Establishing a business of your own can be hugely rewarding, but when it comes to growth, these 12 B2B marketing strategies will help you scale your business exponentially. 

Across the globe, B2B e-commerce startups are growing at an unprecedented rate. In Asia Pacific, the adoption of financial technology has resulted in massive growth in B2B payments, and the revenues are expected to reach USD 1,356.28 billion by 2025.

Considering this rise, businesses are forced to adopt profitable but exciting B2B marketing strategies to thrive in a rapidly mounting competitive environment. B2B companies spend approximately 6.8% of their revenue on marketing expenditure. 

But higher marketing investment doesn’t always lead to higher profits. If your marketing strategy is good but outdated, you wouldn’t be able to get the desired outcomes. The next question that pops in mind is how to keep up with the constant changes in the marketing environment and grow your business. 

The answer is practical B2B marketing strategies. It is important that B2B marketers embrace digital transformation and implement the newest strategies and that too shouldn’t be boring. 

This post will inform you about some of the top trending practical B2B marketing strategies and tactics that you can use to push your business to new heights. 

1. Build an appealing B2B website 

If you are planning to expand your business, start with your website because it’s your company’s front door.

In today’s tech world, 81% of people visit a website first before making an actual purchase. Similarly, 88% of users will not visit a website after a single bad experience. An aesthetically pleasing and informative website can do the following things for you:

• Ensures your online presence allowing you to reach more buyers.
• Informs your customers about your brand story and products.
Lets you sell your products round the clock without being physically present in a location.
Professional website design with easy navigation gives a good impression.
An optimised website for mobile can improve user experience.
Adding social media links on a website can boost interaction and engagement. 

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Aside from this, don’t forget to add testimonials and customer reviews onto your website as they will help you create an authentic and credible image of your brand. According to Blue Corona, almost 95% of customers read and 85% of customers trust online reviews just like a personal recommendation.

2. Reach out to prospects

The sale process in the B2B context is particularly lengthy because prospects do not make the final decision to buy the very first time they land on your site. 

So, what can you do now? Collect their contact information, including their name, their company’s name, telephone number, and LinkedIn Id. Leaving contact information on a site means that the visitor is highly interested in the product or service of the brand. Marketers should make sure that the website has a specific form dedicated to collecting visitor’s contact information. 

For example, MAD Fientist is a famous blog that deals with personal financing. Visit this site, and a small window will appear as a popup asking your name and email address to sign up. This two-step-approach is highly effective. 

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By having this information, you have the option to reach out to them and show your genuine interest in resolving their problem. This is your opportunity to build a good rapport with your potential clients that can lead to sales.

3. The power of B2B blogging

Over the past couple of years, corporate blogging remains steady with the increasingly high use of Facebook and YouTube by masses. It is a great strategy because blogs are cost-effective and provide a branded context for your startup. 

They can improve your Google ranking and can be distributed through multiple channels. The best thing about a blog is that you own it and you can easily link it with your website, which means blogs are a great way of increasing website traffic. 

According to Blue Corona, blog posts, newsletters, and short articles are types of content that 95% of B2B marketers prefer. Blogs with titles like ‘How to X’ are highly captivating and also showcase your expertise in your given industry. The best thing about blogs is that B2B companies that invest in blogging are more likely to generate higher leads as compared to companies that do not maintain a blog. 

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Be a part of the 80% B2B marketers who have successfully incorporated blogging in their content marketing strategy because of the higher returns it promises. The biggest hurdle for B2B marketers is to produce engaging content. 

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To overcome this hurdle B2B marketers must conduct detailed research on their client’s needs and expectations. As discussed earlier, the topics you choose for blogging must offer some kind of value to the readers. The content should be a mix of images, text, and animation and must directly relate with the audience.

With this, add some kind of reward for the audience who frequently engages with your blog such as ‘Free subscription’ or ‘Free premium content’, etc.

4. Event marketing

Event marketing is a traditional and valid marketing strategy that’s highly relevant to B2B context. It is a practical marketing solution aimed at seeking the attention of a specific group of people. Ranging from fairs to concerts, events are important for your B2B marketing for a few good reasons. 

• Events allow you to cut through the clutter and create brand awareness in your niche market.
• You get the opportunity to socialise with like-minded people and build partnerships with them.
Face-to-face communication improves engagement with the brand.
Potential buyers get to know more about you while participating in the event. 

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According to stats, 70% of modern-day B2B marketers use events as part of their lead generation strategy. Giving free samples and discounts are the most common ways for companies to reach out to their intended audience. 

If you don’t have enough space to host an event, there are so many innovative ideas that you can utilise. You can host a talent show, reach out big names for collaboration, give live demonstrations, organise an after-party or VIP dinners, etc. Make sure that your event is aligned with the growth stage of your company. For example, it would be a foolish decision to pick an expensive venue for your event if you are a startup. 

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5. Apply B2B Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Making a great website isn’t enough. As a B2B marketer, you need to apply techniques that would help your website appear at the top of the Google search result page. This could be done by applying the rules and principles of search engine optimisation (SEO). It’s an important but complex marketing concept that can provide fruitful results to small and big businesses. Here’s how.

SEO improves brand visibility in front of potential and actual buyers, and by doing this, companies can generate high-quality leads. It makes your brand easy to find meaning that your chances of being selected are higher. SEO offers B2B businesses a sustainable way to generate an audience, leads, and finalise a sales deal. 

Understanding the right keywords and prioritising them is the key to successful B2B marketing. The search engines of today are powerful and have improved understanding of how keywords are related to each other. You’ll find multiple online sources to come up with good keywords, but a thorough brainstorming session is also a good starting point. For instance, Google Autocomplete suggests several helping keywords that you can use and expand your list. 

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The better you know your audience, the better you will be able to take advantage of SEO. 

6. Email marketing 

Email marketing has a huge influence on the B2B world. And when it comes to lead generation methods, email marketing ranks at the top of the lost.

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According to the latest B2B email marketing statistics, 86% of business professionals choose email for business-related communication. The click-through rate (CTR) is 47x times higher for B2B email campaigns. Almost 59% of B2B experts agree that email marketing is their most favourite marketing tactic for revenue generation.

Can you guess a B2B marketing channel that can maximise your return on investment (ROI)?

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On average, email marketing can generate 4400% of ROI and $44 return on every dollar spent. A 2017 study by Econsultancy collected ratings (excellent or good) for ROI for different marketing channels. The results confirm that email marketing offers 27% excellent and 46% good ROI, which is highest among all.

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Additionally, more and more business owners are adopting email marketing automation to schedule their routine greeting and trigger emails. Besides this, there are other simple ways to enhance open email rate such as the use of personalised subject lines, using emojis and fear of missing out (FOMO) strategy, choosing the right time, and injecting humour in the content. 

7. Customise your digital marketing 

Digital marketing plays a critical role in your overall B2B marketing strategy for business growth. But if you are a startup and need a helping hand to manage your digital marketing chores, try using one of these digital marketing tools to speed up your lead generation process. The reason is straightforward. Outsourcing lead generation processes is more cost-effective and time-saving than managing things in-house.

With the boom in digital marketing, agencies have improved their resources and expertise remarkably. Platforms like SEMrush, Buffer, and Buzzsumo are amongst the top digital marketing platforms that have facilitated millions of business clients in the past decade.

8. Use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools 

Just like for B2C businesses, CRM tools can do wonder for B2B companies. The main purpose of a CRM system is to guide potential buyers through tailored content and improve awareness about the brand. Maintaining good relationships is very important in a B2B scenario because the products are of higher value, and the pool of leads in the B2B sector is narrower. 

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In a B2B transaction, multiple decision-makers are involved, and that is why CRM systems help sales representatives to handle the lengthy process smoothly. 

9. Leverage influencer marketing 

If you want to tap a wider market and create an authentic image, then try to leverage influencer marketing. As shown below, altogether, 80% of marketers believe that influencer marketing is effective. The scope of influencer marketing is huge, and more and more B2B marketers are embracing it because of its perceived benefits. 

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The quality of traffic you get from this source is better than other sources. The reason is simple. People believe people more than brands, and if the influencer has a huge fan following, then, it’s a plus point. Moreover, influencers are highly respectable people in their industries, so this tactic actually allows you to borrow their credibility. 

So do not think about ignoring this marketing tactic because it can help you reach new heights. 

10. Leverage B2B live chat support 

The reason to support e-commerce live chat is simple – modern customers are impatient.

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According to TechJury, 85% of B2B businesses prefer live chat features for providing instant support to customers, and 54% use it for marketing purposes. Additionally, 89% of buyers say that quick response to a query plays a critical role when choosing a company, and according to 99 Firms, live chat can increase the satisfaction rate by 92%.

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Moreover, adding a live chat support feature on your feature provides you with several benefits. It is a low-cost option that provides you with the ability to initiate human-like interaction with the user as soon as he or she landed on the website. Further, most users land on a site searching for a solution to their problem. Good customer support provides the foundation for long term revenues and customer retention. 

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It is quick and cost-effective as compared to call centre support and has the potential to increase sales. Evidence suggests that B2B companies that use live chat experience an overall 20% increase in sales and conversions

With AI-based chatbots, brands can deliver a consistent and memorable experience to every customer through conversations which promote engagement and positive word of mouth.

11. Do not hesitate to try video marketing 

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The digital space is dominated by video marketing. Wearegrow estimates that almost 70% of buyers watch video content throughout their purchasing journey while 30% of buyers watch videos while making a purchase.

Videos are not only more shareable than text-based messages, but they can also grow revenues 49% faster. On top of that, it’s proven that video marketing can increase your organic traffic by a whopping 157%.  Moreover, survey findings suggest that people retain 95% of the core brand message when they view a video as compared to only 10% when they read a post. You can seriously increase your click-through rate by 13% by merely mentioning the word video in your subject line. 

One thing to note is that B2B videos are highly different from B2C videos. While videos made for individual consumers typically include humorous, entertaining content, B2B videos are full of educational material designed in a professional way. If you’re a B2B business, be sure to try out video marketing, after all, entrepreneurs and business professionals don’t have much time to read wordy paragraphs. 

12. Expand your B2B network  

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Power relationships are really important in personal as well as professional life. While B2C companies can achieve a huge customer base, there are typically fewer customers in the B2B context. But since the value of each customer is higher, B2B companies are advised to nurture and maintain quality connections. 

LinkedIn is a professional platform that provides abundant networking opportunities to businesses. Being a B2B company, you get a chance to discuss real issues with experienced people from different industrial backgrounds and benefit from their considered suggestions. Endeavour to post content that creates an immense impact on your brand and helps you attract your target audience. 

Higher B2B connectivity exposes you to numerous business opportunities as you get the chance to meet people who might be looking for the products and services that you are offering. 

Make sure to network like you really mean it. That means that when you make professional relationships, always strive for quality over quantity. Most importantly, note that your groups define you. 

The Final Verdict 

There are plenty of B2B marketing strategies, but picking and implementing the right one in the right manner would do the job for you. The above-mentioned B2B marketing strategies are some of the most important ones to be aware of and take advantage of.

 

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