Using the right marketing mix can be daunting, with 48% of performance marketers seeing it as their biggest challenge to strategic success. But having the right mix is indispensable for achieving performance marketing goals and boosting ROI.
Targeting users in the right places via a strategically balanced marketing mix helps you gain a competitive advantage and optimize budget spend, maximizing the impact of your efforts. In fact, multi-channel customers spend three to four times more than single-channel customers.
So, what is the best way to leverage your marketing mix to grow your brand and generate leads with scientific audiences? What channels should you include and how can you best leverage them? Let’s dive in.
As a B2B brand operating in a digital-first, post-pandemic landscape, there are many channels at your disposal to attract, convert and retain your customer base. Online, these include website, online advertising (PPC, programmatic, display ads, etc.), email marketing, and mobile marketing; and offline, in-person sales and events.
Whether you are already using ResearchGate as a platform to run your advertising campaigns or not, you must de-silo your channels to succeed. Strive to create frictionless user journeys across all user touch-points, leading prospects to complete any action – be it a purchase, click, or other desired outcome – via an effective omnichannel marketing strategy.
It’s worth the effort, as companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain on average 89% of their customers, compared to 33% with weak omnichannel customer engagement.
On top of ResearchGate, there are several key channels that work well to complement your marketing mix and which you may not have considered leveraging:
“Hybrid” is not just a trend or catchy buzzword– it’s the new reality. In fact, 85% of B2B businesses expect hybrid sales to become the most common sales role. Teams will use a mix of online and offline channels, but only 15% of meetings will be held in person.
So, factor this in when creating your marketing mix. What would make you stand out from your competitors? Adding a personalized touch is important, especially in post-COVID times. So, consider adding sales rep visits as an additional channel in your marketing mix, in order to build better and deeper relationships and help to convert your leads.
In a world where consumers trust brands less, employing tactics like influencer marketing and social proof can be more beneficial for driving sales than a well-crafted social media post or expensive PPC campaign.
Website reviews are an especially powerful channel for brands to gain prospects’ trust and credibility. Stats show that 90% of users read online reviews before visiting a business and 9 out of 10 consumers find an online review is as important as a personal recommendation.
Start by identifying which directories are trusted by your audience. Then, publish your listing there. Next, incentivize your current customers to give reviews of their past or current experience with your product or service. With 31% of consumers more prone to spending on a business with “excellent” reviews, be sure to ask happy customers.
Traditionally, social media is the bread and butter of B2C brands. However, since Covid-19, 40% of B2B content marketers have increased their investment in social media in response. So if you don't invest in paid and organic social media efforts, you will fall behind.
With a social media strategy you can share valuable news and content, interact directly with consumers and prospects and monitor brand sentiment. This can help you boost brand awareness and engagement. Also, by running lead generation campaigns on social media, you create more touch points in your marketing funnel – which enables you to collect more data for campaign optimization.
Focus efforts on a handful of chosen social media platforms and create a tailored editorial calendar. For example, you can publish scientific content and optimize social campaigns toward brand awareness, engagement, or lead generation. Using ResearchGate in addition to your social channels has the core benefit of targeting users at a more granular level, resulting in a lower cost-per-lead (CPL) than other social platforms.
Conferences focus on the exchange of information and have an educational purpose. They attract attendees who are keen to learn. This means they are fertile ground to grow your brand visibility and boost engagement – whether you are attending an industry event or running your own conference.
Even if scientific conferences are now often online and increasingly hybrid, it doesn’t make them any less impactful. On the plus side, they are less costly to organize and they democratize access to wider audiences globally. The key element here is interactivity to sustain audiences’ attention. Add a live chat for audience polls and Q&As. Follow-up quickly with a “Thank you for attending” email to generate warm leads. In the email, you could include key educational takeaways and sponsors.
In this regard, Malvern Panalytical is a trailblazing scientific organization in virtual events, who has used this method to connect with audiences for the past two decades.
Another science brand to look up to is Emerson, who has hosted over 30 “We Love STEM” events in 12 countries, reaching more than 2,000 students with interactive activities.
If you don’t want to commit to a full conference, hosting a webinar can have impressive results, with 10x more efficiency on a cost-per-lead measure than physical trade shows. Using ResearchGate Events Promotion to position yourself as an industry leader can help you amplify your reach to boost attendance and leads.
Unlike conferences, industry trade shows center upon vendors, giving them the chance to market and explore new product offerings. In this setting, the educational elements are likely to be hosted by sponsors.
As a B2B marketer, it’s not unusual to invest up to five figure sums for prime trade shows – whether in the form of a physical booth, sponsor, speaker. Even as an attendee, there are considerable costs involved. However, trade shows offer a fantastic opportunity to network with leaders in your field, increase brand awareness, create partnership opportunities, run competitor research, and grow your lead generation.
To make the most of a trade show, aim for quality over quantity. Research and pick the best events by asking feedback from industry veterans and colleagues. Work closely with your sales team to implement a flawless lead-generating plan: research attendeedraw up a list of key prospects, and implement pre- and post-event outreach with social media and emails.
On ResearchGate, you can build your pipeline pre-event by targeting leads via on-platform ads and email campaigns. Sophisticated in-platform targeting capabilities enable you to reach the right audience at the right time and in the right context – leading to higher click-through-rate (CTR), greater customer engagement, and higher conversion rates down the sales funnel.
Learn how ResearchGate Marketing Solutions can help you achieve marketing success as part of your cross-channel campaigns. Find out more.
