A tweet here, a press release there, a single advert and one video testimonial do not add up to a successful B2B marketing campaign; if you think they do, prepare to be disappointed.
For marketing to be successful it has to be consistent in every way – a consistent message, with a consistent look and feel, conveying consistent brand values consistently presented to the right target markets.
If your message isn’t consistent, you’ll confuse your prospects and if your schedule isn’t consistent they’ll forget who you are and what you’re offering. So you need a marketing plan, and a good one at that.
You need to know where you are, where you’re heading (direction) and what obstacles are blocking your path to success. You need to understand your buyer personas, who your “Yes” people are and you need to know their problems and challenges (buyer knowledge).
You’ll need to be crystal clear why your business is the only logical ‘go to’ company to solve their problems (strengths & weaknesses) and you’ll have to prove to them how they will benefit from using you(show & tell). Oh, and it helps to know how much you’ve got to invest too (budget).
There are many reasons to run a marketing campaign – brand awareness, product launch, new sales leads or increased sales from existing customers – for example. Each of these requires a different approach and so it’s vital that you take time to carefully think through your goals.
Then, write them down clearly and concisely – this will help immeasurably in developing the right strategy because you’ll know exactly where you’re heading.
It sounds so simple and it is, but it’s amazing how many companies have not plainly articulated their goals before embarking on a B2B marketing campaign.
You want to reach decision makers with your marketing campaign, but it’s important never to forget that these decision makers are people. Like the rest of us, they have needs and concerns that keep them awake at night.
If you can define all the different ‘buyer personas’ for your business and target them with information that will solve their issues, developing a successful marketing campaign becomes so much easier. It gives you a laser-like focus to reach the people who can say “Yes” to your products and services.
Gaining a deep understanding of your buyer profiles enables you to appreciate their pain points and then spell out how your solution solves their problems. If you don’t know who you are targeting, it doesn’t matter how good your marketing plan is, it is doomed from the start.
If you don’t know what you’re great at and what makes your product or service so attractive to potential customers, how on earth are those prospects going to know?
You need to take the time to define your competitive market position up front so you’re absolutely clear about what makes your product or service different. All too often, companies want to be all things to all people, paranoid that if they leave out something they’ll be missing out on a potential revenue stream.
Have the discipline to develop a precise market positioning statement for your business. Remember, businesses don’t buy your product or service; they buy the value that your business provides for them.
Testimonials from happy clients are essential tools for a successful B2B marketing campaign. Decision makers like to see how your business has helped other companies similar to their own; it gives them confidence, proof if you like that you will deliver on your promise.
When you feature these stories in the media, in email newsletters and on your website, for example, the word spreads with the result that interest and confidence in your brand builds.
Never under-estimate the value of good customer testimonials.
The cost of a B2B marketing campaign can be a little like the length of a piece of string, it can be difficult to determine because it’s as long as you want it to be. For that reason, it is important to sit down at the front end and decide how much you are willing/have to invest in a marketing campaign and over what period of time.
Doing this at the outset will not only save you a lot of time but, more importantly perhaps, give you the best return on investment (ROI). And don’t forget to look at how you will monitor and measure success and ROI, otherwise you’ll be in the dark about the effectiveness of the results.
Once your marketing campaign has delivered new customers, it’s important you look after them. Business to business relationships tend to develop into long-term relationships which can prove lucrative over time. The benefits of keeping a B2B customer happy and satisfied are often enormous, and the effects of losing them can be very serious and costly.