Kathy Floam-Greenspan is the President of Pomerantz Marketing, a full-service B2B agency supporting regional, national and global SMBs.
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Whether you’re leading a bootstrapped tech startup or overseeing a significant organizational expansion in your B2B company, the right marketing strategy can make all the difference. When executed effectively, businesses that focus on solutions and products for other businesses can expect their marketing efforts to increase brand recognition, market exposure, demand creation, lead generation and sales.
That’s why, as companies begin to emerge from the pandemic, many are placing a renewed emphasis on marketing and advertising to optimize their competitive positioning as customer spending rebounds. It’s estimated that companies will increase advertising spending by more than 15% this year, often directing those resources to digital efforts.
At the same time, B2B marketing isn’t a magic bullet. It can’t solve every problem, and its impact can be limited, especially when deployed in a haphazard or incongruous way. This is particularly true for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the B2B sector, which often lack the financial and personnel resources of their corporate counterparts.
For SMBs looking to optimize their marketing efforts, here are five proven B2B marketing tactics that can boost business as we emerge into the post-pandemic competitive landscape.
1. Define and prioritize marketing goals that matter most to your B2B audience.
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In today’s digital-first marketing environment, defining and prioritizing marketing goals can be challenging. Choosing the best marketing channels and tools is overwhelming for marketing leaders pulled in many directions. A false start comes with upfront expenses and opportunity costs that reduce overall marketing effectiveness.
The recent pandemic only exacerbates these challenges. B2B spending is expected to increase by $140 billion in the second quarter, putting businesses at risk of missing this spending boon if their advertising fails to connect with buyers.
This rapid economic return will tempt companies to, as the tech ethos intones, “move fast and break things.”
However, effective B2B marketing is a strategic endeavor, and companies will maximize their return on investment by being specific about their desired outcomes. Identify the desired result and put a number to it. In addition, companies should:
• Look to the past. Define marketing goals in the context of past performance.
• Set challenging but achievable goals. Develop incremental, realistic goals that are backed up by a sufficient marketing budget.
• Pick a priority. Pick one big goal and create smaller supporting goals to focus marketing efforts in the right directions.
2. Develop target audience personas based on businesses that can benefit from what you sell.
Marketing is most effective when it speaks directly to a target audience. In other words, marketing messages flourish when they are specific and strategic, and businesses embrace this priority by developing detailed B2B target marketing personas.
High conversion marketing efforts target decision makers and those influencing the sale, making it imperative that businesses understand who they are going after.
3. Assess online presence through the eyes of a B2B buyer.
First impressions matter, and a company’s online presence is often its first opportunity to engage with customers. Poorly performing websites, social media accounts and other digital channels undermine existing marketing initiatives and deter organic growth that can propel organizations forward.
Evaluating shifting B2B buying trends, Gartner found, “buyers value suppliers that make it easier for them to navigate the purchase process” as they rely on digital and in-person resources to make a purchase.
When evaluating an online presence, companies should assess design, content, performance and analysis. Businesses need to know how their digital channels are serving them and, based on their newly determined marketing goals, what they need their online presence to achieve.
4. Conduct an online competitive analysis of other top businesses selling to your core customer base.
Of course, digital platforms don’t exist in a bubble. Every company is working hard to optimize its online presence, so companies need to understand their competition.
First, identify major competitors. Deploying a broad market view, select five to seven competing companies to analyze, assess and compare. Notably, these companies should include those similarly sized and geographically relevant, but it’s also helpful to include “reach” competitors that can further push business potential.
Analyze their online presence, including:
• Website messaging strategy.
• Target audience and sentiments.
• Product and service offerings.
• Areas for differentiation.
• Social media activity.
Armed with this information, companies can conduct a SWOT analysis to yield critical insights that inform the next steps.
5. Gather insights from the sales team.
Too often, companies don’t tap into their sales teams to glean the highly valuable insights derived from consistent customer interactions. These internal assets often have an unparalleled understanding of market trends, hot button issues and shifting customer sentiments that can help drive marketing initiatives.
Sales team interviews can unlock this asset, creating better, more cohesive connections between marketing, target audience and KPIs.
Conclusion
B2B-focused SMBs will best compete in a thriving post-pandemic economy when their marketing efforts work together to drive business objectives in new and diverse ways. Each of these facets is a puzzle piece that, when properly compiled, empowers businesses to reach new and existing customers with brand messaging that matters.
Effective marketing efforts are fluid and predicated on hard work and intentionality. They don’t have to be complicated, but they will be consequential, and most importantly, they won’t happen by accident.
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Author: Kathy Floam-Greenspan, Forbes Councils Member
