B-2-B not just boring business to boring business anymore

An interesting article about b-2-b marketing – read the full story here. 

"Times change. The b-to-b sector accounts for over 50% of the U.S. gross domestic product."

 “B-to-b often got kicked around as the poor stepchild of consumer advertising. While exceptions abound, the stereotype was always that b-to-b marketing was boring. B-to-b companies did little TV advertising and spent most of their media dollars on trade publications. You had industrial companies selling boring products to other boring companies. All that anyone cared about was price and product features.

As a category, b-to-b makes a huge contribution to the economy, job creation and innovation. Now marketers are just as likely to engage with business customers on personal channels like Facebook and blogs as we are to engage with them in trade publications.

Today, no one would call b-to-b anybody's stepchild. With the explosion of social and content platforms, most consumer and b-to-b companies have access to the same communications channels and can compete on an equal footing. 

… the convergence of consumer and b-to-b creates exciting opportunities for both clients and agencies who want to break out of old marketing habits."