Artist Pablo Picasso was widely quoted as saying, “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” You can apply the same theory to your ad sales marketing.

Once tactics yield results for B2C companies, it’s not unusual for associations and B2B organizations to begin using the same measures. Digital marketing is a good example. Banner ads and e-newsletters are now common ways that associations and B2Bs promote their ad inventory to advertisers. Both ad sales techniques started out in consumer marketing.

Content marketing, digital video, and native advertising are newer digital tactics that B2C marketers are employing. Reports estimate that 86% of B2C marketers are using content marketing and that the tactic can generate 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing.

Despite obvious differences in audiences and goals, B2B organizations and association publishers can get results using these same tactics to reach potential advertisers.

Ad Sales and Content Marketing

What Is It? With content marketing, associations and companies offer information to advertisers about their industry, product, or service. The information they share is less about being promotional and more about educating or entertaining prospects.

Hubspot is an example of a B2B company that utilizes content marketing effectively. The company sells marketing automation software, but it reaches its audience by creating checklists, eBooks, and whitepapers about the marketing industry.

Tactics: Develop content that helps potential advertisers reach their audience more effectively and understand your publication’s readers better. Also, create content that is useful to advertisers in their work. Here are some examples:

• Produce a whitepaper with relevant information about your industry, and distribute it through email marketing.
• Hold a webinar for ad sales targets that addresses common questions or concerns about reaching professionals in your industry. Alternatively, teach advertisers how your audience makes purchases.
• Develop an e-newsletter informing advertisers about trends in your industry and ad sales opportunities.

Benefit: Regular content marketing can position your organization as a thought leader in your industry and keep you consistently in front of advertisers until they are ready to buy. Content marketing for ad sales can also be less expensive than traditional marketing.

Digital Video

What Is It? Digital video can fall under the content marketing umbrella. It continues to be a popular option for businesses looking to reach prospects online; in fact, nearly three-quarters of media buyers have increased their budgets for video, and our ad sales manager and sales reps are increasingly seeing more interest by associations and advertisers in this approach.

Tactic: Offer videos on your website that inform potential advertisers about your publication’s opportunities and value. Promote and distribute these videos in social media, in your emails, and in ad sales and marketing campaigns on mobile. Your videos can be:

• Case studies or testimonials on how advertising with your association helped a client.
• Product videos showcasing your available advertising inventory options and how each works best for particular goals.
• FAQ videos that answer common advertiser questions.
• Engaging presentations about your organization and audience. Consider an animated video like B2B marketers Signpost used in this video.

Benefit: Videos can market your ad sales in more ways and with greater impact than web or print copy alone. MyCustomer.com found that users are 27 times more likely to click through to an online video than they are to a standard banner ad.

Native Advertising

What Is It? Native ads mimic the content of the site where they are found. The similarity in design creates a less disruptive ad experience that is integrated into the site.

Research by eMarketer found that 73% of online publishers offer native advertising, including media sites like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. The ads are typically inthe form of articles posted within their editorial content but labeled as “sponsored.” SAP, Adobe, and GE are among the B2B brands currently using the platform.

Tactic: Research the type of sites your target audience visits as part of your advertising sales strategy. Then, partner with these sites to create content that will reach your prospective advertisers. Here are some examples:

• Use an in-ad feed. The website can design an editorial ad matching its own tone and style but marketing your ad sales opportunities.
• Ads in social network. Choose professional social networks that your audience uses.

Benefit: The click-through rates on native advertising can be considerably higher than traditional digital advertising methods. A Nielsen report saw an 82% lift in metrics like awareness and purchase intent among users.

Each of these ad sales and marketing tactics can offer value to an association or B2B company when implemented in the right way. AdBoom Advertising can help you create a plan to attract advertisers and increase revenue. If you want to get away with stealing (B2C marketing tactics), get in touch with our ad sales agency.