11November 2023
B2B marketing involves using specific channels and strategies to target business-to-business buyers. Keep an eye on your competitors and stay nimble by testing different tactics.
A successful B2B strategy takes into account the fact that the sales cycle can be longer and more complex than with consumers. It also focuses on nurturing relationships and aligning marketing and sales with clear messaging.
Marketing to Business Buyers
B2B marketing is carried out by companies that sell products or services to other businesses, rather than individual consumers. Typical examples include manufacturers of industrial goods such as concrete or steel and business service providers such as commercial cleaning or property management.
The number of potential buyers for a B2B product is usually much smaller than for a consumer-oriented product, so marketing content must be carefully tailored to the interests and needs of the target audience. In addition, the sales cycle tends to be much longer and it is common for a B2B company to retain customers through post-sale support strategies such as webinars, newsletters and client-specific offers.
A robust digital marketing strategy is essential for a B2B business. Email marketing is a tried and true method of reaching subscribers and converting them into leads.
Buyer Personas
Identifying your target audience’s goals and problems is critical to your company’s marketing success. Using buyer personas is one way to do this. These research-based profiles help you better understand your ideal customer’s needs, motivations and challenges so that you can deliver the right content to them at the right time.
Unlike a B2C buyer persona, which describes the perfect customer as an individual or household, a B2B buyer persona takes into account multiple people and their roles. It also includes considerations like job titles, responsibilities and age ranges.
Building a buyer persona requires the collaboration of the entire marketing team. Use a tool like Visme to make it easier for everyone to contribute their ideas and see how they work together. You can even host a virtual meeting with your team and customers through the platform.
Buyer Journey
The buyer journey is a series of stages a potential customer will go through before purchasing from you. These can include identifying their problem, researching solutions, making a purchase and then delighting them with follow-up emails.
The first stage of the buyer journey is awareness. Here, the buyer becomes aware of a problem, such as a pest infestation or night shift work schedule. This is the ideal time to reach out with educational content, such as blogs about how to deal with these problems.
At the consideration stage, the buyer has a specific problem in mind and is ready to research different solutions. This is a great time to provide valuable content, such as product/service comparison guides. This will help them identify which products will best meet their needs.
Content Marketing
B2B content marketing focuses on creating and distributing educational content to attract and convert prospects into customers. It can take many forms, from blog posts to webinars to infographics. A common strategy involves developing a content plan and creating content elements that are relevant to each stage of the buyer journey.
For example, a tech company can create an informative blog post about how to choose the best cloud hosting provider for their business. This content can help prospective customers make a more informed purchase decision.
Other examples of B2B content marketing include white papers, email newsletters, case studies, and videos. Tools such as Grammarly and Canva can help businesses create high-quality, effective content. OptinMonster is another useful tool for businesses looking to increase the number of leads they receive from their website.
Marketing Automation
The right marketing automation platform allows you to nurture leads with content that’s relevant to them at each stage of the buyer journey. Achieving this balance between delivering the right message and not over-contacting prospects can be challenging, but a successful automation strategy will deliver valuable benefits to both you and your customers.
B2B marketers who have a longer sales cycle can benefit the most from marketing automation as it can help them to nurture and convert their leads until they are ready for hand-off to sales. However, if implemented correctly, marketing automation can work just as well for shorter sales cycles.
Marketing automation tools allow you to create a targeted communication with your potential buyers by sending personalized emails based on their behavior and preferences. This helps you to increase your relevance and engagement rates while freeing up resources for other marketing activities.