Valentine's Day Messaging Does Not Result in "Brand Love" According to B2B Marketing Study by ProspectCloud

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Feb 17, 2014, 02:58 ET

DALLAS, Feb. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Valentine's Day presents a viable commercial opportunity for florists, candy manufacturers, stationers and restaurants but businesses who sell products or services to other businesses should reconsider their marketing plan before next February rolls around.

"According to our recent study conducted via LinkedIn and email to 250,000 business executives at small and medium-sized businesses, Valentine's Day messaging does not always correlate with an increase in 'brand love,'" says Brad Segal, VP of Sales and Marketing at ProspectCloud. Business buyers are savvy and guard their time and checkbooks carefully. Potentially low-value messaging can be off putting, and out of alignment with complex sales cycles, especially without the support of a more meaningful, high-value lead nurture process.

"Even as an expression of customer appreciation, with a coupon or an incentive included in the communication, it seems that business consumers do not always appreciate Valentine's Day messaging from prospective vendors," Segal reports. More than before, he says, business to business marketers must be mindful of when and how they touch both potential and existing customers, and thoughtful of how and if that touch point adds value to the relationship.

ProspectCloud is a trusted provider of leading business data with access to 50 million direct contacts with email. Segal says his company helps clients define their buyer's table, and build highly-focused email lists of business decision makers for sales and marketing outreach, lead nurture and drip campaigns and they deliver extra value through thought leadership on communications strategy and best practices.

"Our clients spend an average of between $10,000 and $100,000 a year on email driven marketing and demand generation programs. They can't afford to lose potentially warm prospects over lack of perspective, or a simple error in judgment. As recipients of email marketing ourselves, we know that we receive Valentine's Day-themed offers for discounted office supplies, color printing, employee recruiting services and even discounted employee benefit plan audits. Heart health is evidently a big concern in February. So, we were curious. Do these B2B Valentine's Day campaigns work? The answer is pretty clearly: no. In fact, they might be cheapening your brand and costing you business."

ProspectCloud's best advice for email marketers with a B2B agenda is to refrain from trying to capitalize every holiday and to focus on building relationships and affinity with their prospects through more authentic communications that relate specifically to the recipients needs, challenges, and areas of responsibility.

"Understanding and genuinely caring about your prospective clients' and business partners' problems is the first step toward a mutually satisfying relationship. Offer appropriate and fitting solutions. Anticipate their needs. That's the course to true 'brand love,'" advises Segal. "It's not necessary to follow every trend or acknowledge every holiday with an email or a postcard. You don't want to needlessly add to your prospects' workload by filling their inbox. If you really care for them, give them more value than you ask for in return. Like any healthy courtship, give them space and do not smother."

Walking their talk about giving prospective clients room to breathe without a barrage of business messaging, Segal says ProspectCloud believes Facebook is a better forum for personal communication and the company limits social media to LinkedIn and Pinterest. Follow them there for more insights into email marketing and corporate communications.