Who Are the B's in B to B?

By Glen Gardner/ CEO Glen Gardner and Associates

In many cases corporations and companies are portrayed and perceived as non-human entities. We often times hear reports about "evil" corporations or companies that have a "heart." In reality, companies and corporations are made up of people. They are nothing more than a person or groups of people that have come together to perform a certain task.

When it comes to marketing to businesses you must remember you are not marketing to business, but you are marketing to people who are engaged in business. I've had many clients that have the mistaken notion that B to B advertising has a different set of marketing truths and rules attached. Nothing could be further from the truth. They felt advertising in a printed business journal was the most effective way to reach other businesses. A problem with that line of thinking is businesses don't buy anything, people do!

Advertising in a business journal carriers the same limitations as any print trying to reach any person. Declining use of print by real people and print's inability to offer frequency makes it a poor choice as a single advertising vehicle. It's a good secondary or tertiary vehicle.

The "people" who make up businesses and corporations consume the same media everyone else does. Radio, Internet, Google and television. If you want to drive great B to B results just narrow your demographic to best reflect the people who comprise the business. Then run enough frequency and a well-crafted creative message to reach that demographic. Your results will be far better than trying to market to a non-human entity.

B to B Golden Rule #1; It's the people that spend the gold!