Should businesses selling B2B adopt a digital marketing strategy or stick to traditional ways?
Gary Vaynerchuk declared that traditional advertising no longer has a place today. He brashly states that “those are commercials that no one gives a shit about”. Gary Vaynerchuk believes that capital and effort put into radio advertisements and traditional commercials can be reinvested into hiring a team to handle social media outlets such as Twitter.
You may think I am biased here because I am running a B2B digital marketing agency. However, I believe going digital is the way forward, even for B2B businesses.
Comparison: Digital Marketing Versus Traditional Marketing
MediaCorp Rates
In corporate boardrooms all across the world, marketing executives look at their marketing budgets and ask how many people actually watched the TV commercial.
There’s the high cost of production involved when producing a television commercial. First, you have to hire a video production agency starting at $2500 to shoot your commercial, and then you have to purchase the $6,088 dollars spot (Mediacorp rates as of Feb 2025).
Flyers and Physical Mail
Physical marketing collateral such as flyers in B2B contexts requires strategic reconsideration. Here are some flyers I received in my house. Yes, it’s a ‘B2C’ flyer, however, I’d like to point out that I didn’t find them persuasive despite being well printed.
Strengths:
- Brand Experience: Imagine receiving a piece of direct mail that feels personal and tangible—70% of people will engage with a brand online after such an experience.
- Precision Targeting: Your distribution can focus on specific business districts, office complexes, or industry clusters where target accounts are concentrated
In the B2B space, direct mail campaigns can drive purchases five times larger than email campaigns alone. Combining email with direct mail can boost purchases six times more than just email.
Limitations:
- ROI Challenges: Premium production and distribution costs may not yield adequate returns
- Gatekeeping Issues: Your materials may frequently fail to reach intended decision makers due to administrative filtering
The Benefits of Digital Marketing VS Traditional Advertising
- It’s Measure-able
Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing is measurable. This means you can identify what is working, do more of it, and stop wasting time on campaigns that don’t work.
Traditional marketing offers limited tracking through surveys and coupon codes, whereas digital marketing provides comprehensive analytics via tools like Google Analytics.
There are many variables you can test and control with digital marketing. You can A/B test marketing headlines on your landing page. You can also adjust the budget of your advertisements. You can make changes instantaneously. You can test different copy each month.
You can’t do this with mainstream marketing channels such as television or radio.
Secondly, you don’t have to worry about hiring actors and video directors. You don’t have to worry about the upfront costs of an ad that you’re going to spend thousands of dollars on.
No Money to Go TV or Radio? No Problem!
Take a look at an example of a mid size law firm that wants to expand its practice in the heartlands of Singapore as compared to Allen & Gledhill, a big brand that has the firepower to purchase media space from Mediacorp.
Allen & Gledhill may not be able to leverage social media and the internet because of bureaucracy and corporate structure. They are a huge firm with hundreds of staff it may be their interest to present a professional and branded image of the company to the public.
Yet, a smaller to mid size firm run simple Google advertisement ads through pay per click and retarget it on Facebook. Its site can be differentiated by being more personalized than Allen & Gledhill as it doesn’t have to care as much about brand image or corporate structure.
Not to mention the great ROI, studies demonstrate that email marketing gives a 40 times ROI.
Singaporean Has Gone Digital – So Should Businesses
Singaporeans today are more likely to use smartphones than computers to browse the internet. Half of Singaporeans go online to compare choices before making a purchase. Studies also show that Singaporeans frequently research online and purchase offline.
Singapore boasts the highest smartphone adoption in the world at 85 percent. Singaporeans use an average of 3.3 electronic devices daily, one of the highest rates globally.
Yes, you can sell B2B through digital marketing. If you haven’t noticed, I am running a law firm marketing agency successfully selling B2B using online marketing!
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Facebook
Facebook is the most popular social media platform in Singapore. There are approximately 4.2 million Facebook users in Singapore in October 2018, accounting for 64.6% of the population. That’s more than half of the population in Singapore.
Through Facebook marketing, you’re able to slice and dice demographics according to age, race, gender, likes and dislikes. Facebook marketing strategies have the ability to target laser-targeted audiences as well.
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Instagram
There are 3.5 million Instagram users in Singapore. Instagram is the bedrock of many influencers, building an audience for themselves.
There are also upsides and leverage to influencer marketing done right. This is also applicable to “boring” B2B businesses. You can leverage the social proof generated from influencer marketing and then re-run the same advertisement to cold traffic on the Facebook marketing platform.
Marketers do this to create a lollapalooza effect with buzz, likes, and comments generated from influencer marketing. Social proof is one of the key pillars of persuasion as cited by Robert Cialdini, and it’s extremely powerful as a marketing tool
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Google and Youtube
Google owns more than 95% market share in the Singapore search engine market. They also own Youtube. Market research shows that Singaporeans watch YouTube videos to be entertained, educated or inspired. They often watch while traveling and commuting. Small and medium enterprises in Singapore can capitalize on this by creating educational and entertaining content.
As of early 2024, YouTube’s advertising reach in Singapore was approximately 5.13 million users, equating to 85% of the country’s total population.
Digital Marketing Strategy for B2B Lead Generation
The audience size on Facebook and Google advertising platforms is scalable. You can go broad and target all of Singapore on these platforms.
Online Marketing Systems are Scalable
Online marketing offers scalability and efficiency, reaching a wider audience in less time and with fewer resources than traditional methods. It can also be measured based on inputs (cash) and outputs (leads). This makes scaling easier.
Your leads can be prequalified through forms. Leads that fill up forms or book a call with you are already somewhat qualified. This data captured is re-marketable through SMS and email marketing.
Highly Relevant Topics
Online content, blog posts and videos allow you to focus on topics that address common questions or challenges faced by your audience. Through distributing high-quality content online, you can establish yourself as an authority in the industry.
Your brand can stand out through cases studies, compelling visuals, images, and videography. Showcase testimonials and success stories from satisfied clients.
Educated clients trust your advice and perceive you as the go-to expert in the field.
Online Content Can be Repurposed
One stone to kill many birds? Yes.
Content creation and distribution can reach hundreds of interested audience at once, making it more time-effective than traditional marketing. You can repurpose organic content as paid advertising content pieces.
Re-Marketing Through Email Marketing and SMS Follow Ups
You can create lead magnets – valuable resources offered in exchange for contact information to help grow your email or SMS database.
Develop guides, checklists, or pocket guides that provide value to potential clients. Promote them through opt-in pages on your online platforms and drive paid traffic to these assets.
Email marketing and SMS follow-ups through data capture on landing pages nurture leads effectively over time.
Broadcast valuable information through email marketing or SMS marketing to nurture potential customers. Monitor open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to further refine your campaigns.
Best Traffic Channels for B2B Lead Generation
Our digital marketing team has generated millions of revenue from Meta platforms including B2B sales. Let’s not complicate traffic channels and focus on these two for real estate lead generation.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Advertising
Our team has successfully generated B2B leads on Facebook.
Meta’s targeting based on demographics and behaviors like recent website visits and interaction with related real estate content is unbeatable. Their targeting includes life events such as engagements or moving, which are powerful indicators of a need to buy or sell property.
Meta’s ability to retarget users enables you to re-engage with people who have shown interest but have not yet taken action, keeping your brand top-of-mind and increasing the likelihood of a highly qualified lead.
Needless to say, Meta’s accuracy in advertising is uncannily precise.
(SEM) Pay Per Click Advertising
With Google Ads, you only pay when interested prospects click your ad—ensuring every dollar works harder than broad radio spots or expensive TV commercials. For Singaporean B2B companies with limited budgets, this approach delivers remarkable efficiency:
- Keyword Targeting: Capture attention at the exact moment potential clients search for your services
- Instant Visibility: Appear at the top of search results immediately, unlike organic SEO which takes months
- Budget Control: Set daily limits that align with your cashflow—start with $20/day and scale based on results
A mid-size accounting firm in Singapore might spend $3,000 monthly on Google Ads compared to traditional TV or radio spots costing minimally $6,000.
Traditional SEO and Local SEO
I do not recommend traditional SEO for most businesses unless you are already at a certain revenue level. However, for B2B services targeting Singaporean companies, local SEO is non-negotiable. Your company’s website can show for B2B-specific keywords when businesses search for vendors:
- “Steel bar supplier Singapore”
- “Stainless steel pipes Singapore”
YouTube Organic and Paid Marketing
You can create high-quality video content that educates potential buyers on investment opportunities and market trends, establishing your authority in the industry. Yes, there are B2B companies already doing this!
YouTube’s advertising platform offers a cost-per-view pricing model, where you only pay when viewers watch the ad for at least 30 seconds, ensuring your budget is spent on genuinely interested users. YouTube ads remain significantly more cost-effective than Meta advertising today.
Conclusion
There is nothing to say you can’t cross promote in both digital and traditional channels. Traditional advertising is not entirely dead, but the question isn’t whether B2B businesses should go digital, but how quickly you can make the shift.
Singaporeans are deeply embedded in digital lifestyles. Going online also offers what traditional never could: precise measurement, quick optimization and scalable lead generation systems.
Through Meta’s precision targeting, Google’s pay-per-click efficiency and YouTube’s reach and engagement, digital channels can deliver qualified B2B leads at a fraction of traditional media costs.