This interview is part of a Boardroom Insight article series exploring the marketing consulting landscape from the perspective of industry executives. Jennifer Stine is the president of full-service digital marketing agency Fortune Web Marketing and the co-founder of video production firm PhotombProductions.co. 

Boardroom Insight: What are some situations where a B2B company should consider doing a rebrand and what types of the return on investment can it provide? 

Jennifer Stine: When the industry landscape is clearly changing. There are many signs this is occurring. Some examples include, similar businesses are diversifying their product and service portfolio as too many offer the same thing, consolidation via mergers and acquisitions is occurring, or you are seeing a shift in traditional buyer personas. These signs, and more, mean your industry Is evolving and you also need to do so. It would clearly be time for a rebrand and to redefine your brand purpose and voice. What really sets you apart from your competitors and why should innovative, forward thinking organizations choose yours?

Boardroom Insight: In some rebranding projects, changing a company’s logo or brand name can be complicated because there’s a need to balance the expectations of many stakeholders. How does a marketing agency navigate such multi-stakeholder situations?

Jennifer Stine:  Form a committee. I cannot tell you how important this is. There is truth to the old adage “Too many cooks in the kitchen”. If an organization truly must have a multitude of people involved, then the committee is responsible for gathering all comments, feedback and ultimately approval. It completely muddies the waters when an agency has to deal with more than several people driving a rebrand project. As agency owners, it is our job to stress that having numerous people involved can complicate the process and extend the time of the project. Often when this happens, the outcome is far from the desirable result. Trust your peers, form a committee and streamline the process.

Boardroom Insight: What role can email marketing play in a B2B service company’s client acquisition strategy? 

Jennifer Stine: Email is extremely significant, but they key is to have a good CRM. Segmentation and inbound marketing is key. Blasting the same message to everyone will not help. Segment the audiences and create content that helps them log in their buyer journey.

Boardroom Insight: There are consultancies and other B2B companies that prioritize video marketing, but allocate only a limited portion of their marketing budget to this area. What are some steps  a firm in that situation can take to get the most out of its limited investment and balance cost-efficiency with results?  

Jennifer Stine: I feel like we talk about video marketing today like we spoke about the need to have a mobile friendly website years ago…Everyone knows they need to do it, but they do not want to make the investment. My advice is to make the investment – whether that is with time or money. Start small. Get a gimbal with a good iPhone and someone with a good eye and mindful of bad lighting. Get creative. If you have little or no budget, that does not mean you can’t do something. Should a firm invest in video marketing with a limited budget, opt for a larger quantity of shorter videos than longer ones. We call them micros and they are better for reels, social posts and simply better for the attention span of people nowadays. You do not need a full video production crew or gear for creating micros. 

Boardroom Insight: Microsoft has a growing ad business. When should a company, or a company’s marketing agency for that matter, consider making Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) a part of its ad strategy?  

Jennifer Stine: Some say there can be a significant price difference between Google and Microsoft ads, even upwards between 50-70%. While we have seen this to be true, it depends on the industry and the audience targets. We have felt in our agency for some time that commercial businesses do much better on Bing than Google, for a lower cost. If you are an SMB in the B2B space, Microsoft Ads could be right for you.

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