Where the B2B Advertising Dollar Goes
B2B Marketing had an interesting piece a few weeks ago on where the B2B advertising dollar goes.
The Top 10 are:
- The Wall Street Journal
- The Economist
- Yahoo
- The NFL
- Tech Target
- Forbes
- CNBC’s “Power Lunch”
- Business Week
- Information Week
Where relevant, these combine print and online (e.g., WSJ, Forbes), and we all know where that print advertising is all heading…
Still, I thought this was an interesting mix of old and new media, and also an interesting mix of going after the “decision maker” - WSJ, The Economist - and going after the wider audience, which includes the “users” and other direct product “seekers” (Google).
When Cisco takes an add in the WSJ, it’s not the networking guy they’re after, but it’s obviously the place you want to be to make sure that the person who signs the checks for an enterprise-level equipment deal knows that Cisco is a serious force. The person signing the check is not likely to be googling “router”, or noodling around Tech Target, but the person who’s going to be implementing the new network sure is.
Assuming that these advertising strategies work, and that Super Bowl ads and a full page, 4C in Business Week aren’t just holdovers from the good old days, looking at this list is a good reminder that, when coming up with an advertising plan for B2B, you need to keep in mind all of the different constituencies in the buying mix.
Anyway, I thought the list was interesting. (For tech types, there’s a break-out of the main tech pubs, and it was comforting to see that the same old pubs that were around 25 years ago - Information Week, Computer World, Network World - are still the go-to’s for tech advertising.)
Go take a look, and mosey around the site a little - there’s some good stuff there.
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Maureen,
Good observations. I think there are a couple other things that might play into those results, as well. Given where the economy is for most businesses these days, a capital purchase is more likely to be something in the IT or enterprise area than a new machine for the shop floor. That just seems to beg for it to be a more Web-researched item. Virtually all the key influencers spend their days up close and personal to a computer screen.
Although….and this is my second point…EVERYTHING is Web-researched today. Even by that “person who signs the checks.” He or she may not be punching “router” into the Google search bar, but may well be investigating the vendor or purchase from another perspective. Google, Yahoo et alle may be the one vehicle through which to reach all the buyers - economic, technical, user, etc. Now,as far as figuring out the SEO or paid search strategies to show up for all those different audiences…you can work on that one!