Chapter 13:

Business Marketing
Communications:
Advertising and
Sales Promotion

PowerPoint by:
Ray A. DeCormier, Ph.D.
Central Connecticut State University
 Advertising and sales promotion supplements
personal selling efforts. This chapter considers:

1. The powerful role of social media can assume in

business marketing strategy
2. The decisions that must be made when forming a
business advertising program
3. The business media options, including the powerful
role of Internet marketing communications
4. Ways to measure business advertising effectiveness

5. The role of trade shows in the business

communications mix and how to measure trade
show effectiveness
Introduction
Business has learned that not even the
best products sell themselves.

Benefits, problem solutions and cost

efficiencies need to be sold through
effective communications to everyone
from users to influencers to decision
makers.
 Due to
a.Product complexities (technical),
b.The small number of buyers,
c. The high price products/services, and
d.Extensive negotiation process

The primary communications vehicle

for selling Industrial/Business
products/services is the:
SALESPERSON!
 There is a need for other non-personal
requisites such as:

Advertising
Catalogs
Internet presence
Trade shows
Promotional spending

All have a unique way of getting the

message out, however, they dont close
deals as well as personal selling!
Channels of the social web where prospects and businesses
communicate across diverse platforms

Key Platforms:
1.Discussion Forums
2.Blogs
3.Wiki
4.Social Networks

6
 Monitor what prospects are saying about the company

Capture interest from prospects looking for products

Coordinate follow-up to social media interactions

7
 Several blogs in five languages

Sponsor several online communities

Support forums: find answers to

laptop questions
Online community for consumers to
post
innovative ideas for Dell to consider
 Customer Decision

Journey
The CDJ is the customers decision process in
selecting a particular product
Often find a mismatch between media used and the

touch points at which buyers are best influenced

CDJ includes two critical steps
1. Inspiration: use online channels to find, create and
compare
2. Sharing: relate experiences using a variety of social media

Key: Customer experience includes everything from

discussions on social media to meetings with sales
people. Social media facilitate targeted,
personalized contact across the customer
experience landscape
 Be an integral part of an integrated
communication programs

Enhance sales effectiveness

Increase sales efficiency

Create awareness

Create preferences for company, products,

etc.

Facilitate interactive marketing

communications
Integrated Communication Programs
Integrated Communications is the intertwining
of all communication methods to include:
Advertising
Sales Promotion
Online Media
Public Relations
Personal Selling

Of these promotional techniques, personal

selling is most important in B2B marketing!
ENHANCING SALES
EFFECTIVENESS
Combining advertising and personal
selling makes the selling job easier and
more efficient.

People who were aware of the ad thought

the salesperson was more knowledgeable
than companies that dont advertise.

Profits
and gross margins also increase
when advertising is employed.
 Advertising increases efficiency in two
ways:
1. Serves as a reminder
2. Informs the market about new
products/developments

Advertising is pennies when compared to

$100s for a sales call.
 Business advertising creates:

1.Awareness
2.Brand preference
3.Conviction that a brand will meet their
requirements & hopefully
4.Facilitate purchase

14
 The Internet has created a two-way
communication process, permitting the
marketer and customer to more rapidly
exchange information.

This flexibility has allowed the marketer to

personalize communications and customize
solutions.
 Effective B2B communication needs to
be integrated among all media methods;
however, it does have its limitations. It:

1. Cannot create product preference for

many products.
2. Cannot close a sale!

3. Cannot substitute for personal selling.

4. Can supplement personal selling but

not replace it.
The Decision Stages: Developing
Business-to-Business
Advertising Program

Advertising is only one

aspect of an entire
marketing strategy.

The advertising
decision process
begins with
formulating
advertising objectives.

Equally important:
selection and
evaluation of media.

Figure 13.1
Defining Advertising
Objectives
Marketing managers realize:

1.Advertisings mission flows directly

from the overall marketing strategy.
2.Advertisings job is to:
a. Create awareness
b. Provide information
c. Influence attitudes
d. Remind buyers about product and
company
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES

Advertising objectives must be:

1. Realistic

2. Measurable

3. Specific outcomes during specific times

Example: To be effective, the advertising

campaign shall increase awareness from
15% to 30% during the period from April
1st to June 31st.
 One objective of advertising is to reach
influentials who are often difficult to contact
via personal selling.

Influentials
are interested in specific features
and attributes that solve certain problems.
Advertising needs to focus upon that issue.

Marketers must understand who the target

market is and how to reach them for an
advertising campaign to be effective.
Creative Strategy
Statements
Provide guidelines for the company and
advertising agency to position (or
reposition) the product.

All creative efforts should include:

1.Copy
2.Theme
3.Color, design, etc.
4.Media
5.Tactics
Managers tend to employ the
following rule of thumb:

1.Allocatesome percent of sales to

advertising

2.However, this is a dysfunctional

rule!
 Advertisings purpose is to inform and influence
sales, but it is not to create sales.

A dysfunctional policy of tying advertising

budgets to % of sales defeats the purpose.

For example:
If there are no sales, then is there no
advertising budget?
If sales are declining, do you cut advertising
costs too?

Does that make sense?

 A better approach for allocating
advertising costs is to relate them to
advertising objectives.

The Objective-Task Method focuses on

the communications effects of
advertising

Not on the sales effects.

1. Establish objectives in terms of sales volume,
market share, profit contribution and market
segments.

2. Assess all communication functions to realize

these objectives.

3. Define specific measurements required to meet

these objectives such as market share.

4. Estimate the budget needed to accomplish them.

 How much is enough?
Advertising costs is like owning an old gold
mine. It can return millions, or be a bottomless
pit.

The only way to assure success is to establish

and measure against goals.

Another matter is the political side of the

decision. The concern here is that internal
politics often determine budgets, not the
technique-driven process.
Passing the Threshold

In order for a message to be heard, it is

necessary to repeat it often.

Of course, the question is: How

often?

Research suggests that advertising

must pass through a certain threshold
before a meaningful message can be
understood by the market to move
product from awareness to preference.
 Passing the Threshold
A small budget is not enough
A large budget is like throwing money
away

Because budgeting advertising is so

important, marketing managers should:
1. Set clear objectives
2. Evaluate tasks required
3. Compare costs against industry norms
4. Allocate a proper budget
5. Design an effective advertising message
DEVELOPING THE
MESSAGE

Three Considerations:

Perception

Benefits focus

Understanding buyer motivations

Developing B2B Advertising
Message

1.Determine advertising objectives

2.Evaluate target audiences buying
criteria
3.Analyze most appropriate
language, format and style to
present message.
4.Then consider the message!
 PERCEPTION, PERCEPTION,
PERCEPTION
In business, perception is almost the same as truth.

The message needs to attract the right person.

In most cases, that is the decision maker.

For an advertising messages to be considered, it has to:

Attract the right persons attention, &
Be interpreted properly.

For example, techies respond to technical ads and non-

techies respond better to non-technical ads.
 Industrial buyers focus on solutions to
business problems that considers:

a. A better way to accomplish tasks

b. A less expensive way to manufacture

something

c. A new approach to either make or save

the company money

d. A different way to free up time

 Of all the challenges, this is one of the most
difficult to understand.

Understanding the buyer is a very complex

matter because the standard rules change as
the environment changes.

One way to address this problem is to employ

marketing research to delineate influencers
criteria for buying in each segment.
 Effective Ads

Effective ads are:

A.Logical
B.Rational
C.Provide a clear description of the product
D.Present product benefits clearly
E.Details product quality
F. Provide performance measures
 B2Bmedia are selected by target
audiences

Should we use trade publications,

direct mail, Internet or all of them?

What is the best way to spend

advertising money to generate the
desired response (customer contacts)?
Shifting of Advertising to Digital
Form
B2B marketers are always looking for ways
to communicate better with customers &
prospects.

Useof Internet microsites (specialized web

pages that prospects jump to from an email
or PR piece that contain videos) is providing
excellent results.

Useof online videos help customers and

prospects from around the world solve their
business problems.
 Using proper key words or key phrases within
the site is an absolute necessity for driving
leads to that site. Ideas for successful Internet
advertising include:

1. Make sure site is search-crawler friendly

2. Good key words must tie into solutions sought

3. Create a relevant, targeted keyword list that

reflects problem, product, etc.
4. Write clear, compelling ads that use key words
and isolate your value proposition
5. Track results and measure everything
Business Publications
There are more than 2700 business
publicationsselecting the right ones is
another difficult task.

Horizontal Publications are directed at the

specific task, function or technology
regardless of industry.

Vertical Publications are oriented to readers

in a specific industry.
 Business Publications
Many trade publications are requester
publications.

This is where the reader is interested in a

certain subject and receives a certain
publication for free in exchange for demographic
information such as title, function and buying
responsibilities.

Advertisers know who their desired audience

are!
Cost of Advertising
Companies need to allocate an
advertising budget for:

Business Publications
Sales Promotions
Direct Marketing (mail & e-mail)
Internet Advertising
 Include:

Cost/1000 contact is one consideration

Circulation based on the TARGET audience

Does the medium also have Internet viewing?

Frequency and scheduling is another

complicated issue
 Direct Mail is commonly used for:

a. Image, product and service promotion

b.Sales force support by providing leads
c. Distribution channel communications
d.Getting pertinent information directly to
influencials

Direct mail is efficient providing the list is

good.
Much direct mail is considered junk mail.
 Direct mail is 10 times more expensive than e-mail

E-mail campaigns often yield more responses and

results are quicker
Example: 1/3 of all responses were generated
within 24hrs.

Many firms integrate their CRM programs with e-

mail

Many firms provide an e-mail alert service and/or

an e-mail newsletter
 In order to successfully accomplish this, it is
important to have all the systems in place
first.

They include:
a. E-mail acknowledgements
b. Order entry
c. Order fulfillment
d. Money exchanges
e. Follow-up contact
f. Q&A service
g. Troubleshooting systems
 Rarely do ads result in immediate business.
But, it does create awareness hopefully
leading to preference.
Measurements can be direct or indirect.
Direct communication is measured by:
percent awareness.
Indirect communications are measured by:
word-of-mouth and understood
perceptions.
 Five Primary Areas for
Evaluating Advertising

1. Sound measurement
program entails
substantial advanced
planning.

2. The advertising
strategist must
determine:
What is to be
measured
How to measure it
In what sequence

3. Establish benchmarks
in pre-evaluation phase

Figure 13.2
 Knowledge
Recognition
Recall
Awareness
Preference
Motivation

It
is not always possible to
measure effects on actual
sales.
 Trade Shows

Another important form of promotion is trade

shows.

Effective selling message can be delivered to a

relatively large and targeted audience at one
time.

Firm can identify potential clients and provide

sales personnel with qualified leads.

Trade shows can also be used to introduce new

products.
 Customers can get hands-on experience with
product in one-on-one selling situation.
Company can enhance general goodwill.
Company often benefits from free publicity.
Trade shows allow competitors to look at each
other.
International business can be facilitated
resulting in quicker entry into foreign
markets.
Many sales are also made at these shows too!
Cost of meeting prospects is around $250
which is much less than making a personal
sales call.
 Trade-Show Communications
Strategy
To develop an effective trade show
communications strategy, certain questions
need to be addressed:

What functions should trade show perform

in total marketing communications
program?
To whom should trade show marketing effort
be directed?
What is companys appropriate
communication mix at the show?
How should trade show investments be
audited?
 Trade Show Objectives

1. Discover decision influencers.

2. Identify potential customers.
3. Provide company product, service and information.
4. Try to discover product application problems.
5. Create sales.
6. Handle customer problems.
7. Build corporate image.
8. Gather competitive intelligence.
9. Enhance sales force morale.
 Challenge Question: What trade show to
attend?

Answer: Attend trade shows that are

attended by prospective customers.

To find trade shows, use leading trade show

directories such as:
a. American Trade Show Directory
b. ExhibitNet.com database
c. Exhibit Surveys, Inc.
SELECTING/EVALUATING TRADE
SHOWS
Exhibit Surveys, Inc. publishes data on:

Net Buying Influences

Measures percentage of show audience that
have decision authority for product types
being exhibited

Total Buying Plan

Measures percentage of audience planning to
buy exhibited products within 12 months
Lead Generation
Trade shows are probably most important
for lead generation.

Attaining leads is so important to

companies because without them, a
company cannot survive.

There is a natural turnover of customers so

a company has to constantly be looking for
new business.

Its just a way of life.

 Trade shows are different than personal selling
even though one is selling never-the-less.

The trade show is more theatrical, and contact

is very short (5-10 min.), therefore the process
is to:

Sell the product first,

Sell the company next,
Sell the salesperson last.

This is opposite to traditional selling

situations.
 Flows
Tactical Activities
Show Attendees Pre-Show
&
At-Show
Target Audience Imperson
al
Promotion
Attracted To al
Booth Activities
Personal
Contact Promotion
w/Salesperson al
Activities

Sales Leads

Source: Gopalakrishna & Lilien, A Three-Stage Model of Industrial Trade Show Performance,
Working Paper #20, Marketing Science 14 (Winter 1995) :pp.22-42
 Measuring the Success

Companies need to set measurable goals in

advance of the trade show including:

a.Number of leads
b.Likely effect on sales
c. Potential effect on new accounts
d.Effect on corporate image
e. Expenditures that tie into an adequate ROI