The following are five of my top tips to create successful B2B marketing campaigns.
Set Clear Objectives and Goals
I can’t tell you how many times I run a training session or start a campaign where the first thing I say is “what are our objectives”.
You need clear objective in place with your marketing as these will not only guide all your endeavours, but also give you something to measure you success by.
When planning your marketing objectives and goals think are they:
- Doable.
- Understandable.
- Manageable.
- Beneficial.
Also make sure everyone knows the objectives and goals for your marketing both in-house and in your external agency.
Know Your Audience
This is more than just a vague idea of who your target businesses are for your marketing. Really successful campaigns have a much more detailed knowledge of the audience that is used to tailor content and messages.
This is often called personas, but really it’s about understanding what makes your audience and tick.
So consider things like:
- Who makes the purchase decisions
- What are their problems
- How can you solve these problems
- What objections might you need to over come
Select the Right Mix
Getting your marketing mix right is key, as to reach your audience you need to use multiple channels both on and off line.
Most online channels have some interaction with each other and a converted lead seldom comes from just one source like SEO or email marketing.
An example:
Mr Right sees your PPC ad and visits the website, he likes what he sees, but wants to check the market place to see if this is the best solution. After looking online he visits the website again, but this time via organic search results. He needs to get approval so he bookmarks the site. Once he has approval Mr Right comes back and completes the contact form via his bookmark link.
In your analytics you see the lead coming from direct traffic, but in reality both PPC and SEO had a part to play in this lead generation.
If you dig a little deeper in analytics data you can see conversion attribution data and work out which channels are supporting as well as closing leads. This data can help you see where to start to invest in your marketing.
Find more information on Google Analytics Attribution.
Try New Ideas
Sticking to the tried and tested is a common b2b marketing mistake and actually limits your reach.
Don’t be afraid to try something new, but do test it properly with again clear objectives and goals. Also be sensible is posting on Instagram really going to appeal or reach your target audience.
Areas like social media, retargeting, creative content and even eCommerce can work well for B2B marketing, when they are carefully planned and executed.
Here is one of the advantages in using a good outsourced marketing agency like ExtraDigital as they will be actively training and testing new marketing channels, tools and methods.
Set Targets
Having clear targets helps focus your marketing be that in-house or with an external agency.
Targets must be specific and realistic and so a good place to start is by reviewing your previous results year on year as well as industry data.
Be sensitive to the marketing channel and the resources you have available.
SEO can take time to build strong positioning, while PPC is much more instant, but will depend on competition and advertising budgets. Social may take time to build a following as can email marketing.
Also be prepared to adjust targets if circumstances change for example you may plan to add 2 new case studies per month, but your content writer leaves part way through the year and has not been replaced.
These are just a few tips to help create successful b2b marketing campaigns, but if your B2B Marketing is under performing why not talk to ExtraDigital today +44(0)1227 68 68 98.
