Let’s be real: this ain’t your grandma’s B2B marketing.
It boils down to the fact that everyone’s a publisher. That cement company, they’re media now. That boring ass firm that makes valves for ships….they’re media too. Just like The Times or the BBC.
This is not an easy thing for some B2B companies to grasp. But the smart ones are waaay on it.
Here are 4 keys to B2B marketing success.
1. Focus on building relationships
B2B marketing efforts should be about building long-term relationships and less about short-term wins. Your prospects should get your attention on a regular basis, not just when your sales team is freaking out because the month or quarter is ending and they need to make a sale.
2. Make data-driven decisions
Instead of creating intent for your customers, understand and take action based on where they’re at. Today, marketers have access to a wealth of data on which they can build their predictive capabilities. You can use your company data to identify your target buyer personas and then create a marketing plan that connects with these archetypes more efficiently.
You can also use the data to discover more cross-sale opportunities and identity your best prospects. There is a range of softwareavailable for data mining, automating marketing processes, and analytics. Evaluate different technology platforms and then adopt one that best integrates with your CRM and other systems.
3. Integrate marketing with other business activities
Since marketing impacts the core business, it should be intrinsically woven into it. Pretty simple. Silos are for grain not your company.
4. Empathize with the customer
B2B marketing begins and ends with helping the customer. Today, marketing is not what you do to the prospects. It is about what you do for them. Focus less on your service and more on how you can solve their needs faster than your competitors. More than anything, B2B buyers make decisions based on trust.
Good luck