Modernize Your B2B Marketing Strategy To Build Real Connection with Busy Decision Makers

Engage High-Value B2B Buyers with Contextually Relevant Advertising

Marketing spend in digital spaces has doubled since 2018. Today’s B2B decision makers are spending only 17% of their total purchase journey with sales representatives, and 41% read at least three pieces of relevant content before initiating contact. That’s a dramatic turn. Just a few short years ago, most B2B marketing centered around direct mailing, cold calls, bottom of funnel tactics and quoting RIO statistics. In response, B2B marketers have shifted their collective focus.  

Today’s marketing is consumer-centric and personalized. The most successful strategies focus on meeting consumer needs and building long-term relationships. B2B marketers are achieving this goal, at least in part, by featuring their ads alongside engaging, high-value, and relevant content. 

If your current efforts are landing just shy of the mark, consider modernizing your B2B approach by adding contextual advertising to your digital toolbox. This rapidly growing sector of ad technology is helping numerous businesses connect with notoriously hard-to-reach professionals in a meaningful way.

Why Contextual Advertising Is an Essential Component of Modern B2B Marketing

The first banner ad, published in the mid-1990s, had a 44% click-through rate (CTR). Today’s B2B consumers are far less enthusiastic. Today’s banner ad click-through rates average 0.5%, and only four of every 100 ads get more than a single second of attention on any given day. 

With the uncertainty surrounding the imminent (or maybe not?) demise of the anonymized “cookie trail” marketers have relied on for decades to target consumers based on internet behavior, today’s B2B marketers are capturing the attention of hyper-specific audiences with engaging, contextually relevant content delivered to the right person, in the right place, at the right time.

Contextually relevant ad buys don’t rely on cookies. Instead, they introduce audiences to products and services based on the content offered by media publishers and the interests of the audience. Ads targeting consumers based on who they are and what they need in the moment are far less likely to be ignored. Savvy B2B marketers investing in consumer-centric contextual marketing take full advantage of every opportunity to personalize the user experience, direct consumers to relevant client content, and build brand loyalty. 

Marketers who recognize the value of connecting with B2B buyers when they’re most available are rising above the crowded space and partnering with content providers that offer a network of digital screens in areas where high-value audiences live and work.

How Digital Out of Home Brings Targeting To The Next Level

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens display ads targeted to the interests or activities of the people most likely to be in the immediate vicinity at any given time. With the right provider, your B2B ads are placed alongside the type of expertly curated content busy professionals value, including contextually relevant business news, stock market updates, tech reports, and tips from Harvard Business Review.

It’s an arrangement that allows brands to capture the attention of hard-to-reach professionals in premium locations like office buildings and upscale residential communities. As a result, their campaigns reach the right audience as they make their way to & from the office or co-working space, travel between floors, or work from home. 

Not only can brands and agencies know where ads are placed at a glance, but this highly targeted approach when bought Programmatically also provides the tools they need to monitor ad performance, fine-tune targeting parameters, and calculate the return on a brand’s investment so they can double down or pivot as needed. With its unique capacity to merge online and offline engagement, industry experts expect the value of the DOOH market to reach nearly $59 billion by 2031. That’s a CAGR of more than 11%.

What Should B2B Marketers Look for When Selecting a DOOH Partner?

With the demand for DOOH advertising rapidly increasing, you’re sure to find numerous companies offering ad space on digital screens. But the value of their services can vary. When browsing your options, it’s just as important to consider screen location as the network size. Capturing the attention of high-value buyers requires enlisting the services of a programmatic advertising DOOH partner offering a vast network of screens in premium, brand safe locations. It’s the best way to ensure your ads are displayed where and when influential audiences are most likely to be receptive to your client’s message. Once you’ve narrowed your options to providers that meet this requirement, consider how the following criteria could impact your overall experience.

Brand Safety

Before offering DOOH services to your clients, ensuring the partner you select maintains a brand-safe environment is important. Poorly managed placement can have catastrophic repercussions and long-lingering effects. You don’t want your B2B ads associated with anything that could be considered factually questionable, inflammatory, or inappropriate. Confirm that the network provider offers content from well-known, reputable, controversy-free sources.  

Performance Tracking Capabilities

The right DOOH media provider will have advanced targeting capabilities to determine which locations will provide the reach of the audience your campaign desires. Look for a company that offers dynamic planning tools, multiple resources to measure the performance of each campaign and programmatic tools you can access from the DSP of your choice so your ability to engage decision-makers in prime DOOH locations delivers maximum results. The best media publishers are able to offer Programmatic Guaranteed buys – ensuring precise and guaranteed impression delivery.

Contextually Relevant Placement

When you purchase ad space from a DOOH network partner, you’ll specify the budget for the ads that appear on a screen. Your media publisher places your clients’ ads alongside trusted content in a contextually relevant environment. It’s those ads, displayed alongside content that is tailored for business professionals in contextually relevant environments like the office (where business purchase decisions are made), that decision-makers remember.

Could Modernizing Your Strategy Help Your B2B Clients Connect with Busy, Hard-to-Reach Professionals?

Programmatic B2B advertising utilizes the most advanced tech, reporting and automation toolds to enhance brand visibility with contextually relevant ad placement. Targeted placement decisions are based on hyper-specific data and complex algorithms that determine when and where your clients’ ads should be displayed. 

To modernize and optimize your marketing efforts with hyper-targeted ad placement in premium locations, visit Captivate to learn more about our expansive network of digital screens and expertly curated content.

At Captivate, we have over 20,000 screens in 7,200 Class A office towers and luxury residential properties across North America. That translates to 4.2 billion monthly impressions.  For unrivaled access to high-value professional audiences where they work and live, submit a contact form to schedule a consultation.