B2B sales are often more complex and have a longer sales cycle but in return, typically have higher order values. Taking time to build out an effective B2B marketing strategy is crucial to achieving ROI, a happy sales team and happy customers.
Whatever your industry, product or service, if your B2B marketing strategy is to be successful, there are 3 main components that you need to get right. In this blog, we’ll touch on each of these areas and give you strategic tips for keeping your B2B marketing plan on track.
1. Target the right audience
Seems obvious right? It’s all too easy to take this one for granted though. Whether your business is a start-up or a long-standing organisation, making sure you’re focusing on targeting the right people in the market is the first step – if this isn’t right, nothing else in your B2B marketing plan matters.
If your business is new, research will be your first port of call. Once you know what type of people you want to reach, you’ll need a target prospect list. Starting from scratch or waiting for inbound leads to build your pipeline can be a very slow start. A great way to get up and running fast is to acquire a list of business contact details for decision-makers in your target market. You can then contact them via email, telephone or direct mail marketing campaigns. Accessing high-quality B2B data from a reputable and professional source gives you a faster and more successful start to your B2B marketing plan.
In an existing business, it’s vitally important to periodically refresh, cleanse and even re-invigorate your prospect pool or selling database. The B2B landscape is always evolving and depending on your industry or sector. You may find that your business shifts and your target audience shifts with it.
People move on to different roles, you develop a new product or service. In either case, B2B data experts can help you optimise your existing B2B contact data with a cleansing service. Or they can consult with you about the possibilities for targeting new customer groups and what the best options are for your use case or B2B marketing strategy.
2. Reach your audience with the right content
This leads us nicely on to what you’re targeting your prospects with as part of your marketing strategy. Again this will very much depend on your industry. If you’re in manufacturing, engineering or an industry that’s regulated, the content your target audience will require might be a webinar, a white paper or a piece of research where you can demonstrate your technical expertise.
How you reach and deliver this content matters. In this example, a targeted email to a list of prospects would be the most efficient way to serve up this content. It’s quick, easy and will be able to convey all the benefits of your solution to your prospects.
If you offer physical products, a direct mail campaign could be a fun and fresh way to deliver the benefits of your products in a very tangible way. People never forget an experience, so a direct mail campaign as part of your strategy can be highly effective. With direct mail, it’s vital that you have the right mailing address for your recipients. Ensuring your data is complete should be part of your planning for any type of direct mail campaign. If you’re stuck for creative inspiration, check out our blog on direct mail campaign ideas.
3. Reach your targets at the right time
As they say, timing is everything! Depending on the buying cycle of your product or service, when you start and follow up with your outreach will be different. B2B marketing strategy is all about offering targeted and thoughtful touchpoints. They will take your prospects through the buyer’s journey and build trust.
Cross-channel or multichannel campaigns are an economical and creative way to catch your prospects wherever they are. Again, having quality integrated B2B data is important for this kind of marketing strategy. It helps to avoid any awkward or expensive mistakes. This is where talking to an experienced specialist can help you to deliver a sophisticated multi-touch marketing campaign that delivers results without any stress.
Some final words of advice for your B2B marketing strategy…
Whether you’re a new or existing business, the quality and integrity of your B2B data is a huge part of making your B2B marketing strategy a success, so make sure to invest some time, or get advice from data experts to help you. Finally, don’t forget to keep things fresh. The world moves fast, so make sure you revisit your B2B strategy periodically to ensure it’s still focused on the right targets.
For more information or advice on how Marketscan and our B2B data experts can support you with your B2B marketing strategy contact us.
