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As the world acclimates to a post-pandemic lifestyle, many professionals who once spent their workdays in corporate offices will continue to work remotely/And that has posed a new challenge in targeting B2B decision-makers.

Marketers must now expand their thinking beyond where their audiences "should be" to reach them where they actually are. That means targeting them as they engage in consumer-driven activities during their workday.

Humanizing Your Audience

Historically, marketers have employed B2B audience tactics that assume decision-makers will be in the office: geofencing the workplace or using contextual or direct ad buys on sites specific to job function.

Imagine you're marketing financial services software, and you want to reach financial advisers. Typically, you might place ads in the Wall Street Journal or The Economist in hopes of reaching decision-makers at brokerage firms.

From a content perspective or an overall media mix perspective, that strategy can be successful. However, for every "broker" you reach, you will also likely be reaching MBA students, day traders, and retirees who also read those publications.

Marketers don't need to be serving ads in job-related content all the time to engage with the right people. Yes, do keep it as a part of your advertising strategy, but consider what percentage of your day you spend looking at content specific to your job function. When I go home at the end of the day, or if my office happens to be my home, I am still a consumer. I browse travel sites, shop on Amazon, and check the news, among other non-work-related pastimes.

From Title to Household

Title targeting is often synonymous with LinkedIn marketing. Although B2B professionals might be active on LinkedIn, few are likely to be checking the site all the time (unless they are job hunting).

Title targeting can encompass more than just searching for someone's job role on LinkedIn. It is also a suitable strategy for efficiently reaching your target audience across household devices. Targeting a household where the CEO lives provides marketers with better access and scale than traditional LinkedIn or direct buying methods.

Let's take it back to the financial services example: If you are able to identify the household where the broker lives, you open the door to a vast world of content that person is consuming. The broker may be planning a family trip; therefore, advertising your software on travel sites would provide a touchpoint.

That tactic extends to many other high-impact channels on which you can reach professionals, such as the streaming services they watch via connected TV. Using household ownership and behavioral profiles based on predictive modeling, you can also identify and target other similar professionals.

Some companies in certain industries have specific sites or channels blocked or restricted. For example, government officials or IT security professionals might have limited access to YouTube, Facebook, or even general Web browsing. In such instances, the only way you can interact with those audiences at scale is via high-impact messaging at the household level.

The Mindset Shift: Whom Should I Actually Target?

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Think Outside the Office: Reach B2B Decision-Makers at Home

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Michael Skladony

Mike Skladony is the general manager of consumer services at Semcasting, a provider of privacy-safe data solutions, including identity resolution, audience design, and attribution.

LinkedIn: Mike Skladony