Best Digital Marketing Trends for B2B Marketers this Festive Season: Suvodeep Das, Sodexo
Guest Column: VP - Marketing, Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services India writes about top digital marketing trends that B2B marketers can employ this festive season

“We are moving from an era of brand dominance to one where agility is rewarded.” - Will Critchlow, Founder & CEO, Distilled
In a country where emotions drive a lot of purchase decisions, the festive season comes as a bonanza for designing marketing campaigns. And with the number of active internet users close to 500 million, it is hardly surprising to see the buzz on digital media witness an upward swing during this season. Almost every consumer is in a celebratory mood, surfing the internet for the best entertainment, clothing, food and gifting options; in search of the best deals. On the other side of the table, this is the textbook opportunity for a marketer to create an exclusive digital presence for his business. For B2B companies in particular, it makes perfect business sense to embrace organic customer engagement over transactional engagement; digital marketing being the preferred route. So, what are the top digital marketing trends that B2B marketers can employ this festive season?
Content marketing to leverage this season
As a key digital marketing platform, the adoption of content marketing positions many businesses as thought leaders in their segment, which also improves their SEO ranking. However, due to the overload of text-based blogs and advertising on the web, eyeball reach reduces significantly; consequently, businesses are revamping their content strategies and experimenting with newer formats, focusing largely on visual-heavy, compelling content to attract the attention of their TG through infographics, holiday-related images and videos that are contextual and not overtly promotional.
Social Media Marketing to step up conversations
Festivals might keep some customers away from work, but not from spending time on social media. This gives B2B marketers an ideal opportunity to showcase their brand. A company Twitter handle, following peers in the industry, and actively tweeting useful and relevant information builds brand credibility. Another effective medium is Instagram, where businesses post behind-the-scene action, festivities at work or highlight community activities. But the smartest place for B2Bs to find clients is LinkedIn. As a platform, it assists in building connections with industry peers and working relationships. B2B businesses need to concentrate their marketing efforts here.
Festive communication to generate the right leads
Brands should stay true to their audience and yield powerful returns by showing appreciation and gratitude through content elements. While featuring customer testimonials, sharing valuable information like industry reports or white papers is the usual practice, the use of creative and cheerful festive messages and communication that portrays the human side of business always draws customers to their social media profiles.
A topical opportunity for B2B sales
Sans the festival tag, B2B companies are trying to be more topical and part of everyday conversations. Contrary to the belief that the festive season puts the brakes on for B2B, this may actually be the best sale-clinching time; the reason being that a lot of companies are yet to allocate their budgets for the calendar year-end. There is less competition, as many would already be off celebrating, leaving behind more opportunities to their competitors for generating leads and closing deals. In this period, several decision-makers begin planning for the coming year and a clever pitch could just clinch a mutually beneficial partnership. Perhaps this is the time to be at your aggressive best!
Data-driven marketing to generate demand
B2B companies are increasingly choosing marketing automation platforms (MAP) to create a more personalised customer experience and to translate contacts into leads and finally into sales opportunities. MAPs integrated with CRM tools play an important role in scaling demand. Leveraging the use of WordPress, Hubspot and other CMS to create and manage digital content is another agile approach towards generating demand. And at the heart of all such marketing automation tools is AI. Contextualising engagement across numerous channels is the game-changing advantage of AI; primarily to get actionable consumer information.
With the relatively limited reach of B2B industry, a powerful digital presence is indispensable for any business. The time is ripe to invest in customised strategies and targeted communications that will drive greater revenues in the New Year.
(The author is the VP - Marketing, Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services India)
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com.
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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