Marketing activities for B2B. Marketing plan for business markets. Customizing landing pages

What do you think is more difficult - coming up with a product or finding a business area? Not true. The hardest part is b2b marketing.

Because you, the owners, don’t believe in it, and as a result, don’t understand how it works. But in vain.

Even if it does not bring quick results in business, over time it will give you such an acceleration in sales that you will thank fate for the day you started doing it.

And right away, this material could have become perfect, but it will not work out that way, since even in B2B all sales are different from each other.

Therefore, I will try to give you the basics, of course, not bypassing specific advice, and you will easily form your approach on this basis.

I do not overeat

I understand your ambiguous attitude towards offline and internet marketing in the B2B field. As I said, all fears begin to build on long-term investments.

And from this follow other difficulties, such as the complexity of assessing the results and the problems of controlling actions at such a long distance.

And before we start, so that you do not consider me a layman in B2B, I will voice the features of the whole approach.

This will bring us closer, and most importantly, on the basis of these features, I will continue to tell you how you need to act in this difficult time. I highlight the main points, the rest you can easily build out of them:

Long transaction cycle;
Multi-stage sales schemes;
Various;
Different decision makers in one company;
Kickbacks and other personal agreements;
Much depends on the sales department.

To be more specific, we ourselves, as a marketing agency, make b2b sales. Therefore, who, if not us, should know about all the features.

In addition, the competition in our area is bloody, which means that if we did nonsense, we would not achieve the same results as now. But okay, the conversation is not about our loved ones.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
TURN ON

BRAKE

Before you start picking up sabers, swords and axes (I'm talking about marketing tools), you need to decide on the fundamental things of marketing for the company.

I will not burden you with university theory, I will give you only two main topics for preliminary reflection. Don't skip these steps, even though they are boring.

1. Marketing objectives

And until you resolve this issue, you cannot move on. Absolutely forbidden.

I am sure that for many, the goal of marketing after elaboration will go into an unobvious direction.

For example, a manufacturer will understand that he needs to promote a product not in the eyes of his customers - retail stores.

And immediately into the minds of end customers. After all, if the end consumer does not buy his product, then the stores will refuse to put it on the shelves.

2. Audience segmentation

I remember vocalizing the specifics in B2B marketing. One of them is different. And I do not give up my words.

Here I’m talking about something else. You need to know who your client is. Not ephemeral, but specifically by characteristics: industry, number of employees, seasonality, work experience, and so on. Otherwise, if you don’t know for whom, you don’t know what, when and where.

In this case, I have a favorite life hack. He is not a solution to all problems, but he will dull the headache for the first time.

To do this, you just need to highlight the ideal client among all. This is the one that buys the most, for a large amount and without problems. And when you define it, direct all your efforts to it.

Overclocking

I thought for a long time how to present this topic so that it would be universal for different b2b businesses, and at the same time would be of practical use.

And in my bad head came two approaches, within which you can fully select a marketing strategy and tools for implementation. We use them consistently, as I wrote them in this material.

Up to 100 km

Consider the stages of making a purchase decision in b2b. And on the basis of them, we will form a base of actions, how marketing can help the sales department in the implementation of the product.

Moreover, each stage can be further decomposed into smaller ones, but even the actions around the ones mentioned below will be enough for you for several years of work.

Important. The client can be at any of the stages during the first contact with you.

1. Awareness of the need

We can roughly divide all products of a business into those that solve an existing problem (for example, ink for a printer), and those that eliminate an unconscious problem (for example).

Of course, each product, depending on the client's situation, will be in one or the other state. But it is important for us to understand what the client has now.

And if your product relates to an existing problem, or even better, you get a positive answer to the question: “Does it hurt badly?”, Then you are in luck.

And if the problem is not realized, then first of all the client needs to be transferred to the state “I realize that there is an acute problem and it needs to be solved”. And just marketing in this matter should help.

Client's thoughts:

Do we have a problem?
How much does it hurt?
Need to act?

Exhibitions;
in the style of "dating".

2. Solution options

When the person has realized the decision, you need to show the client that your option is the best. At this step, it will be determined - to take your option or another.

Moreover, the conversation is not about choosing a company, but about a solution. For example, how to improve sales of personnel ?! Training, script, or even a new department head ?!

You might get lucky again if your product is the only solution. And this is often noted in unconscious problems.

But from experience, such a marathon of joy will not last long. In any area where there is money, sooner or later competitors appear who come up with their own products and try to distinguish them from yours.

Client's thoughts:

What solutions are there?
What criteria should you rely on?
Which solution is the best according to our criteria?

Counter-marketing actions:

Video review;
Comparison table;
Test Drive;
Awards;
Ratings;

3. Choosing a company

Can't you be lucky for the third time that you gave me a positive answer to the question: "Is your product unique?"

Most likely you have competitors, and even if they have a slightly different product from yours, customers still compare you as well.

And here the conversation is not about comparison at the product level, but about the choice between companies (suppliers).

I can buy the same table from your company, or I can from OOO Sweet Pies. And this is where you need to convince that your company is the right option.

You do this, starting from the number of how many years you have been on the market, ending with which of the employees supports which football club. There are any platforms and ways of delivering information.

Client's thoughts:

What are the risks when working?
Can you trust the company?

Counter-marketing actions:

Meeting at the office;
Formation history.

4. Bidding and Execution

When a client has made a decision to work with your company, then consider that he is in your pocket.

It remains only to agree on the cost. Moreover, it would be more correct to say that the client must accept it.

And while he will agree with her, you will hear the hackneyed expressions in the style of "Give a discount" and "Others are cheaper."

After agreeing to the purchase, you will still have a stage of contract execution. I deliberately did not take it out separately, since it will be considered in more detail in the next chapter.

But already now you know that even during execution the client may jump off, or, most importantly, not return to you after the first time.

Client's thoughts:

Satisfied with the price?
Why such a price?
Will we get values for the announced price?

Practice questions with marketing actions:

Up to 300 km

You can say you've just learned how to build a very fast bike. Now we are developing a car or even an airplane with you.

Let's go deeper into the details that I will show on the reverse sales funnel. This term is quite new to the market, but its concept opens all the gates in b2b marketing.

Conceptually: we consistently guide the client through 7 types of tools, each of which pursues its own task and maximizes the return at its stage.

B2B is a rather difficult area in terms of marketing. Most of the strategies that are successfully implemented in the consumer sector do not apply here. B2B is not about how to sell your product; it's about how to build a long-term and trusting relationship with a client.

Features of doing business in the B2B segment

First of all, you need to take into account the specifics of working with corporate clients. Regardless of the specialization of the business and the market, the sale of goods and services for companies has a number of common features.

Potentially fewer deals

In B2B, both sellers and buyers are companies. For the supplier, this means fewer leads compared to B2C.

Large average check

The product is, as a rule, technological, labor-intensive in production, durable - because it is designed to increase the efficiency of the client's business, help him reduce costs and increase profits. Hence the high price of the product.

B2B deals are often high-tech equipment or raw materials / Photo: Daniel Vogel, Unsplash

A high check and a limited number of buyers, in turn, determine the nature of the transaction process.

Long trade cycle

In any large company, cooperation decisions are made at several levels. But even if the company is relatively small, and decisions are made by the director alone, several competing proposals and alternatives are always considered. In addition, it takes time to agree on the terms of the contract. As a result, the transaction cycle with corporate clients is always longer.

High cost of customer acquisition

A business buys a product or service when they are really needed (you cannot make a company website "according to your mood" - today one, and tomorrow another). This means that the client is serious about buying.

But you can't wait for the client to start looking for a seller himself; you need to be proactive and declare yourself even before the client has a need for a product or service. In this case, many touchpoints are needed: it is not enough, for example, to launch contextual advertising or a campaign. Customer acquisition in B2B is complex and involves many marketing tools.

It is worth considering that even when the client is ready to make a purchase, it may be necessary to change the contract, provide additional services, and possibly modify or refine the product to suit his needs - all this also requires costs.

Exceptions

There are, of course, exceptions. For example, the sale of online cash registers for business is also an example of work in the B2B market and contradicts almost every point. Here, a change in the legislation itself creates a demand among entrepreneurs for the purchase of a new cash register for their enterprise.

Motivation in B2B

In B2C, there are many different motives for buying certain goods and services. First, meeting basic needs. But if this were the only motivation for buyers, the B2C market simply would not exist. Among the motives for buying in B2C are the following:

the need for comfort (orthopedic pillows, etc.);
the need for security (alarm or video surveillance for the apartment; insurance, anti-theft system or an additional package of options for the car);
desire to correspond to a certain status / make an impression (expensive smartphones, watches, premium cars);
communication (cake for colleagues at a new job, flowers for a date);
curiosity (books, educational courses).

In addition, in B2C purchases can be impulsive, not due to an apparent reason.

In B2C purchases are often made on impulse / Photo: Artem Beliaikin, Unsplash

This is not the case in B2B. The company has only two basic motivations for buying:

save money;
increase profits.

Separately, we can highlight the company's desire to avoid risks that are not directly related to the loss of money. This includes, for example, investments in cybersecurity. But in the end it all comes down to the desire to avoid monetary losses - be it direct or indirect.

The company has only two basic motivations for buying: to save money and increase profits.

Effective communication in B2B is built with these motives in mind. Simply put, a salesperson must convince a potential customer that they are not offering a product, but a benefit.

People make decisions

Regardless of the size of the client company, decisions in it are made by a certain group (or groups) of people. Often they are called that - people who make decisions (DM). This is not only top management itself; these are heads of departments, the most valuable and qualified specialists, as well as people responsible for a specific project or area of work. They can be involved in the decision-making process not directly, but indirectly - to influence the position of management.

It is worth remembering that people always have their own interests, and not necessarily selfish ones. Within one organization, employees have a vested interest in keeping everything in order in their area of responsibility. So, the legal department is interested in the terms of the contract, and the finance department is interested in the payment schedule.

Your proposal must be formulated with the understanding that it will be considered by people, and not by a faceless organization. Get ready for the fact that you will have to build communication not only with top management and even not only with decision-makers, but also with their subordinates: in any department there are employees who, even without being vested with power, influence the position of management.

Express your willingness to help each employee in their daily tasks: provide relevant statistics, share case studies, etc.

Where to find clients

This is an urgent question for all companies, especially at the start. As I wrote above, the task is to introduce a potential client to yourself even before the start of cooperation.

Content marketing

Content marketing includes SEO promotion, contextual advertising, email marketing, SMM, tools within the site.

B2B marketing has the following main tasks:

Introduce potential customers to your company in absentia. For example, you can show the internal processes in the company, tell its story;
to form a positive image of the company. You can demonstrate successful cases, talk about the company's social responsibility, convey its ideology;
prove expertise and professionalism. Tutorial videos, useful email newsletters, expert publications on specialized sites can serve this purpose;
expand the client base. To do this, it is worthwhile to provide on the website and in social networks forms for collecting data, applications.

Professional events

If your business has enough resources, you can organize your own conferences and seminars. So, for example, does amoCRM - a system for accounting for clients and transactions. Since 2017, the company has been organizing AMOCONF conferences, which are held in several large cities of Russia (Moscow, Kazan, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg). Well-known entrepreneurs are invited as speakers: for example, among them were Artemy Lebedev, Anna Tsfasman, Alexey Lokontsev and others.

AMOCONF in the spring of 2019 in Yekaterinburg / Photo: amoCRM

But even if you have rather modest resources, you can organize training events for your potential and existing clients and partners - conferences, round tables, master classes, business breakfasts. Such events will help you prove your competence and professionalism, show how your business and product work, as well as get to know the representatives of your industry better, establish business contacts, discuss trends and development prospects.

Networking

Connections are everything (remember: people make decisions). Make active use of all opportunities to build professional relationships and business contacts. If you have an extensive network of business contacts and a good reputation, you will be recommended as a business partner.

If possible, attend business events in your area. Recently, the value of such events is gradually shifting from content to networking: for one conference lasting 6-8 hours, a participant, according to statistics, receives on average 3-4 new contacts.

Invite clients, partners and representatives of your industry to business lunches: a relaxed atmosphere will help you get to know the interlocutor better; in addition, this format of meetings will significantly save time for both parties.

Exhibitions

Many people underestimate this channel of communication with customers. However, it should be noted that over time, participation in exhibitions began to require large time, labor and financial costs. If earlier it was enough to register at the main industry events, collect contacts of interested clients and work on them for a whole year, now this is not enough. If the exhibition is held once a year, then preparation for it should last the whole year - six months before and six months after.

Before the exhibition, it is necessary to prepare offers and promotional materials (can be divided into two categories: for ordinary employees and top managers), announce your participation across the entire customer base; you can also start inviting leads and making appointments.

It is important that trained employees work at the exhibition. Their job is not just about handing out more presentation brochures and collecting more business cards. In the first case, they should increase brand awareness and recommend it from the positive side. In the second case - to get potential customers, that is, to tell about the product, to get interested, perhaps, to reach preliminary agreements. Show your product in action if possible: it will help increase sales.

If the promoters did a good job at the exhibition, for the next six months they work directly with clients - a more detailed acquaintance with the product and options, the conclusion of contracts.

Creating a simpler product line

If your product or service is complex or very expensive, then it makes sense to create a simplified version for your reference. Everyone has seen eau de toilette from famous brands, for example, Chanel or Hermes. Clothes and accessories of these brands cost thousands and tens of thousands of dollars, and only a few can afford them. And eau de toilette or Chanel perfume can be bought for reasonable money in any perfume shop. This policy allows more people to become familiar with the brand.

Even the legendary Chanel No. 5 perfume can be bought for a reasonable price / Photo: Plush Design Studio, Unsplash

If we talk about B2B, then we can take the example of EY (Ernst & Young). The main product of the company is consulting and audit. However, the company has its own Academy of Business, which provides educational and professional development programs in the field of business, organizes seminars, master classes, webinars and presentations.

Decision cycle

Working in B2B involves a long decision-making cycle. Those who work in this area are probably familiar with the following situation. You receive an application, you study it, send a commercial offer ... and in response there is silence.

The decision-making process in B2B includes the following stages:

Awareness of the need. Needs can be completely different - from the need to provide an office with drinking water to finding a reliable partner for the supply of rolled metal. In some cases, you may not have to wait until a potential client has a need for your product, but create it yourself.
Collection of information. The company studies the market and specific options, the quality of the product or service, prices, terms of contracts, etc.
Analysis of information. At this stage, the proposals are compared with each other, the possibilities for the implementation and use of the product are studied, etc. Large companies hold tenders.
Decision-making. The business settles on the most profitable option and closes the deal.

From supplier to partner

Let me emphasize once again: marketing in B2B is not a one-time sale, but building long-term, productive and mutually beneficial relationships with a client.

By selling goods or services to other companies, businesses at one level or another are included in their value chain. Simply put, it seems to be part of another business (for example, a company creates and maintains a website for another company, and that company gets customers from online).

Therefore, it is necessary to study in detail the business partner and the market in which he operates. But it is not enough to know how this market works, what are the main players, etc. - you need to be aware of trends and forecasts. Share this valuable insight with your client, show them growth opportunities - and you will have a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.

Show the client that you are as interested in their development as they are / Photo: Thomas Drouault, Unsplash

The business must prove to the client its reliability as a partner. It’s not just about complying with the terms of the deal and being responsible for the quality of the product (this is the default). It is necessary to be proactive, promptly respond to customer requests, and quickly resolve emerging problems. The seller must be ready to provide quality customer service and qualified assistance 24/7. At the same time, you should not limit yourself to issues related directly to the product - it is better to provide assistance for related problems.

In many ways, it is building trusting partnerships, the willingness to help and meet the client halfway that is the key to the success of a B2B business.

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.

It so happened in Russian practice that in B2B companies the marketing department is either absent or represented by a single person. The task of this employee is to make business cards, souvenirs, make beautiful presentations. In the best case, organizing client events. And at worst - to come up with and launch direct advertising, which, as a rule, works poorly in narrow B2B markets and brings almost no direct sales.

Hence the eternal conflict between marketing and sales. Sales accuse marketing of wasting money, which they get "in blood and sweat." Marketing is defending itself: they say, its task is only to attract the attention of the client and arouse interest. Further, they say, the task of the sellers is to process the application, but they do it badly.

The essence of the conflict lies in the misunderstanding of the term "marketing". What is Marketing Really? If we turn to the origins, marketing is not a profession or a department. It is a customer-centered business concept. The marketing mix includes not only promotion, but also the product itself, and pricing, and the place of sale. Modern concepts include in the area of responsibility of marketing and personnel, and the physical environment in sales, and business processes.

The tutorials highlight the following marketing functions:

Analytical, that is, market research.
Production - understanding what product, with what options, the market needs.
Sales, that is, in fact, sales.
Communicative - the ability to "tasty" tell the right people about the product.
Management, planning and control function.

Thus, marketing is the backbone of the company's sales strategy!

And here is the definition: "Marketing is a system of comprehensive market analysis and management of the creation, sale and service of products that have value for the consumer and society, providing long-term competitive advantages."

Can you now argue that marketing in B2B companies is unnecessary? I agree that no one needs thoughtless advertising, but the company cannot do without real marketing! Unless, of course, she wants to live happily ever after in the market.

Now let's take a look at how marketers can help sales.

Reflecting from the opposite: what do we need to sell well? I highlight 10 points:

The product the customer wants.
The price that suits the client.
Information on where to look for leads and what they look like.
Understanding what to say to the client.
Company and / or brand awareness.
Customer loyalty.
Understanding the competitive position in the business environment.
Understanding how much it is “good” to sell today.
Understanding if we can sell well tomorrow, and what to do for this.

And now let's take a look at each item for the participation of marketers.

The product the customer wants. To create such a product, it is important for us to understand by what criteria customers choose it, which options are more and, conversely, less valuable for consumers, and which are unnecessary and even frightening. What in the product is obligatory for the buyer, what is desirable, and what can pleasantly surprise him and distinguish our product from the competition? Studying consumers and buyers, their lifestyles, needs, pains is the task of marketers. Based on this information, top managers set tasks for the new product development department and for production.

The price that suits the client. Pricing is not only a financial issue, but also a psychological one. Sometimes a high price seems “right” to the client, and not a low one, as, for example, in the case of status products. Or with meat: practice shows that people are afraid to buy cheap or promotional meat.

It is important that the price matches the value that the buyer sees in the purchased product. And “packaging” the value is the task of marketers. By creating added value, you can raise prices without fear of falling profits.

The price must be in line with the company's strategy. What's your goal? If the market share, then we reduce the price. If the share of the profit is per ruble, we increase the value and price.

Pricing is built for the future, and for this it is important to understand trends in the cost of raw materials, equipment, logistics costs, taxation, and so on.

By collecting information about the prices of competitors, studying consumer reactions, threats and market opportunities, marketing helps to find the optimal price level between the financial goals of the company and the market situation.

Information on where to look for leads and what they look like. Now you have recruited sales managers, and then what? Where should they look for clients?

Many B2B organizations outsource this to the salespeople themselves, while the level of strategic thinking among line staff is not often high (forgive me, dear sold out)! So it turns out that the sales manager persistently calls all the firms in a row according to the reference book - "he will shoot somewhere."

Marketing could more accurately guide the actions of the sales force by clearly delineating the lines of the promising segments. For example, that you need to call not all bakeries that buy wheat flour, but in a company of this size (bakeries), with such and such a turnover, in the range of which there are at least 40% of bakery products made from wheat flour. Marketing can highlight chain bakeries to negotiate with at once. It can even find lists of startups who are just planning to open a outlet and are actively looking for flour suppliers.

With this information, you can not only improve the effectiveness of cold calls, but also divide managers by segment or territory, so that there are no disputes over whose client.

Company and / or brand awareness. So that customers contact us themselves, or at least have already heard something about us, when we contact them, the marketing department is engaged in advertising, exhibitions, content marketing, PR activities ... In general, it works on a brand and generates incoming demand.

Understanding what to say to the client. Imagine: a manager phoned a potential client. Then he has only 7 seconds for the interlocutor to decide whether to continue the conversation. Basically, you need to be able to sell in seven seconds! What can I say? Did you give instructions to the seller? Even if you gave it, why did you decide that this particular information will "hook" the client?

In 7 seconds, you should have time to say the main thing: who are you, who are you for and why exactly you and not your competitors? And the client should hear: "This is on the topic that worries me, this is clearly different from everything else on the market and this is perhaps a profitable offer."

Developing such a "seven second" phrase is called positioning wording. And it is not created from the head, but in the course of a serious study of the market, the values and benefits of consumers, the proposals of competitors and as a result of detuning from them. To write a selling script for these small 7 seconds, marketers need to do global work.

In order for the seller to have something to say at different stages of sales, the marketing department is working on presentations, emails, commercial offers, website, scripts and other communication tools. And in all the tools "builds in" positioning in order to occupy a clear cell in the mind of the consumer.

The difference in product requirements in segments, niches. The value of your product may not be the same across different consumer groups. Consider the example of bakeries and private mini-bakeries. If the bakery "hooks", for example, a low price and delivery on time, then entrepreneurs may find it more important to sustainability of raw materials, a variety of assortments, availability of gluten-free flour, etc. Marketing is studying the difference in these values. He also formulates selling arguments for each segment. Different!

Customer loyalty. Those who believe that loyalty is nonsense and that the most important thing for the customer is the price, let them remember that out of 140 companies that once made motorcycles in the US market, only one survived - Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Exclusively through brand loyalty! The firm has created more than just a brand name - it has shaped the Harley-Davidson lifestyle. And now he sells not only motorcycles, but all the items that their brutal customers surround themselves with.

And if we talk about loyalty as customer satisfaction and feedback, then there are numbers: an increase in loyalty by 2% gives a decrease in costs by 10%, and this, in turn, leads to an increase in profits by an average of 16% without an increase in sales and prices. *.

Therefore, an important marketing task is to build loyalty. How? By controlling the quality of the product and service, managing reviews and reputation in general. Well, brand building is the direct task of marketers.

Understanding the competitive position in the business environment. Business does not exist in a vacuum. He is surrounded by competitors, partners, clients, society. Every day, the environment changes: either a law will be passed that affects our sales, then new technologies will appear that will change demand. Fertility, migration, disease, fashion, climate - there are many factors that can seriously affect the growth and fall of demand. Therefore, marketers must constantly monitor the market environment and provide top management with information for making strategic decisions: stay in this market or leave, how to behave in the current circumstances, what will we earn tomorrow.

Understanding how much it is “good” to sell today. Let's say your company's sales growth is 7% over the year. It seems to be an excellent result. But what do you say if a marketer brings you information about sales growth in the market as a whole by 10% over the same period? Whereas? It is impossible to assess whether you worked well or badly without having an idea of the market situation, and this information should be collected by the marketing department.

Understanding if we can sell well tomorrow, and what to do for this. Sales planning is, as usual, done by the heads of the sales departments. Everything is correct. However, trends in the external environment that were not noticed "in the bud" can suddenly "shoot" and strongly change your plans. Therefore, it is not enough to know the situation “here and now”. It is important to foresee the future, and for this it is necessary to constantly study the market, trends, seize opportunities and be prepared for threats. Monitoring changes in the market is the most important function of marketing!

Now I want to ask you: Do you think a B2B company can easily do without marketing?

* Research data from The Edge of Chaos, Emmet Murphy & Mark Murphy

Name of the seminar, training, course	But I	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	Price, rub.

B2B MARKETING TOOLS

Svetlana Noskova
Vladimir State University named after A.G. and N.G. Stoletovs
undergraduate

annotation
Features of the B2B market are based on the implementation of innovative industrial marketing technologies. Standard marketing tools are not suitable for B2B marketing. In the process of B2B business development, the presence of a corporate website and its content plays an important role. The practice of applying content marketing is used to educate, share knowledge and best practices. A corporate website is a priority for B2B marketing, a platform for meeting a potential pool of clients.

Noskova Svetlana Vladimirovna
Vladimir State University named after Alexander and Nikolay Stoletovs
undergraduate

Abstract
Features of the B2B market are based on the implementation of innovative technologies of industrial marketing. For B2B marketing does not fit the standard marketing tools. In the development of B2B business plays an important role the presence of the corporate website and its content. The practice of content marketing is used for training, exchange of knowledge and best practices. Corporate site is a priority B2B marketing platform meeting with a potential pool of customers.

The B2B marketing segment provides for long-term business development. The use of e-commerce on the Internet has changed the behavior of B2B shoppers. These changes have led to a revolution in the B2B environment, marketing tactics and industrial marketing practices.

The practice of using industrial marketing to promote goods and services on the B2B market means:

search, attraction and formation of a target pool of clients in the B2B business sector;
monitoring the B2B market, researching the B2B market segment on the Internet, analyzing demand and the competitive environment;
methods of promoting goods and services on the B2B market;
B2B marketing tools;
Internet marketing tools (website re-design every three years, website content);
the presence of the company's products on electronic platforms;
company brand formation: as an employer - on job search portals; as a brand - in top social networks; as an innovative organization - through the publication of scientific articles of employees in online scientific journals;
development and implementation of programs for brand promotion in social networks;
formation of a positive image of the company on the Internet;
improving the quality of product content on the corporate website, in social media accounts.

Pool of B2B business clients

B2B consumer goes beyond the usual concept of "customer". Potential B2B buyers independently actively search for content that interests them. Most customers purchase B2B business products or services after reading positive reviews. The number of people who share their experience of purchasing B2B services and goods is growing. In this regard, B2B marketers must create a positive image of the company on the company's website, media, media, social networks, as well as attractive content, information about products and services aimed at finding, attracting and retaining B2B buyers. The content about the product should attract buyers with novelty, innovation, feedback.

The search for a pool of B2B business customers with the development of technology is embracing social networks. The combination of online and offline channels generates and develops customer interactions. Customers always prefer an individual approach.

Social media monitoring technology is used to:

brand building in social media;
strategies for the brand's presence on the Internet;
attracting customers by sharing knowledge and information.

B2B marketing must quickly adapt to changing conditions and understand what B2B buyers are looking for at the moment.

Customer retention is ensured through communication forums on social networks, blogs, customer service forums on corporate and thematic sites. Customer interactions must occur throughout the entire sales cycle. B2B marketing is focused on retaining customers, their loyalty to the company, and expanding the circle of potential customers.

Methods for attracting customers in a B2B environment

The following are recognized as effective methods of attracting customers in the B2B business environment:

The most popular marketing methods are the company's website, news replication using news feeds. The company's website should be tailored to the target audience, as well as assist the client in choosing the right product, establish customer loyalty, and be a reliable consultant who solves consumer problems. An increase in the number of marketing clients on the site will lead them to purchase goods, increase the company's sales.

Audience engagement is all about providing valuable information. The behavior of industrial buyers is formed through the algorithm for implementing the program of building communications with customers. B2B exhibitions, conferences are an indicator of the development of the industry, market dynamics, a demonstration of the achievement of success, high technologies, promising developments. Therefore, holding exhibitions, conferences, seminars and presentations, organized both for existing clients - legal entities and for potential partners, is the main way to promote goods and services in terms of B2B marketing. An example of a B2B exhibition is the International Aviation and Space Salon (MAKS).

Social networks are actively used in B2B marketing, but the use of social media to attract customers does not give effective results. This is because the use of social media by companies does not align with the social media strategy of B2B marketing.

B2B marketing tools

The modern business environment requires companies to use effective B2B marketing tools. A successful B2B marketing strategy for a competitive company must use a variety of marketing channels such as mobile phone applications, email marketing, blogging, social media, video marketing, online and offline video streaming channels, and animated images.

Industrial marketing tools include:

distribution,
branding,
exhibition activities,
sales,
pricing,
content marketing.

Content marketing is used to share knowledge and best practices, build trust, and attract promising connections. Content marketing is transforming into a philosophy of applying virtual communication through emails, articles, blogs, social media, media, applications.

The practice of using visual marketing creates a competitive advantage, is a content tool for creating content marketing strategies.

Content marketing tools are being translated into an outreach strategy to win customers.

Building a media strategy for B2B marketing

Social media in the modern conditions of the use of mobile technologies create, shape, develop brands. Companies achieve economic success with their virtual presence in the media space.

The creation of a B2B marketing media strategy is preceded by monitoring potential customers about the brand, about the perception of the product. Media strategy is the backbone of an online B2B marketing program. Online B2B marketing media strategy should target potential B2B consumers and align with the business process.

A company's B2B marketing media strategy must be consistent.

Tools media strategy B2B marketing:

website
social media
content marketing: blogs, research, e-books, specialty and scientific articles
printed material
marketing information systems, platforms.

The B2B social media marketing strategy is formed using the following step-by-step algorithm:

Step 1. Determination of the target audience
Step 2. Determining the key objectives of the campaign
Step 3. Selection of sites with a high concentration of the target audience
Step 4. Determining the behavioral characteristics of the audience
Step 5. Development of a content strategy
Step 6. Definition of the metrics system
Step 7. Determine the required resources
Step 8. Develop a timetable
Step 9. Evaluation of the effectiveness and correction of the campaign

Social media B2B marketing is used not only as an innovative way to increase sales, but also as a marketing tactic to stimulate sales. The main advantage of social media is building relationships with existing and potential customers. Social media enables B2B organizations to reduce customer acquisition costs and is used as a relationship building platform.

The presence of a brand on social media platforms is no longer enough, it is necessary to plan and develop a content strategy. Interesting content can attract and win an audience.

Content marketing is a tool by which search engines drive traffic and attract B2B customers.

Attractive content is created with:

blog posts;
video;
e-books;
e-mails mailing with company news;
brochures;
infographic;
case studies, reports;
webinars, podcasts.

Depending on the mission, goals of B2B business, various social media channels are used to promote content, for example, LinkedIn - for professional communication, knowledge exchange, YouTube - to visually represent the nature of the business.

Conclusion

Effective promotion of B2B goods (services) involves the use of various types of industrial marketing practices focused on the target pool of B2B clients. The competitiveness of marketing success should be kept up to date, promote the development of innovations, and introduce modern marketing technologies.
The modern B2B marketing market is an integral part of social digital communications. Interactive content expands social sharing.
Social media is used as a key tactic in a company's marketing strategies. Social media can be a powerful tool for building brand awareness and activating a company's brand.

At conferences and webinars, I am often asked what are the worst mistakes in B2B marketing and in difficult markets that prevent companies from growing exponentially. I answer.

1. Ignorance of target audience

There are not many companies that clearly describe target audience segments, have developed typical characters, and build customer journey for them.

In almost every industry, such times, two, and missed. Most describe their clients in general terms - in the format "construction companies" or "IT directors". They do not analyze the current customer base, do not conduct surveys or research, do not analyze competitors' customers.

2. There is no clear positioning of the company and a well-developed USP

This problem follows from the previous one. If we do not know for whom we are creating a product and for whom our company functions, then we will not be able to develop positioning or come up with a strong USP. And it turns out like this: "Yes, we are no different from our competitors - we are all the same in this market," or: "We have the same product, let's give a discount if you want to buy?"

Positioning is one of the cornerstones of marketing, and USP is one of the most important tools of advertising communication. Expecting success without them is a bit weird. According to information from several familiar marketing consultants, almost 80% of companies that turn to them for help have this problem.

3. Ignorance of the market

This is also an interesting point. Not all B2B market players can name at least an approximate number of their customers. No research is conducted, how the market lives, companies do not know. They react to market changes after the fact.

You need to know how many clients there are on the market, how many of them are our potential clients, how many we are able to make happy with our level of development of the company, how many of them are already recorded in our database, how much we earn and how much we could earn based on this information. Isn't it time to get out of this market? Or, on the contrary, you need to strengthen your marketing activities? Do you know the answers to these questions?

4. Ignorance of competitors

Unfortunately, they are also classics of the genre. “Why should we study our competitors? We already know everything about them. Serega works for us, and he worked in the company of our competitors 3 years ago, so we know even who sleeps with whom there. "

The problem is often that rumors about employees' personal lives are not the kind of information about competitors that will help you strategize. Therefore, do not count on Serega. It is better to list competitive analysis as an obligatory item in your marketing plan for each year. If you do not conduct it, then you will miss the launch of a new product on the market, you will not find out about the communication channels and marketing activities that you can use, you simply will not know how your competitors are taking customers away from you.

5. The economy has not been calculated

One of the tasks of marketing is to calculate the financial indicators of its effectiveness. But a common situation is when companies do not understand how much to sell and at what price in order to make a profit. The main question is how much advertising and all the activities of the company pay off. To answer, you need to make scenario forecasts, conduct analytics of sales (what is sold and what is not) and profits (how much profit is received and what is lost).

In an ideal world, a marketer has access to management reporting, but the problem is often that companies simply do not have any management reporting.

6. No marketing strategy

We often hear this: "We are not up to the strategy - we would have had something to pay salaries and pay contractors." And I ask: "Didn't you think that the lack of a strategy led to the current results?" If a company does not have a clear vector of development and it shakes from side to side, no matter what its marketers do, it will be ineffective.

By the way, what marketing strategy are you following? Differentiation? Focusing? Best Price Strategies? Or maybe you have a strategy for the best product on the market or a relationship of trust? How do you intend to capture the desired market share?

7. No analytics

Analytics is the dashboard for your spaceship. Without seeing the numbers and coordinates of where we are now, it will be problematic to get where we need to.

At Kompleto, we began to build end-to-end analytics systems (as far as technology allowed then) back in 2011. Then we were sure that in 5-7 years almost every company will implement tools that will allow us to individually assess each client in terms of marketing, evaluate each advertising channel and its share in the company's profits, count ROMI and LTV, build dashboards for owners, commercial directors , marketing directors. We were wrong. But they didn’t come to terms.

8. Lack of understanding how to manage marketing processes

It's one thing to be a good marketer, and another thing to be able to manage not only yourself, but also an entire department and a heap of contractors. In what design system should the project be run? What KPIs to track for each employee and each contractor? How and how many meetings should be held? What should be the schedule of planning meetings so as not to waste time in vain? How to motivate people for results? How to build financial motivation in such a way that everyone depends on the final results in terms of profit? There are clear answers to these questions if you want to be successful in B2B marketing.

9. Lack of qualifications in modern marketing

One of the very common problems is not knowing what modern marketing can offer a company and what it cannot offer.
Contractors use some incomprehensible terms and often fail, but in fact they have nothing to show. It often happens that the owner / marketer / merchant got stuck in their processes and remained in the understanding of marketing at the level of the early 2000s. But the world does not stand still, and the figure has already come into our lives for a long time.

This is an era of digital transformation, and the sooner you hop on that train, the better. It is impossible to read a book or several articles once and take a master class to consider yourself a digital expert. Every week, something new appears: tools, cases, research, technology. It is unrealistic to keep track of this. About 5 years ago, I myself stopped trying to keep track of all the new products on my own.

To keep abreast of marketing trends, I carefully study our corporate chat - the guys generously share useful content. And also several times a year I take different courses on topics that are specific to me. It's not a shame not to know - it's a shame not to study.

Do you want to go from theory to practice?

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