B2B AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT - ATTRIBUTION

Alignment + integration = impact

We’re all striving to create more effective marketing – it’s a priority for clients and agencies alike. And whilst the various forms of marketing technology enable us to do this, I can’t help wondering if we need to get their powers into perspective.

The reason a person opens an email, likes or shares a post, or completes a form can’t be solely attributed to the item itself. It’s more likely to be the cumulative effect of multiple experiences and engagement with the brand across a number of channels. In other words, it’s simply the tipping point.

Some marketing technologies enable us to identify the journey the individual has taken across various channels up to this point which provides further insight. But many people will actively pursue anonymity until they choose to engage (or not), so the insight generated by this journey is limited until you’re able to gather and analyse enough data to identify definitive trends.

Since we’re all individuals and go about our business in different ways, deciding on the right message, media and channels for a given audience can be a challenge, but a typical approach is likely to include:

• Segmentation and targeting
• Content and engagement based upon the audiences’ need
• An email database they have opted into
• Discussion groups they actively monitor* – more watch than participate
• Presence in industry media online and off
• A mix of media that accounts for individual preferences
• Content and engagement that addresses the issues of the entire decision making unit

The only true way of maximising the cumulative impact from today’s marketing smorgasbord is through the alignment of customer, business and brand across all communication. Even the best tactical approach will only get you so far and its effectiveness will lessen as an audience’s engagement diminishes if the story becomes disjointed.

We are making major inroads into improving marketing effectiveness and ROI, but we need to proceed with caution. Despite the claims of the technologists, the niche and latest and greatest media and channels, marketing is at its most effective when it’s cohesive and integrated.