2024 is going to be all about taking your B2B marketing strategy to new heights. In this Authority Magazine interview, “5 Tips for Your B2B Marketing Strategy,” our VP of Brand Strategy, Jeff Kotran, reveals five tips you need to know about your B2B Marketing Strategy.
What Is A B2B Marketing Strategy?
A B2B (business-to-business) marketing strategy is a plan designed to promote products or services from one business to other businesses. Unlike B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing, which targets individual consumers, B2B marketing is focused on reaching and engaging with other companies, organizations, or professionals. The primary goal of a B2B marketing strategy is to establish and nurture relationships with other businesses, generate leads and ultimately drive sales. Some key components of a marketing strategy include content creation, graphic design, digital advertising, social media, email marketing, trade show support and more.
A well-planned B2B marketing strategy builds a strong reputation and converts leads into loyal customers. As your products and services increase in complexity, your marketing strategy needs to become more sophisticated as well.
Here’s what our own B2B brand strategy expert has to say about it.
5 B2B Marketing Strategy Tips for 2024
- There’s no such thing as “selling to businesses.”
- SEO isn’t optional
- Market ONE thing
- Creativity is your best differentiator
- Experiment is the sole judge of truth
#1. There’s no such thing as “selling to businesses.”
In B2B marketing, you’re not marketing to a single entity. Instead, you’re marketing to a group of decision-makers within a company – people. People with needs and fears and stresses and natural curiosity. Highlight the value your product or service will provide by connecting it to the needs, desires and emotions of your audience. Show them not just what your offering does but how it can enhance their lives, solve their problems or make their days better. Make your content personable and relatable. In doing so, you’ll create a compelling narrative that speaks directly to the hearts and minds of your target audience.
#2. SEO isn’t optional
Any B2B marketing strategy that doesn’t involve SEO (search engine optimization) at its core is doomed to fail. Brands rise and fall according to their ability to demonstrate experience, expertise, authority and trust. These are also the criteria Google uses to determine which content to show users when they ask questions. The internet is the great equalizer. You can have the best price, the best sales team, and even the best product. But if you are not the best answer to every question your buyer has, you’re not marketing.
Search engine optimization is essential for attracting potential business customers. It’s important to research your audience and use relevant keywords, meta descriptions and tags. The structure of your content should be readable and engaging. SEO should be an ongoing effort, constantly evaluated and improved to generate better results.
#3. Market ONE thing
B2B businesses are sales-driven businesses. Their marketing strategies are heavily influenced by what the sales team is doing and experiencing. The upside is that the marketing team gets access to a rich level of information and detail. The downside is that it creates a tendency on the marketing team’s part to MARKET EVERYTHING. And this, of course, never works.
When it comes to B2B marketing, less is often more. Instead of promoting everything your business offers, try promoting one key solution. Be like Volvo. Volvos are fast, fun to drive and get great gas mileage. That’s what a Volvo salesperson will tell you. But the Volvo marketing team, through their ads and commercials, will consistently focus on one thing: Safety.
By focusing on one key solution, you’ll be able to communicate the value of it more effectively and attract the type of customers most likely to buy it.
#4. Creativity is your best differentiator
B2B businesses almost always have a more significant number of competitors — and a smaller number of differentiators — than they think they do. And so when it comes to things like features and benefits and value propositions, the reality is that most competitors are saying roughly the same thing. That is why it is essential to find ways to stand out. One way to do that is by getting creative with your marketing. Think outside the box and try new things your competitors aren’t doing. Whether creating eye-catching graphics or running a unique social media campaign, finding ways to differentiate yourself can help you connect with your target audience and generate more leads.
#5. Experiment is the sole judge of truth
In B2B marketing, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Every business is different, and what works for one might not work for another. If you have no way to track, monitor and measure how your buyers respond to what your strategy is doing, you cannot set goals. With goals, you can grow. That’s why experimentation is crucial. Instead of sticking to old tactics and strategies, try new things and track your results. By being willing to try new things and making data-driven decisions, you can refine your strategy, attract more leads and generate better results. Test, test, then test again — or guess, guess, and guess again.
Conclusion
B2B marketing sounds daunting, so we hope these tips help you as you approach your strategy for 2024. By understanding your target audience, optimizing your content for search engines and focusing on one key solution, you can attract more leads and generate better results. Remember to get creative, experiment, and use research to inform your decisions. By implementing these tips, you’ll be able to streamline your B2B marketing strategy and achieve better results in no time.
