The real powerhouse of lead generation

By now you should know that at Fluro, brand comes first. Get your brand right, and it will be your most powerful marketing tool, leading the way for all your campaigns and marketing activities.

If you haven’t got yourself a strong brand with distinctive assets, then you’ve got our number, right? But for now, let’s assume that you’ve got a great brand that’s working for your business. So, what comes next? Tell the world. Spread the word. Shout it from the rooftops.

Whether you call it brand awareness, brand building, or brand marketing this stage covers all the various campaigns and activities that tell the world about your brand. These days, there are more brand awareness opportunities than ever before; experiential marketing (think Carlsberg’s beer dispensing billboard) events live or virtual (think launches, keynote speeches, webinars, thought leadership), social media, PR and traditional media advertising campaigns.

The war on brand

The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, believe that there’s been a war on brand since the rise of digital marketing. The advent of tracking software and the lure of quantifiable metrics have led to an explosion in performance marketing. Being able to see actual hits, visits and clicks has become quite addictive. And let’s not forget that hard facts always impress the stakeholders. But the result of our insatiable desire for metrics, has meant that brand-building has lost its footing in many marketing budgets.

However, the B2B think tank also believes that by 2030, the tables will turn, and brand will once again reign supreme in the hearts, minds and budgets of marketing teams all over the world. They reference the game-changing research of Les Binet and Peter Field who suggest that all marketing falls into two basic categories;

• Sales Activation: performance-based tactics that work fast for short term growth
• Brand Activation: less measurable, but richer, strategic activities for long term growth

Binet and Field criticise marketing budgets that favour sales activation activities, typically called ‘lead generation’ or ‘demand generation’ in a B2B context. They believe that sales activation merely captures existing demand and brand building is the real powerhouse behind generating new demand.

The case for brand building campaigns

• Brand power builds customer loyalty and customer loyalty generates recurring revenue.
• Brand power adds value, giving a business the ability to raise prices and increase profitability amid inflation and competitive landscapes.
• Brand power can protect you against the shifting sands of category. “Categories are mortal; brands are immortal.”
• Brand power can’t be copied. Features and benefits can be copied, lead gen campaigns and tactics can be copied. But your brand is yours alone, and if someone tries to copy it, they’re breaking the law.
• Brand power attracts the best talent.

From B2B Institute; 2030 B2B Trends -Contrarian Ideas For The Next Decade

Get Creative

“Creativity is one of the most important variables in marketing success” says Jon Lombardo, of the B2B Institute. “Some would say it is the single most important variable and that strong creative can multiply the financial returns of a marketing campaign by 12X.”

And he’s not the only one who’s putting all his eggs in the creative basket. James Hurman of Previously Unavailable, has been touting the importance and extraordinary value of creativity in collaboration with WARC. WARC analysed 5,000 award-winning campaigns in their archives, from 2015 to 2022. They found that those which are highly awarded for creativity are more likely to be effective, supporting the idea that creativity supercharges the impact of marketing.

Bet Big

Getting noticed is the name of the game for marketers. And if you already have a brand that stands out, then doubling down to make a noise, is relatively easy.

But doubling down still requires a leap of faith, because it means having the guts to be different and to stand by your most distinctive qualities.

“If you’re not spending at least 50% of your budget on a single creative idea, you are not betting big enough” says the team at the B2B Institute. “When you are fortunate enough to find an idea that is contrarian and right, you need to bet big on it.”

Today, the marketing experts are recommending that budgets are split 50/50 between sales activation and brand building. If your strategy doesn’t look like this, then it’s time rethink your strategy.