For any B2B company, the marketing campaign is about two things; ensuring that customers are both incentivised to buy from you and engaged with your company as a whole.
The best way to do this is through the many marketing channels that are available to you - and which you are likely already utilising. These include email, loyalty programmes, social media, web content, direct mail and in-person events.
But it is not a case of advertising a new product or service through these channels. As mentioned before, that will only cover one aspect of the marketing campaign.
If you are looking to actively engage the customer and formulate a personality for your company - so that you can reach them on a more individual level - then it's important to make the most out of your b2b marketing channels and avoid the regular pitfalls that plague businesses.
With this in mind, here is a look at three of the most popular channels and how you can work to get more out of them:
Email is perhaps one of the hardest marketing channels to get right. By and large, it involves sending messages and updates to those on your mailing list, informing them of a new product or service and inviting them to interact with the company.
The problem with this, however, is that emails can easily come across as generic and have the opposite effect. Think about your own inbox. How many marketing-related emails have you placed in your Spam or simply glossed over? Probably too many to count.
If you are serious about the engagement side of your marketing campaign, you need an email strategy that prioritises segmentation and personalisation.
Have more control over what you are sending and who you are sending it to, send the emails at the right time for a better open rate, suggest tips and tricks to better use your products or service, and speak to the customer on a personal level. If you do all of this, you will find that the engagement rate goes up as a result.
Loyalty Programmes
Customer loyalty programmes are a common practice in the world of B2B, but not every company uses them efficiently.
This is not about offering cash rewards to customers and hoping that they bite. An efficient customer loyalty programme should be the ultimate marketing tool, allowing your audience to feel more engaged, incentivised and interested in the company itself.
Instead of just offering cash rewards, offer rewards that are more personal and meaningful on an individual level. This programme should reflect your brand's values and goals; it should show customers how you respect them and are driven to provide the best experience possible.
Social Media
The last marketing channel that you can get more out of is social media. For any company, it is crucial to work out how to navigate social media, as it pretty much forms the online hub of your company. A space for both your company and its customers to co-exist. For many companies, however, it is only used as a means of sharing products, without any kind of integration or interaction that can forge or maintain relationships.
But social media is so much more than a giant billboard. It's a way to examine customer behaviour, targets an audience, understands what they want, and communicate with them one-to-one.
It's also the marketing channel that has the fastest results. In 2022 alone, 82% of shoppers used social media to make a purchase, which means that a buying experience with your company can begin and end on just one social platform. In this way, you should always make sure to keep your communication channels open, transparent, and engaging enough for customers to not only follow you, but be engaged in whom they are following.
