Research results bring positive vibe for B2B dotcom revival

Research released by the Association of
Online Publishers last week suggests that business decision makers
regard B2B websites as the most useful media source for finding
work related information, ahead of print business publications, national
and regional newspapers, and web portals.

While signalling a huge
opportunity for online B2B, this dotcom revival paints an uncertain
future for print publications, which have to contend with shifting
revenue streams as more and more users choose to log on to the web.

Too
good

After several months spent interviewing business decision makers,
the AOP research team can say with authority that 83% of users have
taken action of some kind upon seeing an online advert on a B2B site.

And
it doesn't end there – the research also suggests that 63% of users see
B2B websites as a modern environment for a company to advertise and an
impressive 54% have purchased a product as a result of seeing an advert
on a B2B website.

Nick
King, head of digital research at
Diffiniti, part of Carat Interactive, believes the research to be
methodologically sound, but feels the results may in fact be too good.
"The only one downer is that there are no negatives there," King says.
"I have been in research allmy life. You can never have just positive
results – there has to be some negatives. There must be some. I would
prefer it if they said this is not so good or it does this wrong."

AOP
director Alexandra White argues that the positive vibe is down to it
being the first piece of research that has looked at the impact of
advertising on B2B websites.

"The results seem surprising because it is the first time we have actually found anything like this," says White.

"We're
not saying 83%have actually bought a product as a result of seeing
these ads. What we are saying is that online ads are effective because
people are taking action in some way or another."

Whatever way
you look at it, the results strongly suggest those B2B publishers who
have yet to embrace online advertising opportunities had better get on
and do so.

But as Newton taught us, for every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction, and some industry figures fear a surge in
online advertising could spell uncertain times ahead for print editions
that now have to contend with drifting revenue streams.

With
thousands of titles covering everything from catering to construction,
B2B is already busy, and in some cases a saturated marketplace, and not
everyone is convinced there will be enough ad pounds to go round.

Bob Morrell,
director of Reality Media, has witnessed several mag-to-web flops over
the course of his career. "I saw a lot of B2B online failures back in
the days when it was assumed that if you reproduced your magazine
online then that would be successful – which is totally wrong."

Before
bombarding advertisers with their online advertising options, Morrell
cautions B2B publishers to first step back and re-examine what it is
they have to offer and if necessary go back to the drawing board.

"Some
companies think what you need to do is put an online search and
selection option for your industry and then they will sell the supplier
ads and enhanced listings to appear on it.

But of course that is
going to affect the print edition because initially what magazines were
there for was to explain about products and services and get the
readers' interest up and going," says Morrell.

Arguing that a
B2B magazine should remain as an important source of industry
information, Morrell adds: "You have got to be careful if you are going
to launch a complementary product – it could actually spell the death
of your magazine.

"The moment you start making it easier and quicker for people to get the information they need, you damage your core product."

Weekly
review

Nick Suckley, managing director ofMedia.com and head of the
online team, doesn't believe the growth of internet advertising will
bring about the death of print any time soon.

Recognising that
more and more people are using magazines more as a weekly review and
the web as a searching database, Suckley adds: "There is a risk that
magazine money is diverting into the web but it is going to a lot of
the traditional publishers anyway."

James Burckhardt, one of the
AOP's research committee members and marketing services manager at B2B
publisher VNU, argues that the development of B2B online offers a
significant opportunity for publishers rather than threatening core
brands.

"B2B publishers and media owners who actively develop
their website offering are likely to see higher levels of loyalty and
interaction with their brands – the only danger is if traditional
publishers don't develop their brands across multiple platforms,"
Burckhardt says.

Jools Ellis, account manager at Jelly Bean
Solutions, an integrated marketing agency that deals with B2B catering
titles, says that while she has seen a surge in online offerings, she
has yet to see a massive uptake in online advertising.

"The
immediacy of online is its big appeal, and we get a lot of requests for
banners that clients go for when they have something to offer," says
Ellis.

She adds that while she is anticipating online to feature
more on media schedules, she doesn't see her clients choosing it over
print just yet: "I don't think the likes of a chef at the Dog and Duck
in Brighton would be all that comfortable hanging their hat with just
online."

Diffiniti's King concurs: "We have big trouble persuading our big FMCG and blue chip brands about the validity of online."

However,
Ben Reynolds group account manager at Starcom says that in the past 18
months he has seen a noticeable shift over to online.

Reynolds
explains that his B2B finance clients have had a change in attitude
from being slightly sceptical to asking how to make it even more
efficient for business results.

"We've done both branding and
direct response, but the majority has been direct response and it has
proven to be very efficient," says Reynolds.

As Ellis and
Reynolds illustrate, a prevalent mode of thinking within the
advertising and agency community is that online advertising is best
suited to direct response campaigns rather than branding.

Typical
viewpoint

Ross Sturley, marketing director at Emap Construct and who was
also on the AOP's research committee , agrees that this is a typical
viewpoint from the agency and marketing community.

"It's because
they haven't seen it proven yet, but here is a piece of research which
shows that advertising on websites can deliver similar branding effect
that other media can," Sturley says.

White at AOP agrees that an
increasing number of agencies are keen to show that online is not just
about direct response, but also about building brands, and believes
that the research will prove that.

VNU's
Burckhardt hopes that
the research will serve to enhance the credibility of B2B websites. "I
hope it will serve to dispel some of the misconceptions about B2B being
just a nice additional thing to put into the media mix. I think this
research is saying that online advertising is a critical part of the
media mix."

Emap's
Sturley agrees: "People need to realise that B2B is different to
consumer and that users have different relationships. It's also not
just about click-through. Good B2B websites can deliver really good
results on branding campaigns, just as they can direct response."

Starcom's
Reynolds predicts that in coming years most trade titles will see their
business move online and will have to adapt to a more internet savvy
business audience: "I can imagine traditional circulations will
probably remain constant, but the actual worth will be less, especially
with direct response."

Where the focus needs to be placed at the moment, Reynolds argues, is with publishers.

"Advertisers
are moving more quickly than publishers – it doesn't take a lot of
money to do a test to learn that online can be very efficient. It takes
a long time for publishers to believe their business is changing. I
would like to see more B2B titles moving online and having a better
quality online offering."

As the AOP research demonstrates, B2B
audiences are already online and receptive to advertising on the
business websites they frequent – and advertisers are beginning to
recognise that fact. B2B websites may be competition to their print
counterparts, but online is going to become more important not less,
and B2B publishers need to meet the challenge head-on.

While some
B2B magazines may migrate entirely online, others will thrive as a
source for in-depth analysis and features that complements the online
product. Ignoring the web and hoping it goes away is not the answer.

Websites first port of call for specialist recruitment

Recruitment, once
the bread and butter of a B2B magazine, has been one of the first forms
of advertising to migrate online.

The growth of both specialist
and general online recruitment sites has increased rapidly in recent
years, meaning dedicated sites are often the first port of call for job
seekers and employers – above magazines and press.

Nick
Suckley, managing director of MediaCom's online division, says publishers
saw this coming and have already put their own defence mechanisms in
place.

"What they have done is build up their recruitment online
profiles and are using their magazines to direct people online for the
more up-to-date jobs, therefore keeping them within the publisher's
portfolio."

But while that is true for the likes of The Guardian, which has managed to convert its many jobs classifieds sections into
one massive jobs website, there are numerous standalone websites such as
Hotonline.co.uk and Jobsite.co.uk.