Table of contents

1. Gamification in marketing: Interactive fun instead of dry content
2. Gamification definition
3. Playfully to more leads and new customers
4. Overview of gamification advantages
5. 10 gamification ideas which will leave your target audience stunned
6. Consider this hurdle by all means
7. How do I establish gamification methods?
8. Gamification examples: 5 impressive marketing ideas of known companies
9. Conclusion
10. FAQ

The most important in summary

• Gamification describes the playful interaction between users and applications
• Software as a service ensures an easy design of playfully-interactive methods in marketing
• Gamification does not only support lead generation but also increases quality of leads and improves communication with your target audience

Gamification in marketing: Interactive fun instead of dry content

Many businesses face the challenge that they can’t bind interests and customers in the long term. They either focus on the wrong marketing methods or they ignore current trends. Often, the target audience is missing incentives to interact more with companies. To face this challenge and to bind the target audience in the long term, we recommend the strengths of gamification. 

→ Playful interaction with the target audience improves communication, binds existing customers and forces lead generation.

But what are the advantages of gamification in comparison to other marketing methods? And which actions are available for businesses to execute gamification successfully? We will answer these and similar questions.

Important note: We will exclusively talk about gamification in marketing. Therefore, we will not talk about how gamification impacts, for example, human resources or health care management.

First, the definition: What is gamification?

Gamification describes a playful experience for users. Applications without playful elements ensure an interactive experience through integration of gaming elements. The goal is to improve the motivation of users and to win their attention.

Playfully to more leads and new customers

In general, gamification in marketing follows the goal to improve existing business processes. Which specific goals are prioritized, depends on the business and its target audience.

Gamification primarily focuses on lead management to either win more potential customers/interests or to improve the quality of existing leads. 

The classic way of lead generation often looks like that users subscribe to a newsletter and get a freebie (e. g. e-book or video) in return for giving a website their email-address.

But this process has some weaknesses. Users often only subscribe to a newsletter because they desire the freebie. It’s not a rare case that some leads leave unused email-addresses to receive no newsletter mails later. Other than that, many businesses fail to win the attention of their target audience with newsletter content in the long term. In e-commerce there at least is the opportunity to convert leads to customers through discounts but many businesses are not given this possibility.

Gamification ensures successful lead management. Through Sweepstakes or surveys your company interacts purposefully with interests or customers. The incentive exists within the playful interaction itself because it is fun and it motivates.

Example: You give away discounts to 20 persons. Through a sweepstake you determine the winner, the only condition of participation is to write a comment in the section of a social media post. That guarantees three advantages: First of all, the ways of lead generation are shorter because participation doesn’t require registration to a newsletter. Other than that, the playful component motivates your target audience to a (fun) participation. Last but not least, you potentially have more participants because social media has more users than your newsletter has subscribers.

Overview of the advantages of gamification

• Playful lead generation
• Customer loyalty
• Image expansion of your business
• Personalization through branding of gamification actions
• Insights of interaction rates
• Target group extension (gamification speaks to a younger audience)
• Improved interaction and communication with the target audience

Gamification offers businesses the particular advantage to get further information about the wishes and desires of their target audience. The focus is not on collecting email-addresses but to improve user experience through interaction and to find out about the wishes and desires of your target group. 

The diversity of gamification ensures a holistic optimization of existing marketing processes. Set methods give exact insights in the interaction rates and this also reveals trends in terms of needs and desires, enabling you to optimize existing processes in a targeted manner.

10 gamification ideas that will leave your target audience stunned

• Surveys
• Sweepstakes
• Advent calendar
• Rotating wheel
• Quizzes
• Personality tests
• Swipe
• Scratch cards
• Games
• Slot-machine

Surveys

Through surveys, your business wins important insights about their customers and their wishes. This gamification method works perfectly to create individual offers for customers.

Example: Through evaluation tools web designers can determine the wishes of potential clients. Interests can, for instance, leave information about which additional functions they wish and how extensive the website should be. Based on the result, the potential clients receive an offer.

Surveys not only follow the goal to create offers for potential clients but to improve business performance as well. Some businesses give away gift cards to everyone who participates in a survey through a digital signage device. The goal is to improve customer satisfaction because businesses want to know what their target group wishes.

Sweepstakes

Giveaways of all kinds always leave a good impression. The participation conditions are mostly quite easy to understand and should follow the goal to expand reach of your business. You can, for example, start sweepstakes over social media and set the participation condition that one needs to write a comment or share the post.

Advent calendar

Your own business advent calendar with individual branding awakes the inner christmas feeling (positive connection to your company!). Your target audience is even happier when they can expect exclusive discounts or helpful tips and tricks.

Rotating wheel

You often find this concept in apps. Through tipping on the touchscreen of a smartphone, interests move the virtual wheel to win something (e. g. a discount code). This type of playful interaction provides for variety when using apps which require you to act on or do something.

Example: Sport apps give users the possibility to create a flexible as well as individual workout plan. The rotating wheel determines the next exercise or the user creates a varied workout plan before sports.

Quizzes

Quizzes are the queen of gamification methods. They are fun and participants can prove their knowledge.

Idea: Create a quiz about your company or about your products/goods. That awakes the curiosity of your target group and strengthens the trust in your business.

Personality tests

Personality tests are very popular these days. This gamification method doesn’t work well for many businesses but the ones which take advantage of them will have an active and loyal target audience that has a great interest in personal development.

Swipe

A concept that many people associate with dating apps. The swipe function allows users to make decisions based on their personal preferences because a swipe either means “I like it” or “I don’t like it”. A good possibility to find out more about the preferences of your target group and to use gamification as fundament for market research.

Scratch cards

Less used and known but still executed successfully for some apps. Businesses often combine this concept with sweepstakes or giveaways.

Games

A more general term because gamification theoretically describes all games. With this point we specifically mean games which have received a digital conversion. One example: Memory.

Slot-machine

Nowadays you will not only find slot-machines in the casino, businesses use this concept for bonuses and discounts as well.

Consider this hurdle by all means

Gamification makes your business more attractive and establishes innovative ways for your marketing. But you should consider putting gamification methods in the context of your business and marketing goals. In the foreground is your marketing strategy and the determined metrics.

In the strategic process, weigh the extent to which gamification fits your objectives and whether the cost-benefit ratio is high.

Many think that gamification only works for claiming more personal data but this is not true. Gamification supports the customer loyalty through, for instance, weekly rewards or scratch card actions. Quizzes or memory work good as methods for e-learning as well.

But precisely because you have a wide range of options at your disposal, the first step requires a consideration of the marketing goals in your company.

How do I establish gamification methods?

To execute gamification successfully, you don’t need any basic knowledge in programming. Providers of software as a service programs facilitate the entry with gamification because such applications are based on the modular principle.

In the programming process of the FRAMR software, our team also paid attention to establishing individual design options so that our customers can easily implement their ideas and wishes. Digital signage harmoniously combines the strengths from the areas of gamification, information technology and marketing and takes into account important features to position itself strongly against competitors (e. g. user experience).

See for yourself and configure your individual customer experience with our FREE cockpit configurator. You will gain more detailed insights into the possibilities of digital signage and develop a feeling for the advantages and functions in the area of gamification.

Gamification examples: 5 stunning marketing ideas of known companies

Concrete examples still best illustrate the advantages of gamification. In the following, we present five companies and their measures in the field of gamification.

Truity

Truity is a website for advocates of personal development and behavior psychology. The website offers many different personality tests with final evaluation. Truity uses this concept to win over paying clients because the test and the results might be for free but exact evaluation of metrics is only available for those who pay a fee or start a subscription.

© truity.com

Audi

Audi configurators leave a strong impression on users. They convey the feeling to create something on one’s own and interests see the final result with their eyes. The free room for maneuver and exact price information also force the purchase decision.

© audi.de

McDonald’s

The US-American franchise giant has been known worldwide for its “McDonald’s-Monopoly” since 1987. In the past, there were various high-priced grand prizes which encouraged many guests to visit the fast food chain more often or to buy more products.
However, McDonald’s has also shown that it is better not to exploit the good nature of its target group. A few years ago, the fast-food chain made negative headlines because it came to light that it was manipulating sweepstakes.

© mcdonalds.com

Reddit

Reddit users collect so-called “karma points” through posts, replies and votes, which increases their reputation. With this system, reddit ensures that its users become more active and thus secure a stronger status within the community (need for status).

Duolingo

Duolingo users collect rewards and badges for completing lessons. It gives a good feeling to unlock achievements and Duolinge has recognized this advantage to motivate millions of users to learn foreign languages every day.

© duolingo.com

Conclusion

Gamification supports lead generation and customer retention. In addition, companies improve communication with their target group. Software as a service solutions do not require any programming skills which means that any company can easily create, establish and implement its desired measures. When planning your gamification actions, make sure to consider the wishes of your target group and choose measures that are in line with your objective. For example, it makes little sense for a software development company to focus on personality tests or advent calendars.

FAQ

Finally, we will answer some of the most asked questions about gamification.

In this article

1. What is B2B lead generation?
2. Which channels can be used to generate leads?
3. 7 proven methods for B2B lead generation
4. These strategic questions need to be addressed 
5. Don’t rely too much on freebies
6. Make inactive leads curious again 
7. Conclusion
8. FAQ

Gone are the days of annoying cold calls, because most companies rely on strategies from inbound marketing. According to statistics, it is now even more than 90 percent. And the goal is the same for all companies, namely to generate leads. Hardly anyone talks about more sales or new customers in the first step of their marketing strategy, but leads. They are the fine line between “My target group doesn’t want to have anything to do with me” and “I’ll win over customers who will stay loyal to me for 25 years.” And for two reasons, many businesses fail to walk this fine line.

One reason is a lack of strategy. Many companies have a rough idea of their lead channels, but are unable to use them effectively due to a lack of planning. This is why approaches to convert leads into customers fail in the end.

The second reason is a lack of know-how in using available channels for lead generation. With the constant changes in content or social media marketing, some businesses find it difficult to reach their target audience. And even when they do win leads, they don’t know how to retain them.

In this article, we address both of these challenges. By doing so, you’ll set the stage for successful B2B lead generation. We concretize best practices and go into strategic aspects that promise more leads in 2023.

The most important facts in a nutshell

• Leads are prospects who share their contact information with companies.
• For lead generation, consider strategic questions about your target audience, your available budget, and long-term prospects for success.
• Set realistic expectations for lead generation.
• Content marketing promises the most leads in the long run.

What is B2B lead generation?

A lead is a qualified contact who is interested in a company’s services or products. In contrast to a customer, a lead has not made a purchase or contacted the company yet.

The lead can be in different phases. For example, they may be on the verge of making a purchase, but they may also be interacting with a business out of pure curiosity.

The term “lead” often divides opinions. Not because of the definition, but because of the meaning of a lead. Some see leads as nothing more than prospects. For others, they are a measure of success that promises a lot of sales. Experts have therefore created the terms “cold leads” and “hot leads” to qualitatively classify and distinguish between prospects.

When making this distinction, it is also important to consider how sustainable a lead is. After all, some prospects quickly become customers, but they only buy from a company once. On the other hand, some prospects remain in the lead phase for a longer period of time, but then develop into long-term customers.

So much for the definition. In the next step, we’ll go more into detail about B2B lead generation channels and methods to help your company generate more qualified prospects.

Which channels can be used to generate leads?

Leads can be generated anywhere your target audience is located. Your options are not only limited to digital methods, because potential customers are also waiting for you in the outdoors, for example. The following channels come into question for lead generation:

-> Trade shows & events: Since 2022, outdoor events are again an interesting way to generate more leads.

-> Content Marketing: The undisputed number 1 in B2B lead generation. This includes blogs, videos and podcasts.

-> Social Media: In the B2B sector, LinkedIn is proving to be a promising channel to strengthen one’s brand and generate leads.

-> SEO: Search engine optimization is only partly a part of content marketing. However, it is a separate, independent area for expanding entrepreneurial reach.

-> Newsletter sign-up forms: Discounts and exclusive offers are still helpful lures for B2B lead generation in 2023.

-> SEA: There are commercial intentions behind many Google searches. And paid ads specifically address this demand. Google Ads is therefore one of the best lead engines in digital marketing.

-> Freebies: E-books, videos and whitepapers belong to the most popular methods among free downloads.

-> Print: Print media lost relevance in the last few years, but depending on the target group, they still support lead generation.

Don’t forget to provide your target audience with a “point of contact”. Your channels should ideally lead to a website where prospects can leave their contact information or contact you directly.

7 proven methods for B2B lead generation

The following methods complement the channels mentioned in the last point. Every company knows the advantages of a blog or a whitepaper, but often fails to implement them correctly or to build a sustainable lead strategy. Our following tips will help you to use the available channels in a target-oriented way.

The seven methods at a glance:

• Don’t just use newsletters as a decoy
• Prioritize the user experience
• Don’t forget the customer journey
• Place call-to-actions in the right places
• The strengths of versatility
• Interact with your target group
• The overall impression must be right

Don’t just use newsletters as a decoy

The paths from leads to customers are often relatively short, because many prospects make impulse purchases. Even in the B2B sector. The reason for this are discounts that companies offer in return for newsletter sign-ups. You probably know this when you visit an online store and after a few seconds the newsletter registration form with discount code appears.

This method is great for quick sales, but the goal is to build up customers in the long run. A newsletter is more than a tool to give discounts. It’s a way to build long-term loyalty with your target audience.

Let’s say you’re the owner of an online workwear store. Your newsletter marketing options are many in this area, ranging from safety tips to information about textile properties. So why would you only use your newsletter to offer a one-time discount?

Of course, you should continue to offer discounts to attract buyers. But first and foremost, a newsletter should add content value and build trust with your target audience. The newsletter is not an entertaining marketing tool, but your digital corporate magazine.

Prioritize the user experience

People buy where they feel comfortable. And the feel-good factor is lost if a new pop-up window opens on your website every three seconds. Long loading times on your website or too much advertising are just as annoying. But optimizing the user experience doesn’t just mean eliminating disruptive factors.

The competition is getting bigger and your target group knows that they are only a few clicks away from the products or services of your competitors. That makes it even more important to clearly communicate USPs and benefits from working with you. You can produce the best content or even be a luminary in your field – but it has no meaning for B2B lead generation if the communicative approaches are not right. Set a clear tone, communicate key messages, and make it clear what you offer.

The last point is particularly important. Some websites advertise with promises such as “More sales with XY” or “Increase your brand awareness with XY”. In doing so, they ignore the questions that are actually important for cooperation. Among them the following:

• What are our focal points?
• What additional services do we offer?
• What do our services cost?
• What are our references?
• What makes us stand out from our competitors?

Advertise not only with objective advantages, but with personal strengths and UPSs. Exceptions are B2B services in need of explanation, where potential customers have not yet recognized their benefits. But in most cases your target group has a clear search intention and knows what objective advantages they get from your product or service.

Don’t forget the customer journey

Your target group has several touchpoints before taking action. Especially in B2B, impulse buys or quick contacts are rare. Rule of thumb: The more complex the product or service, the more information your target audience wants.

You can’t expect leads if your company doesn’t provide quality content. Write blog articles, publish social media posts or produce videos. Use these mediums to answer questions about your offering. Your target audience has objections and needs information before making a decision. 

Ask yourself: Would you subscribe to a newsletter or interact with a company more often in the future if it didn’t offer you value? Or if you didn’t even know what the company offers? Probably not.

-> Content marketing doesn’t just have the function of promoting your offer or providing information. You also build a trust base with your target group with regular postings/uploads. 

Often, lead generation also fails because of your content prioritization. The best example is our company, FRAMR.

Digital signage are B2B products that require explanation. Therefore, we can’t expect leads if we don’t go into more detail about the strengths of digital signage on subpages/blog articles or communicate information about application options and pricing. That’s why we created relevant content first and only then focused on guides on other topics (e.g. marketing).

Take-away: The more expensive and complex the product, the more touch points your target group has. A bottle of wine for 8 euro is bought because of the beautiful label. But a high-priced service is only claimed by interested parties who have insights into the work processes and in-depth product information.

Place call-to-actions in the right places

Successful lead generation is based on decisively motivating one’s target group. Not only through facts and information, but also through prompts. The call-to-action should not be missing from any website, newsletter or social media post description. But there are two important points to consider when it comes to the CTA.

First, the CTA must not appear anywhere in the text. Make sure to place the calls to action cleverly. This can be in the context of a challenge, for example, or after you appeal to possible “trigger points” in a blog article.

Example: You are a marketing service provider and write a blog article about seven mistakes in B2B lead generation. In this context, it is a good idea to place a CTA after the seventh mistake, worded as follows: “Mistake No. 8: You are not yet using the strengths of a professional service provider to increase your success rates”. Alternatively, you can describe a complex problem in the text and offer yourself as a helping hand.

In this context, it is also important, and this brings me to the second point, to place the CTAs strategically. Don’t just think of the CTA as a call to action to generate leads, but also consider the customer journey here. CTAs can also be references to use cases or informative articles. The request to contact or buy is the last step in the customer journey. Before that, it’s about answering questions from your target audience.

The strengths of versatility

The more content channels you play on, the better you communicate with your target audience. Of course, content marketing requires a lot of resources and the production effort should not be underestimated. But the investment is worth it, because the more reach your company generates, the more leads will stick. Consider all your options and think “outside the box” too. There are not only blogs, videos or podcasts, but also apps or rather “unconventional” social media platforms like Reddit.

Interact with your target group

Between reach building and lead generation, there is one more intermediate step which is the engagement of your target audience. Don’t just use the available marketing channels for advertising messages, but ask questions and invite interaction.

Everyone likes to be the center of attention and wants to present their opinion, accordingly people comment or at least mentally participate in your posts. Sure, the mental interaction has no effect on your KPIs, but your company will still be remembered. After all, the point is to set impulses.

Have the courage to post a clear statement on LinkedIn. Opinion leaders are not afraid to communicate something more daring. Your interaction rate will increase and more people will follow you.

B2B lead generation is not something static based solely on strategic approaches. Emotions and strong opinions also reach people. Sometimes even better than the pragmatic way.

The overall impression must be right

Lead generation is part of a holistic marketing strategy. Also, focus on building your brand awareness, strengthen your corporate positioning, take care of search engine optimization and also consider design elements on your website. Successful lead generation is based on a holistic approach.

These strategic issues need to be addressed

In addition to implementation, it’s also important to consider strategic components. And that doesn’t mean just thinking about content channels or user experience. Rather, companies need to clarify strategic questions to set the course for successful lead marketing. Among them are the following:

• What budget do we have available for external service providers?
• What measures do we take for lead generation?
• In how much time do we want to generate how many leads?
• How do we target the leads and convert them into customers?
• How can we actively involve cold leads in the company’s activities again?
• What alternative actions can we take in case our strategy does not work?
• Is it a push or pull campaign?
• How can we identify and implement our optimization potential for a campaign?
• How can we automate lead generation processes?

To answer these questions concretely, we recommend the SMART method. It is known to most and is considered one of the best goal setting methods. The graphic below details all five steps and how to use them for your strategy.

Don’t rely too much on freebies

Whitepapers and e-books are definitely on-target methods for lead generation, but they don’t promise the same growth they did a few years ago. B2B audiences in particular know that freebies are just a means to an end. And not everyone wants to receive your newsletter.

Our recommendation: Don’t use freebies as a lead magnet, but use them to strengthen trust with your target group. Give away the freebie and use it for positioning rather than lead generation. Your target group appreciates it when they get something for free. And that in turn has a positive effect on your business, because those who create trust position themselves more strongly among the competition and arouse curiosity.

In this context, we would also like to talk about expectations. Freebies and other lead generation measures do not promise quick success. Even today, many entrepreneurs think that they have a good foundation for lead generation with two blog articles. Others think that a 100 euros budget for Google Ads will generate many new customers. But these ideas miss the reality. To stay competitive, companies ideally produce weekly content. And if you want to take advantage of the strengths of Google Ads, plan on at least 250 euros in costs per lead.

-> Expectations have a major influence on business success. Only those who set realistic standards can develop a target-oriented strategy.

Make inactive leads curious again

Generated leads are not the only quantitative factor, but also converting prospects to customers. Leads only have value to your business when they buy products or claim services. Accordingly, consider customer acquisition via existing leads in your strategy.

Also, focus on re-mobilizing inactive leads. Many companies don’t realize the potential of inactive prospects because they are only focused on lead generation. But optimizations in your marketing can bring back many prospects.

Sure, you can’t increase the open rates of your newsletter marketing to more than 50 percent, but that shouldn’t be your goal. Instead, it’s about improving KPIs in general and adding quality to your lead inventory.

Remember that you are in competition with many other companies and have to fight for your leads. Change the language of your newsletters, make campaigns more engaging, and encourage engagement on social media. Interactive measures like gamification also mobilize inactive leads.

Conclusion

In 2023, B2B lead generation continues to pose challenges for many companies. The reasons vary, but many fail mainly due to inadequate content prioritization. Answer basic questions about your offer on your website and communicate added value.

So before you optimize your current lead strategy, it’s better to ask yourself what content is still missing or what objections exist to your offer.

FAQ

Finally, we answer frequently asked questions on the topic.

Table of contents:

1. Software marketing is not rocket science
2. 6 simple steps to successful software marketing
3. Example of a 6-step-plan: How to implement it successfully
4. Ideas for your software marketing
5. This is how much marketing budget you need
6. Conclusion

The most important things in a nutshell:

• Marketing is first and foremost a strategic process
• Always align your software marketing with the desires of your target audience and identify your strengths relative to competitors
• Use the strengths of different marketing channels to create content dispersion

Software marketing is not rocket science

Innovative ideas pay off and secure you a strong position on the market. That’s one of the reasons why software development has surged in recent years, especially in the area of mobile applications and business process automation (e. g. in accounting and marketing). But just like with any other product or service, software companies first have to find buyers / clients, and this is where one of the biggest challenges becomes apparent.

→ Marketing is the be-all and end-all in any industry, because without buyers even the greatest ideas remain undiscovered and the software sector is no exception. 

With this article we follow the goal to help IT businesses develop their marketing strategy. Many companies fail to win Clients because they make fundamental mistakes in the marketing process. And we are not talking about too little financial investments or choosing the wrong marketing channels, but about an insufficient strategy, poor positioning and wrong communication with the target group.

Many people think of marketing in terms of search engine optimization, social media or web design but these areas follow only after strategy development.
First, there are six important steps to follow to lay the foundation for successful software marketing. These steps will not only help you target the right audience, they will also save you resources.

6 simple steps to successful software marketing

To develop a good marketing strategy, you need to answer the following six questions first:

• What are my strengths compared to my competitors?
• Who is my target group and how do I address them?
• Which communication channels do I use for my marketing?
• Who is responsible for implementation?
• What is the best way to spread our marketing presence?
• How do I measure the results of my software marketing?

The implementation only takes place after you have worked out every single aspect of your strategy. A good marketing strategy will not only help you to plan your resources and approach, but will also give you a better overview of the required effort and the time buffers that need to be planned for implementation.

Position yourself

Every software stands out from its competition in its own way but your target audience may not be aware of these advantages. To use channels like social media or blogs effectively, you need to recognize your strengths in order to communicate them. But being aware of your weaknesses also has its advantages because it allows you to recognize potential for improvement and what possible objections your target group raises or what possible disadvantages they see in your software.

But don’t only focus on objective advantages of your software but also on how it meets the challenges of your target audience and what subjective needs your company addresses with its marketing strategy. When analyzing weaknesses, you should ideally consider the opinion of your team because it is often difficult for you to remain objective and even identify possible weaknesses in your own software.

Know your target audience

Many software businesses make the same mistake and explain any technical terms on their website or via their social media channels. But why? Your target audience probably are people who are familiar with the application areas of your software.
There are benefits of using a good glossary or encyclopedias to explain certain terms, especially if they are very technical, but don’t treat your audience like clueless people who need a primer on the subject first. Instead, communicate the advantages and which use your software promises. Also, creating informative as well as unique content should help position your company. 

This “I first need to explain everything” mistake is due to poor target audience analysis. Every company has an idea of its persona but still commits communication mistakes. As a result, it’s not uncommon to miss the mark, which means no sustainable growth and no leads will be generated.

Depending on your target audience, you need to consider different criteria when communicating. In the case of a B2C target audience, information regarding price or characteristics such as motives or personal preferences play a primarily role. In the B2B sector, on the other hand, solution-oriented approaches, industry and return on investment matter the most.

It should also be mentioned that every company has several target audiences which in turn are segmented into different subgroups – therefore, you should never focus your software marketing on only one group of people.

Buyer Persona: Profile of a fictive customer who represents the target audience

The right communication channels

It’s well known that social media and blogs belong to the best marketing channels. However, this does not answer the question of which exact channels should be used, how often and with which content. It makes a big difference whether your company is targeting a B2B or B2C target audience, as channels need to be selected accordingly.

The following table shows which (social media-) channels are particularly well suited for each target audience:

Consider that the industry plays an important role as well. For example, Twitter is not bad for B2B businesses but it hardly offers any advantages for software companies. On the other hand, the platform “Reddit” has proven to be an insider tip because millions of people search there everyday for advice on different topics – with knowledge of software development, you can position your business extremely well.

But choosing the right channels isn’t everything, because that doesn’t answer any questions about posting frequency or the type of posts. In order to create a working content strategy, you should therefore clarify the following questions in the team:

• Which channels do we use?
• What content do we post?
• When do we start with social media postings and blogging?
• How often do we post on social media or our blog and what time buffer do we allow ourselves?
• What are potential challenges? (e.g. copyright in image use for blog articles)
• How do we achieve broad content distribution through different channels?
• Are our blog articles and website aligned with search engine optimization (SEO) criteria?
• How do we use your content to generate leads and retain them?

Are you looking for an exclusive content format that guarantees competitive advantages and triggers a lasting “wow effect” with your target audience? Then you should take a look at the advantages of digital signage!
Our software offers you a wide range of functions, starting with image playback and ending with interesting additional features such as the display of Facebook postings or YouTube videos. Of course, you can also use FRAMR as a presentation medium to communicate the benefits of your software. We promise: Your target audience will be stunned!

Internal vs external expertise

Blogs, social media, SEO, SEA (Google ads) – with all the given possibilities it’s difficult to find the necessary expertise internally, even when specifically choosing marketing channels. But that’s not necessary either, because through freelancer portals and Google research you can easily find a freelancer or even a big agency for your software marketing.

Both internal as well as external production of marketing content have advantages and with the following table we draw a comparison:

External labor requires good delegation. Don’t get it wrong, you don’t have to control every process in detail but working with freelancers or agencies is only purposeful if good framework conditions are created. For this, the first step is to clarify the following questions: 

• Who is responsible for which activity and what is the goal?
• Which deadlines do we set?
• Which information and materials does the freelancer or agency need?
• How well does the cooperation work and what can be improved?

Scattering

In the third point we have already mentioned content distribution – but why is this important at all? The answer: Many companies fail with implementing their marketing strategy and end up rearranging everything or plan all over again.

For successful software marketing, you have a variety of channels at your disposal, be it social media, SEO, SEA, PR or blogs. But just because you have so many options doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use the advantages of the different channels. Instead it’s better to set up multiple channels right from the beginning to see what content resonates best with your target audience and what content format gets good results. 

But make sure to ask yourself to what extent a good and broad content distribution is possible with the available resources because it doesn’t make sense if you have one person available for marketing, but you want to play ten marketing channels at once.

Metrics for measurability

Every company wants to achieve goals but surprisingly, this part of the marketing strategy in particular is treated quite superficially. Common goals are “growth” or “reach,” but no one mentions exact numbers or what metrics are used to achieve them. 

To measure the success of software marketing, you have several metrics at your disposal, be it website traffic, Google Analytics stats, social shares, newsletter signups or number of purchases or bookings. However, don’t make the mistake of focusing too much on the number of website visitors because even if high reach is an indicator of good marketing performance, it says nothing about the quality of your visitors.
Our recommendation: It’s best to use two metrics to evaluate the success of your marketing, for example website traffic and number of newsletter signups.

Don’t forget to use the results as a foundation for further development of your strategy. For example, if Facebook insights show that your target audience is mostly active between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m., these numbers should guide the time of your future posts. Similarly, you should remove content types from your strategy if the metrics show that they are performing poorly.

Example of a 6-step-plan: How to implement it successfully

Below, we give you insights into FRAMR’s marketing strategy so that you can get a feel for how to implement the 6-step plan.

1. Positioning: At FRAMR, we focus on speed and agile processes. This is because the Linux operating system starts even when power is lost and does not require a license. In addition, no complex installation is necessary and our cloud service guarantees permanent availability ofthe services. This flexibility also ensures constant expandability and good runnability on all platforms. We see potential weaknesses in the established market position of our competitors. Since we are competing with big companies like Sony or Panasonic, we have to position ourselves with good content and address our target group effectively.
2. Target group: We specifically address B2B customers with our digital signage solutions. We don’t discriminate on industry or company size, instead our marketing agenda aims to convince the target audience with the benefits of digital signage and position ourselves as innovative pioneers in entrepreneurship.
3. Communication channels: Besides our blog, we primarily use B2B channels because they best fit our target audience. We communicate via LinkedIn, use cases, workshops, and the FRAMR blog.
4. Internal vs. external expertise: We rely on both internal and external expertise. With internal strengths we ensure fast communication within the team and with external marketing support we “buy” the necessary know-how to do so.
5. Distribution: Two up to three articles are published on our blog every month. In addition, we post one LinkedIn post per week, publish guest posts on other websites for link-building, have already published case studies and regularly participate in knowledge-sharing events.
6. Metrics: To measure the success of our software marketing, we consider website traffic, number of purchases, and completed subscriptions.

→ What are use cases? Definition and examples

Ideas for your software marketing

• Blog articles on industry-specific topics
• Use case studies to show results of your work
• Explainer videos
• Google Ads campaigns with keywords targeting the search intent of the target audience
• Free use of your software for a certain period of time
• Live webinars to explain your software
• Postings on Google MyBusiness
• Digital brochures

Looking for more sustainable ideas? Then be sure to read our blog article on the best content formats – you’ll find valuable tips and tricks for implementing your software marketing strategy and which tools will help you do it.

This is how much marketing budget you need

The cost of good marketing has skyrocketed. Before digitization, people were less able to get information and it was correspondingly easier to sell products or services. But in the information age, different rules apply and your target audience has several touch points with your offer before they even develop interest. This is partly due to the growing competition, but also because access to information through search engines like Google is now available and your target group uses this offer. Because of that, you need to provide your audience with good content to spark curiosity, answer important questions, and get them to interact with your business.

How much budget you need to allocate to your marketing depends on several factors, including which channels you use or whether you cooperate with a freelancer or agency. Experience shows that the set-up phase with strategy development, setting up social media profiles, web design with texts and logo creation already costs well over 10,000 €. In addition, there are monthly costs for content, SEO and social media, which costs between 2,000 € and 5,000 €, depending on the factors mentioned.

Conclusion: Software marketing unfolds your potential

There is no question that marketing is one of the most important areas for the successful implementation of a business idea. There are high investments involved, but the long-term goal is a positive return-on-investment and most companies achieve this by working out a good strategy in the first step.

But that’s exactly the point: The first step requires a good strategy to set the stage for successful software marketing. The six steps from this article will help you establish your innovative idea on the market and set you apart from your competitors.

Pictures: © Canva.com

In this article:

1. How content rules the world of marketing
2. Why businesses should expand their content strategy
3. Which content formats are there?
4. The versatility of content using the example of digital signage
5. Important questions for a goal oriented content strategy
6. The best content marketing tools
7. Our final advice
8. Conclusion 

The most important facts about content formats summarized:

• There are a wide variety of content formats that combine their strengths
• Which content formats companies use best depends on the target audience
• Special marketing tools help to implement the content strategy

How content rules the world of marketing

Different trends dominate marketing depending on time and the circumstances. For a long time, print advertising was considered the best marketing method and every company took advantage of beautifully designed posters and flyers. This trend then was followed by TV commercials as the best advertising medium. Especially on TV shows with high audience ratings, businesses wanted to place their commercials to get more attention. Then there are the timeless advertising methods, such as word-of-mouth or trade fairs. However, during the times of the corona crisis, a rethink took place and trade shows in particular were not possible for about two years or could only be implemented under strict conditions. For a few years now, a new trend has been emerging as a result of digitalization, namely content marketing and because of the pandemic, more companies than ever before are relying on the strengths of dynamic online content.

Content: Part of every successful marketing strategy

No matter if social media or websites, businesses provide their platforms with content on a daily basis and use different kinds of content formats. Classic marketing methods such as trade fairs and print still belong to their portfolio but in the past years the trend developed in a different as well as clear direction. Blog articles, videos, designs, podcasts – good content has many faces and we will show you how you present content to your target audience.

Why businesses should expand their content strategy

A good content strategy has developed into a relevant competition factor in the past years. Companies with a strong online presence, be it through blog articles, podcasts or videos, benefit the most from the advantages of digital marketing. One of these advantages is the desired first page of google and other search engines. For many years it is known that google prefers websites which regularly post new and high quality content. But this rule doesn’t only apply to search engines, even the algorithms of platforms like YouTube prefer channels which regularly publish long and high quality videos. Content isn’t only about regularity, but especially about quality. 

The right strategy ensures versatility when using different content formats

The steadily growing competition makes it kinda hard to establish a business in the digital world. Only about ten years ago there wasn’t any competition on keywords / google search terms and advertising content through paid ads (e. g. facebook) was much cheaper. But that belongs to the past because what matters in 2023 is a good strategy, variety, unique selling propositions and regularity. Businesses are in the position to provide their target audience with innovative content and not only to rely on proven strengths.

Moreover, content is the motor for automated marketing processes. Newsletter subscriptions or bookings for online courses always require content in the first step to build reach and to gain your target audience’s attention. Lead generation without the right content is impossible.

Which content formats are there?

Claims of the target audience are growing and businesses are in the position to think about innovative ideas to not provide generic content. The different content formats ensure variety to win over the attention of the target audience and to expand the online performance of your business.

Visual content

Nothing sticks in the minds of the target group as well as images or videos. They communicate emotions and the learning effect of informative content is bigger than with texts. The biggest advantage is that pictures are almost always used in combination with  different content formats or are at least useful – only through visualization social media posts unfold their effect, when reading blog articles the target group is provided with viewing material and even boring statistics get a nice optical makeover. The disadvantage of pictures is that content, which requires explanation, can’t be displayed. This is why we recommend a combination of text and pictures to combine the strengths of both content formats.

Videos come with a completely different disadvantage: The effort. Appealing videos require a good set-up, high quality equipment, safety in front of the camera and a final editing.

Advantages of visual content

• User friendly
• High learning effect
• Emotionalizing

Disadvantages of visual content

• Not barrier free
• Displaying complex content almost not possible in picture format
• Videos are very time consuming

Blog articles and text

When reading about the term “content” most people think of blog articles. That’s no surprise, because especially texts improve performance of a website, thus ensuring a good google ranking. That’s actually the reason why many businesses hire copywriters or even create jobs for that. Blogs are known for being the strongest medium to expand reach because the integration of the right keywords increases visitor numbers on websites and businesses win more customers through that.

An often overlooked advantage of texts is the accessibility of videos and pictures – web builders like wordpress come with the function to enter an alternative text as picture description which is read out in the event of charging difficulties or in the event of impaired vision.

Disadvantages appear with very extensive blog articles with poor content structure. Although search engines like to see informative blogs with good SEO, usability often gets lost when the table of contents is missing or there is no option left to go directly to the desired section. One example for that are websites with cooking recipes: Many bloggers expand recipes to holistic articles but don’t add a table of contents. Readers have to find the recipe by themselves and have to read through the complete text. This increases dissatisfaction with the blog, which in the worst case increases the bounce rate and worsens SEO performance.

Advantages of blog articles and text

• Informative
• Barrier free
• Detailed presentation of complex content is possible

Disadvantages of blog articles and text

• Not emotionalizing without pictures or videos
• Bad navigation when table of contents is missing

Podcast

In comparison to the other content formats, podcasts were added relatively late, but are still part of the marketing portfolio of many businesses. At first, we want to clear up with a prejudice: Podcasts aren’t only good for storytelling or for freetime-stories because they communicate important information and knowledge on a very personal level. The speaker appears to be reachable for the target audience and through interviews listeners gain additional insights and hear different perspectives to a specific topic.

Podcasts are captivating and communicate knowledge in an almost entertaining way but for business growth they are less appropriate. There are exceptions as well but in most cases, a podcast isn’t part of a content strategy because listeners only rarely go from a podcast to the website and take advantage of a company’s offer.

Advantages of podcasts

• Listeners build up a personal connection
• Podcasts are entertaining
• High learning effect
• Longevity of content

Disadvantages of podcasts

• Bad for conversions
• High reach primarily in entertainment niches

Social media posts (engagement posts)

Social media combines the content formats text, pictures, videos and audio. On the different channels there is one separate content format which promises additional attention, namely so called engagement posts. The goal of these posts is to win the attention of your target audience through interaction. The social media channel instagram, for instance, makes it possible to ask surveys or to let subscribers participate in quizzes. Engagement posts signalize the target audience that you are interested in hearing their opinion. Other than that, you increase the engagement rate which has a positive impact on the social media performance and you get further insights into the wishes and desires of your target audience.

Advantages of social media engagement posts

• Target audiences recognize that their wishes are considered
• Good basis for market research
• Provides for variety and more interaction

Disadvantages of social media engagement posts

• Your target audience might recognizes that you only use engagement posts to collect more information about their user behavior

The different advantages of content formats

You shouldn’t start producing content right away, you should rather first think about which target audience you speak to. Blog articles, videos and freebies all work for most businesses but the desired goals are different. Blogs build reach in the first step, freebies on the other hand are for people who have already been in touch with businesses.

With the other content formats, you have to carefully weigh up to what extent they are worthwhile. Live events or webinars are primarily for B2B customers and podcasts are more interesting for a younger audience which place high value on variety in content.

The versatility of content using the example of digital signage

How dynamic and varied content is, can be shown on the example of digital signage. The technology of digital billboards ensures the display of different content formats, no matter if it’s audio, video, picture or text. Applications differ and depending on the target audience, there are different opportunities. Restaurants show contents of a menu, clothing stores advertise their products and administration offices provide their staff with information. What matters at the end is the target audience – therefore, it’s less about which content format a business uses, but which persons they target with it.

Important questions for a goal oriented content strategy

• Who is my target audience?
• Is the goal of my company to expand reach or to generate leads?
• Which content format normally works for my niche?
• Which personnel do I need for the implementation?
• With which costs do I have to calculate?
• Which content marketing tools are used
• How big is my team and what are its strengths?
• What are current trends and how can I consider them for my strategy?
• Does my content strategy consider eventualities and possible changes in trends?
• How often do we post new content?

The best content marketing tools

To provide your target audience with good content, the right marketing tools are necessary. The palette reaches from design tools to applications for keyword research. The diversity of applications is growing and promises businesses the opportunity to execute their plans in content marketing. Following, we have listed the best marketing tools and how they can help you to execute your marketing strategy.

Overview of the best content marketing tools:

• Canva
• Photoshop
• Illustrator
• Ahrefs
• Audacity
• Later
• Vegas Pro
• Asana
• Google Drive

Canva: The design tool for everyone

Most design tools require specific knowledge and pose a great challenge, especially for beginners. The developers of the service Canva had an innovative idea: To transmit the concept of a website builder to the creation and design of content. Canva doesn’t require installation and you don’t have to create designs out of nowhere – instead, the application works directly through the website and there are thousands of design templates available for inspiration.

The best thing about the tool: Canva is user friendly and intuitive. Designs for social media posts are provided in the right format and can be shared directly through canva.

Adobe illustrator and photoshop: The design tools for pros

Canva is known as a solution for everyone who doesn’t design a lot. The modular format expands regularly, but finds its limit when creating certain content (e.g. logos). The programs of Adobe still count as the biggest challenge for designers and give a lot of space for creativity. Photoshop is mainly used for picture editing, illustrator for logos and vector graphics. At first, these applications require some practice, but once you are trusted with the programs of Adobe, you will create stunning and unmatchable designs.

Ahrefs: Keyword research made easy

Experienced texters know that nowadays it’s not enough to choose a topic and work on its content, because it is the keywords which matter the most. Ahrefs is a good solution for that because it’s a user-friendly and professional tool for keyword research. During research you are suggested many different keywords and W-questions, furthermore the tool offers the opportunity to analyze websites and their integrated keywords and to compare the performance of your own website with the one of your competitors.

Audacity: Editing audio files uncomplicated and for free

Podcasts inspire people – they communicate emotions, are accessible from everywhere and listeners can expect exciting content about specific topics. There are many programs to edit audio files but one of them has particularly proved itself: Audacity. The application is for free and ensures fast as well as uncomplicated editing of audio files. And don’t you dare to think that a free-to-use program can’t be good – Audacity provides you with all needed functions, no matter if it’s changing volume or reducing background noises. The only weakness lies in editing the details of an audio file (e.g. frequency settings or sound features). Those who don’t want to miss that out rather use a chargeable software such as Adobe audition.

Later: Plan your content

A good editorial plan is especially helpful for businesses with a long term and extensive content strategy. To ensure that you don’t lose the overview, a planning tool such as Later is recommended. The application allows precisely timed planning and sends reminders, so that you won’t forget to upload a post on social media channels. The biggest advantage is automation because with a membership you’re provided with the advantage to upload social media posts without having to do it by yourself.

Vegas Pro: Videos with style and quality

Among free-to-use software for video editing there is not a lot you can choose from. The well known Windows Player isn’t part of the integrated programs on microsoft computers anymore and doesn’t provide any mentionable editing functions for videos. With Vegas Pro it’s a different story. At first, the tool might cause you some troubles because of all the different things you can do. However, once you get familiar with the program, you don’t want to use a different one to edit your videos.

Asana: Organize your team

Complex content strategies involve many different parties – you need someone for design, social media texts, blogs, SEO and websites. To make sure that there are no overlaps, centralized organization through a project management tool such as Asana helps you. The main advantage is that all involved parties can easily communicate with each other, have access to all to-dos and get a precise overview of all the deadlines to meet. For a team of two or three, tools like Asana aren’t really helpful but for bigger projects it’s almost a must.

Google Drive: Save your data uncomplicated

Cloud storages such as Google Drive make working in a team easier. Before the times of cloud services, the parties involved in a project had to send the content to each other and save it on their end device. When there were problems with the device, content was gone as the worst case scenario. Thanks to cloud services like Google Drive this isn’t a problem anymore because the content is stored in an area freely accessible to all involved parties and can be accessed from everywhere.

Our final advice: Consider the details

Creating content and using the right format is not everything. To produce good content, you need an eye for details – the wrong picture format leads to a loss in quality and if you choose the wrong color channel in photoshop, you show your social media audience group a faded picture. We recommend you to double check your content before you publish it. Not only optical mistakes cause problems, grammar mistakes or maximal lengths of videos might cause trouble as well. It is best to deal with the requirements in advance and finally check everything again.

Conclusion

Without content you limit your chances of performing successful marketing. Through social media and the variety of websites, users get in touch with different types of content everyday, which wins over their attention and delivers added value. Businesses are in the position to provide new and innovative content, also to save a better position in search engines such as google and bing. But even in different areas, digital signage for instance, different types of high quality content are the key to win over your target audience.

Pictures: © Canva.com

In this article:

1. What is advertising media?
2. How do I choose the right advertising media
3. Design tipps
4. Usage in a targeted manner
5. Our final advice
6. Conclusion
7. FAQ

The most important information summarized

• The choice and design of advertising media depend on your target audience.
• The combination of analog and digital advertising methods is purposeful.
• Take customer needs into account when communicating.

What is advertising media?

In connection with the term, one encounters the most diverse definitions and opinions. For many it’s the ballpoint pen or USB stick with a company’s logo, but here we talk about advertising articles or promotion products. “Advertising media” is a general term which describes all actions to convey an advertising message. Promotion products also fall under this category but other actions are also part of this.

Overview of the most known advertising media:

• Promotion products such as ballpoint pens or flyers
• Ads (digital or print)
• Posters
• Digital signage
• Banners
• TV spots
• Content (Blog, podcasts)

Advertising media: A subcategory of marketing, to communicate messages

How do I choose the right advertising media?

The decision depends on many different factors. During the selection of possibilities it’s not that easy to choose the right method but even more important is a good strategy to avoid bad investments.

The target audience is the most important factor

In marketing, the focus on one’s own target group is the core criterion for choosing the right advertising media. For example, it doesn’t make sense to choose promotion products such as ballpoint pens when potential clients primarily use digital media and barely have personal contact to a business. On the other hand, crafts, for example, take advantage of promotion products because clients show up at the location.

Through digital ads the opportunity of communicating messages in different ways is given. Use this diversity and speak to all of your interested parties and clients. In the end, a company has many different target groups and you should reach out to all of them as well as considering their different needs. Don’t forget: The benefit does not depend on a product or service but on the needs of the customers.

But it’s not only about choosing the right medium but also how you speak to your target group. Young people wish for different advertising than someone who is in his fifties and that should be clear when communicating with your target audience. Younger people are more likely to consider how innovative or timeless the advantages of a product are communicated, older people on the other hand care more about safety and price.

However, there are also communication channels through which all target groups are addressed. One example for this is digital signage – the greater flexibility allows content to be targeted precisely at different groups of people and this is not just done by manual means, because by using artificial intelligence, sensors can recognize the person in front of the digital screen and target advertising. This flexibility gives companies greater leeway in strategy development and the budget is also used more purposefully as a result.

The marketing strategy determines the objectives

A strategy determines the framework and sets the direction. Research, identification of customer needs, setting of deadlines and analyses are the foundation for choosing the best advertising media. If the goal is “customer loyalty”, promotional products are a proven way of expressing appreciation to customers. However, if the focus is on acquiring new customers, promotional items are not helpful; instead, advertisements with discount promotions or giveaways are.

The strategy also defines the timing of the advertising. Many companies finance their ideas via crowdfunding campaigns with a predefined goal and deadline. Here it would be fatal to focus exclusively on the goal but not inform anyone about the timing so that the investment is also made within the deadline.

Ideally, choose advertising materials that fit both strategically and in terms of timing. It doesn’t make sense to hand out flyers for a company anniversary two days beforehand, but it’s just as useless to run ads promoting an anniversary in Munich but addressing a target group from Berlin.

The budget question

Companies have a specific budget for their marketing and that is to consider because the target group depends on that. Some businesses create a few thousand euros of marketing costs each month and they use the advantages of outsourcing. This approach is barely recommendable for freelancers or small start ups. They don’t have the opportunities to reach as many businesses as possible with their limited budget.

The available budget determines the type and scope of advertising media as well as the pursued goal. Little businesses with a 1000 € marketing budget per month rather focus on one goal (e. g. expanding reach), big companies with more than 10.000 € marketing budget on the other hand have the possibility to execute a full marketing strategy with lead generation.

Just take a look at your target group again – if you, for example, sell luxury products, your customers will expect more than a pen or a lighter. In determining the available budget not only your business is involved but also your target group and their wishes.

Design Tipps

To communicate the emotions associated with advertising, using visual elements is necessary. But a nice presentation isn’t enough to use the strengths of advertising.

Consider your corporate identity

Uniformity is essential for the identification of a company and the recognition value for the target group. Don’t use random colors during the designing process but remain true to the corporate identity created. The colors of a promotion product don’t necessarily have to match with the colors of a website, but depending on format and media the colors should be alike. If you represent your website and your logo in a combination of black and green for example, it’s not good to design digital ads in, for instance, yellow.

An unified look also means to use key elements. The logo, or at least the lettering, must be on advertising media to create recognition value. Likewise, the unique selling proposition or a slogan does well to stand out decisively from competitors. Visual elements (placing pictures, form elements etc.) are welcome to differ in order to offer variety but don’t deviate too much from your color scheme.

Corporate identity: The fundament to create a brand with recognition value | Source: canva.com

Communicate a positive feeling

Besides a strong message, advertising is defined by a good strategy. What matters the most is how clients view your advertising. Use your strategy to awaken positive feelings of hope or excitement. Depending on your target group, you can use humor too. In order to strengthen the good impression we suggest to use positive formulations of sentences – nobody likes to read negative words such as “problem”, but rather positive alternatives like “challenge”. You are not necessarily aware of such little details but they have an influence on the overall impression.

If possible, use advertising media to speak to the senses of your target audience. A ballpoint pen should feel comfortable in the hands and create a “wow-effect” when looking at it. The reason why videos work so well as advertising media is because they speak to the human senses and visualizing helps to understand a message much better. Use these advantages for your business.

In terms of visualization, nothing can beat digital billboards. In general, digital advertising is visually more appealing than print media because in the process of creation designers have more possibilities and displaying content on a screen is supported by effects which can’t be used for print media.

Article → What are use cases? Definition and examples

Check for completeness

In the first step, the purpose of advertising media is to support marketing. But strong messages and promises alone won’t help your target group when important information is missing. Take care that your contact data is deposited and that important information regarding prices, references or spectrum of services is not missing.

Also, don’t go into detail too much and focus on key information. The goal is to deliver important information as short and “straight to the point” as possible because the span of attention is short.
Here again, the advantages of digital advertising become apparent: For example, digital advertising screens can be set in such a way that the content played out changes by itself after a few seconds. This constant change of advertising messages keeps the viewer’s curiosity alive and makes addressing the target group more flexible.

Tailor content to the target group

Your target group is the key factor, the same applies to the design of advertising materials. There is no such thing as a consistent formula, instead the needs of your clients matter. Some place more value on safety, to others good conditions are more important. Exactly this is to consider when delivering an advertising message. Admittedly, it’s harder with promotion products such as lighters or ballpoint pens but it’s easier with advertising brochures to design content in a targeted manner.

What’s also important is to differ between B2B and B2C customers / clients. In B2C marketing, the main focus is to communicate emotions and customers expect lower prices. In B2B marketing on the other hand, innovation and objective facts / data which support the selling of a product or good primarily matter.

Make your target group understand: “You need to do this to contact us” – we’re referring to the Call-To-Action, that is, to perform an action. Many website owners regularly optimize their texts but still aren’t successful. The reason is not necessarily the bad findability or because something is wrong with the texts. Often it’s because the Call-To-Action is missing. Many businesses oversee that interests and customers want to be taken by the hand. The User experience is one of the most important criteria for successful usage of advertising media and especially through the progress of digitalization it becomes more relevant.

Consider the visual details

As already mentioned, visuals aren’t everything but under the line they are still important. Brochures don’t look good when pictures are pixelated or spacing from text to edge isn’t enough. Likewise, print mistakes, which are often caused by an incorrectly set color channel of a program, aren’t good either. Pictures are ideally in the vector format (to make sure they are not pixelated), the writing big enough and the spacing unified. You should also consider choosing the right format so that there are no difficulties in terms of size when printing.

Store your promotion products the right way

Promotion products such as brochures quickly accumulate dust, even more important is the right storage. Do not store promotional items openly in the basement or in damp areas, this will damage them and make them less attractive or even affect their function (e. g. lighters).

The targeted use

When it comes to certain promotional items, there are a few little things to consider that many overlook at first glance. It is not helpful to produce a large quantity of promotional items or blindly play out advertisements, because depending on the target group, there are various special features to consider.

The occasion matters

Especially in the B2B sector meetings and events are a common thing. To convince their business partners, you better give it all you got and use luxurious advertising materials. It’s better to invest a little bit more money to provide good quality. But don’t only consider the price, but also personal preferences and wishes of business partners.

Don’t be intrusive

Many people see advertising as intrusive or bothering. Respect the wishes of all of your customers and that some of them are just not interested in advertisement. That actually gives you the possibility to plan better for the future and to figure out who is actually interested in your advertising and who is not.

Our final advice

Take a look at your competitors and consider your experience. News regarding current trends does not always tell you the best methods for choosing advertising media because your own market research is still the most reliable source for information. Taking a look at your competitors promotes creativity and inspires for new ways to do things. Don’t copy content of other businesses but question their procedure during creation of advertising media to expand and improve your own strategy.

Conclusion

The right choice of advertising media is based on three factors: The wishes of the target group, the right use and a good design to arouse emotions. If you act without a strategy, you end up investing a lot of money and getting no results – so beforehand, always make an analysis that takes into account the wishes of the target audience and forecast the result.

FAQ

At the end of the article we answer frequently asked questions about promotional items.

In this article: 

1. Digital advertising: Better than offline marketing?
2. Adaptability is required
3. What is digital advertisement?
4. What does digital media offer that TV advertising does not?
5. What are the costs of digital advertising?
6. Offline marketing vs. online marketing: Which one is better?
7. Conclusion
8. FAQ

Digital advertising: Better than offline marketing?

Businesses prove themselves against competitors with good marketing. Because of the rising competition, it is required to re-think strategies and be innovative. But even more important is advertising to reach the right target group. In the past years, the direction has changed and social media as well as facebook advertising have started a new age of marketing. But are these methods better than the classic ones?

Digital advertising: More than Social Media | © Adem AY

Digital advertising: Adaptability is required

A company’s success is defined not only by a brilliant idea or marketing strategy, but also by its ability to adapt to current trends. Until around 2010, digital marketing was still in its infancy and only a few companies even had their own website or email inbox. But in recent years, it has become very clear how businesses of all sizes benefit from digital marketing. It has never been so easy to achieve national or even international recognition and to address one’s target group in a targeted manner.

How dangerous it is to oversleep such trends is demonstrated by the company “Quelle”. The company from the Bavarian town of Fürth successfully held its own on the market for more than 80 years, but the situation changed – the company continued to rely on the tried-and-tested Quelle catalog and disregarded digital trends. The insolvency application followed in 2009. Admittedly, an insolvency application is not due to a single misstep, but oversleeping current marketing trends played a serious role in this case.

This example shows the serious consequences that affect even established companies if they fail to adapt to change. The transition from classic marketing methods to digital advertising is not complete – on the contrary – new trends regularly emerge and this allows more creative scope, but this also increases the pressure in the competitive battle.
The change is having an effect, and this becomes clear when looking at the strategies of companies of all sizes. Terms such as “social media” or “content” did not attract any attention ten years ago, but in 2022 they are an integral part of every marketing portfolio.

What is digital advertisement?

Marketing and advertising – many use these terms as synonyms but they have different meanings. Marketing is a holistic, strategic process which doesn’t only focus the aspects of advertising but also involves administrative and personnel decisions. Advertising on the other hand is how businesses communicate their marketing strategies to their potential customers. Classic marketing methods are TV advertising, flyers and banners. Digital marketing re-defines the process of communication and focuses on social media as well as social advertising.

Examples for digital advertising:

• Social media posts
• Facebook advertising
• Digital Signage
• Google ads

The influence of digital advertising is growing and plays a decisive role in the marketing of a company’s own offering. This also expands the opportunities to try out creative approaches (e.g. gamification). A few years ago, few people would have thought of presenting their advertising via a screen rather than a billboard. But it was precisely these changes that redirected the course of success for many companies.

What does digital media offer that TV advertising does not?

More and more businesses use the possibilities given by the age of digitalization. People of all ages use social media as well as they use google search to find inspiration. Digital displays prove themselves because they appear more high-grade than classic banners and the possibilities regarding designs are much bigger. There are many more reasons because besides reaching the right target group and the process of design, businesses find more other advantages.

The advantages of digital advertising are the following: 

• Higher adaptability
• Mobile availability
• Efficiency in terms of costs
• More discreet

Both companies and their target group benefit from these advantages – this interaction makes digital advertising an useful option as a whole because businesses work more efficiently and they reach new customers at the same time.

Higher adaptability

Growing competition is causing companies from all industries to think in several directions. Not only does a company’s own offering and its relevance for potential new customers play an important role, it must also constantly keep an eye on the competition. Competitive analyses were already part of a company’s tasks before the digital transformation, but in the course of digitization, this subarea is weighted more heavily than ever before. New trends are regularly established and there are changes in marketing, which means that companies that do not take these trends into account will be at a competitive disadvantage.

The short-lived needs of the target group also require a flexible rendition of advertising in order to appeal to precisely these needs and target people. Classic advertising methods such as flyers or banners reach their limits here. The design and printing process takes more time than content creation for digital advertising, and adaptation options are few and far between. Every time a trend changes, new flyers or posters are required and the entire process behind them takes a lot of time.

Taking digital billboards as an example, it shows how uncomplicated modern ways of advertising are: Throughout the day it is possible to display ads for target group A and in the evening businesses can reach target group B. The content of digital signage is adaptive and unbound – even service providers take advantage of that because they are given the possibility to display the latest information on a specific topic.

Mobile availability

Having access to content everytime and everywhere – the flexibility of tablets and smartphones has a positive impact on businesses’ reach. Banners almost exclusively reach people from one region and flyers barely make it outside the neighbors post box. Things work differently with digital advertising: The target group searches for something on google and then goes to facebook – thanks to social ads a company from Vienna reaches customers from Munich.

Efficiency in terms of costs

The purchase of a mobile display might appear expensive and social ads can also cost businesses a lot of money. But the adaptability creates space for test phases. Especially social ads provide advantages because the measurability of results gives a better insight and therefore creates potential for improvement.

More discreet

Digital advertising primarily reaches people who have a potential interest in services or products. Google ads are only visible for people who searched for something specific and digital ads aren’t intrusive either. However, it’s a different story with a flier in the post box and advertising breaks on TV are also annoying (because they interrupt the most exciting scenes of a movie).

Communication: Thanks to digital marketing it is uncomplicated and businesses reach more potential customers | © Headway

What are the costs of digital advertising?

Companies better calculate more generously at the beginning, because the first step requires some test phases that cost money accordingly. However, it must be weighed up which goals a company sets. If the focus is on lead generation, more budget is required than if brand awareness is to be expanded.

The cost aspect must always be considered on a case-by-case basis. The more extensive the strategy and the advertising measures that go with it, the more expensive it is to implement. Much more important than the costs, however, is the efficient use of the available budget. In the long term, the measurability of digital marketing measures allows for good potential savings and better targeting of advertising to the target group.

Not every form of digital advertising grants good measurability, however, but the potential for savings can be seen in other ways. Let’s take the digital billboard as an example: it’s hard to track how many people buy a product in a clothing store through advertising displays, but parallel processes for evaluating the target group enable more effective reproduction of content. If analyses show that mainly younger people visit a shopping center in the afternoon at 3 p.m. and middle-aged people tend to visit in the evening from 7 p.m. onwards, the flexibility in content playback allows the content to be aligned with the target group accordingly.

Offline marketing vs. online marketing: Which one is better?

It’s wrong to say that all classic marketing methods are bad because they are the fundamental approach to digital marketing and many businesses use flyers as well as banners successfully. In comparison, digital marketing only provides advantages.

That mainly shows in the possibilities to adapt, mobile availability, measurability of results and efficiency. The investment in classic marketing is a risk because businesses can’t determine concrete numbers. Sure, not every method provides good measurability but a holistic digital marketing strategy does.

However, there are also two disadvantages in offline marketing. On the one hand it’s complicated to start the right way. Those who have never occupied themselves with digital marketing 101 might need a consultant or many hours of research to find the best strategies for their own business. Another disadvantage are the high expectations – especially small businesses expect too many new customers once they created their own website or started with social media. The rising competition makes that a tough challenge because the good places in google and social media channels are limited.

However, search engines and social media aren’t the only ways to use digital marketing. In the end, a good strategy combines the strengths of many different areas. In case a company has always been successful with events it of course can still be part of a holistic strategy.

Conclusion: A lasting trend that requires innovation

The comfort zone is a dangerous place especially in marketing. If there is one disadvantage in digital marketing it’s to ignore current trends. However, a turnaround is not accomplished from one day to the next and businesses have time to adapt.

Digital advertising is superior to offline marketing, no matter if we talk about flexibility, costs or mobility. The only disadvantage is the amount of given possibilities and that companies choose the wrong ones. However, the ones who are prepared will not fail.

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FAQ

Following we will answer the most frequently asked questions about digital advertising.