B2B Marketing: 5 tips

B2B Marketing is very different from B2C Marketing. Many companies do not realise this optimally and execute the wrong strategies. Both markets have their own characteristics. They differ in size, target group and sales frequency. The value of an order in the B2B market is often much higher. And because this is the case, the buying process generally takes longer. Of course, there is a difference between the purchase of capital goods and professional consumables. It has been proven that more professional buyers orientate themselves online before making a purchase than commercial buyers. Partly for the reasons mentioned above, B2B marketing is another sport.

You can read what exactly you can do with B2B marketing in your sector in the five tips below:

Five tips for B2B marketing

  • Tip 1: Take advantage of the fact that B2B lags behind B2C

    B2B is still lagging behind B2C in regards to marketing. In the B2B sector it is still often wrongly thought that customers are not online and only need personal contact. Nothing could be further from the truth. Professional buyers also orientate themselves online and even more so. A longer process precedes the purchase and several professionals are dealing with the purchase, so it is important to have a good online presence. There are different reasons why B2B often lags behind. An example is that buying in the B2B sector is often more complicated and the price structures are more complicated. Also, in the B2B sector there is still little demand for input from the customer. Even though the B2B sector often has longer and more frequent contact with the customer. Also in terms of website or B2B webshop design, B2B is not leading the way. The fact that probably many of your competitors are still lagging behind with B2B marketing offers you many opportunities.

  • Tip 2: Identify your target group and their needs

    This is also very important if you are considering using B2B marketing. Create personas and define the customer journey. The advantage in the B2B sector is that there is already a lot of customer contact. Use this contact to find out more. What do they need? Not only current customers provide qualitative information but so do potential customers. Why are they not yet customers? What are their needs? There are various ways to gather this information such as starting a conversation, conducting interviews, conducting surveys or searching for available data on the Internet.

  • Tip 3: Look at data

    Data is key. You have probably heard this before. We keep saying it because data says what you can’t know. Where do visitors drop out of your website? Where do visitors stay for a long time? It often happens that data from companies sketches a different picture than expected. Data are hard facts. This allows you to discover the flaws and strengths of your website. If you see for example, that at certain page visitors are dropping out en masse, then it is certain to say that you have to make an adjustment to the content. Does something not work technically or is something bad to find? With A/B testing you can test two versions of a page, so that you always keep improving according to the wishes of your target group. There are several tools that can capture your data. For example Google Analytics, Semrush, Super Metrics or various IP tracking technology.

  • Tip 4: Write content

    A B2B marketing survey showed that no less than 71% of Dutch B2B marketers already use content marketing. Compared to 2016, this is an increase of 10%. This research also showed that 15% indicated that they started content marketing, so growth will only increase further. Since 95-98% of the professional buyers research online, it is important that you offer interesting content. The most important tip when writing content: think from the customer’s perspective. What do they need? What are they looking for? In what ways does your product solve the customer’s problem? Think of the customer when writing at all times. A common mistake in content marketing and writing in general is that you write from what you know. For the customer, your knowledge about the product is not always self-evident. If you are able to communicate your products in a clear way the customer will appreciate it more. Not only bad findability of your products leads to website disconnects but confusing content does not do much good either. Writing interesting content can distinguish you from your competitor.

  • Tip 5: Actively engage in lead generation

    In fact, several marketing activities together contribute to lead generation. With lead generation it is the intention that the visitor of your website leave their contact details. There are several B2B marketing techniques to use to achieve this. Think of SEO. By means of a well optimized website you will be better found in Google. A higher position in Google simply means more visits to the website. Research shows that people rarely click through to the second page of Google. Besides SEO, you can also use SEA to generate more traffic. If you use SEO and SEA, it is already a big step in the right direction. But this is only step 1. If the traffic is high on your website you also want the visitors to make themselves known. This can be done in several ways. Think for example of downloading an e-book or a factsheet. Or you can request a free demo. When a customer is prepared to leave his details behind he is already more active than simply a website visitor. The content you offer in return for the visitor’s data can already say a lot about which phase of the customer journey it is in. A visitor who leaves his data for a newsletter is in a different phase than a visitor who downloads a prize list.

Jelba and B2B marketing

We at Jelba are specialised in the B2B sectors Agri, Transport & Logistics, Construction & Installation and Industry. This distinguishes us from many other marketing agencies. Would you like to know more about how you can grow in the B2B sector? Do not hesitate to contact us. On the basis of a careful digital analysis, we provide insight into your opportunities. We do this for our own account. Because if it has potential we will be happy to work with you.

Finally

The goal of all our customers is to realize more sales online. We ensure that they succeed in this mission. If you are a B2B company, then we are happy to provide insight into your online opportunities and give advice on where you stand in comparison to your competition. Click here to request this scan.