6 Tips for Developing a Better Business to Business Marketing Strategy
Every marketer needs an effective strategy, whether you are marketing to consumers or to other businesses.
However, business to business (B2B) marketing is very different from business to consumer (B2C) marketing. That means you need a different type of strategy to effectively market your brand.
Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail
Without a good strategy, you are essentially throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. No detailed plan means you can make costly mistakes that could spell disaster for your brand. In other words, you are wasting time, resources, and money.
We’d hate to see you waste so much energy on something that isn’t working for you. So let’s talk about crafting a better B2B marketing strategy.
1 | Hit Your Target Market
To begin to develop any strategy, you have to start with your foundation. That foundation is your customer base, or target audience. Understanding who you are trying to speak to will help you craft a more effective marketing strategy.
Begin by analyzing the characteristics of your target market, including:
- The size of the business
- The location of operations
- The industry or niche of your customers
- Who the decision makers are and their functions within the business
- Your customer’s pain points
- The decision making process and timeline of your customers
When you understand who your customers are, you can begin to focus your marketing efforts that directly appeal to their specific needs, rather than trying to make broad appeals that don’t stick.
2 | Craft a Unique Value Proposition
Now that you understand your customers and their needs, take a look at your competitors. Also look at other external forces, such as consumer culture and legal factors that may impact your decisions. This will help you understand where you fit into the market and what makes your brand and what you offer unique. Having an understanding of where you fit into the bigger picture can help you drill down and create a value proposition that is unique and speaks to the needs of your customers. In other words, tell your target market what they can get from you that they can’t get from your competitors.
3 | Set Goals to Reach New Heights
People who set goals are much more likely to succeed. The same goes for business marketing. No strategy will be effective without setting goals. You have to have something to work toward and a timeline to do it in. Think about what you wish to achieve with your marketing. Is it brand recognition or is it increased sales? Then think about how much time it could take to achieve this goal. The more specific your goals are, the better. Make your goal and your timeline challenging, but not overly challenging. This will help motivate you to reach your goals and succeed.
4 | Budget for Marketing Wins
Every business has a limited budget for marketing, no matter the size of the brand. Being aware of what your budget is will help you determine how you deploy your limited resources. How much are you going to pay for creative and collateral? How much are you going to pay for advertising? What can you do organically? These are all questions that you need to answer to determine your budget.
5 | Run Your Ad Campaigns
You’ve planned out your strategy and created your content and collateral. Now you need to run ads and make organic posts. But let’s drill down on the ads, as those are what cost money. Online platforms that offer advertising give you the option to define your target audience. The more defined and narrow, the better return on investment (ROI) you’ll see from your ads. In other words, micro target your audiences. You wouldn’t serve up an ad to a repeat customer that is meant for new leads, would you?
6 | Monitor and Adjust Your Ad Campaigns
You can’t just set it and forget it when it comes to ad campaigns. You’ll need to monitor the results as they come in. This will allow you to make adjustments for things that are working. When you adjust, you can get a better ROI, which will help keep you on budget and give you the results you desire.
Key Takeaway
While there are certain things in B2B marketing that are similar to B2C marketing, such as setting a budget and running ads, there are things that are vastly different. The heart of this difference is your target audience and their needs and pain points. When you focus on these initial things, the other steps in an effective marketing strategy will be set up to succeed even more.
Need help crafting a B2B marketing strategy or running ads? Tintero Creative would love to help you tell your story and succeed online. We guide brands to healthy and sustainable marketing tactics. Learn more or connect with us today!