B2B Marketing: 3 Components
Marketing can seem very complicated but it doesn’t have to be. Marketing is three things: strategy, inbound marketing and outbound marketing. Here they are explained along with critical success factors.
Strategy
Critical Success Factor: be holistic with goals – remember the 4 Ps of Marketing:
- Product/service Portfolio: have all your target market needs?
- Placement: channels strategy and referral sources, push vs. pull
- Pricing: cost plus vs. market based
- Promotions: get the word out (what most people think of as marketing but it’s only one “P”
Critical Success Factor: be inclusive by grounding your strategy in reality by interviewing your internal team as well as key clients, channel partners, and vendors. An internal-only view may miss key client and channel requirements and is sometimes just plain wrong about certain things.
Critical Success Factor: you don’t have a marketing plan if it’s not written down and you’ll want to share it with your team, revisit it quarterly and revise as appropriate.
Inbound Marketing
Critical Success Factor: Your website is your #1 form of promotion 72% of B2B buyers begin on Google. Your website also serves as your 24/7 sales rep and, if it’s not the first impression of your company, it’s probably the second.
Critical Success Factor: effective B2B websites generate leads. Websites are effective when they adhere to best practices in six key areas:
- Marketing Strategy
- Great Design
- Content is King
- SEO Best Practices
- Optimized User Experience
- The Right Technology
Outbound Marketing
Critical Success Factor: don’t wait to be Googled – it’s all about generating touchpoints:
- Targeting: the more specific the better (less is more) – Innovaxis examples: dental plans doing their own paper claims processing and healthcare providers in the Southeast needing patient chart abstraction
- Consistency: once a month for at least six months with a major review after three months – email, call, direct mail, repeat
- Re-Purposing: share this content on social media and always, always, always make sure any social media post always links back to something on your website
- Professionalism: whether email, direct mail or social media, you need to match your design language of your logo and website (branding)
- Follow-Up: email will not work by itself and field sales reps don’t want to follow up email campaigns – have an inside rep or someone else really good on the phone follow up every email open and direct mail recipient within 24 hours of delivery
Contact us to learn more about B2B marketing strategy, inbound and outbound marketing
