B2B Marketing is the short form of Business to Business Marketing. Unlike B2C which is Business to Consumer B2B marketing is a little complicated & time consuming due to the higher ticket sizes involved.
B2C deals with products which might be sold as impulsive buys but B2B products are more research-oriented, quality based & cost biased.
Let us look at some of the stats of B2B marketing & the pain points that a company in the B2B space faces regarding marketing:
- 60% of B2B companies biggest pain point is generating leads for their business.
- As per 48% of B2B companies reaching their target customers is their 2nd biggest challenge.
- 34% agree that they don’t have an engaging brand & should work on creating one.
Given these stats, it is important to understand how to address these issues that B2B companies face.
Lead Generation:
Lead Generation is the Number 1 challenge a B2B business faces. How do you keep churning out new leads for your business so you can keep it solvent? Lead Generation previously was not as difficult as it is today due to the competitiveness in the market. Previously it was easy to reach to the target audience either by word of mouth or advertising on traditional media like Television ads, Newspaper ads, Hoardings & Radio ads.
In the 21st century though due to the advent of digital marketing we have new platforms using which we can generate leads for our business.
The audience is more prone to research due to the easy availability of business information on the internet & there are no secrets in the business anymore. Previously people were also constrained by geography & were only willing to buy from the same country, region or city as the logistics were not evolved. But now due to the launch of e-commerce, you can buy a product anywhere in the world & can be sure about its quality. It is also getting delivered within a week’s time.
As a B2B company if you are going down the path of Lead Generation then you should follow a process which consists of:
1. Creating Useful content to Educate, Engage or add value to your ideal target audience.
2. Diverting the target audience to a good, appealing landing page to get their contact details thereby increasing your email lists.
3. A Website which is responsive & mobile friendly so your audience can easily go through it to understand what you are selling.
4. Social Media to increase your brand engagement & reach newer audiences.
5. Search Engine Optimisation – This is a process using which your brand will be displayed to your target audience by Google when they are searching for products or services that you cater to.
6. Running ads on social media platforms – this is the new media using which you can specifically target only the right audience for your product or service to increase your ad’s impact on lower costs.
But before you can start on the “Lead Generation” process you need to understand the Sales Funnels.
What is B2B Sales Funnel
Sales Funnel is a process using which you segment the visitors on your website so you can send them information that is RIGHT for the stage that they are in.
In simpler terms, this just means using different sales pitches to people who are in different phases of the sales cycle.
The different phases of sales cycles are:
1. Discovery:
Discovery is the phase when your target audience has identified that they have a need for your services & are actively searching for companies which can provide those services.
In the discovery phase, the key is for your target audience to actually know that your company exists & can provide services for their requirement.
For your company to be found – firstly you should know all the platforms that your target audience might be searching for you on.
Let us say they are searching for you on “Google”, will your website show up. Do you have any reviews on google so your company’s profile is ranking at the top?
Another media that your target audience may be searching on actively for your service could be Social Media. How popular is your brand on social media? Do you even have a presence on the appropriate platform that is right for your business?
The next stage in the Sales Funnel is “Consideration”. So your target audience has searched for your service & now they have discovered your company.
Since you are a B2B company you should have an active company profile on LinkedIn, Twitter & Youtube. On Youtube, you can create your own channel & start putting up videos regarding how your target audience can use your product better.
2. Consideration:
The next stage in the Sales Funnel is “Consideration”. So your target audience has searched for your service & now they have discovered your company.
Will they consider buying from you? What will help them decide to buy from your company? Can you provide them more information like tips to make the most of your tool so they can generate more revenues when they use your service?
In this stage, you can share with your target audience regarding your experience of the specific industry, your customer testimonials etc. This will help them make the decision regarding purchasing your product or service.
3. Conversion:
Conversion is the actual sale. Your target audience has decided to buy your product or service.
In this phase since they already know about your company & your experience, it makes no sense sending them more information regarding your company credentials.
In the conversion phase, the information that makes more sense for them are:
1. Onboarding videos
2. Customer support information
3. Account Activation set up details
4. Retention:
The most important phase in a sales funnel is the Retention phase. It generally costs 3 times to acquire a new customer rather than to retain an old one.
Retention starts as soon as Conversion happens so care has to be taken that the customer is touch based on a constant basis using email marketing tools, surveys, customer care phone calls to gauge if the product or service that we sold has been useful to the customer & if we could add any other value to make it a better fit for his business.
Also if you do a good job at this phase, you can also ask for referrals from the existing customer so that he can connect your business to his circle of friends or family who might benefit from your product or service.
Conclusion:
B2B Marketing faces 3 tough challenges like:
1. Lead Generation.
2. Reaching the right Target Audience.
3. Creating an Engaging Brand.
Lead Generation is a process & not a tactic so you need to have procedures in place to:
1. Content which is appropriate for your target audience & helps create value addition for them.
2. An appropriate website which is responsive & mobile friendly.
3. Presence on social media so your target audience may come across your brand.
4. Search Engine Optimisation of your website so that your target audience can find your brand or company when they are searching for your product or service online.
5. Email Marketing so that you can send more information regarding your product or service to your existing customers or keep in touch with new connections. Email is still the most non-invasive way to share information regarding your company.
Before you start the journey of Lead Generation though, Sales Funnels or Sales Processes need to be in place.
There are 4 different phases of a Sales Funnel:
1. Discovery – This phase is when your target audience knows they have a need for your product or service & starts actively researching for companies which provide those products & services.
2. Consideration – 2nd phase in the Sales Funnel is where your target audience has started actively shortlisting various companies that are the right fit for their requirements.
3. Conversion – Conversion is the actual buy or the target audience is now your active customer.
4. Retention – Retention is the most important phase of a sales funnel as it costs 3 times to acquire a new customer rather than retain an existing one.
Now that we have understood the different phases of Sales Funnels. We will learn about “B2B Lead Generation tactics” in our next week’s blog.
So Stay Tuned & reach out to us at sirisha@brandingbypixels.com to get your Digital Strategy crafted TODAY.
Have a great week ahead.
Happy Marketing,
Sirisha Inapurapu,
Founder, Head – Marketing,
sirisha@brandingbypixels.com
brandingbypixels.com
