5 Ways to Upgrade Your B2B Marketing Strategy

B2B marketing isn't just about selling to other businesses--it's also about selling to their people.

There’s a lot of talk about the importance of marketing to other businesses, but not as much about how to humanise these interactions. At the end of the day, you’re not selling to businesses; you’re selling to people—and they have their own unique needs, interests and goals.

Content is one of the most effective ways to create a bridge between your brand and your audience on a personal level—so make sure that it goes beyond promoting your business. Create content that helps them solve problems, rather than just talking about your company every chance you get.

Keep in mind that there are real people behind those businesses and brands. You want them to remember you for being friendly, helpful and human—not for being faceless corporation #3,581 who emailed them about your latest product or service.

Remember that People are People.

When you think of businesses, there is always a person or a group of people behind it. So when you're crafting your content, remember that the people who consume it are just like you! And as with all marketing, emotion is still at the core of its success. While some may say that business-to-business (B2B) marketing has to be factual and figures-heavy, that's not true. A boring story doesn't make for good marketing.

Emphasize how your product or service helps people by using language that they can relate to. Using storytelling in your content will help bring it to life—and research has shown that stories make facts easier to remember!

Build Trust with Influencers.

More and more, we're seeing brands build trust by collaborating with influencers. In fact, around 70% of millennial consumers say that they are more likely to trust a brand if it has an influencer endorsement.

While it's tempting to use influencer marketing strategies to promote your B2B business, targeting the right influencers can be a challenge. Instead of focusing on building a relationship with an individual, focus on building relationships with industry leaders and experts, as well as groups that have built up a following of loyal fans. If you partner with them to create content, you'll have an opportunity to reach their audience and gain more exposure for your brand.

Solve Problems, Don’t Just Advertise.

The best B2B marketing strategies are designed to help people solve a problem.

Don't freak out—you don't have to be an expert at solving all the problems your customer base is facing. But you must understand their issues and offer concrete solutions that work.

You can do this simply by defining what makes your business unique and explain how it can solve the customer's problem, whatever that may be. For example, if you're a plumbing company, you could create content around "DIY tips for fixing running toilets." While this might not give away the whole story on how to fix a messy toilet, it gives customers a glimpse into the world of plumbing and provides them with some valuable information they can use immediately.

Be Active on the Right Platforms.

What's the best way to keep yourself front-of-mind with your target audience? In today's digital landscape, social media check-ins are the new water cooler chats. By sharing your brand’s message and offers on social media, you can develop a direct line of communication with potential customers and make sure that when they need what you offer, they'll think of you first.

Before you start posting, though, it helps to think about what matters most to your business. For example: If you're trying to sell productivity software to businesses that want employees who work more efficiently, LinkedIn might be a better bet than Instagram—and vice versa if your product is aimed at professionals who value self-expression and creativity in the workplace. It's all about knowing how people use each different platform and then making sure those uses align with your own goals for being there.

Once you know where you want to be seen, it's time to start thinking about what type of content will get you noticed (in a good way). Many companies rely on salesy approaches like "5 ways we can help make your life easier" or "the one thing our competitors haven't figured out yet." That may have worked 20 years ago, but now it just screams "I didn't do my research!" You've got about 8 seconds to capture someone’s attention before they move on; at that point in their day they don't want another sales pitch—they want someone who understands them. Instead of dropping product names into every sentence or shoving marketing speak down their throats (e.g., “leading provider," “top tier"), come at things from an angle that relates back to them as human beings rather than target consumers: “How do I stay productive while working remotely? Here are five tips!” Boom! Relevant content delivered immediately; no hard sells necessary.

Hint: Create More Visual Content

You've heard it a thousand times – good content is king. But what is good content? Visual content. It's no surprise that visual marketing has been on the rise in recent years, with marketers across all industries investing more time and money into video and image-based campaigns. Visuals are easier to digest than text, they stand out more in our increasingly crowded newsfeeds, and they inform us without requiring an obnoxious amount of attention.

But that doesn't mean you should be bombarding your audience with images of just anything. You need to make sure you're creating the right kind of visual content for your business to business (B2B) buyers.

Learn from your competitors.

How do they communicate with their customers? What content do they publish on social media? Which sites do they advertise on? You'll want to study up so that you can identify opportunities for improvement in their strategies before implementing them yourself—and hopefully come up with something even better!

Hopefully by now, you're convinced that there is a whole lot more to B2B marketing than a complex array of subjective metrics and analytics. But how do you go about upgrading your strategy? By continuously improving your brand, providing tremendous value to your customers and prospects, paying attention to customer feedback, and getting some help from prospecting tools and business apps. And that's exactly what the tips we shared above should help you do. They're not quick fixes; they're not magic bullets. But if you put them to work for you, they can help all areas of your online presence—from landing pages to social media profiles—run more smoothly. And that's time (and money) well spent.