Alterian Survey Finds 88% of Marketing Service Providers Support B-to-B Customers
Tuesday, 26 September 2006
A recent survey of Marketing Services Providers (MSPs) attending the Alterian Annual Think Tank Summit in Chicago revealed several of their key business achievements and struggles. More than 120 executives from leading MSPs attended the event and spoke their minds on the rise of B-to-B marketing, the challenges of integrating email with offline marketing and how they are expanding their opportunity within the financial services market. The Alterian Annual Think Tank Summit was held from August 22 to 23.
B-to-B Marketing Growing, Yet Analytics the Greatest Challenge
A surprising 88 percent of 33 MSP executives polled stated they have expanded their services to include B-to-B marketing. Approximately 76 percent of this group plan to increase their emphasis on B-toB services. A keynote presentation by Laura Ramos, vice president with Forrester Research, confirmed the rapid growth of B-to-B marketing. Forrester reports that 37 percent of B-to-B marketers it recently polled in its own survey plan to increase their technology spending in 2006. And the Direct Marketing Association reveals the B-to-B advertising spending in the US has reached $77.4 billion, nearly equal to $83.9 billion in B-to-C advertising spending.
Yet, MSPs also cited several challenges limiting the success of B-to-B marketing. Topping the list is analytics. Data acquisition, database management, lead management and tracking ROI also present major obstacles.
“Given the protracted sales cycles and lack of data insight, B-to-B organizations must rely on marketing even more than B-to-C organizations to establish a dialogue with prospects and customers,” said David Eldridge, Alterian’s chief executive officer. “There’s a huge opportunity for MSPs to apply their technology and services to help B-to-B marketers understand their audiences’ individual preferences and purchasing motivations. Specifically, MSPs can lead their clients to a greater use of interactive marketing tactics that elicit audience insight that can be used to advance B-to-B analytics.”
E-mail No Stranger to Offline Tactics, but Disconnected from the Customer Database
The Alterian survey also focused on broader issues facing MSPs and their clients. While 90 percent of 29 MSP representatives surveyed said their clients use email for customer retention and cross-selling, 72 percent stated their clients do so for customer acquisition. And 48 percent reported their clients use email for transactional communications. About 50 percent confirmed that email is part of a combined online and offline tactical mix, while only 14 percent of marketers said they use email as a stand-alone effort.
But while e-mail use is growing, nearly half of MSPs surveyed said their clients face significant challenges. These include making online channels targeted and addressable at the individual level, integrating online marketing together with the customer database and offline channels, complying with privacy and regulatory concerns and managing individual communication preferences.
A third poll of 46 MSP representatives focused on the financial services market. Approximately 72 percent of MSPs surveyed said they intend to increase their emphasis on financial services clients within the next 12 to 24 months. The largest market being served is insurance, with 67 percent of MSPs confirming clients in this segment. Insurance was followed closely by retail banking, bank cards and consumer lending.
“Each year, the adoption of direct and database marketing strategies grows more widespread, even taking firm hold among B-to-B marketers,” said Eldridge. “As this trend spreads, the role of the MSP is more important than ever. Businesses need a knowledgeable marketing partner as consumers and professionals cross multiple channels, preferences become harder to pinpoint and privacy and legislation concerns deepen.”
Executives from more than 40 MSPs attended this year’s Annual Think Tank Summit. Keynote presentations featured leaders from Forrester Research, TowerGroup, Jupiter Research, ICOM, TransUnion and Princess Cruises.