Is B2B Marketing Dead?

Rick Segal, President at GyroHSR made a statement recently at the B2B Marketing Europe conference in Berlin where he said that B2B Marketing is dead. My first reaction was probably like yours, but then he made his point. Status quo methods of marketing to B2B buyers won’t be as effective in the future. The reason is that the line between when we are working (‘at work’) and when we are home have blurred. Most Americans – especially those who work in technology – would get this immediately.

Take this one step further. Many of the potential buyers we need to influence don’t get in their car and drive to an office to work anymore. They work out of their home offices or while traveling. They alternate between work mode and home mode multiple times per day. As a consequence getting targeted messages to them is difficult.

“People in an at-work state of mind, today, are exposed to a constant, multi-point flow of communications from not just customers, suppliers and coworkers but also from family, friends, would-be friends and network members. They are not only engaged in considering brand messages while at work, they also champion them to their social networks,” Segal said. “They are constantly toggling between working and ‘home-ing’ through longer hours of the day and more days of the week, making decisions professional and personal.”

At the end of the day, we market to people even if they are in a business.

What’s your at-work state of mind?