August 25, 2010
7 Simple Principles of a Successful B2B Marketing Strategy
Business-to-business marketing doesn’t have to be complicated or elaborate to be effective.
In fact, the most successful B2B marketing is often based on a simple strategy: Deliver clear, relevant messages consistently well over time to carefully selected prospects.
Here are seven principles of a simple but smart B2B marketing strategy:
- Targeting. Aim your marketing campaigns toward the people who most want to hear from you: Prospects with the same needs and demographics as your best customers.
- Relevance. In a noisy marketplace, people tune out messages that aren’t directly relevant to their interests. Know the needs of the business decision-makers you’re targeting and tailor your messages accordingly.
- Consistency. Marketing across all channels – from paid advertising to sales letters, from websites to face-to-face presentations – should support your brand positioning and consistently repeat the same key statements about who you are, what you do, and how you do it better than anyone else.
- Credibility. Business prospects need to trust and believe you to recommend you or buy from you. Back up your marketing claims with case studies, testimonials, and statistics to establish credibility and position your company as a trusted provider.
- Clarity. Get to the point with straightforward messages that prospects can easily understand and remember. Keep jargon and tech talk to a minimum.
- Frequency. Prospects need to hear from you regularly and often to keep you top of mind. Be visible to be memorable.
- Quality. Marketing campaigns and materials should reflect your company’s stature in your industry and commitment to quality. Going cheap can be expensive in the long run if it costs you the chance to make the sale.
Gary Kay
Great article and useful tips for B2B sector, as you mention simplicity is key and delivery.
jeangianfagna
Thanks, Gary: I’m glad you found the article informative.
Martin Duys
Very useful post. Thanks.
But one caveat: What you are suggesting is a lot easier to say than it is to do 🙂
Executing on this list is HARD and takes tremendous effort and focus.
jeangianfagna
Thanks very much for your comments, Martin. You are right that smart marketers need to put forth significant effort and focus on doing what will have the most impact to achieve success, and there’s no question that it’s harder to do good B2B marketing than bad. I continue to believe that it comes down to a few simple principles that most marketers should be able to do: Know who your customers are and why they do business with you, then find the right ways to tell similar folks this story via targeted marketing.
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