5 Simple Tips For Creating an Effective B2B Marketing Strategy
Today’s connection post is brought to you by Michelle Laurey. Michelle works as a VA for small businesses. She loves talking business, and productivity, and sharing her experience with others. Outside her keyboard, she spends time with her Kindle library or binge-watching Billions. Her superpower? Vinyasa flow! Talk to her on Twitter @michelle_laurey.
Developing a successful company takes more than just a good idea and a website. If you want to accomplish amazing things as a B2B business, you’ll need to make sure you’re reaching the right customers with the right sales message.
As a B2B business, you need to show other companies that you can help them improve their bottom line, delight their customers, or reduce unnecessary expenses. A successful marketing strategy helps with this by outlining the unique selling propositions behind your company.
Today, we’ll look at some of the best strategies you can include in your B2B marketing efforts.
1. Set clear goals
A strong B2B marketing strategy is fundamental for success in the current global landscape. However, the only way to get the right results from your efforts is to decide what you want to achieve in the first place.
Having a solid set of goals to aim for will keep you focused. For instance, if you just want to generate awareness for your B2B brand and get more people asking about you, you might start working on guest blogs and social media marketing. These tools are fantastic for pulling new eyes to your website.
2. Conduct a competitive analysis
Most B2B companies leverage a variety of digital tactics to stand out online. Your B2B brand will probably take a similar route. For instance, aside from having your own website and blog for content marketing, you might also invest in email marketing campaigns so you can nurture clients over time.
B2B firms need to take a strategic approach to connecting with their customers at various touchpoints throughout the buyer journey. If you’re wondering where to get started with your campaigns, check out your competition.
By gaining insight into what other companies like you are doing, you can pinpoint tactics that might work for your venture too. Once you’ve identified their strengths and weaknesses, you can adapt them to your business advantage.
3. Know your market
Everyone thinks they know who their perfect customer is, but when they sit down and try to create a user persona, they haven’t got enough information to fill an entire profile. With that in mind, take the time to take a deeper look at your ideal client.
What does the right B2B customer look like for you? What industry do they work in, and what job title do they have? Where are they located (geographically), and are they a specific age? Think about their decision-making and spending power when defining your ideal B2B clients too.
Knowing your customer will make it much easier to create marketing campaigns that speak to your audience. When you know who you’re talking to, it’ll be easier to speak that client’s language.
4. Make your website follow the customer journey
After you’ve identified who your customers are, you can also document the journey they’re most likely to take when interacting with your company. Remember, it’s rare for a client to come to your website and buy something straight away.
Most of your customers will start by researching some keywords online and then look for solutions to their problems or needs. You can get a better look at your customer’s journey by conducting some interviews with existing customers and prospects. Your B2B marketing plan and website can follow the customer journey in a range of ways.
For instance, a blog might help you to rank for certain keywords and terms to attract customers who are just starting their research. Then you can do comparison posts to give indecisive customers that final nudge to buy from you.
5. Create a flexible content plan
Finally, content marketing is a brilliant tool for B2B companies to generate long-term results from their campaigns. Create content that addresses all questions your customers are asking at each stage of their journey.
Just remember to keep your content plan flexible so you can respond to new issues as they arise.
A flexible content strategy will also give you the freedom to experiment with various types of content, from videos and infographics to podcasts and guest posting. There are plenty different kinds of content you can work with to delight your audience.
Get marketing online
An excellent B2B marketing plan is how you provide your audience with an insight into what makes your company special. Use the tips above to strengthen your marketing opportunities and remember to measure the success of each campaign. Tracking your results will help you figure out where to invest your money in the future.
