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

Joann Sciarrino, Jim Friedman, William Todd Kirk, Carole Anne Mayers and John J. Prudente
Additional contact information
Joann Sciarrino: Nelson Center for Brand and Demand Analytics, Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, USA
Jim Friedman: Marketing Attribution Partners, USA
William Todd Kirk: Middlegame Marketing Sciences LLC, USA
John J. Prudente: Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, USA

Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing, 2025, vol. 12, issue 4, 325-347

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: marketing mix modelling; marketing effectiveness; hierarchical Bayesian marketing modelling; business to business marketing effectiveness; advertising effectiveness; media mix modelling; salesperson as media channel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hstalks.com/article/9102/download/ (application/pdf)
https://hstalks.com/article/9102/ (text/html)
Requires a paid subscription for full access.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:jdsmm0:y:2025:v:12:i:4:p:325-347

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing from Henry Stewart Publications
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Henry Stewart Talks ().