What’s the biggest problem facing Business to Business companies today?

 It appears that virtually everyone recognises the need to stay in touch with existing customers while seeking out prospects.  And when it comes to direct marketing this invariably means producing friendly informative conversational messages for both those groups.

Indeed a recent survey has found that 41% of B2B marketers say that producing the kind of content that engages prospects and customers is just about their  biggest problem.

 Of course some companies still do seek to overcome this issue by simply sending out announcements about what they sell, and hammering away at how good the price is.

 Some vary this with closed question messages – such as “Are you looking to reduce the cost of your company’s heating bills this winter?”  

 Neither approach counts as “producing the kind of content that engages prospects and customers”, quite simply because neither approach works very well (although, as you will know if you read our regular Good Ad blog which takes four or five direct marketing ads a week and reviews them, a lot of companies do use these tactics over and over again).

However the number of firms that recognise that producing engaging content for customers and prospects is a problem, is rising.  It has in fact gone up 14% in the past year since the last survey was done by MarketingProfs.

The survey found that respondents have two huge challenges: producing enough content (20%), and having the budget to produce enough content (18%).

As you might know from my previous commentaries this problem doesn’t have to be fundamental, nor does the solution have to be expensive. It is in fact what Hamilton House offers, but it seems a lot of companies are stuck when it comes to solving it.

 I know this is hardly the moment to talk about radical changes to your style and approach to marketing.   But if you do want to talk, Hamilton House is open until Thursday this week.   You can call us on 01536 399 000.  

 After Thursday we close – but we are back in the new year, as you’d expect.  And if you get bored over the holiday period many of the messages I’ve been sending you (and many others from our other news groups) are available on line.

There’s the aforementioned Good Ad blog at www.goodad.co.uk and there’s the Hamilton House blog on direct marketing matters on www.blog.hamilton-house.co.uk

 Have a good holiday, and I do hope you have found at least something helpful and positive in my ramblings during the past year.

 Tony Attwood