According to a report conducted for the LinkedIn B2B institute, 95% of businesses are not in the market for most goods and services at any one time.
The report indicates that businesses change their suppliers or service providers such as software, telephony, and other core business services approximately once every 5 years, meaning that in a year only 20% are ready to consider a B2B purchase, which equates to 5% each quarter.
On initial reading this might paint a bleak picture, but in fact having this information can really help marketers to focus on a strategy and marketing spend that is built with this information in mind.
Understand your customer buying cycle
Knowing when and how your customers procure products and services is key to maximising your B2B marketing budget. This is when your own CRM or database comes in handy for identifying trends.
Analyse the spending habits of your most loyal or repeat customers to see whether you can spot trends or cycles, what they purchase and how much they spend. Do your most profitable customers have anything in common, or is your business driven by seasonality?
Having a clear picture of this information will help you to establish short and long term focal points to build your strategy, campaigns and spend around.
If you’re struggling to identify trends in your data, read more about our B2B data analytics services.
Find out your market penetration
Understanding how much of the market you’re currently servicing will give you a clear picture of where you need to employ more awareness driven marketing, which is often seen as more costly.
If your business is long established and you have cornered your market or niche, you’ll have different marketing objectives, than a business that’s new to market.
New businesses need to focus on building awareness of their brand and services through a selection of multi-channel campaigns, whereas established businesses can focus more of their spend on proven channels that convert OR, experiment with breaking new ground.
One way you can get visibility of your market penetration is to use a service like our Customer Insight Analytic Report. By analysing your data, we can tell you how many businesses that match your target audience you are already working with, and how many are left on the table as potential opportunities.
By having this data you can decide how much of your B2B marketing budget you want to spend on targeting these specific prospects. This approach can save you money in the long and the short term.
Analyse what channels deliver for your business
At the end of the day, each business and industry is different – what works for one business might not work for you. In the world of marketing there is always going to be something shiny and new ready to steal your attention, but new and shiny doesn’t always mean it’s the right thing for your business.
A huge part of marketing is about experimentation, as things are constantly evolving, so it is good practice to build into your marketing budget some room for trying new things. The majority of your budget should be spent on channels and activities that are proven to work for you – there is no shame in sticking to what you know works.
By setting aside some budget for the shiny new things, you can let your Marketing Executive come up with an experimental plan and dip your toe into the latest marketing trends whilst knowing your interests are protected. And who knows, you might just find another channel, tactic or market segment that converts!
Email marketing to stay top of mind and deliver value
It’s no secret that one of our favourite marketing tools is email marketing – it’s one of the most stable and effective ROI generating marketing activities you have in your arsenal.
Email marketing allows you to play the long and short game, with options to target different segments of your database with different messaging, nurture programmes and offers.
Another tactic you can use is marketing automation, to help you reach your prospects at just the right time as they progress on their buying journey.
A prospect might have come into your ecosystem when scoping out competitive suppliers, and even if you don’t win the deal this time around, you have an open door to stay top of mind and deliver value ready for the next buying cycle.
Whether you’ve got your own email marketing campaign ideas or you want some inspiration, find out more about our no-fuss email automation platform Marketscan Edge.
So, long or short game?
If you’ve read this far then you probably already know the answer – you need to play both for maximum results but you can employ tactics that serve one or the other depending on your business goals.
If you want to learn more about any of the ideas or services we offer in this blog, then get in touch by emailing us at [email protected] or calling us on 01243 786711. Our friendly and expert team are on hand to listen to your business needs and help you to come up with a plan of action.
Other blogs you might be interested in
How email marketing helps with customer retention and loyalty.
Have you considered telemarketing for generating leads, creating awareness and making sales?
How and why you need to build customer profiles to create marketing campaigns.
