B2B-Roadmap_square_logo

The B2B Digital Marketing Strategy Roadmap To Maximize ROI

Digital Marketing Tricks

Understanding Digital Marketing Strategies

Digital transformation has overtaken the world in the past five years, changing the way we think, learn, inform, and buy. This change not only affects B2C businesses but it is making waves for those in B2B as well. Today’s wildly successful B2B brands have welcomed digital transformation into their marketing strategies and can be seen reaping the benefits. A stellar example comes in the form of HupSpot’s LinkedIn sonspored ads campaign that were meant to attract small to medium sized businesses. The results showed 400% more leads within their target audience. Other big B2B brands such as Shopify, Upwork and Dropbox are also leveraging the power of digital marketing to enhance their lead generation tactics.

Source: LinkedIn

While B2B marketing has always been challenging, today’s landscape gives birth to a whole new set of fast paced challenges that many B2B brands are struggling to catch up with. Technology has allowed B2B buyers to have unlimited access to information through multiple mobile devices at any time. This changes the buyer journey and opening up new channels of communication.

Navigating through this ever changing landscape can be a challenge – even for the best of brands. That is why we have compiled the ultimate roadmap to build a B2B digital marketing strategy that is fit to succeed in the modern B2B landscape. This B2B Digital Marketing Strategy roadmap that will maximize ROI and lead your B2B brand to maximise ROI.

If you would like to find out more on how to build a digital marketing strategy, head over to one of our article on digital marketing strategy.

Understanding Digital Marketing Strategies

The modern B2B buyer is much like a B2C consumer as their buying decisions are largely motivated by customer experience rather than the price. This requires B2B brands to take an experiential approach that leads the target audience through a digital journey to lifelong loyalty.

Despite these similarities, there are still some key differences. Read our the key differences between B2B and B2C Digital Marketing article to find out more.

The Roadmap Process Explained

Our B2B marketing strategy roadmap targets the five essential components of a successful digital marketing campaign. This includes website, SEO, social media marketing, content marketing and online advertisements. Read on to find out the importance of each one.

1.  A High Performance Website

Your website is much like a first impression for potential clients, making it the most valuable marketing asset. According to research, 80% of people examine websites in order to check out new service providers. These numbers are bound to rise as more millennials and Gen-Z buyers enter the market.

MarketingGuru’s Website

An effective website needs to have the right design, informative and relevant content that captures attention. Here are some main points to keep in mind while optimizing a website for lead generation and sales:

  • Ensure Fast Response Times: Eternally loading websites can be a huge turnoff. According to surveys, 40% users leave a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
  • Security Comes First: Unsecured sites are a big red flag for users and research suggests that 85% customers are averse to browsing an unsecured site. Avoid this by purchasing as SSL certificate for your website.
  • Make It Mobile Friendly:  In a world where 70% of all online traffic comes from mobile, a smooth mobile experience speaks for itself. Furthermore, 50% B2B queries originate from smartphones as buyers are more likely to choose vendors who have a mobile-friendly website experience.
  • Give Actionable Information: Your website is more than a long winded introduction to your services. It is a 24 hour sales opportunity which require actionable information like clear CTAs, contact forms, past projects, testimonials and affiliations to guide the buyer in the right direction.
  • Professional Design: Poor design and navigation capabilities repel buyers. Websites need to be pleasing to look at and easy to navigate. 
  • Get Your Message Across: 46% buyers abandon a website because it is not clear what the company does. Sometimes your message can get lost in the web design. Provide relevant content that highlights your core services so buyers don’t feel confused.

2.  SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a growing field of interest that can generate leads and sales by really pushing your content and website forward. If you are unfamilar about SEO, head on to digest our 9 point simple SEO guide first. There are two primary components of SEO:

On-Site SEO helps search engines find your website through keyword phrases to produce relevant search results. These ensure that if B2B buyers are looking for your type of services, search engines can redirect them to your website or content.

Offsite SEO provides backlinks to your website in the form of outside engagement or guest appearances on other websites. Backlinks can increase your credibility and establish authority in the field while bringing in networking opportunities.

By networking, getting featured on other websites and generating more traffic, you can establish yourself as a credible source to get higher rankings on search engine results. SEO can be integrated into your content strategy to bring more visitors and put your company in the limelight.

3.  Content Marketing

Content marketing is a multi-dimensional area which consists of blogs, press releases, videos, social media content, articles, ebooks and much more. B2B buyers are increasingly relying on digital content to make their buying decisions easier. 75% B2B buyers think that content has a direct impact on their buying decisions.

Here are some content marketing areas that businesses are focusing on to get the best results.

  • Blog Posts: Blogs are a fantastic way to get your message across while providing helpful information and establishing your expertise. Buyers can gain insight on your work as they read relevant blogs that empathize with their problems and identify how to solve them. Blogs which connect to the buyers’ struggles and present it in an engaging manner are highly popular among B2B buyers.
  • Social Media Posts: Social media is an effective way to not only get customers but build an audience. Building an audience ensures that there are people who follow you for the content and remain loyal to keep coming back for you.
  • Infographics: Most people appreciate visual imagery as it can condense complicated information into an attractive visual. Infographics are the ideal way to present information and capture attention
  • E-books: E-books are also a content marketing strategy that is surprisingly effective when they include actionable information such as checklists, guides and tips that impart wisdom.

4.  Online Ads

Online ads may be the first thing that puts your company in the direct line of sight. Online ads can be in the form of text, imagery or videos displayed on frequently visited platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and other websites. These online ads have now become highly sophisticated to allow for targeted advertising that reaches the most relevant customers. Apart from contextual advertising, online ads target consumers even when they are distracted so they can recall your company without ever clicking or focusing on the actual ad.

Google advertising is a popular form of online advertising. The benefits of Google pay-per-click advertising should not be underestimated.

5.  Social Media Marketing

Social media has emerged as the ultimate tool for B2B marketing that can help in lead generation, branding, establishing authority and building an audience. Social media allows you to deliver a constant stream of targeted content that keeps your company relevant and entertains a loyal audience.

Here are some common types of social media posts that are most popular for businesses:

  • Blogs
  • Digital Seminars (webinars) or events
  • Attractive statistics and facts
  • Industry related news
  • Informative one minute videos

While a multi-channel approach is usually preferred, picking your social media platforms wisely can help you build a strategy for your type of business. All social media channels may not suit your brand but LinkedIn is a must for all B2B services. In fact, 80% of B2B leads originate from LinkedIn. So if you are a B2B business, having an active presence on LinkedIn is essential.

A Final Note

The digital world is an opportunity to start anew and target an even larger audience than ever before. As the world moves towards digital, sticking with the old approaches means risking your B2B business. Embrace the digital wave with a marketing strategy of your own through effective SEO, PPC and social media marketing that can take your B2B business to the next level.

Digital marketing strategies are all about innovation, so don’t be afraid to step out of the comfort zone and enhance the B2B buyer’s experience to maximize ROI and gain loyal customers. Use digital platforms to market your B2B agendas, learn from businesses and create new communication channels to help your business achieve greater heights.

Are you trying to build a B2B digital marketing strategy that works? MarketingGuru provide SEO, PPC and social media marketing services that can give your B2B business the desired competitive edge. Speak to one of our gurus today!

Read More...

BsBvsB2C_square_logo-1

4 Key Differences Between B2C and B2B Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing Tricks

Gone are the days when being found online is a good-to-have. Today, your business existence lies on being found online. This makes digital marketing a crucial tool in any marketer’s toolbox and being able to understand the difference between B2C and B2B digital marketing is essential for an effective campaign. Before we begin, let’s find out what is B2C and B2B.

B2C vs B2B

B2C and B2B are simply the two different main types of customer transactions. Often times, many people confuse the ‘C’ in B2C to refer to customers. They are correct in some sense, but technically, they are wrong. B2C and B2B refers to business-to-consumer and business-to-business respectively. Their similarity lies in that both consumers and businesses are customers. In short, B2B end-customers are businesses while B2C end-customers are consumers who are the general public.

Most business are a mix of B2C and B2B so as to maximize their potential revenue. A good example is your local banks. They have products and services that target the general public (B2C) and very likely also have another business division catering to companies by providing slightly different products and services (B2B).

Now that we know what B2C and B2B, we can begin looking at their differences.

1. Audience Buying Process

The audience buying process involves two components: the audience and their respective buying process. We know B2C and B2B audience are different because their end-customers are different. Because of this, the market size for B2C and B2B are different. B2C companies have a larger market size because their market involves everyone (before segmentation). B2C customers also are quicker to decide because they can make the final decision.

B2B transactions on the other end take longer. This is because there may be many layers of hierarchy to seek approval. The marketing executive may have to seek approval from his manager who then need to seek approval from his director. Closing a B2B deal may take many weeks or even months.

2. Campaign Goals

With different audiences and sales cycles, the campaign goals are also definitely different. Hence, it is not logical for both to have the same objectives. For B2C, the goal is to get as much traffic to the website or landing page as possible. This is because consumers tend to make quicker decisions, it is possible for consumers to make a purchase on the first visit to the website. Think about how often you enter an e-commerce website and make a purchase before you leave the website.

With slower sales cycle and longer buying process, the goal of B2B campaigns is to reach the correct and qualified person. If the decision maker is the marketing director, there is no point in targeting the human resource executive who does not need your products. B2B can also be seen as playing the long game because it is not enough to just create awareness to your target audience. The long buying processes require constant efforts to remind the decision makers and that involve re-targeting.

3. Keyword Optimization

Different audiences also mean different keywords are used when searching for products. B2C keywords are also more competitive because of a larger market and also because they are more generic. Whereas, B2B keywords are more niche to their industry and may not be as competitive.

Both B2C and B2B also have their own challenges in keyword research. The challenge for B2C keyword research is in finding keywords that are not too saturated but still have a decent traffic level. B2B challenge is in finding keywords that are technical but not too niche and still informative to all who are involved in the buyer’s journey.

4. Content Strategy

Content is a big topic and content can exist in countless formats. The content strategy here would refer to the approach B2C and B2B uses to attract their audience to their website or landing page. As mentioned, B2C buying process is quick and the objective is to get the most conversions in a short period of time. Hence, the content focus on flashy promotions or to a certain extend click-bait. You may have notice that your favorite retail brand often attracts you using sales promotion. Most of the time, the promoted discount is not applicable on your desired product.

B2C content strategy is less effective for B2B. Due to longer buying process, the content focus is on providing informational and valuable content to the user. This is to assist their buyer journey to help making a decision on choosing their product or service. Since B2B target audience are normally not found at where B2C audience normally hang out, you will seldom see their social Ads on Facebook or Instagram. B2B focus would be on customer case studies or white papers.

A Final Note

B2C and B2B digital marketing strategy are very different and require different approach. B2C may see more immediate results which make B2B seems like more work. However, B2B sales tends to be of higher monetary value and a single deal may be worth the entire B2C revenue of the quarter. There are benefits to both B2C and B2B but what is important is knowing the difference. It may make sense to outsource your marketing needs if you don’t possess the relevant expertise. Whether it is B2C or B2B Digital Marketing, contact MarketingGuru to find out how we can improve your marketing results.

Read More...