Grow your B2B brand through popular media – that’s where the decision-makers are

An ad in a tabloid will capture the attention of more B2B decision-makers than one in niche media – while also building widespread brand awareness. Don’t shy away from popular media with your B2B advertising, say Sanoma’s experts. 

’Be where your audience is’ is a given, but when it comes to locating B2B decision-makers, many marketers seem to draw a blank. 

”Throughout my career, I’ve heard it said over and over again that B2B decision-makers are a mysterious bunch; we don’t know who they are and it’s difficult and expensive to find out,” says Sanoma’s Insight and Research Specialist Sari Kärki. 

The truth is, B2B decision-makers are people with work and personal lives that intersect. They are consumers and media users like the rest of us. 

“It’s easy to go for business or industry-related publication with a narrow audience but given the way we all use media these days, I find this slightly old-fashioned,” says Client Manager Sebastian Wikman. 

A popular tabloid reaches 66 per cent of decision-makers weekly 

Sanoma asked those in B2B decision-making positions to reflect on their media use in the past week. The results: the tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reaches 66 per cent of all decision-makers weekly, while the financial news outlet Kauppalehti reaches 30 per cent. 

Regional differences are characteristic of the Finnish business and industry landscape, but Sanoma’s media have a strong reach among decision-makers across the country. 

Around 50 per cent of decision-makers nationwide said they visited the Helsingin Sanomat website in the past week, despite it being a news service with an emphasis on the Helsinki metropolitan area. In the top 15 of media used by the target group, Helsingin Sanomat took sixth place. 

 “I can confidently say that Helsingin Sanomat reaches a B2B decision-maker more effectively than it does an average Finnish consumer. The financial and technology section Visio adds to the attraction,” Kärki states. 

Your Sanoma contact can tell you more about our research on B2B decision-making and buying processes. Give us a call!

”You can’t grow a brand by advertising to a handful of people” 

When building brand awareness or launching a new product, there’s power in the masses. 

“Let’s say you advertise on a niche platform with 100 readers in your target group and half of them react to your advertising. Compare that to a larger publication that reaches 1 000 decision-makers, 20 per cent of whom react,” Kärki illustrates. 

Not every contact you make through mass media is immediately relevant. Kärki and Wikman wish more B2B companies would recognise the benefits of broader brand awareness instead of aiming for zero irrelevant contacts. 

“Not every TV viewer is the right match for every B2C advertiser, but TV campaigns are still incredibly effective. Similarly, not all readers of Ilta-Sanomat are business decision-makers, but you can’t grow a brand by advertising to a handful of people,” Kärki points out. 

When your marketing goals do require more specific targeting, Sanoma uses first-party data to target and model the right audience according to age, income level and industry as well as company size and turnover. 

Modern decision-making happens in multiple channels 

The number of media and apps we use keeps growing. So does the amount of research B2B decision-makers do before a reaching decision, Sanoma’s data shows. 

Acquisition processes in large companies often require detailed information, but the smaller the company is, the more consumer-like their decision-making becomes. This could mean an enhanced role of social media. 

“Finland has a massive number of small businesses, and even the clients who need a white paper may first spot you through another channel entirely. A modern decision-maker uses media in a modern and multichannel way,” says Sari Kärki. 

Read more: Inspiring B2B brands stimulate and entertain 

Don’t overlook women and future leaders 

So, who are the B2B decision-makers? Here’s another answer to the age-old dilemma: not all of them are men in the 55+ age category. 

Instead of sticking to strictly business-related media, take a closer look at the different demographics within your target group and tap into their media use outside of work. 

“We can compare the readership of any publication with the characteristics of your target group. A magazine such as Gloria, for example, has a reader profile that overlaps nicely with the profile of a female decision-maker,” Kärki says. 

Again, the media use of the younger generation of leaders is far from what we might expect from a B2B decision-maker. Reaching them requires the courage to broaden your media choices. This also ties into the question of brand longevity. 

“Who are the future decision-makers you will need to convince in a decade? How can you create a long-lasting brand impression ahead of time?” Wikman asks.