If you’re a B2B technology marketer, chances are you’ve already tried every trick in the book. LinkedIn ads? Check. Webinars? Maybe a few that ended up being more “technical difficulties” than actual discussions. And somehow the B2B media platforms you select for your campaigns still aren’t generating the results you need. After months of tweaking landing pages and fine-tuning your messaging leads still trickle in like they’re delivered by snail mail.
So is it the tactics? The tools? Or is it you?
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Most times it’s a problem of using the wrong platforms — or the right ones the wrong way. The good news is you can stop wasting precious time and budget and start focusing on platforms that will actually move the needle. Let’s cut through the noise and dive into the top five B2B media platforms that can make a real difference for your marketing campaigns.
Let’s start with the obvious: LinkedIn is where B2B decision-makers and influencers hang out. This makes it the go-to for demand generation.
Used correctly, LinkedIn is a great place for your C-level and other thought leaders to build authority and engage with your audience. But throwing up posts and hoping for engagement isn’t going to cut it. The key is to start real conversations, share valuable insights, and position yourself authentically as a thought leader. Be specific. Post case studies and insights. Make predictions that will actually get people to stop scrolling.
Used correctly, LinkedIn is a great place for your C-level and other thought leaders to build authority and engage with your audience.
Realistically, even successful organic engagement on LinkedIn won’t make your sales skyrocket overnight. For more effective demand generation, you’ll want to look at paid media, too. LinkedIn is where precision targeting comes to life. You can laser-focus ads to reach the right people based on job titles, company size and several other criteria. LinkedIn offers different ad formats, from static ads to conversational ones that help you get your message in front of the exact decision-makers you need. If you can target the right personas with the right message, you’ll start seeing real ROI.
Industry Media
Like the old “tree falling in a forest” question, if you have the best content in the world but no one sees it, does it even exist? Sure, you could keep posting on your own blog and hope for the best. But why shout into the void when instead you can broadcast your ideas to thousands of engaged readers who care about what you have to say? Getting content onto third-party media sites can work wonders for your brand visibility and take a campaign to the next level.
Besides the obvious approach of trying to get media to cover your latest news, I like to focus on contributed articles and content syndication. Contributed articles can be a golden ticket to building authority with a relevant audience. The catch is that you need to offer real, genuine thought leadership — not product content. Whatever you write has to establish you as a credible expert.
As a paid media approach, content syndication can be a game-changer. By posting white papers, eBooks or case studies on third-party sites, you instantly expand your reach to an audience that’s already interested in your industry. You can also explore sponsored articles which are essentially paid contributed ones. But the platform matters. Not just any outlet will do. Seek out reputable sites that attract your target audience and have high engagement.
Finally, don’t forget about industry newsletters for either articles or promoting your content. A feature in a well-established newsletter can put your content directly in the inboxes of thousands of industry professionals — definitely worth the cost.
Webinars
Webinars often get a bad rap — mainly because we’ve all attended our share of fumbling presenters delivering what amounts to a glorified product pitch. But when done correctly, webinars are one of the most powerful B2B media platforms in your demand-gen toolbox. They give you the chance to engage directly with prospects, showcase your expertise and capture valuable data on attendee interests. They’re not just about presentation, they’re about interaction.
…webinars are one of the most powerful tools in your demand-gen toolbox. They give you the chance to engage directly with prospects, showcase your expertise and capture valuable data on attendee interests.
The key is to focus on delivering educational, actionable insights. Think about what keeps your target audience up at night and build your session around those concerns. Focusing on education and value builds trust with your audience. Sales will follow.
Even the best webinar can struggle to attract an audience if it’s self-hosted and self-promoted. Plan for and invest in promotion via media platforms with reach that’s greater than yours, whether that’s LinkedIn, an industry newsletter or something else. You can also work with an industry media outlet and have them do some of the heavy lifting around hosting your webinar — in addition to attracting their audience.
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Google and search in general as one of the B2B media platforms to consider. There was a time when search was the first-place prospects would turn when actively looking for solutions, comparing options, or ready to take the next step. And in these cases, search can still be effective. These prospects are further along in their journey and using keywords that align with your offerings.
But search is clearly changing. More buyers are using AI tools to do research, and AI now has a presence in search results themselves. Organic search results today come lower and lower on the page, and ads are more competitive and costly. At the same time, Google may not be the best option for you. Instead, answer engines and community sites may be better options for reaching your audience as your prospects trust peer insights and the simplicity of getting to the point.
If you want quick visibility and leads, Google Ads (or other platforms) can be part of your strategy. But if you can play a longer game, build a search engine optimization (SEO) plan around content that is AI-centric. As always, don’t just throw money at it and hope for the best. Be deliberate. Focus on long-tail keywords that show strong intent, and deliver content that answers buyer questions at a specific stage of the journey when people click on an organic result or ad.
Last but not least in the top five B2B media platforms for demand generation may be one of the most controversial: Email. If you’ve spent any time at all reading about what’s working or not, you’ve likely seen posts on how email marketing is dead. We tackled this in our latest Marketing Myth post, too. But it’s clearly not true — which is why email is number-five on this list.
I’m not talking about cold-emailing prospects, though I know folks who swear that works. I’m skeptical just based on my own habits, which are to automatically delete emails from people I don’t know. That said, if you want to do cold email outreach, just make sure your expectations are realistic and follow best practices, including any spam laws in your region.
When I think of email marketing, it’s from two different perspectives. One is similar to the industry newsletter mentioned above — having a third-party media outlet send emails to a carefully selected list of prospects. In that case, you’re leveraging the recognition of the media property’s brand as well as the consent they’ve obtained from their audience.
The second and most important way to leverage email marketing is to build a proper, opted-in list for yourself. This is a critical part of any owned media strategy and can be extremely valuable as it grows, and you engage with that audience.
The second and most important way to leverage email marketing is to build a proper, opted-in list for yourself. This is a critical part of any owned media strategy…
As always, what’s crucial is to make sure you are providing value to the audience with your emails — and not being a pest. You need to strike a fine balance between staying in front of your target audience and not bombarding them with content.
But without a doubt, email marketing, when done right, is not dead.
It’s All About the Strategy with your B2B Media Platforms
At the end of the day, demand generation isn’t about choosing a random B2B media platform and hoping for the best. It’s about being strategic — understanding which ones where your targets go to for information and using a fine-tuned mix of paid, earned and owned media to get results.
These are the five key platforms I see being effective today in the campaigns we develop for our clients and that come up in conversations about what works and what doesn’t. At the end of the day, your experience may be different and that’s where proper testing comes into play.
Most important is to stop throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping something sticks. Get strategic and incorporate the right content and platforms so you can start seeing the results you’ve been waiting for.
Find out more about building an integrated marketing campaign to #GetFound or check out the video series on my YouTube channel.
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