But with major business events being cancelled or postponed, the huge impact that coronavirus is having on demand-gen marketers, their companies and the economy is clear for all to see – venues, organisers, sponsors and attendees are all losing out.
This situation is expected to continue for many weeks at the very least, meaning that marketers are having to consider other options to keep the marketing funnel topped up, the sales teams supplied with leads and the business moving forward.
In the absence of live events, demand gen marketers will need to get creative to match the kind of in-person engagement that can be achieved at them.
What options are available? As a recent eMarketer study showed, email is still the number one channel for driving engagement, and the number two channel for driving conversions, together with phone.
Alongside these, eMarketer also suggests direct mail – the old-fashioned kind. This might sound appealing for those organisations whose GDPR legal counsel has chosen to avoid email marketing. However, as more and more companies are moving to home working, you might find your expensive direct mail languishing in an empty office for the next few weeks or months.
Virtual events are also going to be used increasingly by marketers to replace in-person ones, but getting attendees to join such events requires access to a contacts list of suitable candidates.
So which channel follows people wherever they work? Which channel is the number one channel for engagement, and number two for conversions? Yes, email.
And how can you obtain a GDPR-compliant contacts list (with emails) of decision-makers, influencers and users of your technology at companies matching your ideal customer profile? By accessing NetFinder+, Rhetorik’s international market, account and contact intelligence platform.
Click here to learn more.
