Rethinking The B2B Tech Marketing Mix In The Digital Age

In 2009, Forrester predicted a weak economy and emerging social media would cause many business-to-business (B2B) marketers to turn decisively to digital channels. But the broader change we expected did not happen because marketers focused on priming sales pipelines as business investment stalled under the pressure of a deeper than expected recession. With the digital genie out of its bottle, marketers must decide how much further to take the marketing mix toward community marketing. To avoid missing this crucial transition, Forrester recommends B2B marketers invest in staffing up social communications skills, recasting PR partners as social listeners, honing customer intelligence management, and building gated communities. Taken together, these actions will help marketers reinvent the marketing mix, strengthen customer relationships, and show a more measurable connection between marketing activity and business outcomes.