Marketing is the business equivalent of “if a tree falls into a forest, and no one is there to hear it,”. If no one is aware of your product or service, can you really create a great product? B2B business success depends on optimizing your marketing strategy. Many B2B marketers don’t get their money’s worth. Why?
This article will discuss the top B2B marketing mistakes and how you can avoid them.
1. Not understanding your clients
B2B marketers often make the biggest mistake of thinking that because B2B businesses have fewer customers than B2C, all customers should be treated equally.
However, this doesn’t mean you should not offer the same level of service to your clients. This means they are unique and should be promoted differently.
What should you do?
Segmentation is just as important in B2B and B2C. Segmentation is the process of grouping clients based on certain traits or qualities that you have identified.
Segmenting clients will help you create a more targeted marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter if you use conversational marketing methods or email, your clients will feel that they are being addressed personally.
This will give you a competitive advantage over other companies. Nearly 80% of B2B marketing professionals believe that personalized marketing initiatives greatly improve business-client relationships and more than 50% believe it directly increases conversions.
Also read: 12 Recruiting KPIs to Measure Your Organization Success
Clear all your data
B2B companies often have lots of information about their clients. Let’s suppose you are a company that offers video conferencing software. Your data is focused only on the industries you have been successful in, such as large businesses and offices. After cleaning your data and conducting research, you discover that one of your clients uses your software to manage its deaf employees. This information opens up new markets and segments for you to tap into.
2. Neglecting social media
B2B marketers often overlook social media, despite it being one of the most powerful marketing tools. Many believe it is difficult to connect with other companies on social media if you only sell to them. Others feel that the industry they work in isn’t interesting enough for social media users.
What should you do?
- Social media isn’t just for B2C businesses. B2B businesses can benefit from social media:
- LinkedIn is a great platform to find and connect with potential clients.
- High-quality content is a way to position yourself as an industry leader.
- Encourage others to join your network by using social media engagement.
- Find out more about your clients to help you understand their preferences and close the deal.
Your B2B company should aim to tell compelling stories. Your company can be humanized by finding your brand voice, engaging with customers publically and communicating that to them.
Social media doesn’t need to be expensive. Social media can be used to promote your employees or share content about your product.
3. Producing Uncreative call to action (CTAs)
You need something to remind your customers to buy, no matter if you are a B2B business or small supermarket at the corner of a street. Let’s suppose you are a company offering an integration platform as a service (IPaaS). You spend a lot on marketing videos that engage and explain what’s IPaaS. However, your CTA doesn’t encourage people to buy.
Many B2B companies make this mistake, which can lead to a decrease in conversion rates.
What should you do?
B2B CTAs should not only be present but also well-placed and timed. This is because B2B products and services are often more difficult to explain than B2C. A simple click to view or buy now button on a landing page doesn’t suffice.
These are some of the top ways to create a B2B CTA.
- Your CTA should offer a free sample of your product. Customers can view a demo of your product or services and request a free trial.
- Turn your CTA into a timer. For a limited time, offer a special deal. This creates urgency in the client and encourages them to take the deal.
- Offer a guarantee. This is basically a promise by your company to your client that your product will be loved. For example, “If you don’t like it within a month, we’ll give you every cent back.”
4. Forgetting to track your progress
A successful B2B marketing campaign will require you to track your campaigns. Let’s use your customer support department as an example. Customers often call them with questions, complaints, or feedback. This feedbacks are then taken into consideration and made necessary adjustments. This should also be done by your marketing team.
B2B marketers make a big mistake by not tracking their metrics and making sure that they are actually generating income.
What should you do?
These are the key insights that all B2B marketers need to be constantly tracking:
- The percentage of leads and potential customers that turn into paying clients. This is how you can determine if your marketing is generating quality leads.
- The percentage that has actually engaged with your marketing strategy. This is used to make sure that marketing goes to the right people.
- The average customer cost. This is used to determine if your marketing budget is too high and where you can cut back.
5. Avoid the testing process
Your product or service was likely created, tested, and retested many times over. Each component was taken into consideration. Marketing should be no different.
You can gain insight from testing that will help you make informed decisions about your next campaign. It is time- and cost-effective, but many B2B marketers neglect it.
What should you do?
Realizing that everything must be tested is the most important thing. This includes full marketing campaigns and landing pages with CTA buttons. A testing strategy is the best way to do this.
- Plan – Decide what you want to test. This includes keywords, button size, and text. Email layout is also important.
- Examine – This involves conducting research on your audience and competitors to discover what they might prefer, and then narrowing down the options to a few.
- Choose the testing method that suits you best. A/B testing is the most common method. This involves creating two buttons for the CTA button with different colors. However, you only change one variable. The success of each button is then tracked and chosen as the most effective.
- Don’t be afraid to compromise – there may be a better solution. To ensure you get the best results, keep testing.
Also read: 7 Tips To Improve Your B2B Commerce Growth
6. Increase the workload of your employees
Marketing is not just about the glamorous and fast-paced environment they depict in Mad Men. It is not only important but also mundane tasks that must be done, like social media scheduling and campaign planning. These tasks can be time-consuming and leave employees disengaged.
What should you do?
These tasks can be automated using robotic process automation (RPA) which frees up your marketing team’s time to concentrate on more meaningful tasks.
RPA refers to a process that uses software with machine-learning capabilities to perform tasks based upon your instructions. This could be anything, from lead nurturing to sale tracking. It’s faster than employees, and it eliminates human error.
Final Words
Your main goal should be to increase the reach of your business. This can only be achieved by improving your marketing. As you can see, it is important to understand your audience and take full advantage of social media. Tell your audience to buy. Track and test your campaigns and automate.
Leave a comment