Playing Nice in the Marketing Sandbox

During these recessionary times, many B2B marketers have cut back their marketing spend on traditional tactics (i.e., print advertising, sales collateral, public relations, trade show participation, web site development, etc.) and placed the bulk of their budget in online marketing. Specifically, email marketing is seen by many as a pretty profitable tactic especially when compared to its print-based counterpart.

Yet evidence suggests that email marketing can be less effective if not used with other tactics and/or channels typically found in the marketing sandbox. Take for example an e-nurturing campaign we are currently executing for one of our clients. Without the sales leads from our client’s print advertising program, trade show participation and website, our lead database would be considerably smaller. Plus, our offer strategies would be significantly limited if we couldn’t draw upon the white papers, brochures and reports that were developed to support our messaging.

While email marketing is tops for building relationships with customers and prospects, it can’t be all things to all people. Integrating email with a well-planned mix of cross-promotional activities is a sure bet for keeping the sales pipeline full of qualified leads.