- Business-to-business marketing is a fierce landscape and requires creativity for success.
- These five strategies can help B2B businesses and marketers to gain desired results.
Business-to-business (B2B) marketers have been suffering lately due to the challenging economy. Here are 5 marketing strategies that can change the game. The current economic scenario is making it hard for them to drive conversions with the least effort and lowest possible costs.
B2B marketing focuses on selling products or services to other businesses and capitalizing on a different target market than Business-to-customer or Consumer-to-consumer methodologies. Marketers must identify their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to understand their needs and challenges, as buyers’ personas can help customize the marketing strategies.
Marketers also need to know exactly what they want to achieve with their B2B marketing efforts. Is it to increase brand awareness, generate leads, boost sales, etc? Setting clear goals helps in measuring effectiveness. Plus, they must know what makes the offerings unique and how they are valuable for the target market; showcasing this value proposition helps in successful implementation and gaining desired results.
Audiences now expect creative B2B marketing strategies. Buyers crave authenticity, useful thought leadership, and real solutions and do not appreciate AI-generated sales pitches. Here are five creative B2B marketing strategies that, if used properly, can bring exponential growth.
- Never Put Marketing R&D on the Back Seat
- Chase Data & Not Results
- Evolve and Change Your Marketing Channels
- Try to Solve the Engagement Stagnation Problem
- Focus on Meaningful and Relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
These five strategies capitalize on data-driven complacency. They could work as an antidote or life boost to reinvigorate your business-to-business marketing strategies and make you stand out from the competition.
- Never Put Marketing R&D on the Back Seat
Marketers must continually invest in marketing research and development (R&D) because B2B markets are already complex, and customer needs and buying behavior evolve over time. Understand that B2B technology advancements are happening at a breathtaking pace. With emerging communication channels, a paradigm shift in customer expectations, and competitor strategy, marketers need to be agile.
The success of B2B marketing depends on understanding the target audience. In-depth market research provides valuable insights into buyer personas, pain points, and content preferences. Proper market research and development (R&D) helps interpret the data effectively and could lead to targeted campaigns and enhanced return on investment (ROI).
Statistics and Examples
According to Forrester Research, B2B companies with dedicated customer insights can achieve 2.5X higher win rates and 1.3X higher customer retention rates. At the same time, SiriusDecisons says that companies with relevant data-driven marketing approaches can experience 15 to 20% faster revenue growth.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a targeted approach that relies on in-depth customer research to identify and personalize marketing efforts for high-value accounts. Many B2B companies are engaged in content marketing innovations like interactive white papers, webinars, podcasts, etc., and R&D helps with its effectiveness.
- Chase Data & Not Results
Focusing on data and not results might sound counterintuitive, but this strategy emphasizes the importance of prioritizing data collection and analysis over immediate campaign results. Marketers must focus on gaining long-term insights, keeping data as the foundation for them.
The business-to-business buying journey is relatively complex, with multiple variables, and often involves multiple decision-makers and longer sales cycles. When marketers focus extensively on short-term campaign results, they might not capture the full picture. When they prioritize data collection, they build a knowledge base that informs future campaigns and helps refine the understanding of the target audience.
Keeping data as the foundation can be practical, as data is the building block for any successful B2B marketing campaign. Marketers can collect data on campaign performance, customer behavior, and website interactions and use this information to gain insights into what resonates with the target audience and what needs to be improved. Eventually, this data becomes the foundation for optimizing the marketing funnel and driving conversions in the long term.
Statistics & Examples
The CMO Council says that B2B companies that prioritize data-driven marketing generate 50% more qualified leads at 30% lower cost. At the same time, Forrester Research found that B2B marketers who prioritize data-driven decision-making achieve 3x higher customer lifetime value.
Marketers can use A/B testing landing pages, testing different variations with different calls-to-action (CTAs), and gathering data on which variation converts better. They can also use website analytics tools to identify what resonates with the audience. By tracking email open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribes, marketers can learn which topics and email formats engage their audience.
- Evolve & Change Your Marketing Channels
This strategy emphasizes the need for B2B marketers to continuously adapt their approach based on the evolving digital landscape and ever-changing consumer preferences. Marketers must develop an understanding of shifting buyer behavior, be aware of emerging trends and new platforms, and be ready to face competition for attention.
Nowadays, B2B buyers are becoming increasingly tech-savvy and conducting extensive online research before making purchasing decisions. In such cases, traditional marketing channels might not be as effective in reaching and engaging them; hence, adhering to shifting buyer behavior can be useful.
New B2B marketing channels like social media platforms, industry-specific forums, and niche online communities are constantly emerging, and marketers must keep a keen eye on them. Static marketing strategies that rely on outdated channels might miss valuable opportunities to connect with potential buyers. B2B marketers face fierce competition, and they must constantly evolve to make a difference.
Statistics and Examples
Forrester reports that around 70% of B2B buyers extensively use social media to research vendors before purchasing, enhancing the importance of marketing channels. Demandbase found that 80% of B2B buyers prefer to engage salespeople through digital channels.
LinkedIn is a powerful platform for B2B lead generation and thought leadership. Companies use targeted advertising, engaging content, and actively participating in industry groups to reach decision-makers. B2B companies are increasingly engaging with their niche through online communities and forums.
- Try to Solve the Engagement Stagnation Problem
Engagement stagnation is a common challenge in B2B marketing. Audiences eventually become accustomed to the messaging and campaigns, which can lead to declining interest and interaction. This strategy emphasizes taking proactive steps to break this cycle and potentially reignite audience engagement.
Without consistent engagement, the brand might fade from consumers’ minds, and they might not consider you when they need the solutions you offer. Stagnant engagement leads to fewer leads and might result in missed business opportunities.
Statistics and Examples
Marketo says that if the B2B email open rate averages around 25%, a significant portion of the audience might need to engage more actively with the brand messaging and campaign. HubSpot found that only about 3% of website visitors convert on their first visit, highlighting the need for continued engagement to nurture the leads.
Marketers can work on revamping existing content with new data, insights, and formats like videos or infographics, and they can repurpose successful content across different channels to reach wider audiences. They could go beyond static content and incorporate polls, quizzes and interactive elements to encourage audience participation.
Furthermore, they can include personalization and segmentation, leverage the prowess of User-generated Content (UGC), try to have an omnichannel marketing approach, and consider hosting webinars and events. Skillful implementation of all these aspects can help overcome stagnation.
- Focus on Meaningful and Relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
This strategy emphasizes tracking the right metrics to gauge the success of B2B marketing efforts. B2B marketing goes beyond brand awareness and focuses more on driving qualified leads and revenue. When marketers focus on the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), they ensure that the marketing activities align well with these goals.
Focusing on vanity metrics like Website traffic, social media mentions, shares, and followers might not always translate to business growth, but they do give a general idea. Marketers can focus on meaningful KPIs to provide actionable insights and credible information for future marketing campaigns and budget allocation.
Statistics and Examples
CMO Council reports that only about 38% of B2B marketers firmly believe that their marketing efforts are directly tied to their business results and know that focusing on the right KPIs helps bridge the gap. Forrester Research found that data-driven B2B companies experience 15 to 20% faster revenue growth.
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) help track the leads generated who would be a good fit for the product or service. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) identify MQLs who are ready to be contacted by the sales team. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) tracks the total revenue a customer generates, Cost Per Lead (CPL) measures the cost of acquiring new leads, and Lead Nurturing Conversion Rate tracks the percentage of leads that move further down the sales funnel.
In conclusion, the business-to-business (B2B) marketing landscape is fierce and constantly evolving. For desired results, marketers must never put marketing R&D on the back seat, focus on chasing data and not immediate results, work on evolving and changing the marketing channels, try to solve the engagement stagnation problem, and focus on meaningful and relevant key performance indicators (KPIs).
