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B2B MARKETING

Five ways you can avoid being a highly annoying B2B marketer

By our News Team | 2021

Email overload, ad overload, and doing the same thing over and over again are some of the reasons that your target audience will tire of you.

B2B Marketers are always faced with the challenge of keeping the sales funnel as full as possible. But they need to be aware that some of the tactics they employ can be annoying rather than helpful.

Azadeh Wiliams, Managing Partner of Global B2B Media and Marketing Agency, AZK Media, has put together her list of the five most annoying B2B tactics.

Email marketing overload 

So you have set up an automated EDM flow, congratulations. But overuse of email marketing can end up looking like spam in your prospects’ inbox. According to Hubspot, one of the common reasons customers unsubscribe from emails is they ‘don’t offer content, promotions or coupons’ that the brand described when marketing the subscription.

B2B marketing-1.docx

Photo by Muhammad Ribkhan on Pixabay

Now is the time to be more empathetic, provide more practical, educational and helpful information to your prospects so they get value from your communication, not just hard ‘sell’ messages.

Thinking ‘ads’ equals ‘marketing’ 

Another annoying B2B marketing tactic is bombarding prospects with social ads, sponsored content and Google Ads. The thinking is that ‘running ads equals marketing’. Yes, advertising has its place in the marketing mix. But just paying for ‘ad space’ with no regard to organic inbound marketing as part of a long-term strategy is very expensive and unsustainable. Organic content and earned media placement activities can be easily scaled, create a variety of interesting content for your prospects, build trust and help drive an authentic community around your brand. 

Trying to be the one-person ‘show’

In the age of digital and data-driven marketing, trying to do everything all the time is not only going to annoy your colleagues, it could also mean you’re so stretched you make fatal marketing decisions or mistakes, which may annoy, offend or upset your prospects and customers. Gone are the days when you could go in with a plan and then try to execute everything solo. 

B2B marketers just don’t have the resources anymore. They don’t have the money or the time. So, it’s about being much more focused. If there’s a priority in your marketing that you don’t have the skills to execute, consider speaking to a specialist agency, which can fill just that one gap in your marketing mix.

Complacency and repetition

Another tactic that will undoubtedly end up annoying your customers is doing the same thing over and over again. You’ve got to keep testing and learning. We’re going through a bumpy recovery that could last for another 18 months to two years. So don’t stop and wait for things to settle, keep going into the market and keep testing to find out what works for you now.

Agency apathy

When time and resources are scarce, one of the things that we find often fails is the fact that marketers will forget to give their expectations clearly to their media or marketing partners. They’ll forget to give clear, honest feedback, or they overcomplicate briefs, interfere with the process and cause delays. So if you want to get the most out of your partners, take the time to have collaborative conversations naturally, and in a way that’s very open and honest. Otherwise, you’re just destined to waste money, waste time and annoy your partners.

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Dr Kin Kariisa

Group CEO - Next Media

Dr. Kin Kariisa is an extraordinary force at the helm of Next Media Services, a conglomerate encompassing NBS TV, Nile Post, Sanyuka TV, Next Radio, Salam TV, Next Communication, Next Productions, and an array of other influential enterprises. His dynamic role as Chief Executive Officer exemplifies his unwavering commitment to shaping media, business, and community landscapes.
With an esteemed academic journey, Dr. Kariisa’s accolades include an Honorary PhD in exemplary community service from the United Graduate College inTexas, an MBA from United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Huazong University in China, and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Makerere University.
Dr. Kariisa pursued PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. As a dynamic educator, he has shared his expertise as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at both Makerere University and Radboud University.

Dr Kin did his PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radbond University in Nigmegen, Netherlands. He previously served as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and Radbond University in Netherlands.

Dr Kin did his postgraduate courses in Strategic Business Management, Strategic Leadership Communication and Strategies for Leading Successful Change Initiatives at Harvard University, Boston USA.

  • Other current and previous roles played by Dr Kin Kariisa:
  • Lecturer of e-Government and Information Security to graduate students at Makerere University, Kampala and Radbond University in the Netherlands
  • Director of Eco Bank Uganda Limited, one of the largest banks in Africa
  • Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters, an umbrella industry association for all Television, Radio and online broadcasters in Uganda.
  • Chairman of Board of Directors of Nile Hotel International, that owns the leading hotel in Uganda, Kampala Serena Hotel.
  • Chairman of Board of Directors of Soliton Telmec Uganda, the leading telecom company in Optic fibre business managing over 80% of optic fibre in Uganda.