About 90% of the world’s data was produced in the past two years, leading us to what Deloitte has called the fourth industrial revolution. Technology has changed the way we think, learn, act and shop – and the B2B sector is involved. However, when it comes to B2B marketing, many B2B entrepreneurs I know have made the same mistake (in some ways): they treated their sales and marketing strategies like they were back in 1999.
After years on the front lines of B2B digital marketing transformation, I’ve learned what it takes to be successful and what leads to failure – and I want to share this insider tribal knowledge with you. Below, I’ve rounded up everything you need to know about creating a successful B2B marketing strategy in this easy to understand guide.
What is B2B Marketing?
As the name suggests, business-to-business marketing refers to the marketing of products or services to other companies and organizations. It differs in several major ways from B2C marketing, which is aimed at consumers.
In the broadest sense, B2B marketing content is usually more informative and uncomplicated than B2C. This is because corporate purchasing decisions are more based on the sales impact compared to consumers’ choices. The return on investment (ROI) is – at least in a monetary sense – rarely a consideration for everyday people, but a main focus for company decision-makers.
In a modern environment, B2B marketers often sell to buying boards with various key stakeholders. This leads to a complex and sometimes challenging landscape. However, as the data sources become more robust and accurate, the ability to map scraps and reach buyers with relevant, personalized information improves.
Who is B2B Marketing for?
Any company that sells to other companies. This can take several forms: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) subscriptions, security solutions, tools, accessories, office supplies, whatever you call it. Many organizations fall under both the B2B and B2C umbrella.
B2B marketing campaigns are aimed at people who have control or influence over purchase decisions. This can span a wide variety of titles and functions, from low-level researchers to C-suite.
Types of B2B Marketing
Here are some of the most common B2B marketing types and channels:
Blogs: A mainstay for almost every content team. Regularly updated blogs provide organic visibility and drive inbound traffic to your website. Your blog can contain any number of different content formats: written copies, infographics, videos, case studies, and more.
Search: SEO best practices change as often as the Google algorithm (often) making it difficult to work in this area, but any B2B marketing strategy needs to take this into account. Recently, the focus has shifted away from keywords and metadata and more towards search intent signals.
Social media: Both organic and paid should be in the mix. In social networks you can reach and address potential customers wherever they are active. B2B buyers are increasingly using these channels to research potential suppliers for purchasing decisions.
Whitepapers / eBooks: As self-contained assets with valuable information, these downloadable documents can either be gated (that is, a user must provide contact information or take some other action to access them) or ungated. Often used as a B2B lead generation tool.
E-mail: While the effectiveness of spam filtering and inbox shock is waning, email is not going to go away anytime soon. To bypass congested inboxes, some sales and marketing professionals use LinkedIn InMail for lead generation.
Videos: This type of content can be applied in several of the aforementioned categories (blogs, social media, emails), but it is worth highlighting as it is becoming increasingly important for B2B strategies.
About Asset Core
The digital space is changing the way business is done today. Businesses need to be digital first to gain an advantage. We help you.
As an agency that integrates AI technology, research, marketing, content and B2B digital strategy, we take on difficult problems and creative research challenges to produce results.
ACM’s process is data driven and very iterative. We’re eliminating the clutter that plagues many businesses.