News / Blog: #advertising

What is direct marketing?

Direct marketing is a form of advertising in which companies interact directly with potential customers to sell them products and services. It can be done through various channels such as telephone, email, direct mail or SMS. Direct marketing is an effective strategy to generate sales quickly and create a direct connection with the customer.

Back to the roots - How to achieve more in the long term with these dead-end customer acquisition strategies

1. Customer loyalty: Make your customers an offer they can't refuse. Give them bonuses and discounts if they buy from you repeatedly. This strengthens your customer loyalty and helps to gain satisfied customers.

2. Network: Use your network to attract new customers. Reach out to your customers, partners, suppliers and colleagues to tell your story.

3. Cross-selling: give your customers the chance to buy more products or services from you. Offer similar or complementary products and increase your sales.

4. New customer acquisition: use different methods to acquire new customers. For example, use advertising, online advertising, social media or direct marketing.

5. Events: Host events and functions to attract more customers. This can be a conference, a seminar or a trade show.

6. Content marketing: create interesting and quality content to attract more customers. Use different platforms to draw more attention to your business.

7. Customer testimonials: Encourage your customers to recommend your business. This is an effective tool to attract new customers.

8. Customer service: provide excellent customer service. This creates a positive image of your company and helps you attract more customers.

No sales team? No success! How does customer acquisition work in B2B?

You have developed a new product or offer a new service and are now looking for customers. Without proactively addressing potential new customers on all channels, you will fail sooner or later as a B2B service provider, because: No matter how much online advertising you place expensively, the number of potential leads via search engine marketing is very limited compared to B2C business and is usually not enough to cover your costs in the first place. Therefore, deal comprehensively with the topics of cold calling, advertising letters & lettershop as well as customer acquisition via LinkedIn, Facebook and social media.

Most of your eventual buyers are NOT currently looking for

No matter how great your product or service is, most of the customer groups you have in mind won't need it. Don't expect the number of searches on Google and other search engines to be enough to get enough leads from which you could generate any customers at all. In reality, over 80% of your potential customers are not currently actively searching for your product or service, and therefore not Googling for it. So the only way you will reach these customer groups is through a phone call or letter.

The price is NOT the central decision criterion for your customer

The actual price charged is secondary in terms of your customer's buying decision. More important is to clearly present the benefits of your product or service to the customer in spé and build trust. Address the individual needs, which can be not only the current, but also the future needs of the customer, and see where the shoe pinches, or where problems and potential for improvement lie.

Make sure that potential customers get information on your website

Most of your website visitors are gone faster than you can look. You've invested thousands of euros in redesigning your website? Congratulations, but you would have been better off investing that money in telephone sales. Often, your website is only called up and visited a few times after the successful initial contact and your offer is scrutinized before a positive purchase decision is made. You should therefore make sure that you collect the contact details of prospective customers, e.g. through a newsletter registration, request via contact form incl. the declaration of consent for a later contact.

Most buyers of your products will NOT use them

If you have managed to convince your potential customer of the benefits of your product or services (by identifying and addressing their pain points) and have created a level of trust through communication, the customer will buy - regardless of whether they currently need the product or will use it in the future. The average B2B customer typically buys an opportunity, potential, tool, or even a way to improve his situation, situation, or opportunities that he will want to access and benefit from in the future when he will actually need it. In this sense, he is buying an additional item in his arsenal.

A few of your potential customers are swimming in money, but most are not far from insolvency

Make sure that your offer is aimed at a clientele that is solvent enough to pay the prices charged - and on time. Nothing is more annoying than unpaid invoices, chargebacks and avoidable reminders. Depending on the scope of your service, installment payments or monthly lump sums may be an option. In addition to the option for customers to order on account, you should also offer payments via PayPal, Klarna (formerly Sofortüberweisung) and possibly by credit card. However, note here that additional costs arise.

Without networking and personal network you will not be successful

Without referrals from actual customers who, in good conscience, introduce your products and services to acquaintances and friends entrepreneurs, agency owners or other self-employed and freelancers, you will not grow sustainably. Referral marketing should be a central part of your marketing strategy. Therefore, also consider setting up your own affiliate program to benefit from the network effect.

The German Media Market 2023 - An Overview

The media market in Germany has changed significantly in recent years. Traditional media, such as newspapers and magazines, have lost importance and revenue, while online media, such as social networks and streaming platforms, have grown strongly. While television will still play an important role in Germany in 2022, the importance of the Internet will continue to grow.

Revenues in the German media market in 2022 will be determined primarily by developments in digital media. For example, digital advertising, video-on-demand (VoD) and social media platforms will account for a large proportion of revenues. The online games business will also become increasingly important.

Print media will still play a role in the German media market in 2022, but their share of revenues will continue to decline. This will primarily affect newspapers and magazines, which are being replaced more and more by digital media. Some publishers are trying to hold their own in the market by also offering their content digitally.

The German media market in 2022 will also be shaped by new technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality. Developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) will also continue to play a crucial role. The use of AI in advertising will help improve the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.

Overall, the German media market will continue to develop in the direction of digitalization and innovation in 2022. Sales will be driven primarily by innovative digital media such as apps, VoD and social media, while traditional media will lose importance.