Your Go-to Guide to B2B Marketing Techniques
The world of business-to-business marketing can seem an intimidating realm of jargon and unapproachable practices, but with the right strategies and tactics, you can succeed just as well as any other business owner.
This comprehensive guide on B2B marketing techniques will help you navigate the ins and outs of the industry, from how to develop your marketing plan to create an effective pricing strategy to drafting your email marketing messages.
With all this in mind, you’ll be well on your way to building a successful business-to-business operation from the ground up.
Strategic Planning
Effective strategic planning is a critical component of a successful marketing campaign. It’s impossible to be effective in marketing without a strong foundation in strategy. While it takes time and careful thought, there are several questions you can ask yourself when thinking about your business that will assist you in strategizing for success.
Think of these as stepping stones towards building your marketing plan. Follow these steps, and you’ll be well on your way towards creating an effective marketing strategy that works with all departments within your organization.
Lead Generation
The base of any good B2B marketing campaign is lead generation. Lead generation is a collection of techniques that allow you to get your potential customers’ information and get them interested in what you offer. To convert leads into sales, follow these best practices:
- Block out time each week to generate new leads. Your campaign isn’t going to be effective if you don’t implement it properly.
- Find an hour or two each week and set aside some time for lead generation only. This will help keep your focus on strategy and not on juggling other day-to-day tasks.
- Follow up with every single person who shows interest. If someone fills out a form on your site, don’t just email them one time asking if they want to talk.
- Prepare content first before pushing it live on social media. Generating traffic from social media requires first having great content prepped before pushing anything live online.
Guerrilla Marketing
This could be a cost-effective B2B marketing strategy. The concept of guerrilla marketing revolves around creating an event or performance that draws attention and interest in your company.
Events such as flash mobs and flash sales are great examples of guerrilla marketing tactics. These efforts, when done well, can drive consumer traffic to your business and keep it there.
No matter what you decide to try out for your guerrilla marketing tactics, it’s essential that you go above and beyond with them. If you don’t give these events their total effort, they may end up backfiring on you.
Email Marketing
If your business offers a product or service relevant to potential clients, email marketing is an excellent option. The primary idea is that you have an email list of people who have permitted you to send them information about new services, products, and so on.
You can also use it as an additional vehicle for selling your current products and services. Some companies offer their customers a discount if they opt-in, which is a neat way of encouraging more sales.
Account-Based Marketing
Instead of making blanket marketing pitches to every contact in a target company, account-based B2B marketing looks for decision-makers within specific accounts.
When you identify your ideal customer, you can tailor your approach to that account rather than wasting time on companies that don’t need or want your services. That means higher quality clients for your agency and more effective use of your marketing budget.
Final Thoughts
Many entrepreneurs don’t know much about business-to-business marketing. It can be a scary landscape to navigate, but you can make your business boom with a bit of research and a few key tactics. Try out these proven techniques, and you might be surprised by what you learn.