There’s exciting new research out from my alma mater, the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, about how B2B marketing teams can help drive more quality leads to sales through digital content marketing.
The research, conducted by professor Bobby Calder and his team at the Medill School’s Speigel Research Center, explored which marketing tactics drive more sales results: digital content marketing, such as webinars and branded blogs, or face-to-face content-oriented marketing, like roundtables, seminars and workshops.
And the winner is…digital content! The researchers hypothesize that it’s easier and less distracting for someone to fully engage with digital content than it is to physically show up for face-to-face content-related events. Better still, not only do these activities drive more leads, they also drive more won opportunities.
As you consider the right marketing mix for your own company, taking the research results into account can help you make some of the more difficult budgeting and prioritization decisions. While there’s no question that face-to-face still has a very real, valuable role to play in your marketing tool box, it’s great to know that virtual efforts yield significant fruit.
Bonus B2B News Flash from last month’s Crain’s Chicago Business: Business to Business companies are discovering marketing! While this is something Argentum’s B2B clients have know about for years, a recent article contains some interesting examples of how some B2B companies are approaching their marketing.