Expert Tips For What Is B2B Marketing: Definition, Strategy, and Trends

There are many different kinds of businesses and just as many terms to match! Like B2B, business to business, B2C, business to consumer, and SAAS, subscription as a service. Today, we will focus on B2B and what makes this kind of marketing different from other businesses, giving you best practices, trends, and strategies to use for your own business. If you’ve wanted to grow your B2B marketing for your company, you’re in the right place!

What is B2B?

A B2B or business-to-business company is one that sells its products or services directly to other businesses or organizations, not the general public. Services like Office 365, Salesforce, SugarCRM, and others are examples of SAAS companies that are B2B. Many organizations operate under both the B2B and B2C umbrellas.

Any individual(s) with control or influence on purchasing decisions is the target audience for B2B marketing efforts. This can range from low-level researchers to the C suite.

What is B2B Marketing?

Marketing your B2B business is different than marketing for a B2C business. When looking at content, B2B is going to be more informational-based. It doesn’t have to be boring, but it is typically more focused on the services you offer and value for clients or members rather than selling a product immediately with catchy headlines.

Most decision-makers are focused on the bottom line and are trying to get the most ROI or return on investment they can. It’s essential to give as much data as possible and provide as many services as you can to show the value in your company.

Creating Your B2B Marketing Strategy

Customers and even attention are in high demand. A thorough B2B strategy that results in success necessitates careful planning, execution, and management. Here’s a high-level summary of how B2B businesses distinguish themselves in a crowded market:

Develop a Vision:

The first step is to develop a clear business vision. You need to identify what you want your company’s future to look like and the role that social media, content marketing, etc., can play in achieving this goal.

Define Your Market:

Who is your ideal client? Who would benefit the most from your business? What are their demographic traits? Where do they live online and in the real world? Who are the decision markers? These are all things you want to consider as you start figuring out your place in the market.

Identify the Best B2B Marketing Channels:

Once you’ve defined your market, it’s time to start thinking about what channels will work best for marketing.

The good news is that there are many options available these days, and the choice of which one(s) to use largely depends on how much budget you have, where your ideal clients live online (and offline).

• Where do they spend their time online? 
• What questions are they asking search engines? 
• Which social media networks do they prefer? 
• How can you fill opportunity gaps that your competitors are leaving open?
• What industry events do they attend?

Create Assets and Run Ads:

Once you’ve figured out the best platforms to reach your customer, it’s time to create some ads! Find out what message you want to send to your customer. What will resonate best with them? What will they be most interested in? What do you want them to think or feel when they see your ad? Create engaging ads that are informative, not sales. You’re looking for value-add here rather than someone clicking on an ad just because it looks interesting.

Optimize and Learn

Once you’ve started your ads and your marketing strategy, it’s time to take a look at results and learn from what you’ve done. Which leads or customers came from which channel? What ad performed the best and why? How did these ads impact your overall marketing strategy and business goals? Look for ways to improve and look at new opportunities continuously. A well-performing B2B marketing strategy will need this less often, but when it’s just started, you’ll need to do it a lot.

Types of B2B Marketing

There are many types of b-to-b marketing strategies and campaigns, but they all can be broken down into four main categories: Blogs, search, social media, white pages/eBooks, email, and videos.

Blogs: Blogs are a great way to get in-depth and detailed with your company’s expertise. Blogs allow you to create more educational content than sales, but it takes time and planning to do this well. The best B2B blogs are at least 1000 words.

Search: SEO, or search engine optimization, is a very popular b-to-b marketing channel. This channel allows businesses to get in front of their ideal customer at the exact time they’re looking for a certain service or product. Google and Bing change their algorithms a lot, so it’s essential to stay up-to-date on search trends and best practices.

Social Media: Social media is a powerful B2B marketing channel because, as we know, most business transactions start with some research phase – typically online – where your ideal customer will be looking for you or someone like you. Paid and organic social media channels are both valuable when it comes to B2B marketing.

White Pages/eBooks: eBooks and white pages offer a way for B2B services providers and companies to get in front of their ideal customer with targeted, relevant information that they’re very likely looking for at just the right time. These are often used for lead generation and can be a very inexpensive way to reach your customer.

Email: Email is the linchpin of all B2B marketing strategies, especially for lead generation and nurturing campaigns. Emails are most often used for sending eBooks or white pages and communicating with prospects throughout their buying journey from awareness through purchase.

Videos: Videos can be a great way to introduce your company and its unique selling proposition (USP) while educating about the pain points of problems you solve. B2B companies often use whiteboard videos, live video streaming, or recorded webinars for this purpose.

Ready to Up Your B2B Marketing Game?

If you’re looking to improve your B2B marketing, consider contacting an agency. Agency Partner Interactive is a digital marketing agency that specializes in B2B marketing strategies.

For more info, read our Ultimate Guide to B2B Marketing here and contact Agency Partner Interactive for a free quote and personalized strategy for your business.