B2B advertising isn’t dead; it’s evolved. Advertising has always been part of the bigger picture — your marketing strategy.

Even in our internet-centered world, B2B advertising is still alive and well. Its effectiveness depends on how well you can utilize your ad messaging across all available channels (traditional print or online) to reach your desired audience.

You can achieve this by keeping in mind THREE main things:

1. Know your audience and decide what element should be the focus

This is probably the hardest part. Designing and writing your ad content in a way that differentiates you from the competition isn’t easy. You will need to research and know your audience from top to bottom.

You may have different audiences for different parts of your business. When you start thinking about your ad campaign, pick one element to focus on. You can have similar themes across the business, but keep each part focused on the specific audience. Customizing the content for an audience could be as simple as tweaking the content to fit the desired audience’s needs.

2. SIMPLE is best

In B2B advertising, we either see too much content or irrelevant content. Keep it brief. You only have seconds to grab their attention and drive your messaging home. At the same time, make sure it speaks directly to their needs.

Each ad should include a:

• Pain point that will attract the audience’s attention
• Descriptive headline (with graphics) to show how you can solve that pain point
• Messaging that is consistent with your brand
• Strong call-to-action that motivates the reader to take the next step: Download eBook, Call Today, Watch Video, etc.

3. Emphasize repetition across media channels

You’ve done all the hard work. Why not make it pay for itself by creating appropriate messaging for all your media channels? Generate Tweets, LinkedIn posts, Facebook posts, blogs, etc. Remember to target a specific audience. Consider other paid media channels (but only if relevant to your business):

• Banner ads
• Trade shows
• Publication websites or emailers
• Email blasts
• Direct mailers
• Signage

Be patient. Statistics show that it can take 6 to 7 views of your messaging before a potential customer may try your product or service. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard, “B2B advertising doesn’t work.” But many of these businesses run only one ad, sit back and wait for the phone to ring. That definitely doesn’t work.

Repetition is key. Don’t worry if your B2B advertising campaign isn’t yielding results right away. That’s the beauty of online ads and social media. For a fraction of the cost (and while running traditional ad campaigns), you can still monitor your audience and tweak ad messaging to help nurture your lead generation efforts.

All marketing tactics should be thought of as part of a larger whole, rather than separate pieces. By strategically integrating all marketing tactics, the marketing program becomes more effective and cost efficient. As a B2B agency, we developed B2B 360 Integrated Digital Marketing to meet this improved performance need. To learn more about B2B 360 and how it will benefit your business, download our free eBook: The Better Path to Top-Tier Tech Marketing.

Debbie MacKenzie is a 1991 graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) where she majored in graphic arts production management. Deb cut her professional teeth managing production and customer relations at major printing companies before coming to Schubert b2b 14 years ago. Debbie’s a versatile big hitter overseeing all things financial and operational.