In the interview with Omid Rahimi, Managing Director of eMinded GmbH
eMinded, based in Munich, supports companies in all relevant disciplines of online marketing. For the provider's campaigns, the focus for customers is primarily on cost-effectiveness and the desired results. The results of recent years speak for themselves. For several hundred customers, the company developed successful, individually tailored strategies for digital marketing solutions, aligned with their respective business models. In an interview with eMinded Managing Director Omid Rahimi, we discuss digital lead generation, digital market development, and how far these topics have already penetrated digital marketing in the B2B sector.
DIGITAL FUTUREMag: Mr. Rahimi, the dynamics in online marketing seem to increase every week. Google has more than 1,000 updates per year. Is it even feasible for marketing departments to keep up with online marketing measures on their own, or is reliance on agencies already inevitable at this point?
Omid Rahimi: I don’t see any dependency on agencies yet, and that’s a good thing. After all, the decision to work with an agency shouldn’t be made out of necessity. Fundamentally, it’s still possible to address all online marketing challenges internally. However, this requires multiple specialists, which is why, in my view, collaborating with an agency—managed by an internal contact—is significantly more efficient.
DIGITAL FUTUREMag: Digital lead generation is at the heart of your work. What exactly does that entail?
Omid Rahimi: Our mission is to free sales organizations from cold calling. We define “digital lead generation” as leads generated from all digital activities of a company. This can include classic online marketing channels like search engine optimization and search engine advertising. But content marketing, combined with marketing automation, is also a major driver—especially in the B2B space.
DIGITAL FUTUREMag: Does this also cover all social media? And if so, how are they integrated?
Omid Rahimi: Social media actually plays a central role in digital lead generation. This is due to the flexibility of the platforms. By sharing organic content or user-focused content with concrete added value, you can build trust with future customers. In addition, ads or (web) banners offer excellent opportunities to initiate contacts or collect contact information from interested parties.
DIGITAL FUTUREMag:You are referring here to digital market development. How does digital market development differ from conventional methods, and what does it entail?
Omid Rahimi: The key difference is that it takes place in the digital world and can be scaled much more efficiently through automation. This allows you to reach a different target audience as well as contacts already known from the real world. Ideally, you combine online and offline activities so that the maximum pressure is exerted in market conquest.
DIGITAL FUTUREMag:Could you briefly outline the three most important steps when starting a new project? What should be particularly considered at the start of the project?
Omid Rahimi: In the first step, we focus on illuminating the company and ask ourselves the following questions: How should the company position itself online? Who are the buyer personas, i.e., typical representatives of its own target customer group? Which channel mix makes sense? In step two, we deal with various analyses and research. After that, the concept for digital lead generation begins.
DIGITAL FUTUREMag:It is no longer just the B2C sector with its private end consumers that is being addressed through online marketing strategies. The focus is now also on the business-to-business sector. How do the strategies differ?
Omid Rahimi: In B2B, the purchasing decision-making process is generally much longer than in B2C. This means that the future customer is ideally engaged across multiple channels over a longer period. In addition, in the B2B sector, several people are often involved in the decision, which is why content should be produced for all levels.
DIGITAL FUTUREMag:At the upcoming DIGITAL FUTUREcongress (DFC) on 17.09. in Munich, you will be giving a presentation on stage 1 on the topic of online marketing. What will it be about, and what can visitors look forward to discussing with you at the event?
Omid Rahimi: The title of my presentation, "Nie wieder Kaltakquise" ("No more cold calling"), is deliberately provocative and is meant to grab attention. I want to show how sales organizations can become more efficient in acquiring new customers with an intelligent digital strategy. I won’t reveal any more than that for now.
DIGITAL FUTUREMag:We are also very excited and look forward to your contribution at the DFC.