Doing B2B marketing is very specific for a number of reasons. As the name suggests (“business-to-business”), B2B marketing is aimed at other businesses and organizations, unlike B2C marketing that’s directed at individual consumers. Let’s take a look at this distinction in more detail.
B2B vs B2C
To a certain extent, the methods of B2B and B2C marketing overlap, yet both these types of marketing have their own particular goals, target groups, and strategies. B2B marketers have a very characteristic task of targeting different decision-makers in the organization in different stages of the buying journey, and because of that, they need to use a very specific approach.
As for inbound marketing, it’s a form of marketing where you don’t interrupt people with your messages unrelated to what they’re doing at the moment, but rather try to “pull them in” while they’re looking for solutions to their issues online. Its effectiveness relies on the fact that your website, your article, or your product are actually likely to help the user, which is not often the case with TV or radio commercials.
An inbound strategy is a crucial part of any B2B campaign. Here’s how to do your B2B inbound marketing right.
The importance of good targeting
Nowadays, a good part of digital marketing in general comes down to good targeting. This process is done differently than in B2C. While B2C marketing is addressing a large number of individuals, B2B focuses on a small audience of very specific groups.
Moreover, companies you’re trying to approach usually have a standardized buying process that involves several people, often knowledgeable in the matter. So you’ll have to adapt to the fact that you’re selling to a number of professionals who understand your market, not to laypersons browsing around Amazon looking for a random accessory or a piece of clothing.
In order to establish how to address your target audience and how to distribute your marketing content, you should build a customer persona. Of course, this persona will vary a bit depending on your industry. But these variations are not as large as in B2C marketing, because you’re not primarily aiming at anyone’s emotions, but at their reason and financial logic, so there’s less room for improvisation.
Leverage content marketing
Given this specific customer profile, content marketing of all kinds can be efficiently used to attract and engage the intended audience. Long blog posts written by a skillful writer, well-versed in your branch can help your company demonstrate competence and bring the right people to your website. As much as 80% of decision-makers prefer getting information from an article rather than from an ad. You need to take advantage of this fact.
Obviously, you’ll have to make sure that your content is focused on your industry. That means writing about original solutions to issues your customers usually experience. It’s crucial that you provide some true value for the reader. Remember, they’re not reading your blog because you’re so great, but because they need help or they simply want to learn something new. So avoid being overly promotional.
Of course, you shouldn’t do the opposite either. Remind your audience in a subtle, but clear way who you are, what you sell, and, most importantly, how you can help the reader. And if one of your products or services can help in fixing a certain problem, don’t hesitate to mention that and explain how. There’s a nice little intersection between content that helps your audience and content that helps you sell, and it’s up to your writing team to find it.
Furthermore, B2B organizations normally value long and stable relationships with clients and largely rely on them. Clients also prefer long-term deals with trustworthy vendors. A company blog can help you present your business as a reliable and reputable supplier that won’t cause any unpleasant surprises.
Finally, well-written and strategically thought-out content is a must, but it’s not enough. It’s vital that you further optimize your content to boost its sales potential. This includes investing in SEO, CTA optimization, further personalization efforts, as well as good communication with the sales department.
Make use of various channels
Social media
Promotion on social networks can be a good way of capturing users’ attention and bringing them to your website and your primary sales-driving content. It’s also very effective for raising brand awareness and building a community around your brand. Always listen to feedback and especially focus on LinkedIn and other business platforms.
When it comes to ROI, email marketing is still the most cost-effective branch of digital marketing. You need a sound email strategy not just for customer acquisition, but also to help yourself keep your current customers. Pay attention to segmenting your email list and remember who you write these emails for. These are people that care about performance, efficiency, and above all, their ROI. So don’t tell any fairy tales and be direct, professional, and respectful.
SEO & PPC
If you do the content marketing part properly, your search engine rankings will naturally go up. But you ought to give your website an additional little push to get the most out of it. Investing a few bucks in an all-around SEO and PPC strategy should definitely pay off in the long run.
With all the online tools and platforms at your disposal, there are countless other channels you can use as a part of your B2B inbound approach. Consider all your options and go for the solutions that best suit your audience.
Analyze data and act accordingly
Finally, you should never get complacent. A marketer’s job doesn’t end with publishing a post. You ought to always look into the performance of every piece of content you create. Of course, in B2B marketing it’s not all about quick results and huge numbers – sometimes it’s about gradually building trust among customers and prospects.
However, this doesn’t mean numbers aren’t important, it just means that you also need to go beyond the mere numbers and carefully analyze the reasons for high or low engagement on a post. It’s up to you to set your goals and then accordingly choose which metrics to pay attention to. Just don’t overlook your audience’s reaction and use the feedback to further shape and improve your B2B inbound strategy.