B2B marketing in 2018
Consumer brands do make headlines in marketing stories and so should B2Bs. For B2B marketing to flourish, marketers might have to take some strategic examples from their B2C peers. The following are some best practices that B2B owners may have to embrace in this second half of 2018:
- Creation of multimedia content. Blog posts serve informational purposes well. However, there is an increasing demand for video and other multimedia contents. As audiences familiarize more with visual rather than text, B2B marketing should shift focus.
- Mobile-friendly websites. Digital media engagement on mobile platforms is rising dramatically. The number is still rising, according to predictions. Therefore, B2B marketers would do themselves a favor by embracing mobile formats.
- Automation of business leads. It is good to attract leads to a business naturally. However, this may not yield substantial results for small businesses that have limited resources and time. In such cases, the best option is automating business leads.
Understanding the Marketing Funnel
Marketing funnels define and improve marketing strategies. They are sets of stages that map customer journeys. Therefore, marketers should measure how effectively they fill those funnels with new leads. The same applies to the process of conversion of those leads through each stage.
Funnels display important stages that guide marketers through the process of digital marketing. They include:
- The attraction stage. This is where prospective customers become aware of a marketer’s brand. It may be through social media, search engines, or networking events. Marketers must establish a great reputation and create and pass relevant content on online platforms to attract many customers.
- Conversion stage. At this stage, marketers should ask for permission to send emails to potential customers. The process of nurturing leads begins here. Placing lead capture pages and sign up forms at strategic locations on a website could yield good results at the conversion stage.
- Closing stage. Here, customers should become more than just leads. They now pay. A lead management system is crucial here. It helps understand leads’ digital behavior and needs.
- Delight stage. Here, marketers keep their customers satisfied and happy so that they can pay and promote their products and services.
Using Social Media For B2B
B2B companies have been lagging behind B2Cs in the adoption and effective use of social media. This should not be the case since the platform promises a lot of potential. Is there a way to change this trend? Here are a few tips for B2Bs to have skyrocketing traffic.
- Humanize a brand. Most B2Bs in the manufacturing and industrial sectors lack genuine human backing for their efforts. The result is that the company may seem unreal and distant. Humanizing brands on social media may involve writing articles and updates in the first person or using real names of people in customer service.
- Hiring the right person. Most B2Bs hire the wrong personnel to promote their social media endeavors. The right person to lead social media initiatives should not only be familiar with the industry but also a social media expert.
- Backing social media with content marketing. The media fails in the face of unsuccessful content marketing campaigns. Therefore, B2Bs must find the most attractive and engaging content to share on social media.
- Loving LinkedIn. This platform secures leads effectively. The right kind of traffic is the social goal of the majority of B2Bs. This traffic results in leads and LinkedIn is the platform that is good at achieving this.
How B2B SEO Works
Some B2b business owners think SEO is ineffective. They consider the stiff competition and the difficulty of generating high-quality B2B leads via content as stumbling blocks. Of course, succeeding with SEO is currently challenging but smart marketers know how to crack the nut. They create excellent content.
It is also important to note that business owners may take time to realize the benefits of SEO. To ensure a great ROI, it requires B2Bs to add up their resources for longer periods of time. This is different from paid search and such like tactics where companies keep spending money in order to drive leads and sales continually.
SEO is among the few sustainable ways that B2Bs can create audiences, generate leads, and close customers in the end. As businesses create more content, draw more links to it, and rank for better keywords, they begin securing more organic traffic. However, it requires them to produce excellent content, do outreaches, and build links.