Marketing is an area to which we have already dedicated many posts in our blog, but today we will delve into one of its types: B2B marketing. Many of the startups accelerated at La Lonja de la Innovación are focused on this type of services, for this reason, we will explain what B2B is and what are the best marketing strategies in these business models.
What is B2B marketing?
B2B (Business to Business) marketing refers to the strategies used by the companies that sell products or services to other companies instead to end consumers. Unlike B2C (Business to Consumer), B2B is focused on satisfying the needs of other companies rather than an individual, which implies differences in the way of communicating and building relationships, as the audiences are different.
This type of marketing addresses business, financial, and administrative needs, and is characterized by the complexity of sales, since they often involve different departments at the same time and require long-term relationships with trust and return on investment as fundamental pillars. But how else does it differ from B2C?
- They have different audience with different needs.
- It’s more challenging to get the message across, among other things, because there are numerous decision-makers within a company when making a purchase.
- The purchase frequency in B2B is lower than in B2C, although transactions tend to be more expensive.
- Trust is key. Generally, it’s necessary to build long-term relationships with these companies, so if the relationship with the consumer is important in B2C, it can be even more so in B2B, as sales occur cyclically and customer satisfaction is essential.
Effective strategies for your business
These differences between B2C and B2B marketing mean that, although some strategies are similar, others differ significantly. Here are the most commonly used ones within B2B models:
- B2B email marketing. Email marketing is not dead, it is still alive and with a lot of strength, and within B2B it is of great importance. However, for it to work, effective messages must be sent. To do this, you must make sure to write a short and attractive subject line, segment it so that it reaches the most relevant and appropriate audience and give it a design that adapts to the device it will be opened on.
- Videomarketing. Creating videos is widely used in B2B marketing thanks to its effectiveness. Within this concept, the content varies and all are very useful, such as interviews with industry references, webinars and courses, explanations of your products or services, offering quick tips, etc.
- Personalized experiences. Just like in B2C, personalized experiences are so important, they will make you stand out and improve customer satisfaction.
- Social media. Even if you are targeting businesses, the use of social media is also highly recommended, especially one in particular: LinkedIn, the professional social network in excellence, where the vast majority of B2B leads are generated.
- Influencers marketing. You can collaborate with experts and opinion leaders in your sector so they support your products or services, increasing the credibility of your brand as well as trust.
- Events and trade shows. These offer the perfect opportunity to create connections and show your products or services to potential customers. For this reason, don't hesitate to participate in as many as you can and plan your attendance carefully to make the most of it.
- Content marketing. It is very useful to attract clients, offering quality content regularly that generates interest can increase your credibility and reputation. In addition, this combined with SEO positioning will ensure that your website appears among the first results on Google, potentially increasing traffic.
- Offer resources. Another way to attract customers in B2B is to offer different types of free resources. It’s common to see companies offering downloadable content on their websites that explain something about the industry, give advice, contain a study, include templates for some type of action or process, infographics, ebooks, free courses, etc. You can also share success stories from companies that, after acquiring your products or services, improved their results.
B2B marketing is a complex discipline, but with the right strategies and proper execution, success can be within your reach.