BtoBlog: Marketing strategies, tactics and insight

At Makino, our fiscal year ends in March, but so many of the media representatives, magazine publishers and websites are pushing for contracts for the full year. I am just not ready to commit. I am in the midst of a substantial review of performance and ROI of a variety of tactics and media outlets.

I am confident that my budget will actually increase slightly in the upcoming fiscal year, but I want to ensure I am spending those dollars wisely and efficiently. Industrial production and manufacturing activity are strong right now. The buyers are extremely active in all of our major markets: automotive, aerospace, dies and molds, medical, construction and mining and so on. Perhaps my reluctance to pull the trigger is a nagging sense of uncertainty about what to spend and where I can truly, effectively influence these folks and generate more opportunities. What is working best now will help determine where I invest next year.

Furthermore, my agency and I are aggressively challenging our media partners for unique proposals that will help me increase my market share at the expense of my competition. We are looking for new, creative ways to reach their readers and provide me with a degree of exclusivity. I am willing to invest in those partners who will deliver some new proposals to help me reach my targets. If they are willing to define some new approaches that provide me with a head start and market advantage, I will gladly experiment.

So, in your planning for this year, are your budgets increasing, decreasing or staying the same? Are you shifting tactics, or experimenting with new ones?