What is the secret to a successful B2B online marketing strategy? Using digital tools to reach new target groups has become essential for companies that want to remain competitive in the growing B2B market. There are important differences between B2B and B2C that affect how companies should interact with their customers, ranging from the transaction amount to the length of the relationship between the parties.
B2C companies tend to serve a large number of people who are ready to buy in a short period of time, while B2B companies focus their activities on other companies that often become long-term repeat customers. Therefore, when it comes to B2B online marketing, it is important to consider increasing customer lifetime value and a longer lead generation process. In this article, we explain why digital marketing is so important for B2B and discuss the five most important elements of an effective plan to reach new customers and retain old ones.
1. Research: B2B Online Marketing Basics
Everything you do in B2B online marketing starts with research. While there are cases where spontaneous campaigns are hugely successful, these are the exception. If your marketing strategy is based on data that you can collect in a variety of ways, you are more likely to see positive results. Whether you are selling a product or a service, the first step to reaching potential buyers is to know who your target audience is. An educated guess is not enough. To define the profile of your ideal customer, you need to have accurate information about their location, behavior and habits. This can be done through market research, conducting interviews and surveys, or through website analysis if you already have an online presence.
What role does the Internet play in the B2B market? Data can be a great source of inspiration when thinking about marketing ideas. As more and more B2B relationships are conducted online, understanding how businesses operate online is a key starting point.
2. Strategy: How do you reach B2B?
Once you know who your target audience is and how to reach them, you need to create a short-, medium-, and long-term plan. There are big differences between B2C and B2B online marketing. Targeting end consumers often means communicating with a lot of people and hoping for quick conversions. Dealing with other organizations and companies in the value chain requires a more selective approach and a longer time frame to build relationships that will last into the future.
Every business needs to develop a strategy that suits their industry based on both the B2B business model and the channels through which customers are more likely to be found. However, it is fair to say that developing a solid strategy to attract qualified leads requires a combination of creativity, communication, and diversity.
Creativity is essential to stand out from the crowd, especially when working in a competitive field. With the rising cost of lead generation through targeted advertising, finding innovative solutions to reach your audience can make or break your strategy. Communication is another key element in your marketing strategy, as although the number of customers is smaller than B2C, they are more valuable and therefore require more attention. And finally, diversification. One of the benefits of doing business online is that you have endless opportunities to experiment with different forms of marketing.
3. Advertising: Reach your audience effectively
Sure, diversification may be an opportunity, but which is the best platform for B2B advertising? With pay-per-click, paid search advertising, social media targeting, affiliate marketing, email, and more, it can be hard to decide where to invest. This is where testing comes in. During the research phase, it’s easy to determine where your potential customers are, but when you start advertising, it’s important to plan an initial testing phase in advance. Spend some of your budget on trying out what works best for your audience and you’ll reap the benefits in the long run. This means not only promoting yourself on different platforms, but also analyzing different text, images and calls to action.
Online advertising allows you to scale more quickly and reach audiences you couldn’t reach through traditional means. Inbound marketing strategies that focus on collecting leads are more effective when implemented through online advertising. You can also create customized messages for different segments of your audience and re-engage potential buyers who have already interacted with your business.
4. Customer Experience: Understand Best Practices for B2B Online Marketing
As we discussed in this article about customer experience strategies, satisfying your customers should be your top priority. Data shows that a good customer experience leads to increased sales. Building a B2B online marketing strategy based on brand awareness can help you attract new prospects and build stronger relationships with existing customers. Every opportunity people have to interact with your brand is an opportunity to improve customer experience (CX). This means providing clear information, functional design, and friendly service to help customers overcome obstacles they may encounter with your product or service.
When thinking about customer experience, you need to consider both visitors who are experiencing your brand for the first time and existing customers, and develop a consistent communication strategy for both categories. From training your staff to approach customers the same way, to paying attention to your brand placement, every detail matters.
5. Analyze: Let the data speak
Finally, analyzing your results is key. Given how much you can learn from statistical data, it’s important to let the numbers drive your B2B online marketing strategy.
Think of B2B online marketing as a cycle of repeated operations with small improvements in each iteration. Whether it’s a targeted ad campaign, a newsletter, or a new design feature, the tool you use to reach and impress your customers needs to be thoroughly analyzed after it’s finished. A good data analyst can help you address issues that weren’t visible at first glance and improve conversion rates by optimizing your processes.
