B2B Marketing Strategies: 4 Tips and Trends
We’ve all heard it: B2C sets the standard for B2B when creating a consumer-oriented experience. The same (or similar) strategies and insights used for B2C can also bolster B2B businesses as the industry becomes more humanized, demanding user-friendly interfaces and personalized marketing. Even with the industry’s growth, many B2B companies don’t prioritize accessible marketing capabilities to grow their market reach and expand their brand. Below are 4 tips (compiled primarily by Forrester Research, HubSpot, and CloudCraze) to bolster your B2B marketing strategies and initiatives…
- Adopt a customer-centric strategy. This isn’t your typical inbound marketing campaign. B2B marketers need to focus on the engagement process, channels, and experiences that specific buyers may prefer—in other words, account-based marketing. Market more, tailored information and correspondences with good candidates who show buying patterns that fit your company’s offerings. Utilizing big data for predictive marketing analytics can help separate the right accounts to target, and tell you where their interests lie. Which brings us to the next point-
- Employ marketing technologies, specifically predictive analytics solutions. From email marketing to sales development platforms, systems of engagement and insight will likely cultivate customer information into effective marketing and selling initiatives. According to Forrester Research, 53% of decision-makers prefer researching online more so than talking to a salesperson. In fact, organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to a 1.7% close rate for outbound marketing. Predictive analytics technologies appropriate statistics, delineate customer behavior patterns, synthesize insights from siloed internal data, and much more to help businesses hone in on the most effective ways to engage possible clients. With a better understanding of your targets comes a more insightful and engaging interaction.
- Expand and prioritize social engagement. Just like B2C, B2B brands can leverage social media to present their brand as authentic and personal, which can help build trust with the audience while giving the retailer a platform to share thought leadership on a large scale. Approximately 38% of marketers purport that social selling tactics are most effective in creating brand awareness, buyer interest, and leads (Forrester Research). By utilizing social platforms, sellers can engage with buyers on their terms, listening and learning to what buyers want, and thereby share content tailored to their interests.
- Create content that converts. Content is the backbone of selling. It displays to a wide audience the value of your business while also strengthening the marketing and sales connection within an organization. B2B companies that blog generate roughly 67% more leads per month than those who do not (HubSpot). Compelling content leads to engagement, brand presence, and social communication with prospects while continuing to grow relationships with current clients and business partners. By producing forward-leaning ideas and unique points of view, the perceived value of a business can be bolstered, positioning a company to the market as a thought leader. Approximately 68% of B2B buyers report the winning vendor’s content had a significant impact on their buying decision (Demand Gen).
In conclusion, B2B businesses lag behind B2C in terms of deploying shopper-friendly tactics and interfaces in their marketing approach, despite growing popularity. Selling strategies used by B2C companies can likely accelerate the growth of B2B businesses as well. These strategies include a customer-centric approach to marketing, using marketing technologies (especially predictive analytics), capitalizing on social media platforms, and creating killer content that converts prospects into buyers.