The goal of marketing is to generate, secure, and convert leads for businesses, whether they are B2B or B2C.
The strategies you employ as a B2B marketer will be based on the product you’re selling, your target market, and other factors specific to the B2B world.
Marketers who are targeting business customers (B2B) will need to use different marketing strategies than those targeting general consumers (B2C). The strategies used by B2B marketers will vary depending on the product being sold, the target market, and other factors specific to the B2B world.
The difference between B2B and B2C purchasing landscapes is not just that one is initiated and controlled by the seller while the other is not. The B2B purchasing landscape has evolved from the traditional B2B buying process.
In the modern B2B purchasing landscape, the buyers are in control. A single purchasing decision involves multiple buyers, and they demand personalization and detailed research.
Learn these B2B marketing strategies crafted to convince these buyers:
1. Utilize SEO in Your B2B Marketing Strategies
Stating that over 70% of B2B buyers search for a generic product keyword to compare options, providing evidence to back up this claim would make the statement more persuasive.
It takes an average of twelve searches before a buyer starts interacting with a given brand’s website. You can ensure you’re found for the right reasons by __________.
- Optimize for keywords that describe your business and its products or services (for example, if you were working on SEO for help desk company Zendesk, you might optimize for the keyword “help desk software.”)
- Optimize for relevant keywords that your buyers are likely to search for at different points in their journey.
- For example, someone searching for “what is affiliate marketing” is in the awareness phase. They might find out how affiliate marketing might help their business from an article on the topic, and begin their search for tools to help with the process.
- Meanwhile, someone searching for “affiliate marketing software” is in their research and discovery phase, and drawing closer to a purchase.
2. Content is King When it Comes to Meeting a Buyer’s Needs
A majority of B2B buyers (62%) said they make purchasing decisions based solely on the online content they find. Moreover, 80% of decision-makers said they prefer articles over ads when trying to learn more about a company.
This means that making your company an expert in a certain area by providing informative and relevant content will be beneficial.
Keep in mind that your content should always be focused on the buyer and what they need. Don’t get caught up in bragging about yourself.
When creating B2B content, keep in mind that each purchase involves multiple buyers who may have different perspectives. To effectively reach all buyers, you’ll need to create different types of content that address their specific needs.
- Create informative blog posts on both general and specific topics that stakeholders search for. Optimize the posts for focus keywords, so people are more likely to find your content, and include relevant links to other high-quality sources.
- Consider surveying other marketers, salespeople, and customer success personnel for their insights on popular topics, and sharing these insights with your audience in different content forms.
- Social media plays a bigger role in B2B decision-making than you think. BCG reports that social media is integral to 75% of B2B purchases (and that number rises to 82% when examining only purchases by members of C-suites). Make sure to share engaging on-brand content on social, based on the platforms that buyers use most!
3. Create a Mobile-Optimized Experience
As you improve your website, make sure it works well on both mobile devices and desktop computers. Make sure other content, like emails and whitepapers, can be viewed well on mobile devices.
B2B stakeholders, of all ages, are increasingly going mobile at work, including for the research needed to make purchasing decisions. These statistics offer plenty of proof:
- 80% of B2B buyers use mobile devices at work, and 60% of B2B buyers report that “mobile played a significant role in a recent purchase.”
- Around 42% of B2B researchers make purchases on mobile, both at home and in the office.
- More than half of B2B-related online searches happen on smartphones.
- And over 90% of B2B buyers say they’re “likely to buy again from a vendor that had a superior mobile experience,” versus only 50% of those who report a poor mobile experience.
4. Harness The Power of Reviews
Prospective customers are more likely to trust the recommendations of other people rather than a message that comes directly from your brand.
B2B companies should focus on generating reviews and testimonials, as they are vital for B2B decision-making. This is an easy way to get ahead of the competition.
Repurpose positive reviews and testimonials. Consider including them in these and other locations, where prospective buyers are looking:
- On the homepage and landing page
- On a dedicated reviews page
- On social media
- In testimonial videos
- In blog posts
5. Re-Market and Keep Things Personalized
Although paid ads may not be as effective as they once were, they can still be helpful for increasing visibility. Many businesses use pay-per-click ads to target buyers who search for specific terms relevant to their business.
For a certain fee, you can have an ad for your business at the top of a search results page when someone searches a certain keyword.
Do not devote all your resources to pay-per-click advertising. If you choose terms that generate clicks from people whose businesses are not your target market, or if you pay for too many terms, your marketing expenses can rise very rapidly.
Remarketing ads are digital ads that appear specifically for prospects who have already visited your website. Thus, as prospects venture across the internet, remarketing keeps your business top-of-mind.
Remarketing ads give you the opportunity to create a highly personalized ad experience for each customer, using data on their demographics and browsing habits.
It is important that the message on the landing page after someone clicks on an ad is the same or similar to the message of the ad.
6. Create a Set of High-Converting Landing Pages
If you want to generate leads through paid ads or pop-up offers on your website, you should create dedicated landing pages that explain how your business can help the customer.
The content of a landing page will depend on which stage of the journey the customer is in and what data has been collected about that customer. However, there are some tips that will help you design a high-converting landing page no matter what stage the customer is in.
- First, define your landing page’s goal – the conversion you want to create. Yes, you’re capturing leads’ information, but get more specific. You’ll want to make sure the landing page quickly directs stakeholders to perform the action.
- Do you want the lead to sign up for a course or webinar?
- Download a whitepaper?
- Make a purchase?
- Fill out a detailed lead form?
- Sign up for a demo?
- Use a clear call-to-action (header), so stakeholders understand what you want them to do, as well as the benefits of using your business.
- Design a clean, uncluttered layout. Explain the benefits of your offer or solutions your business provides, but do so concisely.
- Listing out benefits in a series of bullet points or images works well.
- Consider including lists of short statistics, or short reviews/testimonials from customers.
- Also consider including an explanatory or testimonial video, to communicate value and fill in the gaps without cluttering your page with text.
- Skip the navigation bar. If prospective leads are easily able to navigate away from the landing page, there’s less of a chance that they’ll convert. Ideally, the only button you should include should be the one to complete the action.
- Offer something valuable in exchange for contact information (such as an eBook).
- Create simple yet effective lead forms.
- Only ask for the information you need, so the conversion process takes less time and is much less overwhelming. As we found in our landing page roundup, 85% of marketers use between 1 and 4 form fields on their landing page’s lead capture form.
- Ideally, place the lead form “above the fold,” before prospects need to scroll down.
- Don’t limit yourself to one landing page.
- Design pages for multiple campaigns, to hit multiple stages of a buyer’s journey.
- Or, if you market to multiple business types, design a landing page for each type of business.
7. The Marketing Flywheel
The faster you see results from your marketing activities, the more you will do. This creates a virtuous circle where each marketing activity reinforces the others, leading to ever-increasing momentum.
The greater returns you get from a marketing flywheel are a result of the compound results it produces. This means that you will have to put in less effort over time to maintain it.
Marketing flywheel is built on:
- Long-form content
- Organic search
- Content promotion
- Organic traffic
- CTAs
- IP detection
- Behavioral analysis
- Continual optimization of the framework
An important marketing strategy is to build a marketing flywheel in order to maintain a continuous flow of traffic, leads, and revenue.
8. The Challenger Brand
If you’re not the market leader, a challenger brand strategy can be a good way to go. You can focus on how you try harder and give your customers more attention than the market leader.
As a smaller brand, you can focus on the unique aspects of your product or service that the bigger brands don’t offer, and you can also make fun of the larger brands.
9. The Market Disruptor
I mentioned Salesforce earlier. They are a great example of a company that came into a crowded market and disrupted everything with their innovative product.
Use your powers for good by becoming a thought leader in your industry. As a disrupter, you create change. You encourage your audience to consider different solutions. You can use your skills for good by becoming an expert in your industry.
In order to be a successful market disruptor, it is important to be original and to create a new path that will allow you to bypass your competitors.
10. Data-Driven Marketing
data-driven marketing is a popular B2B marketing strategy in which digital marketing is used to make strategic decisions.
When you use data to base your marketing strategies on, you are more likely to make strategies that are in line with your audience and what is effective.
All aspects of your marketing should be guided by data, including the channels you use, the messaging in your marketing, and the content you create.
Data can be used to help you create profiles of your ideal customers, and to learn about the online sites and activities they frequent.
You can more reliably find strategies for engagement, conversion, and lead generation that will do better than others.
11. Niche Marketing
Focusing your marketing efforts on a specific niche is often more effective than trying to appeal to a broader audience. When targeting your audience, the more specific you can be, the better.
In order to successfully utilize niche marketing, you need to understand what your target audience’s pain points are. Once you have a strong understanding of your audience, you can create content and marketing initiatives that are specifically tailored to them.
You should focus your marketing efforts on the channels and platforms that your target audience is already using. For example, if your target audience is on LinkedIn, you should focus your efforts on that platform.
Or, if your audience gravitates towards a specific influencer, you could explore a collaboration partnership.
12. Apply Brain Science to Your Marketing
If you use brain science when making marketing decisions, you will be able to better grab people’s attention and hold it. You will also be more likely to create marketing campaigns that people will remember.
Brain science encompasses neuroscience, psychology, as well as behavioral economics.
People’s brains are wired to love stories, so selling the benefits of your product with a story is much more effective than just listing the benefits.
The human brain is designed to feel emotion. When you create an emotional response, you’re more likely to get people’s attention.
Emotional content is more likely to be shared and remembered.
Damasio found that people who don’t feel any emotion due to brain damage can’t make decisions, including purchase decisions.
If your audience can’t get emotionally invested in your brand, they’re much less likely to take any action. In other words, without emotion, your audience is far less likely to take any action to engage with your brand.
13. Marketing Automation and Nurturing
Marketing automation and nurturing allow you to develop relationships with prospects simultaneously rather than individually.
You can automate engaging with prospects within your CRM using tools such as email marketing and drip campaigns.
It is important to keep your potential customers engaged with your brand until they are ready to purchase something. Giving them timely and relevant information will help to build trust and turn them into customers.
Setting up marketing automation and nurturing can be time-consuming, but it can be worth it in the long run. Automation can help you manage your marketing campaigns and save time, while nurturing can help you connect with leads and customers and build relationships.
14. Guerilla Marketing
Guerilla marketing is a type of marketing that relies on unexpected and often unorthodox methods to promote a product or service. The goal is to generate a high level of interest and engagement from the general public by using creative and unconventional methods.
Guerilla marketing can be effective for both small and large businesses. The key is to be creative and to think outside the box.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The phrase “pattern interrupt” is a good way to describe guerilla marketing.
The idea is to break into people’s normal patterns and get them to notice your message. Guerrilla marketing is not about spending more money on advertising to get results. In fact, it’s just the opposite.
it’s not about having lots of resources, it’s about being creative with the resources you have to get great results.
Summary
You should think about strategy before taking any specific steps in order to maximize your marketing results. Having the right strategy will give you options for the steps you can take to reach your goals.
A B2B marketing strategy is like a GPS – it tells you where you’re going and how to get there.
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