B2B Digital Marketing Strategies – Shiksha Online

Know about digital marketing strategies common in the B2B landscape. See how they are different from B2C marketing and the challenges.

Organisations that trade products or services with other businesses operate under a B2B or business to business marketing model. B2B companies don’t sell directly to the consumer. So, how do you think they strategise their marketing growth digitally?

Hint: niche content marketing.

As of 2022, 78% of B2B companies use content marketing successfully to build trust among clients.  And 57% of B2B content marketers generate leads (Content Marketing Institute/Marketing Profs). Let’s find out about B2B digital marketing strategies. 

But first, you should know

• What is B2B marketing?
• How is B2B marketing different from B2C?
• Advantages of B2B marketing over B2C
• Key Challenges & Importance of B2B Digital Marketing Strategies Today
• Top 5 B2B digital marketing strategies
  • Identify Target Audience
  • Create a user-friendly website
  • Focus on Search Engine Optimization and Written Content
  • Use Social Media Marketing
  • Segment Your Email Marketing Practice

All About B2B Digital Marketing Strategies

Any B2B company will have different marketing processes than a business to customer (B2C) organisation. Let’s look into the definition of B2B marketing first. 

What is B2B Marketing?

Transactions between companies/agencies refer to business to business marketing. In short, one business helps another business grow. 

And that does not happen with an impulsive buying decision. Especially, when you compare it with how fast consumers buy products online at the tap of a button. B2B companies deal with large scale purchases. For that, the decision-making process and the buying cycle take more time. 

How is B2B Marketing Different From B2C?

Digital marketers cater to both B2B and B2C companies. And they are aware of some of the overlaps in tactics.  After all, the customer has to enter the sales funnel for both. Let’s see how B2B digital marketing strategies differ from B2C.

• Goals – The purpose of any B2C marketing strategy is to sell the product or service through quality interaction. For both B2B and B2C companies, brand awareness is important to increase ROI. Now, B2B organisations look into building a long-term relationship with the audience, while it can vary for B2C companies.
• Target Audience – B2C companies target their digital marketing efforts for the everyday consumer, who looks for entertainment, information, education, etc. For B2B enterprises, the B2B customers are wholesalers, private institutions, government agencies and others.
• Sales Tactics – For B2C, the content marketing strategies aim to influence the customer to buy the product when it is out. This would involve short campaigns. For instance, Diwali or Christmas offers, Year-end sales, and so forth. On the other hand, B2B campaigns can last six to twelve months.
• Communication – B2B marketing communication is never flashy nor emotional. Because B2C companies target a wider demographic. B2B content marketers target a niche audience who are aware of the technical terminology and are able to make decisions on behalf of their companies.

Advantages of B2B Marketing over B2C

• Sales Growth of  Business – According to Search Target, an average B2B transaction is 479 USD. On the other hand, it is 147 USD for B2C companies.
• Higher Customer Retention Rate – With an effective B2B content strategy, companies can rely on the customers for the long term. One main reason is that it becomes expensive for companies to switch to other suppliers. According to Zuora, the average churn rate is 31% for B2C organisations. For B2B companies, the churn rate is 24%.

Key Challenges & Importance of B2B Digital Marketing Strategies Today

• Pandemic – The pandemic affected both B2B and B2C businesses. Before the lockdown, there was a gradual increase in online eCommerce. Many businesses were still not using an omnichannel approach.

Come 2021 with lockdowns, B2B organisations could only succeed with an omnichannel approach. Nearly two-thirds of B2B buyers chose a digital buying option (McKinsey). This is a major reason why B2B digital marketing strategies are important.

• Sustainability – Now it is more important for companies to be eco-friendly. According to net0, 73% of consumers consider the impact on change in the global climate. With it, the conversion rate goes up to 12 to 20% for businesses that actively reduce their carbon footprint. So, this means businesses must ensure that in their vision statement as part of a brand awareness strategy. 
• Personalisation – With an increase in AI adoption and online shopping, personalisation is as important for B2C brands as for B2B companies. Forrester states that 74% of B2B buyers go online for purchases. When a company website is not optimised for the user, it will not succeed. 

Top 5 B2B Digital Marketing Strategies

B2B brands have a niche target audience. B2B marketers plan specific digital marketing strategies. You have to be certain how the buyer will convert through the touchpoints that comprise 

• Awareness – Who is your target audience and what are you solving for them?
• Consideration – Are you able to offer any cost-benefit to motivate them to purchase?
• Decision – Will they make a decision to purchase?

So, meet all these touchpoints in the buyer journey irrespective of the industry. Let’s look into the main B2B digital marketing strategies then. 

• Identify Target Audience

Creating a buyer persona is the first step to a successful B2B marketing strategy. You need to research the target demographics, understand their dislikes, and know what you can communicate. At the same time, you have to know your product or service well. 

Many B2B digital marketers use Google Analytics for marketing automation. As per Content Marketing Institute, 83% of B2B organisations use some kind of web analytics. 

• Create a User-friendly Website 

As discussed above, the online experience is important for buyers in both B2B and B2C segments. You would want to offer all the necessary information about your product or service on your website. Make sure to optimise it. 

Landing pages, mobile-friendliness, social proofs, vision and mission statements should be coherent. These aspects come under a content marketing plan. The landing page should cater to the target audience and be informative with keywords. It should contain a call to action to help the user through the buying process.  

• Focus on Search Engine Optimization and Written Content

If you already have a B2B website, do an SEO audit. Look into on-page and off-page SEO to increase organic traffic on search engines. For on-page SEO, you can fix title tags, meta descriptions, and more to gain visibility on Google. 

Then you have off-page SEO. It involves promotion outside your website. Link building is a popular practice and you can try that. 

90% of B2B marketers published short articles in 2021. 48% of them got the best results.  About 39% published case studies with great results. (Content Marketing Institute). 

• Use Social Media Marketing

Linkedin, Instagram and Facebook are necessary for B2B brands. According to Hinge Marketing, 60% of buyers look for B2B brands on these social media channels. Speaking of Instagram, video content should be your priority. Video format here gets a higher CTR of 1.84%. 

To use social media, you can offer testimonials, news about your industry, your clients and more. These can be easily done in video format. 

• Segment Your Email Marketing Practice 

According to HubSpot, 93% of B2B marketers rely on email marketing. But you have to prioritise how you are sending emails. Because personalisation is essential and sending random emails will not cut it. 

Parting Thoughts

B2B marketing has a longer buying cycle. Effective content marketing can increase B2B growth. So use the above B2B digital marketing strategies.  

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