Marketers sometimes dismiss email in favor of new channels like social media and mobile marketing, but a new report from RSW/US, a business development firm, reports that email is overwhelmingly the preferred method of discovering potential business partners among B2B agencies. According to the source, 76.8 percent of survey respondents said email was their top choice, and less than a quarter indicated contact by phone or social media was more effective.
The value of email marketing remains high, even with the DemandGen “2012 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey Report” showing 78 percent of B2B buyers start their research with search. Of course, RSW/US doesn’t suggest channels like social media are unfavorable options – 52.6 percent of marketing firms report prospects are interested in using platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for lead generation purposes.
A mix of digital and traditional outreach remains the dominant method for targeting leads, and content creation across each vertical helps businesses stay competitive. According to the RSW/US study, 35 percent of agencies said it’s harder today than it was last year to gain new clients and just 17.5 percent indicated it was easier to grow a business.
As 2013 approaches, marketers should not abandon their efforts to convert prospective leads into clients via email or other content-based channels. With 91 percent of B2B marketers saying they will continue to use content marketing in the future to attract new customers, delivering higher-quality media through email, social outreach and mobile technology is the best way to maximize consumer engagement. In fact, according to the Content Marketing Institute, companies with 10,000 or more employees use approximately 18 tactics to target leads, while smaller organizations use an average of 11 methods – no matter the size of the company, several channels are used to drive conversion rates higher.
