Learn how B2B marketing is similar to B2C in some ways - but also different. See how it starts with understanding buyer personas and ends with a content strategy that engages and converts them. Find more resources like this at http://www.technoledge.com.au/b2b-marketing-trends.
1. 1
In B2B marketing you need to understand your
targetsand give them what they want, when and how
they want it. It’s like giving ice cream to a child on a hot
day. Answer these questions, and it‘ll be a lot easier.
1. Who are your ideal customers?
What makes them ideal? Size? Short sales cycle?
Location? Industry? Profitable to serve? Make a list of all
the criteria—and look for similarities.
2. Which products do they love?
Which of your products or services do they rave about?
Where are the similarities and overlaps between
different ideal customers?
3. What are the buyer personas?
Within your ideal customers, who made the decision and
who influenced it? What positions, roles and titles were
involved? What age and gender are they? What are they
like as people?
4. What, where and how do they use?
What social media, industry associations, online media
etc do they use? What devices do they use to browse
your website or read your emails?
5. What are their buyer journeys?
What are their stages between fully unaware of you and
totally ecstatic with your product or service? Are they
similar for each persona or not?
6. What do they crave?
For each persona and stage, what do they desire, what
do they fear, and how do you want them to feel about
you, your company and product? What types of
marketing content will help them feel that way?
7. What do you have now?
What collateral do you have now? What can be reused
or repurposed for different buyer personas or
industries? Have you done an audit recently?
8. What formats do you need?
Which formats suit where buyers go and what they
consume there? Are there overlaps? What can be
reused in different formats? Do you have web pages for
all your key products & services?
9. When can you do it?
Look at where more ideal customers are found
(industries, locations) and look for gaps in your
collateral and database. Schedule to backfill your
content and database to get rid of gaps.
10. How to pull it all altogether?
Build your website into a useful, problem-solving hub,
by spreading your content over web pages, landing
pages, blog posts and downloads, and over the social
media you know buyers use. Use Google Adwords or
other PPC campaigns to attract new potential buyers.
Segment your database into industries, personas &
niches. Schedule outbound problem-solving email
campaigns with enticing, matched content.
Plan campaigns by niche. Automate, monitor, test &
tweak them. Keep doing it. It works. ###
10 steps to B2B marketing success
Whatever you’re selling software, hardware, services or any technicaly complex products, if
you’re marketing B2B, you need to get inside your buyers’ heads.