Friends: how many
of us have them?

The media B2B marketers rely on to sell products and services aren't necessarily those that business decision-makers use to help them do their jobs, according to (PPT slideshow) a Forrester Research study conducted for American Business Media, writes B-to-B Magazine (via MarketingCharts).

Asked to cite the digital media they most rely on at work, business decision-makers (BDMs) ranked industry-specific magazines first (70 percent), email or electronic newsletters (70 percent) and vendor websites (64 percent).

B2B marketers, however, don't place as much importance on industry-specific websites: Asked which digital marketing tactics they had used in the previous 12 months, they ranked ads on industry-specific websites fifth (50 percent).

Among other digital media that marketers cited: corporate websites (87 percent) and ads and listings on web portals (71 percent); email solicitations (66 percent) and web-based events (54 percent).

"B2B marketers are not taking advantage of the media that are most important to the people they're trying to reach," Gordon Hughes II, president-CEO of ABM, is quoted as saying.

Among other key findings of the study:

• Most (82 percent) of decision-makers say product messages in B2B media make them more receptive to salespeople.
• 69 percent of decision-makers say they see sales reps less than once a month
• 78 percent say the amount of time spent with sales reps has remained unchanged or decreased during the previous 12 months.
• Both buyers and sellers agree that integrated marketing increases sales:
  • 91 percent of decision-makers agreed that it is easier to recognize a brand, product or service after they see a message in multiple media.
  • 93 percent of marketers agree that integrating messages across various media is more effective at reaching buyers than using a single medium.

About the study: The online survey compiled responses from 878 business decision-makers and 816 B2B marketers from 21 industry categories.

Among the decision-makers, 86 percent approve the budget for purchasing products/services and 87 percent purchase products/services.