel has been a dud, or which content collateral has resulted in maximum engagement. The best practices drawn out of the analyses can help formulate better marketing strategies for the coming year.
Have a holiday marketing strategy: Holiday campaigns are not just for B2C businesses. Use the holiday season to reach out to your potential customers with useful information, special discounts & offers and future roadmap (products/services planned in the next year).
Want a fuller sales funnel for the next year? Start planning now: As the adage goes, the early bird catches the worm; don’t wait for 2012 to start planning your marketing campaigns. With Sales cycles getting longer, (average length of sales cycle is over 3 months for 70% of businesses. Source: Marketing Sherpa report), you need to plan well in advance to fuel your sales funnel with sales ready leads for Q1 2012.
Timing is crucial when it comes to B2B marketing. Think creatively how you can utilize the last few days of the year to put your best foot forward, to increase engagement with your prospects and plan ahead for the New Year.
