B2B marketers should embrace Web 2.0 technology

B2B marketers need to embrace Web 2.0 technologies if they are to see their direct marketing campaigns achieve the best results.

A recent survey conducted by communications agency Godfrey discovered that through an intelligent use of a customer or prospect database - such as the delivery of a targeted industry newsletter - marketers could realise better results.

In fact, despite 80 per cent of B2B marketers admitting they maintain sales leads or inquiry databases, only 55 per cent use this information source regularly for their direct marketing purposes.

Just 40 per cent of respondents said they regularly engaged their inquiry database with email updates or industry newsletters.

Lynne DeMers, Godfrey spokesperson, said: "Direct marketing isn't about sending 20,000 mailers to a rented list and hoping for a two per cent return. Now it's about creating a program and a system of messages, offers, information capture, measurement and refinement.

"It's a direct communications 'roadmap' of continuous cultivation that provides more targeted information and leads prospects to the point where the sales channel can take over."