You’ve heard it – marketing is important. It’s important for all businesses, big and small. But while big companies have names that speak for themselves, small businesses and entrepreneurs don’t have the trust and credibility that comes with larger companies. They also don’t have the resources that larger, established companies can dedicate to marketing investments.
The majority of small business B2B business owners I work with often struggle with their marketing efforts. Not only because they can’t afford to spend a lot of money on advertising, but also because they don’t know where to start. In a small company, a few people need to cover all the functions of the company. And no matter how talented and smart a person is, they can’t be good at all departments.
If a small business doesn’t have a dedicated marketing department, someone needs to invest time in learning about the available marketing channels and tools, because being good at marketing often means survival. Today, almost every business has a website and a presence on social media, so it’s no longer about being on Google, but how you use the available options to communicate value to potential customers.
Before I discuss the different options that are easily accessible for small businesses and especially suitable for B2B companies, let me first say something that I always tell my clients: haphazard efforts here and there won’t get you very far. First you need to understand your target market, then you need a marketing plan to structure your efforts.
Define your target market
It all starts with your customers. We can’t stress enough how important it is to know who your current and past customers are and who you want to target. You need to be clear on this point, because what efforts you make, what marketing tools you use, and where you look for them will depend on your target customer profile. Think about the customers you already have, what industry they are in and what they do. You need to understand this to know where to find people like your current and past clients and how to target them.
Imagine you are a web design company and you want to redesign your own website. You know the web trends and you want something trendy, simple and businesslike. But when you look at your clients, you realize that 80% of them are lawyers, architects, accountants, etc. These professionals generally want a strictly business look and feel for their websites. This often happens unconsciously, but people trust those they perceive as similar to them in some way. If your customers have traditional tastes and you change your website to be more trendy, you may not attract the same type of customer you used to.
Knowing who your customers are and what they are like, you know their needs and requirements. This means you know what is interesting, attractive and valuable to them. In other words, you know what you can offer them and how.
Create a Marketing Plan
There are different ways to implement a marketing strategy. As you can imagine, what is appropriate depends a lot on your business and your target customers. However, if you are an entrepreneur or a small business offering B2B services, don’t worry that you may not be able to spend a lot of money on marketing. There are plenty of cheap or even free options. The key is to be consistent with the tools you use and have a plan.
You need to persevere even when you are busy. First, you need to decide which tools you will use: B. Social media (especially which mediums), blogs, events, speaking, etc. And how often you will do this: e.g. 3 times a week, once every 2 weeks, once a month networking events, etc. When creating your marketing plan, be honest with yourself about how much time you can realistically devote to marketing each week. It’s better to start with a modest but consistent effort than to have a period of high productivity followed by months of no marketing activity.
You may not have a lot of money to invest in marketing, and that’s okay. We live in an age full of opportunities that make it much easier to reach customers. The problem is that everyone is easily bombarded with information and messages, and customers often feel overwhelmed and ignore them. Ultimately, success depends on the quality of your content: is it relevant? Is it interesting? Is it useful? Is it actually helpful? Etc. Here are some marketing ideas that we think are especially suitable for B2B business owners:
Social Media
I know that’s not surprising, but social media can be extremely useful when it comes to reaching business customers. Once you know who your customers are, you can afford to spend a little time each week publishing articles and information that are relevant to them. This doesn’t cost anything and it helps you build a reputation as someone who understands the needs and problems of this specific group. For example, if your target audience is store owners, you could publish an article like “5 Creative Ways to Increase Customer Loyalty for Your Store.” Creating your own content just requires a bit of internet research.
In the B2B space, LinkedIn is particularly useful because you can join groups that fall into categories of your target market and really tailor your posts to each specific group. You can start conversations on interesting topics, share advice, repost how-to videos, infographics and so on. The same goes for Twitter, which is slightly ahead in terms of users in Ireland. However, LinkedIn is a medium designed for and targeted at professionals. Blogs
Blogs are popular among B2B professionals, who can share their experiences or offer advice by publishing articles on their websites. Again, always think about who your target audience is and what value you can provide them. There are many different types of blogs: pros/cons blogs, how-to blogs, tips and reviews blogs, etc. For example, if you are an accountant specializing in small and medium-sized businesses, you can write about a particular accounting software and provide its pros, cons, or tips on how to make filing your accounting documents easier and faster. If you are not confident in writing articles yourself or don’t have the time to blog every week, professional blog writers can write your blog for you at a reasonable price. The most important thing is to keep the end result in mind from the beginning and focus on publishing articles regularly, but especially on topics that are relevant and interesting to your customers. Blogs can also be shared on social media.
Attend events
I’ve talked about this before, but networking is so important these days, especially for B2B small business owners. Nothing compares to face-to-face communication, where people get to know the real person behind the company. As people get to know you better and the services you offer, your contacts will bring you leads and prospects. The important thing is not to try to sell anything at such events, as this will scare people away. Prepare a clear presentation so that you can answer clearly and concisely to anyone who asks you about your work. But remember that these events are more about listening than talking. Approach the event with an open mind, listen to people’s opinions, and whenever you can offer advice, do so. People will never forget you for helping them, not to mention the word-of-mouth that such a situation will bring. Be selective about the events you attend and the networking groups you join. You might only attend these networking events once or twice a month, but if you can get the right people in terms of your target audience, it can be very beneficial.
Stay in touch
Whether you email your newsletter or call them, it’s okay to reach out to former customers just to say hello, as long as it’s not done too often. But don’t try to sell them anything or convince them to use your new service or buy your new product. Keep a nice, friendly tone and just say hello, ask how they’re doing, and let them know you’re there. People don’t like being pressured to buy or bombarded with phone calls and emails. I don’t recommend contacting them more often than every 3-4 months, or you risk scaring them away when they perceive you as a nuisance.
The ultimate goal of all your blogging and social media efforts is to build a reputation as a knowledgeable and helpful person. If you can do this, business will come to you and you won’t have to spend thousands of dollars on aggressive marketing campaigns to convince people that you’re worth it. Show it through your own work: there is no more powerful tool than word of mouth: posts, blogs, meetings with other professionals, and of course if your work is truly focused on helping people, customers will follow.
