In B2B (business-to-business) marketing, one business is marketing the products or the services to other organizations/businesses instead of marketing to individual consumers. Therefore, B2B businesses have to handle their target customers and have to build their marketing strategy differently. ROI (Return of Investment) is the primary factor that is considered by businesses/organizations when making purchase decisions. On the other hand, the buying committees oftentimes have multiple stakeholders these days. Therefore, it is not easy to develop B2B marketing strategies. An effective marketing strategy has to be carefully planned, executed and managed. The following tips help you in this regard.
Business-to-Business work is about building a brand from the inside out. The brand message that we communicate to our clients’ business constituents is often the same message that is carried through to the consumers in the marketplace.
You cannot build an effective B2B marketing guide 2020 if you have not collected insights regarding the target audience or if you do not have the correct marketing framework. The first step to building an effective marketing guide is to understand the journey of B2B buyers.
The digital transformation over the past two decades has changed the way B2B buyers search for the vendors or find them. The number of principal buyers was one in traditional B2B sales. The sales representatives used to make cold calls to the potential buyers and the business was conducted via face-to-face meetings. However, these strategies are not as productive as yesteryears due to the following reasons.
The new-age B2B buyers want the same level of service and customer experience as the consumers of B2C businesses. Hence, B2B businesses have to treat their customers as individual consumers living within the digital space.
To become successful, B2B businesses have to create a special digital experience for the target audience that is supposed to guide them through different stages of a buyer’s journey.
STDC (See-Think-Do-Care) model is considered to be an effective marketing framework for all types of businesses. It has two basic rules.
Modern B2B businesses have to follow the aforementioned rules of STDC model to build a successful marketing framework. This model is made of the following audience-intent clusters.
A B2B business may notice a transformation in the way it markets to or communicates with the target-audience after following the STDC model. It is considered to be the most effective framework when developing a marketing strategy for any business including the B2B businesses.
B2B customers have to complete the following tasks through their journey.
B2B businesses have to create a customer experience which enables the target audience to easily perform the aforementioned tasks and guides them through the buyer’s stages. A successful B2B marketing plan is supposed to have the three following components.
The last three tasks that B2B buyers have to perform can be solved through lead-generation strategies.
Using ‘loyalty loop’ marketing strategies one-time customers can be converted into repeat customers.
You have to understand the most effective marketing channels for demand generation, lead generation and retention in order to correctly devise the marketing strategy for B2B businesses. Developing a professional website is the primary step to building an effective marketing strategy, as the business website is the most useful marketing asset of any business.
A recent market study revealed the following facts
It is also evident that users are less likely (around 88%) to revisit a website after having one dissatisfactory experience. Hence, a website plays an important role at each stage of a buyer’s journey. A website is supposed to have the following five components in order to generate B2B sales and leads alongside having the relevant, updated and engaging content for marketing.
Around 40% of users will abandon a webpage if the loading time is more than 3 seconds
No consumer wants to browse an unsecured website.
It is essential to purchase an SSL certificate in order to have an HTTPS website, as it attests to a website’s security.
More than 60% of online traffic comes from mobile devices.
80% of B2B buyers use mobile devices at work.
More than 90% of the B2B buyers will repurchase from the vendors with mobile-friendly websites.
In topmost B2B organizations, mobile devices influence more than 40% of the revenue on average.
Around 70% of the searches pertaining to B2B happens through mobile phones
A business website works as the virtual sales representative of an organization.
Around 44% of the B2B marketers prefer to view the contact information right after entering a website.
To attract and retain B2B customers, it is essential for a website to feature clear CTA texts, winsome contact forms and trust-building components (testimonials, affiliations or awards).
Around 37% of the B2B buyers will leave a website due to subpar web-design or poor navigation.
Around 46% of the buyers will leave a website because it does not clearly define what a company does.
Will B2B buyers find your company if they put your industry’s frequent search queries into a search engine? Your website only works when it is seen by potential prospects and leads. Most people find websites by using search engines.
You can represent your business as the provider of the best solution to the potential B2B marketers through ‘demand generation’ marketing.
The following strategies have been proven to work best for demand generation.
Therefore, content marketing plays an important role in demand generation and 91% of the B2B marketers are using different types of content to accomplish this goal.
However, it is important to create a piece of content that helps the present and future customers from the start to finish of the buying journey. This type of content is known as ‘Buyer Enablement’ content. A marketer can create this type of content after –
At present, only 20% content on all B2B websites can be labelled as the ‘Buyer Enablement’ content. The following types of content can be used as the ‘Buyer Enablement’ content.
Proper distribution of the video is as important as developing or uploading them. You may use PPC ads or social media ads to distribute marketing videos.
In the world of B2B, your professional network is everything. Because your business is about business, the potential of who you know and who they know is where powerful connections happen.
In ‘See-Think-Do-Care’ model, the ‘demand generation’ is at ‘See’ stage. At this stage, the buyers are made aware of the products or services of a particular brand. You can encourage potential buyers to move through the ‘Think’ and ‘Do’ stages using lead generation strategies. The following marketing strategies may be used for the B2B lead generation.
When creating content for B2B buyers, it is important to create comprehensible and short pieces of content.
It is not enough to get a new customer or client. It is equally important to win a client’s or customer’s heart, as selling to an existing customer is more profitable in comparison to a new customer. It is possible to accomplish the following goals through customer retention and recovery strategy.
The following strategies can help you achieve this goal.
The following five types of content may be used when developing a marketing strategy for the retention and recovery of clients.
You are ready to execute a marketing strategy once you have created plans for demand generation, lead generation and retention/recovery. Successful execution of a marketing strategy is equally important, as one mistake may ruin the customer-experience leading to complete debacle. You may successfully implement the B2B marketing plan following these five steps.
Using digital competitive analysis, it is possible to identify a website’s strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats from the aspect of digital marketing. You can also identify the actionable insights that you can use to remain ahead of the competition.
However, it is important to choose the correct metrics when developing/modifying a digital marketing strategy. You may benefit from using the following KPIs.
Developing a productive marketing strategy for any-sized business including the B2B business is challenging. Nonetheless, digital marketing professionals are well-versed in the methods that are used to create custom and productive marketing strategies for different businesses. However, this B2B marketing guide may start you on the right track when developing a marketing strategy for your business.
