Salespersons as media channel: Making marketing mix modelling work for business-to-business

In the realm of business-to-business (B2B) marketing, quantifying the impact of salespersons’ messages alongside traditional paid media has been a persistent challenge. Traditional marketing mix models (MMMs) often neglect the nuanced contributions of salespersons as a direct selling channel. This paper aims to fill this gap by developing an integrated method that incorporates sales, marketing activities, media spend and sales message types. Utilising a novel approach combining path analysis, seemingly unrelated regression and hierarchical Bayesian techniques, the research on which this paper is based investigates the direct and intermediate effects of sales and marketing investments. Data from a masked B2B organisation are analysed, focusing on three core business outcomes: dollar sales, participation, and close rate. The findings reveal significant insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of various marketing and sales initiatives. Salespersons’ messages, when quantified and included in the MMM, showed substantial contributions to business outcomes, highlighting their role as a crucial media channel. This integrated method provides a comprehensive framework for B2B marketers to optimise resource allocation and enhance marketing effectiveness.