I love returning from industry trade shows – namely, the annual DMB (Direct Marketing to Business) show put on by the DMA.
I always return home with a fresh bank of ideas, confirmation that our current marketing practices are best-in-class, and relief that I can return to my normal sleeping patterns.
I thought I’d share a few thoughts about the highlights from this show.
- Direct mail is alive and well. Direct mail still proves to be one of THE MOST targeted methods for honing in on a well-defined audience. While there are no revolutionary new direct mail “tricks” – we (and others) find that execution tactics like unique envelopes, “lumpy items” and priority mail packages help lift results with senior-level prospects.
- Social Cultivation and Web 2.0 are making waves in B-to-B marketing. Actually, B&J presented on this topic at the conference – and the interest in this topic/attendance at our session was astounding (standing room only). To learn more about our viewpoint on this topic, check out How to Get Users to Participate in Your Online Community. We’ll also be sharing our presentation via webcast in May. Stay tuned for time/dates. An overview of the session can be seen here.
- Content is king. I must have been asked 50 times about “the silver bullet” to help generate net new leads or to cultivate prospects through a long sales cycle. The answer: there is NO silver bullet. The best offer to generate a net new prospect or cultivate someone you’ve connected with is to deliver content that is relevant to the prospect’s needs. Whether this content is a simple blog post, an in-depth ROI analysis, a simple checklist or a 200-page white paper, it must be relevant to the audience and their stage in the sales cycle.
I’d love to hear other’s impressions and take-aways from the DMB show.
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