If you are in business, chances are that you have considered marketing your product to other businesses. These days, the importance of B2B marketing cannot be underestimated. That’s because many people who come to your website will be looking for supplies or services that they can use in their own company. This means you need to make sure that when these types of visitors land on your site, they find what they’re looking for and convert into paying customers!
In this blog post we’ll explore the importance of B2B Marketing and how it impacts conversions so read on if you want more insight about why it is important.
1. What is B2B Marketing
B2B Marketing is the marketing of products or services to businesses rather than individual consumers.
For example, if you are selling a product for retail stores it’s better to market the item directly to retailers instead of at events where there will be individual customers looking around. That way your product can be seen by more people who are actually potential buyers!
In general B2B marketing is about reaching out to other businesses and convincing them that it will be in their best interest if they purchase your product.
This can mean you are selling a physical item or offering services, but either way these are things that the business needs which means this form of marketing has become very popular!
So what exactly does B2B marketing include?
Basically, anything you can do to market your product or service directly to another business instead of toward the end user is BtoB. For example-
* Email Marketing – sending promotional newsletters and updates about special offers straight to other businesses who are interested in what you have to offer!
* Pay Per Click Advertising – another way to get your product or services in front of other businesses is by using PPC ads. If you are familiar with Google Ads, then you know that there’s an option for targeting these toward people who work at certain companies!
* Social Media Marketing – this one might seem like it doesn’t fit into the BtoB category, but if you are promoting your business on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn it is actually a form of marketing to other businesses because the people who follow or ‘like’ your page will be professionals in their field!
2. How to Identify Your Target Audience
So now you know what B2B marketing is, but the next step is to identify your target audience. This means doing research so that you can decide who will be most interested in purchasing from your business!
There are lots of different ways for finding out about this including things like-
* Facebook or LinkedIn Pages – if a company has a Facebook page you can look at who ‘likes’ their posts to see if they are in the same line of business as you. Just make sure that this information is public so it’s easy for you to find!
* Company Websites – sometimes companies have pages on LinkedIn or other social media sites, but often times they will have a website which is dedicated to their company! Use this information to learn about the types of services they offer and who they are targeting.
* Competitor Research – another way to figure out if your target audience matches up with someone else’s is by looking at what type of customers that business has attracted on social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn.
* Industry Associations – sometimes companies will be members of certain associations which means they are in the same business as you! It might take a little research, but finding these groups and looking at their member lists can let you know who your target audience is before even starting to market yourself out there!
When doing this research it’s important to consider the size of your target audience. Is it a small number or large? Are there lots of businesses in your industry, but only a few that are likely interested in what you have to offer? This will help you figure out where and how to market yourself!
Get Your FREE Digital Marketing eBook
Our free ebook will show you how to dominate your niche and be top of mind with customers.
Digital Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business
25 Digital Marketing Tricks and Techniques to Grow Your Business
3. Benefits of B2B Marketing
Usually businesses want to reach out to their target audience, but one of the major benefits of B2B marketing is that it also lets you know who your competitors are!
If there is another company in your industry (or even related industries) then they can be seen as a competitor. This means you should make sure they don’t get
* More Focused – because most marketers are trying to reach out in a very broad way, they will often times miss the target audience that is right for their business! With BtoB marketing you know exactly who your customer base should be which means when it comes to creating ads or content everything can be very targeted.
* Better Results – because of this targeting aspect, marketers who are using BtoB marketing typically see better results than those who use more broad strategies.
* More Customers – because of the increased focus, marketers often find that they attract a higher number of customers with their ads or content by taking advantage of this strategy!
When trying to decide on what your target audience should be for your business, think about how focused you can be and what results you want to see! B2B marketing is a great way to get started with this strategy.
4. Types of B2B Marketing Strategies
There are several types of B2B marketing strategies that you can try out to reach your target audience.
* Social Media – since the whole world is on social media, this is a great way for marketers to get started with their campaigns! You might not be able to create an ad about everything your business offers, but if it’s related to the industry you are in then it’s a great place for getting your message out there.
* Content – another way that many BtoB marketers get started is with content! If you have an interesting story about how your company was founded or some information on why certain services might be useful, consider sharing this online via blogging platforms like Medium or LinkedIn.
* Advertising – the last option is to look at advertising! This can be done in a few different ways, but there are some paid options that might fit into your marketing plan better than others! For example, if you want to reach out on social media then Facebook Ads and Twitter ads could work well for getting started with your campaign.
* Speaking Engagements – the last way to market your business is through speaking engagements! This can be a little more difficult, but if you have some useful information about your industry then it’s worth looking into as another option for reaching out and getting noticed by potential customers or clients!
The importance of B2B marketing does not go unnoticed! This strategy is a great way for you to find the customers who are right for your business. And because it’s so targeted, you can often see better results with this approach than other strategies that try to reach out very broadly.
5. Conclusion and Takeaways
In conclusion, B2B marketing is a great way to reach your target audience. It’s targeted and can often times be more effective than other strategies that try to market themselves very broadly!
Related:
Get your marketing strategy right. The first time.
If you need to advance your marketing strategy quickly, send me a message. I’ll make sure you have a complete picture of your marketing. We’ll build the right strategy – and keep running it so it works for your business, not against it!
