B2B Marketing has evolved tremendously over the last decade — with more software, tools, and data available than ever before. This also means it’s harder to cut through the noise and capture your customers’ attention.
The good news? The right strategy can help.
Consider these proven tips to foster stronger relationships with your customers and drive more revenue.
1. Write to a human
For some reason, businesses feel they have to write differently to B2B prospects.
You don’t.
Your prospects are still people… they still put socks on in the morning … they don’t grow an extra head on their way to work.
Remember, good business copy should read as if you’re standing and talking to the person face-to-face.
How you write should only change to fit how your target audience might talk.
You would write differently to an 18 year old student than you would to someone of retirement age.
So make sure you read back over what you’ve written – reading it aloud can help a lot.
If it doesn’t feel like how you’d say it in person… change it.
2. Understand B2B stakeholders
With B2C marketing, you’re writing to a potential buyer.
Usually, they’re the one who’s paying.
B2B is more complex as there can be several stakeholders involved:
- Key stakeholder: the person who needs what you’re selling
- Managing stakeholder: the key stakeholder’s manager who agrees there is a need
- Financial stakeholder: the person who has the power to authorize the purchase
To convert your sale, you may have to communicate with all three, maybe more…so what should you do?
Consider the benefits and possible objections for each person. Your key stakeholder may want their job to be easier. But the authoriser might want to save money for the company. Prepare to counter and respond to all of these needs.
3. Offer value and expertise
Email is a great way to stand out from all the other businesses seeking your prospect’s loyalty. It’s also an important part of the digital marketing ecosystem.
However, your emails should be helpful and interesting.
“You cannot bore people into buying your product; you can only interest them in buying it.”
– David Ogilvy
Communications your prospects want to open — even look forward to receiving — are the magic key, which:
- Build and strengthen your relationships with prospects
- Establish your position
- Explain why prospects should choose you — why you’re better than the competition
- Boost your credibility
- Keep your business in your prospects’ minds
- Persuade and sell
…keep sending offers, or hounding them to buy, and they’ll quickly kick you into the electronic wastebasket of doom.
4. Go multichannel and omnichannel
What’s the difference?
Multichannel means using more than one channel, but the focus is on your product or service.
Omnichannel involves using all available channels, but focusing on your prospect/customer.
So when you start communicating with a cold prospect you might use emails and letters. Don’t discount “old fashioned” letters, they can work VERY well in conjunction with digital media.
These messages are multichannel because you’re telling your prospect all about your product/service.
Then use omnichannel marketing to interact with potential customers throughout the various stages of the buying cycle.
Omnichannel marketing can be complicated. But when done right, it boosts your profits.
5. Consider an influencer
Despite what you might think, influencers are common in B2B marketing.
Here, having a celebrity endorsing and promoting products can pay big dividends.
So why shouldn’t influencer marketing work for B2B marketing — you’re still promoting products and services to people.
According to Businesswire’s Global B2B Influencer Marketing Analysis Report 2022:
“Business-to-business (B2B) influencer marketing has the potential to generate $11.7 billion in revenue by the end of 2022, with more than 38% of B2B companies currently exploring influencer marketing as a new lead-generation avenue.
When it comes to your B2B influencer marketing, you want someone who is an industry or thought leader. Think authors, bloggers, researchers, etc.
6. Be more sociable
Already using social media for your B2B marketing?
Chances are it’s on channels like Facebook and LinkedIn. But is that everywhere your prospects are?
If you’re targeting a younger audience, platforms like TikTok could be worth a look.
In their 2021 CMO survey, Deloitte reports that:
“B2B product brands will spend 14.7% of their marketing budget on social media into 2023…
…and that’s expected to increase by 10 points in the next 5 years.”
But don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to be on more (or every) social media site. Because you must…
7. Focus on your ROI
It may sound obvious, but the only number that really matters at the end of the day is sales.
So pay close attention to how you’re getting them. However, remember to look both in detail and with a “wide view.”
Here’s why…
Say your Facebook post gets 100,000 likes but no direct sales.
You might think it was a waste of time and money.
But the bigger picture shows lots of downloads from your landing page.
How many of these now warmer leads will become customers?
When it comes to your ROI with B2B marketing, you have to look at the full funnel, top to bottom.
B2B Marketing Ideas That Drive Results
B2B marketing is a breeze when you have the right experts helping your business succeed. Got a question about any of these secrets? Want to know how we can help your marketing efforts succeed?