SCOTTSDALE, AZ — MarketBridge chairman/CEO Tim Furey criticized traditional agency thinking during the “Optimizing Your Marketing Investment” session at yesterday’s B-to-B Marketing Conference.
“One of the worst things that happens at most of these companies is their marketing is still dominated by … [traditional] agency thinking, not necessarily direct marketing,” said Furey. “And [for] these guys … the solution to every problem is more share of voice, more promotion, more media advertising, more brand awareness. Every single statistical analysis we're doing says that most companies are overspending on mass media, brand awareness-type work.”
MarketBridge is a sales and marketing services firm specializing in multichannel integration
Furey covered plenty of ground during the session, including a reference to what he called the “lead black hole.”
“For every 10 leads marketing generates, the sales guys chase down maybe two,” he said. “What most companies are beginning to realize … is that the real problem is not brand awareness and 'lead gen' per se, it's really lead management, lead qualification [and] nurturing of leads into sales.”
Furey also touched on a spending shift that includes more of an emphasis on channels like banner, search, e-mail, teleprospecting, Web sites, Webinars and telesales. Television, print, radio, mail, events, distributors and sales representatives are being de-emphasized in terms of spending.
“Inside companies there's a lot of politics that you have to get over to get to this concept of optimized marketing spend,” he said.
