It seems that I am regressing back to the beginnings of time asking what is B2B marketing all about, or more precisely what is a B2B marketer all about? I have my own views, but more importantly, do practitioners actually see themselves as B2B Marketers in the first place and are there any benefit to it at all?

I am in a fortunate position, as publisher of B2B Marketing, to meet many marketing practitioners each year and invariably ask the question. Many say that B2B marketing is a collective term of all those working in marketing with either a complete, or core focus, towards marketing directly to businesses. They also see a huge benefit in learning across other verticals and overlaying successes and initiatives to their own marketing efforts (and not just exclusively creatively) – where relevant.

However, there are a number who do not see any real relevance to the term B2B [Business-to-business]. They think only by vertical i.e. “I work in manufacturing therefore I am a specialist manufacturing marketer”. They seem only interested in what their sector is doing [in marketing] and all other verticals are too far removed to them to have any relevance or bearing on their working lives. It is these people that I think are missing a huge opportunity.

Why? Well first off (and I am only using manufacturing as a working example), what has the marketing of manufacturing of high performance valves got to do with the marketing of manufactured fleet cars? Not a great deal. There are synergies between the actual process of producing the different products from HR, Health and Safety, material sourcing, design and efficiencies of production, but not a great deal when it comes to marketing, and incidentally sales.

High performance valves are a high-ticket product, sold in low quantities, to a limited audience of very specialist engineers. The marketing of fleet cars is a game of high volume sales, with a mid-ticket price, selling to procurement departments. I could go on for more time, but I'm sure you getting my point.

I would argue that there are many more synergies between marketing company wide mobile contacts and fleet car contracts – that is manufacturing learning from the telecoms space, or visa-versa. In this instance, both product life cycles are the same, buying patterns are similar and the market is equally competitive. Likewise, marketing valves is similar to that of IT servers. Both products are sold to specialist professionals, in small quantities, but at a high unit ticket value, where detailed specifications and service is key to the proposition. This is manufacturing relating to the tech space.

There are loads of other examples and permutations, but the point I make is that just taking inspiration from your vertical can be misleading and also you miss opportunities of utilising ideas from other relevant markets.

Layered on that, being a specialist B2B marketer gives you more weight in the employment market. Why would you want to pigeonhole yourself to just one vertical? Why be a one-trick-pony? Defining yourself as a marketer, by focusing on your sector, does not give you great reach. Being a successful B2B marketer means you can demonstrate an ongoing understanding of market forces and how to develop that into a successful marketing strategy, whatever the vertical. Marketing tools are the same wherever you go, it is the variance in application which is the key differentiator.

For all those people who are already with me, I apologise for going over old ground, however, for those of you stuck in the 20^th century, I hope I have made a good argument, which might help you in the long run. Exposing yourself to ideas outside your vertical market will pay back with dividends. And for those of you who say that you do not have time to swat up on your own industry let alone others hear this… a new phrase I have heard from industry leaders is that marketers are beginning to de-skill. Marketing is changing at such a pace, that marketers need to evolve with a more rapidly than ever before. Just relying on your own potentially dated sector ideas, to furnish you with all the mental enrichment you need, is not enough anymore.

I believe that those professionals who embrace my philosophy and put it into practice are setting themselves up for a successful and prosperous future, the others will just have to ‘use the force’ to guide them!