Articles

5 Tips to Optimize Your B2B Marketing Strategies

by Vartika Kashyap CMO

We live in a digital age where the whole world comes under one roof in no time. In such a scenario, competition in the business world has grown manifold. The potential customers have visibility into the plethora of business solutions available out there. So, strong marketing strategies become all the more important to make a lasting impression and enhance your business.


B2B marketing (or business-to-business marketing) refers to the promotion or selling of products and services by one business to other businesses. This can be in many forms: software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscriptions, security solutions, tools, accessories, office supplies, etc. 


In today’s highly crowded global marketplace, a strong B2B marketing strategy is essential for success. Effective B2B marketing allows marketing teams to educate, acquire and retain customers. Companies are using a number of methods to reach the right customers through various techniques like social media marketing, web-based marketing, email marketing, etc. 


This post is dedicated to tips that can help you optimize your B2B  marketing strategies


  1. Contextual Relevance 


Contextual relevance is a highly targeted method of focusing on advertising efforts. It refers to targeted customization that means your ad spend gets the most relevant use, as it will appear in front of people who already have an interest in your brand or who are potentially in the market for a product like the one offered by your brand. Contextual relevance helps B2B businesses appear in front of customers with the most possible interest in their products. Contextual ads are based on a user’s search history and online behavior. Businesses can this way reach the right audience rather than roaming around people who are nowhere looking for what you are providing.


One example of contextual marketing is the recent campaign of 16Handles, a yogurt chain based in New York. This company has researched and discovered that its target audience is people between 13-25 years age who use Snapchat. They started a unique marketing campaign and asked these target audience to click pictures at any 16Handles location and send it to Snapchat of 16Handles. As a result, these people got various coupons and discount vouchers from 16Handles. From this example, it becomes clear that in order to implement contextual marketing campaigns correctly, you need to study, analyze your audience and be present where your audience is present.


  1. Use the Right Tools


B2B marketing is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. It involves marketing for various platforms and mediums like email marketing, video marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, etc. There is a wide variety of input that goes to various platforms in the form of blogs, articles, ads, messages, email directs, infographics, posters, etc. 


A lot of analysis and resource management goes into handling all this. There are a number of tools that cater to all the above needs of analysis, research and task management related to marketing. You can use tools like Ahrefs with the SEO aspect of your B2B marketing initiatives. It provides actionable insight in terms of keyword research, tracks rankings, finds backlink opportunities, etc.


You can use an effective collaboration tool like ProofHub to keep a complete track of all the tasks and teammates related to your marketing campaign. Intercom is another app that helps you create leads and convert them. It also helps you engage employees through in-app and push messages. Not just this, Chanty is yet another useful tool for effective team communication to collaborate on your marketing venture.


  1. Upselling and Cross-Selling


Stagnancy is the worst thing in business. Anyone of your clients or customers will be super glad to come across an upgraded version of your current service. A pro version or additional services are always welcomed by the customers. 


In such a scenario, cross-selling and upselling act as important B2B marketing strategies. These not only help you retain your current customers but also helps create a positive discussion about your product or service among potential customers.


Upselling is when you offer your customers a chance to upgrade a product or service to the latest and fresh version. Cross-selling is when you add more complementary features in a product that might be useful for your customer.


Remember that your customers are thereafter making a conscious choice of going for your brand. This is your chance to develop more credibility and long term commitment with your customers by making them feel that you understand their needs and want to deliver the best.


  1. Integration


By integration,  I mean the integration of online and offline marketing strategies. Businesses need to use a combination of marketing strategies to maximize the potential of their campaigns. Let us understand this with the example of a Twitter campaign of McDonald’s called #Mcdstories. McDonald’s had started this campaign with the expectation of getting many happy meal stories. This campaign turned out to be a disaster and filled with negative comments. 


This could have been a success if Twitter had integrated this campaign with other networking platforms like Tv ads where they could share their intention of bringing back nostalgia through this campaign. This could have led people to think in a nostalgic direction. 


Similarly, an offline marketing campaign might fail because there is only limited information that can be displayed through such mediums. Integrating offline marketing with online mediums like adding CTAs, QR codes, etc. can help in a big way. You can send people to your website, social media and landing pages through print ads, radio, and television, etc.


  1. Case studies


Case studies act as measurable proof of what your company does and how different industries and businesses can utilize those services. Case studies act like fuel to the fire. Demand gen Report 2016 says that 73% of the buyers use case studies in B2B purchasing. 


Developing a case study involves organizing and using the available material and data rather than collecting new material. Look at your customer successes and see if there are ways to use that in viable case studies.


Conclusion


The world of marketing is expanding every day. New strategies and methods are being exploited by companies to stay on top of your marketing game. Organizing your marketing plans and executing them right with the help of the right tools and methods can boost B2B marketing.



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About Vartika Kashyap Innovator   CMO

21 connections, 0 recommendations, 62 honor points.
Joined APSense since, April 9th, 2018, From Chandigarh, India.

Created on Sep 27th 2019 02:55. Viewed 801 times.

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