If you’re a newbie to B2B marketing, you may be wondering if there are any strategies that work. Here’s a quick rundown of four popular techniques. Some of the most effective B2B marketing strategies include Content marketing, Social media, Email marketing, and Video marketing. Read on to learn the difference between them. Ultimately, it’s your decision to choose which one works best for your business. And remember, the more relevant your content is to your buyers, the more likely they’ll purchase it.
Content marketing
When it comes to content marketing, there are a number of important things to keep in mind. Firstly, you must align your sales process with your content marketing efforts. This will help your content reach the right audience at the right time and provide them with the best value. Additionally, the sales team and marketing team should have the same high-level goals. If your marketing and sales teams work closely together, you can be sure that the content you produce will resonate with your target audience.
One of the most important facts about content marketing is that it requires time. In fact, it is estimated that about 42% of B2B marketers report that content marketing is effective at generating leads. Besides, if you use content marketing to promote your business, you can build different programs based on different objectives. Content marketing will help your company stand out from the competition and give your ideal customers a reason to buy from you.
Secondly, you should create a content calendar. A content calendar will help you track and measure how well your content is converting. Create an outline of tasks that need to be accomplished and set deadlines. Once you have a content calendar, you can start producing content. Most content marketing strategies include email and website distribution. For advanced B2B content marketing, you need to handover your leads to sales in the shortest time possible.
Social media
There are a number of reasons for implementing social media as part of your B2B marketing strategies. The first is that it is becoming mainstream and is already part of most people’s daily work routine. Keeping a good social media presence can increase your visibility and attract positive mentions, and also create an emotional response for your brand. However, not all social media marketing strategies are effective. The following are some social media best practices that will help you build your social media strategy:
LinkedIn. LinkedIn has 760 million active users, and over 40% of them are B2B decision-makers. Because LinkedIn is a professional social networking platform, professionals use it to network and share content and build their personal brands. Twitter. Twitter is an excellent tool for brand awareness and customer support. Brands can also track customer sentiment and engage with customers through Twitter. For instance, Cloudera uses LinkedIn Live to increase its visibility on the platform.
Use of social media. Using social media is an effective marketing strategy for B2B organizations. Social media is no longer just for consumers. Business executives and decision-makers are turning to social media platforms as legitimate information sources. By offering value-filled content, marketers can engage these users and increase their chances of making a sale. This is especially important in the Millennial market, where social media is a big influencer.
Video
When creating a video for B2B marketing, you must remember that 80% of the success of this content lies in promotion. To reach your target audience, try using social media. According to research, 54% of the executives on LinkedIn post videos weekly, so posting your video there will increase the likelihood of it being viewed by your target market. If your audience is in the awareness stage, consider producing brand videos or case studies. Also, try adding subtitles to your videos, so that viewers can stop to watch the video.
Video is an excellent sales tool for B2B marketing. While a video cannot replace an in-person meeting, it will still allow you to showcase your products and services in an engaging way. The added benefit is that video is quick to digest. Most decision-makers do not have the time to read, so it is easier for them to digest and retain information through video. It also doesn’t feel like a sales pitch.
The effectiveness of video in B2B marketing is determined by its ability to draw an emotional connection with your target audience. This connection can be subtle, such as making a viewer feel curious about a product, or like your company. Using humor, surprise, and curiosity are common emotions in videos and can play a major role in brand perception. When consumers experience a product or service through video, they’ll be more likely to trust the brand.
Email marketing
While B2C email marketing focuses on a more emotional approach, B2B emails are more rational and should convey the benefits of the products or services. Using facts and figures to explain the benefits of a product or service is vital in engaging the recipient and completing the buyer’s journey. In addition, remember that the average person receives seven emails per week from B2B marketers and should limit the number of CTAs per email. Moreover, a good CTA should be 2-6 words in length, as this will grab the reader’s attention while maintaining clarity.
For an effective email campaign, it is necessary to develop an active list of your target clients. To build an email list, you can build a lead magnet to get people to subscribe to your list. You can also use an email service provider (also called email marketing platform) to manage your list and design automated emails campaigns. These tips will help you make the most out of email marketing. If you want to succeed in B2B marketing, you must follow these tips.
Personalized content is another vital strategy to build relationships with your audience. According to a study by Statista, 74% of people dislike receiving emails with irrelevant content. This is why 77% of marketers send personalized emails to their target audiences. By personalizing an email, marketers can increase customer satisfaction, boost their open rate, and increase CTR. Furthermore, personalization helps improve customer satisfaction, as people are more likely to read emails that have a personalized touch.
Brand awareness
Building brand recognition is essential to B2B marketing strategies. While direct traffic and social engagement are important, the increase in brand awareness numbers shows that your other marketing strategies are also working. The following are three ways to boost your brand awareness. Identifying the best channels for brand awareness builds a foundation for your marketing strategy. Brand awareness will be crucial to your B2B marketing strategy, and using the best channels to promote your brand will help you meet that goal.
Building brand recognition requires a unique voice. This unique voice can be used across all marketing and sales strategies. Social media is a good place to develop audience-focused marketing. Original content that provides value for the audience positions your brand as a leader in the industry. Brand awareness can be difficult to measure, but it is crucial to your overall B2B marketing strategy. Incorporate social media into your marketing strategy, and be active on it. Post interesting content that highlights your brand’s personality. Look for ways to get published on websites where your target audience spends time online.
Social media is another great way to build brand recognition. Social media platforms are a gold mine for building brand awareness and distributing expert content. In fact, 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-suite executives use social media to make purchasing decisions. Make sure to engage in conversations with people in your industry, as well as share valuable content and information with them. Make sure to include a link to your website on your social media profiles.
Retention marketing
Retention marketing is an important part of B2B marketing strategies because it helps businesses maintain positive customer relationships after they’ve purchased a product or service. While satisfied customers are more likely to make repeat purchases, it’s also important to maintain them, too. For example, customers may need assistance in using their product or service, or they might even need a little extra help before making a decision. There are several tactics to keep customers around, but the goal is to create a sense of loyalty in your customers.
One way to do this is to use revenue opportunity scoring, which calculates how likely a customer is to repurchase, upgrade, or spend more money in the future. The formula takes into account the customer’s lifetime value, and uses factors like intent to identify potential upselling and cross-selling opportunities. Once this is determined, retention marketing strategies should be determined. If a customer returns after purchasing a product, upselling or cross-selling will be effective.
Customer retention can affect customer growth and profitability. Keeping existing customers is cheaper than acquiring new ones. Eighty-two percent of companies agree that retaining existing customers is cheaper than attracting new ones. To make sure your marketing efforts are effective, align the back and front offices. Incorporate customer retention strategies into your B2B marketing strategy. It’s not hard to see the benefits of this strategy. It’s important to have an open line of communication with your clients to create a strong relationship with them.
Deepak Wadhwani has over 20 years experience in software/wireless technologies. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies including Intuit, ESRI, Qualcomm, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone, Nortel, Microsoft and Oracle in over 60 countries. Deepak has worked on Internet marketing projects in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange Country, Denver, Nashville, Kansas City, New York, San Francisco and Huntsville. Deepak has been a founder of technology Startups for one of the first Cityguides, yellow pages online and web based enterprise solutions. He is an internet marketing and technology expert & co-founder for a San Diego Internet marketing company.
