Whether you’re a B2B marketer who wants to learn more about digital marketing and how it can help their business, or an entrepreneur who wants to start a new sales team with an inbound approach, this guide will teach you everything you need to know about digital marketing in B2B.
We’ll start by defining what B2B is, then move on to the rules of digital marketing for B2B companies and how they can be applied successfully towards building brand awareness and generating leads that convert into sales opportunities.
Digital Marketing vs B2B Marketing
Digital marketing, or online advertising and marketing (OAM) as it’s often called, is a huge part of the B2B sales cycle. It’s no secret that digital channels are becoming more important for business-to-business (B2B) companies as they compete for clients and compete for market share.
The good news for marketers is that there are two very different types of approaching digital marketing: paid search ads and content marketing. Paid search advertising aims to optimize clicks by matching keywords with content or products; while content marketing focuses on creating high-quality articles/content in order to build brand awareness around your company’s value proposition.
The Rules of Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is all about the customer. You don’t have to be a digital expert, but you do need to understand that the customer is in control of their own experience with your brand, and if they don’t feel like they can trust you or believe what you say, there’s no point in trying to persuade them otherwise.
Your goal should be to build trust with your customers by delivering great experiences. This means creating content that educates people on how they can improve their lives by using your product or service—and giving them tools so that it doesn’t feel like sales pitches (which are often perceived as pushy). It also means providing support after purchase through forums, email newsletters and more communication channels via social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
What Is B2B?
B2B is a business-to-business transaction. It’s not the same as B2C, which is a business to consumer transaction. B2B refers to the supply chain between companies; it’s an “inbound” marketing strategy that focuses on increasing customer engagement and sales by creating a better user experience through digital channels.
If you’ve worked in marketing before, chances are you’re familiar with traditional media like print ads and radio ads—the standard way businesses communicate with customers via word of mouth or face-to-face interactions at trade shows or events (think: conferences). These methods were great for getting awareness about your brand but weren’t very effective at converting leads into sales unless they were targeted correctly!
Why Does Digital Marketing Matter to B2B Companies?
Digital marketing is a great way to reach your target market. You can reach customers who are not actively looking for your product or service, but would still benefit from it. Digital marketing allows you to tap into those consumers who are not already in your sales pipeline.
Digital marketing is also important because it allows businesses to make their products more accessible and easy-to-use by removing the friction that comes with physical interactions with other people (like having them meet with you). This means that when someone needs something, they have access as soon as possible—whether through email or social media updates.
How Are B2B Customers Making Purchasing Decisions?
B2B customers are typically more informed, sophisticated and skeptical than their retail counterparts. They also tend to be more price sensitive and less likely to make a purchasing decision based on price alone.
The B2B customer is looking for value in everything they purchase; this includes not only the product itself but also any additional services associated with it. In fact, research shows that 70% of buyers make purchase decisions based on what they perceive as being “value added” by a particular product or service provider rather than just simply comparing prices alone (Source: Marketing Sherpa).
Deal Factors that Influence B2B Buying Decisions
- Complexity of the buying process
- Complexity of the purchase decision
- Decision making process
Deal size: it’s not just how much your company is willing to spend on marketing, but also what kind of investment you want to make. For example, if you’re looking at a $100k campaign with big-name sponsors and a social media blitz, then this might be more difficult than if you were just interested in reaching out to new customers through traditional means (e mail and phone calls).
Decision complexity: There are so many factors that go into making a decision today—from budget constraints at work or home life situations where someone else has already made their mind up about something else important like paying bills first before buying anything else! The result? Your business doesn’t get its fair share of attention when compared against other companies who don’t have these kinds difficulties competing with competitors who do have access funds available right now.”
Why Your Sales Team Needs Inbound Leads on B2B to Succeed
The sales team is responsible for generating new leads, qualifying them, and nurturing them. In order to do this effectively, they need reliable information on which leads are profitable or not.
The best way to find out if a lead is worth pursuing is by asking questions about the prospect’s business needs and goals. Once you’ve determined that your prospect has potential as an ideal buyer (and not just someone who wants something), you can use your digital marketing strategies to turn that potential into reality!
How Can I Generate and Qualify More Leads on B2B companies?
To generate leads for B2B companies, you need to use content marketing. Content marketing is a strategy that involves creating valuable and relevant content for your target audience in order to get them interested in buying something from you. This can be done through blogging or social media posts, but it’s also important to have an email list so that when people see the content they are interested in on their newsfeeds or social media feeds, they will be prompted/triggered into sending an email asking questions about the topic at hand.
You also want this same process occurring when someone visits your website—they should be able to click on links within the copy of whatever article or video was shared online by someone else who talked about it (and then follow through). This way everyone knows exactly who wrote the piece; therefore if anyone else decides they want more information about something related back then there’s only one place where we could go: YOUR WEBSITE!
Conclusion
We hope that this article has provided you with enough insight on how digital marketing can help you get more leads on B2B companies. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help you, please visit our website or feel free to contact us directly.
Victor Rwegasira is a digital marketing specialist, LinkedIn Expert and founder of Tanzacomputer Digital Marketing Agency. He has helped thousands of startup businesses grow and reach their target revenue with digital marketing solutions all around the world.