I hear people often say, B2B marketing is difficult. If you ask me, B2B marketing is more like fishing with a line and a hook while  B2C marketing is fishing with a net. When conversion possibilities are high in B2C due to a large number of potential customers, B2B is altogether a different game.

As you know, there are no impulsive purchase decisions in B2B.  Instead, you go through a lot of discussions and negotiations that make conversions complex and time-consuming.

Before we move on, if you need any kind of help with your digital marketing campaigns, you should definitely reach out to us. Check out our team. Let’s talk.

Here are some marketing strategies that you should not risk overlooking.

An effective content marketing strategy

You might have heard the saying ‘content is king’. Well, it is even truer when it comes to generating B2B leads. Studies have shown that publishing more quality content will increase your visibility and credibility which in turn increases your leads.

Publishing valuable and insightful content consistently will position you as a thought leader in your vocation, making you a trustworthy resource for businesses that are ready to purchase.

You can capture leads by giving them the chance to sign up for your blog content subscription. People are willing to exchange their emails for quality content in their inbox. If you are running a blog, make sure you have a subscription box added. Your content marketing must be targeted. If you

are selling fruit juice, focus on the benefits of drinking fruit juice and stuff related to that. This can help you get to your targeted group of audience.

Email Marketing

Email is 40 years old this year and it is still one of the most effective lead generation techniques in a marketer’s arsenal. Sending out a good quality campaign may be the quickest and most inexpensive way to generate quality inquiries.

Your email campaigns should clearly capture the essence of your service, have some details and a clear call to action. After sending the campaign, monitor the reports on how many clicks or views you get. Some recipients were interested enough to learn more, but not quite interested enough to submit their information. Consider following up with these recipients.

Educate your customers

A common mistake that marketers do is sending useless email newsletters or blogs. They send promotions and Ads by mail. More often than not these emails and blogs are ignored or end up as spam or junk mail.  Instead, give them something informative and educational. People will thank you for delivering useful content.

If people find your content to be useful, they will trust and will do business with you. Most of the major B2B businesses are now doing content marketing. It is high time you incorporate content marketing into your marketing strategy.

Automation

People expect personalized communications and individual attention when interacting with you. As your company grows, you need to recognize visitors by IP address, master the art of retargeting, give answers to questions when they need them, and much more. Doing so with each and every customer is not always possible.

This is where automation comes into play. It helps you make each and every customer feel like favourites of the company. Being said that, automation is an advanced stage of content marketing. Companies that lack insight and doesn’t have some level of conversion funnels cannot do any automation. You need a lot of planning and foresight in order to do that.  

Organic SEO

When we say marry your content to SEO, we don’t mean writing just for the machine. Your content needs to be useful and informative. This can help you come up in the search results. Publish more SEO friendly content that will improve your visibility on the web.

Good SEO today is largely a by-product of doing things well in other areas of design, conversion rate optimisation, content marketing, and social networking.

Instead of being general, focus on things you are good at. Write more about that specific topic you are an expert in. This will help you rank top on that topic.

Search Engine Marketing

A large portion of internet traffic comes from search engines. You cannot ignore search engine marketing if you are serious about your business.

The most popular search engines out there are Google and Bing. Most of these search engines offer Pay Per Click advertising (PPC). It is now one of the most effective ways to bring in relevant and targeted traffic to your website. You don’t have to wait for organic traffic anymore. With PPC Ads, you can have immediate and targeted traffic to your website.

Compared to traditional methods of advertising, PPC Ads are cost effective. You will have tight control over where to spend and how much to spend.

Being able to target your ads is another great advantage which ensures that your money is well spent. You have a wide range of targeting options to choose from.

Referrals and Testimonials

Referrals and testimonials are without a doubt the best way to generate high-quality leads. Research has shown that 75% of leads from referrals and testimonials ended up in conversion.

Do not shy away from asking your old and existing customers for referrals and testimonials. A brand that has been accepted by peers and contemporaries is more likely to be chosen by similar customers in the market.

Proudly display the testimonials you get on your website.

Videos and Social media

Social media is a very powerful and a potential tool we have. There are a lot of lead generating opportunities from popular social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Ads on Facebook and LinkedIn are great ways of generating leads for your business.  It is also a great way of creating brand awareness, which in turn will come around as leads.

Videos are now in trend. Every business should have a YouTube channel. You can use your channel to publish videos related to your products or services. This is one of the most effective ways of promoting your brand. Publishing useful videos for your customers can improve your reputation online.

Online Reputation Management

Your potential customers can change their purchasing decision if they see negative reviews about your products or services. Even though you cannot control negative criticism and reviews, you can handle the situation diplomatically. Try to solve the problem by empathizing with the customer. This is why you need a good online reputation management strategy.

Online reputation is the image of your brand on the internet. It is all about improving and maintaining the image of your brand. This is done by countering, weakening and eliminating negative material about your brand from the internet.

These are the top lead generation tips for B2B businesses that you should not overlook this year. As always, feel free to reach out to us if you need any help with your digital marketing campaigns. That’s all for now. Happy selling!