Marketing techniques to help generate
B2B customers

by Will Hawkins

Generating B2B customers with a good marketing strategy can seem a daunting prospect compared to a business-to-customer strategy. Instead of reaching out to an individual to sell a particular product, marketers have to develop a strategy that satisfies multiple decision makers within an organisation. Additionally, with particularly ‘corporate’ prospects, it can seem challenging to add your unique creative flair and identity to what you do.

Despite these concerns, the principles of marketing stay the same regardless of whether you’re reaching out to a consumer or an organisation. After all, B2B clients are consumers too!

 

But what particular strategies should you bear in mind when developing a successful B2B marketing strategy? We’ve put together a few tips to help you along the way.

 

 

1. Account Based Marketing (ABM)

Account Based Marketing is a strategic marketing approach, which concentrates on specific target accounts (or businesses). Instead of having a persona, and a dataset of 1,000 customers, ABM marketers may have 5 or 10 ideal, qualified target accounts.

 

ABM aficionados are constantly going above and beyond to create a personalised marketing funnel for their target accounts, so never be afraid to push the boundaries, do your research and be personal. For example, if you discover that one of your target accounts has a CEO who loves music, then try and conceptualise a piece of content marketing which reflects this.

 

Adding a personal touch to your content marketing is sure to make your proposal more memorable, and strike a chord with the target account and its decision maker(s).

 

Additionally, you should think about how you can push your brand exposure campaigns to all of the relevant decision makers in your target organisation.

 

Your aim should be to get them talking about you on their tea breaks!

 

 

2. LinkedIn, LinkedIn, and more LinkedIn

If you’re marketing and advertising in the B2B space, then LinkedIn should absolutely be your go-to platform. Unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn gives marketers an insight into an individual’s job function within their organisation, their seniority, and their responsibilities.

 

LinkedIn also allows marketers to use target account lists. Target account lists enable you to upload examples of your ideal target accounts and match employees on LinkedIn. Once you’ve done this, you can use LinkedIn’s advertising targeting capabilities to pinpoint exactly which members of these organisations you want to be reaching. With this, you can start deploying your campaigns to the right people.

 

It’s important to be aware that due to LinkedIn’s in-depth B2B capabilities, it can be a costly platform to advertise on. With this, it’s absolutely imperative that your target audience is as refined as it can be, to avoid any unnecessary costs.

 

Another fantastic feature of LinkedIn’s is its demographic information. You can get insights on which companies have been viewing your company page and your campaigns. Measuring this engagement can help to give you a clearer indicator of which types of companies are interested in your service offering.

 

 

3. Make sure you’re Google-friendly

Individuals buying services from businesses are increasingly more likely to do their due diligence on search engines like Google, before completing their journey as a customer. As a B2B service provider, it’s vital that your search engine results pages (SERPs), are painting you in the best possible light.

 

A Google My Business profile is free to set up and adds significantly more credibility to your business. Prospective customers who are searching for your business online will be able to see your opening hours, information, address, website, reviews and more, all in one consolidated location. This is particularly important if you work locally, as Google’s business listings are usually ranked by geo-location.

 

Search Engine Optimisation should also be at the top of your to-do list, not only for attracting new customers, but also for ensuring that your best content dominates the SERPs. You should have a list of keywords which your ideal accounts are looking for, and should be doing all you can to show up for these terms.

 

Learn more about building an effective SEO strategy here >

 

Prospective accounts who are considering buying from you will likely search for your company on Google, so make sure that you have your best pieces of content and blogs appearing in the SERPs, to assist them throughout the sales funnel.

Top tip: Google Search Console can give you an indication of what search terms your website is currently ranking for. Work out which search terms your customers are using, and create more content around these to bolster your SEO performance and results.

 

Google Search Console

Summary

Whether it’s B2B, B2C or any other types of marketing that you’re engaging in; there is one constant that stays the same - people.

You’re always going to be creating content and campaigns that are designed to attract the attention of people, so never be afraid to be different, creative, and personal.

 

I hope that the methods in this article help you to generate B2B customers and expand your marketing strategies.

 

If you require any further guidance or information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Jooba. We’ve worked on a number of global B2B campaigns with great results, and are always looking for new projects to get involved in.

 

Don't hesitate to reach out today.

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