Since a mere 22% of businesses state they are satisfied with their conversion rates, studying what B2B strategies work best is a smart move that can result in higher conversions. For most B2B marketers, the priority is to create a solid marketing strategy that garners results.
That’s easier said than done, though. The market is flooded with other businesses, marketing from every corner, and so much chatter and noise that it can be difficult to grab the attention of business owners.
There are some advanced strategies you can focus on that will take your marketing to the next level. If you want to stand out from your competition and make an impact on your target audience, start with these five strategies.
Define and Redefine Your Target Audience
You’ve likely heard you should define your ideal market demographic. Perhaps you’ve even heard that you should create a user persona so you fully understand the type of person you are marketing to. To do this, you must go further than simply defining your general audience.
First, don’t be afraid to revamp your user personas from time to time. It’s natural as your business grows for your ideal customer to change along with you. When your company first started, you may have been reaching out to startups.
Perhaps your services are now better suited to an experienced small business owner. Consider how can you revamp this target audience so that your message is on task.
Defining your target audience is a beneficial strategy because you can hone not only the overall message to the audience but market specifically to the audience you’ve created through your user persona through social media and other outlets. Focus on that core group to find B2B marketing success.
Create an Editorial Content Calendar
B2B bloggers get around 67% more leads than business owners who don’t blog. Blogging is a vital part of any online marketing strategy, but you have to blog with purpose or your efforts are essentially wasted. Some roadblocks you’ll want to watch for include poor writing or content that doesn’t quite hit the mark with that target audience. Avoid spammy style posts, which readers are onto and will ignore.
Creating an editorial calendar benefits your online marketing efforts because you can discuss topics that your user persona is most interested in. In turn, this can translate into all your other marketing efforts, always pointing business owners back to your blog and what you can do for them.
Customize Solutions for Clients
For just about every industry out there, you can bet there will be competition for clients. One way to stand out from your competitors is to offer customized solutions for your clients.
This shows other businesses that you not only care about their individual needs, but you can meet those needs better than anyone else out there. Consider the fact that:
“Every business holds unique processes that differ from other companies even if they are in the same industry. FDM4 works with each business and creates customized business solutions to meet their overall needs.”
Customization is beneficial to both businesses. For the company offering the customization, they have an opportunity to reach their customer on a one-on-one level that will make them indispensable. For the client, customization allows them to gain the exact product or service needed to meet very specific needs.
Conversion Goals and Steps
One thing you might not have considered are the ways you wish to convert site visitors into customers. The first step to more successfully marketing to businesses is to figure out what you want to accomplish. Be as specific as possible when you set your conversion goals.
What exactly do you want to convert leads to? How many or what percentage do you wish to convert? Once you’ve set these goals, you have to figure out how to get to those numbers/goals.
Once you have your conversion goals in place, create different stages in the process funnel. The idea is to take the customer on a journey that steps them from landing page to Call to Action (CTA) and whatever you are trying to convert him to. What is the best method at each stage to encourage the visitor along?
Tell a Story
It’s difficult to express just how important storytelling is in the process of B2B marketing. At the end of the day, it really is more about relationships than anything else. Think about the companies you personally do business with.
More than likely, you know some of the workers, owners or the manager. You have done business there for years. You know their philosophy and why they got started. You know their story. You, too, must tell a story if you want potential clients to do business with you. Your story starts with the story of why you started your business in the first place.
It continues with the success stories of your past clients. It then goes on to develop that close relationship with your newest customers. The best way to establish a relationship on this level is through questionnaires, polls, and taking the time to speak to clients whenever possible via 24/7 chat features, email, your blog or social media.
If you invest the time and effort into getting to know your customers, they will invest the time and effort into getting to know you. You’ll gain a client who is loyal and who has bought into your overall brand and philosophy.
Help Other Businesses
Put yourself in the shoes of the business owners you are marketing to. What will they most want to know about your company? How can you get across the benefits of your product or service to them? How can you solve a problem?
As a B2B business, your primary goal should be quite simply to figure out how you can best help other businesses. Once you have a firm understanding of the value you bring to the table, you’ll be much better equipped to market to those other businesses.
