This infographic outlines six steps (including embracing thought leadership) to help B2B telecom marketers boost their efforts in 2018.

1. SIX STEPS TO HELP YOU
SUCCEED IN 2018
TODAY’S TELCO
MARKETPLACE DYNAMICS
MARKETING
B2B TELCO
2.6% GROWTH
With increased demand for
mobile data and addressable
IT services, the B2B Telco
market could grow 2.6%.1
LESS THAN 10%
of Telco marketers believe
they are highly advanced and
rapidly evolving when it comes
to being more data-driven,
customer-responsive and
digitally adaptive.2
HOW TO BECOME A
B2B TELCO MARKETING
PRO IN SIX STEPS
Recognize the Value of
Thought Leadership1
9 IN 10 BDMs believe it’s
important that organizations
produce thought leadership.4
82%
of BDMs say thought
leadership increases their
trust in an organization.4
Telco marketers are massively underestimating
the impact that thought leadership can have
on a buyer’s confidence in their company.
ACT NOW: Produce thoughtful, relevant content
that underscores your unique expertise.
Embrace “Blockbuster”
(Not Lackluster) Content2
50%
of B2B buyers are disappointed
with the quality of thought
leadership coming from vendors.4
B2B Telco solutions can be complex. The “Blockbuster”
approach allows you to portray your knowledge in building
products or solutions that help navigate this complexity.
ACT NOW:
• Start thinking like a Hollywood movie
machine, prizing quality over quantity.
• Create your business topic and stick to it.
• Leverage your content to create
multiple customer touchpoints:
Blog Posts
Slideshare
Social Media
Website Q&A
Maintain
Touchpoint Consistency3
Only 14% of people
can remember the
last ad they saw.6
5,000 ADS
The average consumer sees
5,000 ads a day (30 years ago,
that number was only 500!).5
14%
8%
Only 8% have any idea
what company/product was
associated with that ad.6
ACT NOW: Ensure buyers can recognize your content
by branding it in a uniform way, then connect:
• Buyers are 2X MORE likely to trust info provided
by LinkedIn than by other social networks.7
• 3 IN 5 technology buyers want their reps
to use LinkedIn for social selling.8
• Only 1 IN 4 Telco marketers always
include LinkedIn in their media mix.9
• But 70% OF BUYERS expect to see Telco
companies advertising on LinkedIn.9
When it comes to marketing
and advertising, many Telco
companies wrestle with
mobile data and how to
capitalize on it.3
Hail the End of
Hypertargeting4
Hypertargeting buyers can prove detrimental to
marketing efforts, leading to wasted impressions
and exclusion of potential buyers, which drives up:
• Cost per impression (CPM)
• Cost per click (CPC)
• Cost per lead (CPL)
It also limits your reach – thereby limiting sales!
ACT NOW: Don’t overuse targeting to the point
of hyper-segmentation. Some companies were
able to reduce their CPL from $300 to $10
by employing broader targeting.
Make a Case for
Cost per Connection5
Telco marketers must harness leading
content distribution strategies to build
trust and gain credibility:
• Use social selling to build trusted relationships
• Tap employees’ networks
• Don’t forget about influencers
ACT NOW: Utilize more sophisticated measurement
that better ties to purchase intent, with online B2B
metrics that correlate with offline B2B sales activities.
Invest Resources
Where It Counts6
What’s the current leading indicator of sales? Connection
density (CD). You can influence CD by using account-based
marketing (ABM) to “prime” buyers with content, then have
sales reach out to those same nurtured prospects.
ACT NOW: Here’s how Telco companies can allocate
budget between top and bottom-of-funnel messaging:
THE 60/40 RULE
Invest about 60% of your
budget in thought leadership
or branding, and 40% in
bottom-funnel messaging.
THE 10:1 RULE
$10 should be spent
on distribution for
every $1 spent on
creative development.
THE 80/20 RULE
You’ll invest in a lot of content and a
lot of channels, while keeping in mind
that only 20% of your investments
will deliver 80% of your returns.
DIGITAL BONUS
Telco companies can further build trust by:
• Investing in omnichannel sales – expand
digital sales to increase revenue by 30%.10
• Leaning into digital – be ready to
use 360-degree data on individual
customers to help personalize.10
• Dive into analytics – reduce customer
churn and optimize network design.10
Get Started Now
To stay ahead of the curve, Telco B2B marketers must form
deeper connections with current and potential customers to
establish a base of trust and take advantage of the digital
evolution for years to come. For a more in-depth look at these
Telco B2B marketing insights and how to put them into action
at your organization, read our latest eBook.
Sources:
1
bain.com, “How to Capture the B2B Growth Opportunity in Telecom,” April 2016
2
cmocouncil.org, “CMO Council Predicts Brand and Telco Partnering Will Drive Omni-Channel Marketing Effectiveness Globally,” August 2017
3
emarketer.com, “For Telecoms, the Ad Tech Opportunity is Massive,” January 2017
4
edelman.com, “How Thought Leadership Impacts B2B Demand Generation,” 2017
5
sjinsights.net, “New Research Sheds Light on Daily Ad Exposures,” September 2014
6
mediapost.com, “Banner Blindness: 60% Can’t Remember the Last Display Ad They Saw,” March 2013
7
LinkedIn, “LinkedIn Professional Consumer Survey,” 2014
8
LinkedIn, “The Future Tech Buying Committee: Millennials + Gen X Decision-Makers Achieving MORE, Together,” 2017
9
ResearchNow
10
mckinsey.com, “How Telecom Companies Can Win in the Digital Revolution,” October 2016