Businesses, nowadays, are moving within an even more competitive arena. With advancements in technology coming in regularly, more and more strategies are being utilized. What may have been considered as valid years back no longer prove to be effective today. This fact is all the more visible with techniques related to marketing, such as B2B marketing.
Business, Technology, Internet and network concept. B2B Business company commerce technology marketing concept.
But, first, what is B2B marketing? Also known as business-to-business marketing, this refers to the direct selling of one company’s product to another company. Today, B2B marketing stands as one of the most effective strategies in the business industry. But, this doesn’t mean that it’s not without pitfalls.
B2B Business to Business marketing strategy concept on virtual screen.
To ensure that you’re able to make the most out of all the marketing strategies that your business employs, these must be carried out properly. To help you along this line, here are some of the common mistakes done by beginners in terms of implementing B2B marketing strategies that you should avoid:
- Not Realizing That B2B Marketing And B2C Marketing Are Similar
B2C marketing or business-to-consumer marketing has to do with catering to individual customers rather than businesses or professional buyers. It is centered on the needs and interests of people. Common examples of B2C marketing include the following:
- A video platform that sells movies and music videos to people
- A hair care company that sells shampoo and conditioner to women
- A real estate company that caters to the buying and leasing needs of individual buyers
On the one hand, B2B or business-to-business marketing is centered on meeting the needs of businesses rather than individuals. Common examples of B2B marketing are the following:
- A digital marketing agency that sells SEO-related services to corporations
- A recruitment software service that sells CRM software to HR departments
- A construction company that focuses on construction of buildings
A lot of people, especially newbies, think that B2B and B2C marketing are two completely separate entities, however these two are very much similar to each other.
That said, here are some of the similarities of B2B and B2C marketing:
- Both need a high level of customer care and experience
- Behind both marketing strategies are people
- Both require a consistent and customer-centric sales process as without this, there’s no way for businesses to reach their target market
- Both demand a high level of trust to make a sale
- Both have the goal of achieving customer loyalty
- Not Having A Well-Defined Social Media Strategy
Marketers today are aware of the powers of social media. When used properly and effectively, there’s no denying the fact that these platforms could bring in so many benefits to businesses. But, issues arise when marketing teams jump right into the bandwagon of using social media for B2B marketing without a well-defined social media strategy.
This is one major mistake that most new business owners commit as it makes it difficult for people to determine the proper social media channel to use. As a result, engagement on these social media channels becomes weak despite their noticeable presence in these areas.
Here are a few tips to follow for a better social media strategy:
- Start by identifying the goals that you wish to achieve through your various social media channels.
- Have a business and marketing plan that’s centered on B2B marketing through social media.
- Identify the audience that you’d like to target.
- Decide which of the many social media platforms are right for you, so that you can easily narrow down your options.
- Making It More Difficult For The Target Business To Make That Purchase
In B2C marketing, your strategies are centered on making the lives of your customers better, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have the same approach in terms of B2B marketing. Note that in both marketing styles, you still got the needs and the interests of clients at heart. Unfortunately, it’s often the case that it’s harder for target businesses to make a purchase as they simply aren’t convinced by the wrong strategies employed by the selling business.
B2B buyers want marketers to get directly to the point. They need concrete reasons why they should buy the products of B2B sellers. All they need are the right pieces of information–nothing more, nothing less. Excellent but simple ways for you to be able to do this include the following:
- Provide research that’s easy to digest
- Provide more delivery methods
- Create better visuals that are easy understand
- Enable more payment options
- Applying A One-Size-Fits-All Approach
Remember this fundamental fact: no matter the kind of industry that you’re in, there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing. Especially when you’re marketing to businesses and customers alike on different channels, it’s never ideal to use the same message or approach. In simpler terms, make your strategies in email marketing different from the ones you’re implementing in the field of social media marketing. Even in B2B marketing, this principle applies.
Remember that every marketing channel has its different target audience. There are also different ways of getting your message across each channel. Hence, there’s absolutely no reason why the strategies should always be the same, which only creates boredom and redundancy.
One effective way for you to counter this mistake is to tailor your content to the interest of your audience in every marketing channel. Whatever their desires are or means of communication, focus on those. In doing so, you’re making yourself even more engaging and flexible to the businesses that you’re trying to target.
- Sacrificing Precision
Many marketers sacrifice precision in B2B marketing. This stems from the fact that they think it’s best to focus on marketing strategies that have a broad reach. After all, your goal is to reach out to businesses and not to individual customers–wrong. Even in B2B marketing, precision is still a must.
Without precision, you’re driving the marketing costs of your company higher, with no benefits coming in. It’s still easier to capture the attention of other businesses when you’re working on a small, targeted list. That way, you can make individualized impacts to ensure that each of the businesses in your target list does purchase from the B2B seller.
Conclusion
Proper recognition of these mistakes prove to be the best step in correcting them. If you’ve noticed that your marketing strategies are not translating to sales, you’ve most probably committed one or two of these B2B marketing mishaps. But, with the tips given above, you can now tailor your marketing strategies to better align them with the marketing goals of your company.
