New Survey Finds Frequent Use of Promotional Offers in B-to-B Marketing Mirrors Consumer Campaigns

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) July 11, 2007 -- A new survey released today reveals that promotional offers such as gift cards and sweepstakes, common in consumer marketing, are the most frequently used in business-to-business direct response (DR) campaigns, even though marketers think that other types of offers will generate the highest percentage of qualified leads.

Slack Barshinger and DM2-DecisionMaker, leaders in b-to-b integrated marketing, partnered to ask b-to-b marketers to reflect on nearly 8,500 recent DR campaigns and relate which were the best and worst performing. The survey results are contained in a new white paper titled "Effective Use of Offers to Generate Leads."

The white paper explores the effectiveness of four types of direct response offers typically used to generate or convert leads in b-to-b marketing: educational, brand/product information, promotional and purchase incentive. The survey asked b-to-b marketers which type of offer generated the highest-quality leads. Respondents linked brand/product information offers, such as case studies, pricing tools and other materials that explain a company's product or service, to their most effective campaign. But they used them in only 16 percent of their campaigns over the last 18 months, while promotional offers were used in 61 percent.

Promotional offers are a common tactic in business-to-consumer marketing, but they may not always be the best offer for b-to-b campaigns, the white paper concluded. Promotional offers were used more in marketers' self-described "worst-performing campaigns" than in their best, according to the report.

"Increased usage of online media by b-to-b marketers and the trend there toward mirroring b-to-c marketing tactics could, in part, explain the reason b-to-b marketers relied so heavily on promotional offers," said Joan Ritter, senior vice president of direct and relationship marketing at Slack Barshinger. "While marketers acknowledge that other offers may produce a higher percentage of qualified leads, the temptation to emulate successful b-to-c tactics like exciting online sweepstakes and promotions through viral marketing tactics is high."

Noting that promotional offers are well known to be great lead generation engines, Ritter said, "Success in these campaigns hinges even more on how efficiently the list or direct response media delivers the target audience without waste. The age-old paradox rings true here: The list is by far the most important aspect of a direct response campaign and is typically the smallest line item in the overall campaign budget."

The white paper also underscores the idea that successful campaigns use more than one channel to achieve their goals. In marketers' best-performing campaigns, telemarketing, email, e-newsletter sponsorship and Web site ads were used alone in no more than 29 percent of campaigns, with Web site ads being the channel most often used in conjunction with other channels. In the worst-performing campaigns, channels were used alone much more often. Each channel was used alone in no less than 40 percent of the campaigns.

"Generating high-quality leads is a primary goal in b-to-b marketing campaigns," said Mary Miller, senior marketing manager at DM2-DecisonMaker, "and yet many tactics generate quantity over quality because critical factors, such as the objective, target audience, sales cycle and measurement metrics, are not all taken into account. The offer has to be in line with the needs of the target market to achieve the most effective results."

The survey revealed that for b-to-b marketers, executing a successful campaign requires a close look at the main objective of the campaign, the target customer and the type of product being sold. While purchase incentive offers were used in 50 percent of marketers' "best-performing campaigns," with the objective of converting sales, this offer type was used in only 8 percent of campaigns whose objective was to generate leads.

"As this report shows, success of a campaign is a successful marriage of marketing objectives with target access and tactics used," said Ritter of Slack Barshinger. "There is no one-size-fits-all direct response offer that will generate a successful b-to-b marketing campaign; several platforms and channels can be used successfully, but must be chosen carefully, depending on the objectives and circumstances of the campaign at that specific point in time."

To learn more about the effective use of direct response offers, the DM2-DecisionMaker/Slack Barshinger white paper is available for download at both companies' Web sites (www.dm2decisionmaker.com/WP and http://www.slackbarshinger.com/offers/).

About DM2-DecisionMaker

DM2-DecisionMaker® (dm2decisionmaker.com) is a business-to-business marketing services partner that connects marketers with decision makers in more than 25 industries through innovative products, including multichannel list rental, qualified lead generation, expert research panels and custom marketing programs. DM2 is a division of Reed Business Information (reedbusiness.com/us), one of the largest business-to-business publishers in the United States and a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc.

About Slack Barshinger

Slack Barshinger is an integrated marketing communications agency that works exclusively with business-to-business marketers to build strong brands and efficiently identify, create and grow profitable customers. Founded in 1988 and based in Chicago, the agency's 80-person staff works expertly across the entire marketing communications spectrum, combining deep expertise in demand creation with new marketing technologies to build solutions-neutral programs that deliver predictable ROI. In 2006, the agency was named Top Midsize Agency and national Agency of the Year, respectively, by Crain's BtoB magazine and the Business Marketing Association.

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