Best Actionable B2B Marketing Strategies In 2021

Customers nowadays have so much power in their hands as they have access to a wealth of information right at their fingertips, making companies struggling to make their presence profound to audiences and outstanding from the competitors. Especially in the B2B industry where the customer here is actually another business, the expectation of customers is so much higher. Thus, coming up with cost-effective yet efficient marketing strategies is getting trickier and trickier. If marketing is not actively engaging in the sales cycle to help drive relationships online, the job of B2B sales teams becomes so uneasy. To make sure that won’t happen to your B2B company, let’s take a look at these best actionable B2B marketing strategies in 2021. 

Add more value through case studies

Adding value should be the mantra in any business, but B2B marketing is where you need to emphasize it even more. Your clients, or literally other businesses, require a clear image and adequate understanding of how your company can offer them the solution to their challenges when considering buying products or using services from you. That normally can be achieved through content marketing – an irreplaceable element making a successful B2B marketing strategy.

However, only giving out general, one-size fits all content like how-to articles will limit your ability to have great impacts on your clients in the long run. What you need is more in-depth and specific content. Case studies are a typical example of that kind of content. 

With case studies, you can showcase how your products and services have already added value in real-life situations with your existing customers. It’s impactful and decent for showing your potential customers that you understand their particular industry pain points and you’re totally capable of easing their pain. Moreover, publishing a case study is also a great way to express your gratitude towards your existing clients, no matter whether it’s an one-time purchase or a long-term partnership. 

In fact, case studies have a similar effect as word of mouth or referrals, which is one of the most powerful marketing tools. When a friend, family member, or colleague of a potential customer recommends your brand, they’ve already developed a trust and bond with your products and are more likely to purchase. 

Expand your branding footprint

Creating content for and taking care of your website is vital and potent. However, for the long run, you need to consider spreading your brand presence to other websites and communities. This can include guest posting, public speaking at local conferences, webinars organizing, etc. 

All of these important B2B marketing tactics will get you, your company, and your brand exposed to new audiences. This helps B2B businesses expand their reach and get more potential customers. Of course, you need to make sure the audience fits your ideal customer profile so that you don’t waste your precious time doing redundant things that won’t give you any significant results. Instead, you can get closer to the customers who actually matter to your business. 

Featuring on relevant websites, speaking at a conference or a podcast, or organizing a webinar will empower you to get your brand in front of the public in the best manner that you can deliver. This B2B marketing strategy also gives customers the chance to learn more about you. All in all, having your brand appearing at as many places as it can helps drive organic traffic to your website. 

With this B2B marketing strategy, you will build personal relationships with the right business executives. Thus, it will be much easier to close the deal later on thanks to positive experiences and already-built, nurtured relationships. 

Be active on LinkedIn 

Unlike a common idea that B2B marketing needs to be formal and relies much on technical aspects, social media is, in fact, a fruitful and efficient platform for this type of marketing. It’s a fact that in this era we’re living in, social media reaches across all industries and serves all kinds of purposes. There’s always a social channel that can fulfill whatever goals you’re going towards. So if you’re considering an effective B2B marketing strategy, then actively engaging on social media is definitely worth your try. 

For the B2B industry, LinkedIn is a decent social media outlet acting as a professional business network. Even though LinkedIn has been around for a while, people merely consider it a job-seeking platform during its primary years. However, in the last few years, the platform has been growing rapidly, and it is no longer solely a digital CV database. Instead, it has become the channel connecting business-related and business-interested people, from entrepreneurs, merchants to head hunters, job seekers, and even students. 

According to statistics, there are over 30 million companies on LinkedIn and 20 million open job offerings. By extending the network and regularly posting on LinkedIn, B2B companies can catch the attention of their potential clients. You should also leverage other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram as supplements to get to know more about your LinkedIn connections. Remember, the CEO in his full black business suit on LinkedIn is also the father of 2 on Facebook sharing adorable pictures of his children. Although 2 different environments make 2 seemingly different people, it’s still worth the effort as it might help turn this CEO into a qualified lead. 

Adopt an omnichannel marketing strategy

So, we have just talked about social media, or LinkedIn in particular, as a great platform for B2B marketing. However, there are way more channels that are also perfect for B2B marketers to utilize. It leads to a particular question “Which channel is the best for B2B marketing?”. Well, how about integrating all of the potential platforms altogether instead of picking the best ones? 

The word ‘omnichannel’ has been buzzing the marketing world for several years and has interrupted the way people are doing B2B marketing. Omnichannel is defined as using digital and/or traditional marketing channels to send a relevant message to a brand’s customers regardless of the channels used to engage. For example, a customer can get an email or SMS message about a promotion while shopping in a physical store. 

Omnichannel marketing is not just a B2B marketing strategy that is on trend but facilitates seamless brand-customer interactions across several devices. Moreover, statistics show that businesses that adopt omnichannel strategies achieve 91% greater customer retention rates in comparison to those who don’t. 

Now, you don’t need to pick just one channel but follow an omnichannel marketing approach to ensure that your clients can find you everywhere. Bear in mind that omnichannel marketing and multi-channel marketing are not the same. Both approaches offer more than one channel to customers. However, while the former integrates all the channels into a whole system to give customers a frictionless transition among platforms, it’s not necessarily the case for the latter. 

Double down on SEO

The importance of SEO (search engine optimization) is undeniable since there have been so many statistics indicating the major role of SEO in lead generation for B2B particularly. The increasing consumption of digital content and the growing need for corporate websites is one reason why you need to invest in SEO and SEM (search engine marketing). 

You don’t have to be an SEO expert or a digital marketer to notice that Google’s search algorithms are only getting smarter and smarter in the future updates. The way that it’s capable of personalizing the search experience for each user, including result priority, keyword suggestion, search history, etc. is phenomenal. This is achieved by analyzing user data like location, search intent, search context, etc. It’s an opportunity, yet also a challenge for B2B marketers leveraging  SEO. 

Moreover, voice search, search intent, and semantic search is gaining so much attention and developing rapidly. Accordingly, long-tail keywords need more spotlight than ever. All in all, it means that although short keywords are still necessary, long-tail keywords and infographics content is more rewarding for your SEO strategies in the long term. 

Final thoughts

It has been only less than 1 month since we made it to 2021, you still have a whole year ahead to complete all the goals that you have set for your B2B company. So, it’s high time you decided on the right B2B marketing strategy for your business to thrive. We hope that with today’s article, you have formed the picture of how you will build a potent marketing plan. And you can always come back for supplements to your current marketing strategy. 

If you have any questions or thoughts to share, feel free to let us know in the comment section below. We, ConnectPOS, will always here to listen and help you with all of your concerns. Should you need any further information, don’t hesitate to contact us now!