Business to Business Marketing Techniques

Businesses make purchases every day, but making those purchases from your company is a different story. Marketing to businesses is a function of the use of a variety of tools and techniques to set your company apart from others.

“Marketing to businesses is a function of the use of a variety of tools and techniques to set your company apart from others.” 

B2B marketing requires you to employ a variety of techniques to position your product or service above your competition. Here are some of the techniques that are used by B2B marketers:

• Online Presence. Anyone thinking of selling to business needs to have a persuasive and professional website. The fragmented nature of the small and medium sized business market means that, in many cases, you won’t approach them about a sale – they will come to you, via your website. The web helps create something of a level playing field for businesses with relatively small marketing budgets. Your web presence must present a compelling argument to a potential customer. To take full advantage of your website, it must present a very strong value proposition to visitors, and it must do so on the front page – the further visitors have to go, the more you will lose. Search engine optimization and marketing are also important tools in ensuring those “pre-qualified” customers who are searching for a product like yours come to your website first.
• Information-based Marketing. There is an awful lot of fatigue in corporate land in terms of being sold to. They’ve seen the sell a thousand times before, but if you can send information to a decision maker that is relevant, informative and helps them carry out their work better, they’ll accept it. Information based marketing – that shows your experience, expertise or unique perspective – is cheap and effective. This can take the form of white-papers, benchmark surveys or informational webinars. By providing information that potential clients may find independently interesting, they hope to bring them within the orbit of their brand. When doing so, limit your mention of your product or service. This sounds counterintuitive – after all you are looking to sell your wares. But the ability to garner attention comes from your distribution of independent and useful information to your buyer – not your detailing of your product. A website chock full of interesting information will also be more of a magnet for customers, both because of the content itself and the search engine optimization boost it brings. For others, the key use of research and reports is to be able to put something other than marketing guff in front of the skeptical eyes of direct marketing recipients.
  • Publish White Papers. White papers are a solid way to showcase your solution, industry knowledge, and case studies of how you have already helped customers. It builds credibility and deal flow. Think of a white paper as a blog post on steroids. White papers are usually authoritative, technical in nature, and contain supported research and real world customer use cases. They should not be sales pitches. You want to make sure your white paper helps the reader identify their own problem and helps them visualize a solution. Who will read your white paper? At many companies, management will designate a person to perform research, seek out new solutions, do product demos, and kick recommendations up to a team or manager. So, expect your white papers to be read by an entry-level employee, but anticipate that they may get kicked up throughout an organization as well.
  • Seminars and Webinars. A related marketing tool also popular among successful B2B sellers is the seminar. Like surveys and reports, it prioritizes information over the hard sell, but it has one additional strength – the opportunity for face-to-face meetings with current and potential clients. The seminars don’t need to be about your product – it is more important to deliver information that is interesting and relevant. It is cost effective because it is one-to-many, great for marketing to small business because they tend to see it as less threatening than a sales person coming to their office and, best of all, it is a great way to directly engage with people. To make your seminar even more attractive to small and medium sized business, consider running it as a webinar – an online seminar that people can patch into through their computer. Webinars are great because you cut down the cost of travel and they are a time efficient way for you to touch base with your clients – you can get 10 people together in the three minutes it takes them to log in.
• Tap into Industry Groups and Influencers. The business and consumer markets resemble each other in at least one regard – they are both made up of a few key thought leaders who heavily influence the remaining majority. Finding these “influencers” is the first and most important step, but it shouldn’t be too difficult. Leading members of industry associations, professional services suppliers such as accountants or lawyers, or dominant players in a sector, are all likely targets. If possible, take any opportunity to participate in, speak to, or meet with any professional associations in your sector. But avoid the temptation to use it as a selling opportunity – a long term strategy of reputation enhancement and relationship making will pay the biggest dividends.
• Offer Discounts or Benefits to Existing Customers. Recommenders and influencers are incredibly powerful, but it takes a long time. Turn your existing customers into advocates for your brand – perhaps by offering discounts or benefits for referrers.
• Write for Industry Publications and Press. Industry specific publications are one of the best ways to deliver a message to your potential customers. Because the channel is specific and trusted, your brand will develop, and opportunities will emerge. Pitch the appropriate editorial staff to be featured and to be called on when the reporters need quotes or content contributions. If you don’t have the time and can afford the cost, use a PR firm that specializes in your particular space.
• Public Relations. Hiring an outside public relations firm is always hit or miss, but in a B2B setting there is a better chance of success because your target audience is more focused than consumer-based public relations. Like with all public relations firms, make sure you set specific targets and placement goals to optimize your resources.
• Use Email Campaigns.For businesses, email remains one of the best ways to reach your target audience. If you don’t have your own list, you can rent lists from industry associations and industry publications. You’ll have to pay a fee, but your emails will be targeted and will reach the eyeballs of the decision makers you need to speak with.
  • Refrain from speaking about your product and features. Instead use a direct approach where you identify the company’s problem and offer a solution. Ask them to take action, and make it easy for them to get in touch with you. Offer a phone number or suggest that they simply “reply back” to engage.
  • Another approach is to offer industry updates that help convince them you’re an expert and one who can help them solve problems and generate results. If your potential customers learn from you, they’ll naturally identify you and your company as a solution.
• Cold Calls and Emails – But Be Prepared. As the world and your competitors are focused on inbound marketing, you’ll be one of the few doing outbound calls. The first person who builds a relationship with a business has a much higher chance of winning the deal. Combine this with a consultative sales approach, and you’ll be ahead of the curve. But, be sure to do research first. Understand the customer’s problem, how they currently solve it, how your platform will help them reach their goals, and how they’ll implement your solution. For example, before you cold call or email someone, understand how they currently do what they do. Therefore, when you craft my pitch, you focus on how your company can solve their problem and what it’ll take to implement your solution within their infrastructure.
• Advertise on LinkedIn. LinkedIn Advertising is a natural channel for a B2B company. One of the easy things about selling to businesses is that you know your target demographic very well. Use LinkedIn to target specific regions, companies, titles, and groups. When you consider the cost of acquisition for a 6-to-24-month sales cycle, LinkedIn is cheap. Spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars on a prospect that may generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue is a good ROI. LinkedIn has great resources and analytics to test your campaigns and ensure your message and call-to-action is effective. In fact, LinkedIn won’t let you proceed if it isn’t. LinkedIn will shut down your campaign if it doesn’t receive a minimum conversion. Makes sense, right? For LinkedIn, there’s no point in displaying your brand for free if it doesn’t convert into dollars.

Customers don’t want to be sold to – they want someone that is thinking about solving their problems. Keep this in mind as you use these B2B marketing techniques.