B2B marketing describes the kind of marketing that targets other businesses. Unlike B2C companies that are focused on individual customers, the aim of a B2B company is to help businesses to reach more customers and grow as a brand.
Because of this, B2B marketing strategies have changed over the years. Businesses are now focused on creating connections with their customers and providing value. A critical element in creating these connections is to utilise marketing experts who have prior experience dealing with a businesses niche.
For example, B2B chemical manufacturers will see greater benefit from utilising the services of an agency that specialises in marketing for chemical companies. Using a company specialised in a given business niche reduces the onboarding time for a marketing campaign and allows agencies to use their expertise to better create content to connect them with prospective customers.
Many people think of outbound marketing strategies when they think of B2B marketing. For example, sending direct messages and emailing to correspond with your customers and persuade them to buy a product is an example of outbound marketing.
While this approach is still used today and has its place, it’s not the only effective marketing method.
Ask any marketing agencies specialized in SAAS and they will tell you to expand your marketing efforts and consider modern marketing techniques. They will tell you to consider the needs of your customers, instead of simply trying to sell as many products as possible.
Nowadays, customers are less responsive to direct outbound marketing methods. Many customers don’t enjoy the idea of being ‘sold to’ and they would prefer to do their own research when it comes to buying from a brand.
Because of this, B2B marketing strategies have changed over the years. Businesses are now focused on creating connections with their customers and providing value.
In this article, we are going to run through some of the main B2B marketing strategies to use. By using more than one of the strategies in combination with each other, you can stay ahead of your competition and maximize your success.
Marketing Research
Research is the backbone of any kind of marketing. As simple as it sounds, doing your research is one of the most important tactics to use when it comes to B2B marketing.
If you don’t perform in-depth research about your industry, your customers, and your competitors, you won’t know where to begin with your marketing campaigns. The aim of doing research is to define your baselines, upon which you can build an effective marketing strategy that attracts and retains the right customers.
Marketing research can take a long time but it’s an essential step in the process. It’s also an ongoing process and you will need to perform continuous research to stay above your competitors.
Professional Website
Your website is the main place where new customers will find you. Around 80% of customers look at a company’s website before making a purchase. It’s the main place where you can advertise all of your products and services to generate more leads and increase your sales.
Most customers form an immediate first impression about a brand based on its website. Therefore, it’s important that your website is professional and representative of your values as a brand.
Your website should have a clean and consistent design. It should be easy to navigate and should have a search option so that customers can easily find what they are looking for on your website.
Another important aspect of your website is responsiveness. It’s worth paying extra to use an efficient, high-quality website provider so your website loads quickly.
Customers don’t want to wait more than a few seconds for a site to load. You could lose a lot of potential customers if your site is slow and difficult to use.
Alongside your product and service pages, your website should have a range of articles or blogs for your customers to read. Your blogs provide entertainment and value to your customers, helping you to create a stronger, more trusting relationship with them.
Posting regular blog content is also the perfect way to get more eyes on your website. By optimizing the content using SEO techniques (which we talk more about below), you can boost your rankings on Google and appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs).
The more eyes that are on your website, the more sales you can generate, and the more success you will have as a B2B company.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO refers to using targeted keywords and phrases in your online content to increase your website’s visibility. Usually, these keywords and phrases are industry-specific and niche-specific terms that your audience will be typing into online search engines.
The idea behind SEO is to increase the chances of your website appearing at the top of SERPs when a customer does a search. When your SERPs ranking is high, more customers will come across your website and this significantly boosts your brand awareness.
The other key component of SEO is adding links to your website content. This includes both internal links (those that link to another page on your website) and external links (those that link to another website).
When including external links in your online content, you should link to websites that have a high SERP ranking and a high domain authority. Doing so will increase your website’s ranking and authority. You can speak to professionals to help get you on the right track. You might want to speak to a saas seo agency or find someone that specialises in your niche, to ensure they have a good understanding of your product or service.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing forms a significant part of any B2B digital marketing strategy nowadays. Three-quarters of buyers use social media to check out a brand’s products or services before investing.
Posting regularly on social media is a great way to build a loyal audience and gain more brand awareness. It’s also the perfect place to interact with your audience directly in a more personal and authentic way.
Social media enables you to network with other businesses and customers. You can perform outreach and answer customer queries almost immediately, and use social listening to see what is working well and what isn’t.
You will need to find a balance between advertising your products and services and providing valuable content for your audience. When you find the perfect balance between the two, your audience can stay well-informed of your offerings while also getting value from your content.
