Étienne's advice: B2B digital marketing
Étienne
Digital Performance
Since the start of 2024, I've noticed that B2B marketing presents new challenges. Sales are harder to close, budgets are down and expectations are up. It's no longer just about being more efficient with limited resources. I had to rethink my strategy to truly excel in marketing.
B2B marketing often relies on educational content to communicate with business customers. I've come to understand that this is because buyers look for expertise when dealing with other companies, unlike B2C consumers who are generally looking for the best deals and most exciting products.
I've discovered that there are many different B2B marketing strategies. Each has its own advantages and objectives.
Paid search on search engines (SEM)
Search campaigns
An excellent search campaign always starts with thorough keyword research relevant to your service or product offering. Using tools such as Google Keyword Planner or SEMRush's Keyword Magic Tool allows you to discover which keywords generate the most searches on a monthly basis.
The ultimate goal is to always be present when your potential customers search for your services on search engines.
Poster and video campaigns
It all starts with the creation of informative and engaging static visuals and videos that showcase your products and services. Next comes targeting, a step that requires an understanding of the behavior of the potential customer pool.
Whether using an interest-based audience or a market-based audience, both can be interesting. Trying out several audiences can be an entry strategy, to see which ones generate the best results, and then remove those that don't work from the campaigns.
Remarketing campaigns
Remarketing is crucial in B2B. Given that the purchasing decision process can take several months or even a year, it's important that your website users are subject to a retargeting list. This way, if they haven't contacted us on their first visit to the website, your remarketing campaigns optimize the chances that they will decide to contact you.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Most successful companies have an online presence on platforms such as Meta and LinkedIn, which are popular in B2B marketing. To succeed on social mediait's essential to strike a balance between engaging and informative content. This is one of the biggest challenges we face.
"22% of social media marketers identified 'creating engaging content' as the top challenge they thought they'd face in 2023." - Hubspot
First of all, you need to identify the specific needs of your target audience, but also take into account the common needs of the companies in your target audience. Create content that reflects their values and needs, while remaining original in relation to your competitors.
Take Adobe, for example. Their TikTok account account has 500K followers and 7 million likes.
@adobe Watch as @mikevisuals_ adds some cinematic drama to his travel footage with a hazer and the magic of #PremierePro ♬ original sound - Adobe
Shopify is another good example of a company doing B2B marketing on social networks. Their TikTok account account has 261K followers and 1.3 million likes.
@shopify want to start a business but stuck on what to sell? check these ideas out #business #shopify #ecommerce #smallbusiness #businesstips ♬ original sound - Shopify
Mailchimp also does B2B marketing on social networks. Their TikTok account account has 27.1K followers and 67K likes.
@mailchimp 🚨 Marketing hack 🚨 You could be helping potential customers back to their 🛒! #emailmarketing #emailtok #smallbusiness #socialmediamanager #smm #realtalk #marketingtok #relatable #dayinmylife #brandtok ♬ original sound - Intuit Mailchimp
E-mail marketing (newsletter)
E-mail marketing gives you direct access to buyers without going through a third party, unlike search and social media.
Remember, the most important thing is to personalize your content for your audience. The more your customers feel valued, the more likely they are to use your services and come back for more. Prioritize quality over quantity.
B2B content marketing
Increasingly, B2B customers depend on autonomous research on digital channels to find out more about commercial products and services and make purchasing decisions.
Content produced and distributed by your marketing team and partners should be available on any channel where your customers conduct their research. The most comprehensive content marketing strategies include all digital channels where customers are located, including social media platforms.
What is B2B content marketing?
B2B content marketing is about creating and distributing content, in all its forms, related to your business and relevant to customers. This content includes articles, blogs, videos, as well as in-depth E-Books and research.
Blog and articles
Blogs and articles are essential in a B2B digital marketing strategy as they contribute to prospect education, lead generation, lead nurturing, brand positioning and sharing on social networks. They also help create a closer bond with your target audience and build trust in your company and your offerings.
Videos
Videos are important in a B2B digital marketing strategy because they promote prospect engagement, demonstrate your products or services effectively, build trust and authority for your company, encourage sharing on social networks and can contribute to search engine optimization.
By integrating videos into your overall digital marketing strategy, you can achieve your lead generation and growth objectives more effectively and with greater impact.
E-Book and digital brochure
During the buying process, potential customers are looking for as much information as possible, not only about the product or service, but also about the company, its achievements and the comments of current customers. It's crucial to have this information on your website.
You can also use your E-book or digital brochure as a "soft lead" and ask for the email address to obtain more in-depth content such as case studies, price approximations, etc.
