B2B marketing - what is it?

Think of your business as a special kind of support that it offers to other players in the market. Support through your products and services helps other businesses succeed. However, only brands that meet buyers' needs win in the B2B market. Brands win by winning customers and keeping them with them. Today's trend is to tailor communication based on the buyer's preferences. It is also a direction for the future. Personalization of activities is the key to success - B2B customers say that being treated like a person, not a number - is essential. It is one of the key factors that influences their purchasing decisions. B2B marketing focuses on people.

The target audience of B2B companies is always different companies, but each is different. Always depending on their type, size, decision-makers or specificity of the "shopping center" operation, etc. Before answering the question who is B2B client, it is worth understanding the essence of B2B marketing.

Translated into Polish, B2B - that is business to business - concerns the activities of enterprises that are targeted at other organizations, i.e. business customers. Enterprises use products and services for business purposes and create value related to them.

To begin with, it is most important to distinguish BCB from B2C. Business to consumer refers to activities between a company and individual consumers. B2B, on the other hand, includes all kinds marketing activities addressed to business contacts, i.e. to other business entities. These can be enterprises, government institutions as well as non-profit institutions. Let's see it on the example of the automotive industry. Car components, such as batteries, are often produced by a completely different entity that is not the final seller of the car. B2B in this case will include sales and purchase transactions of car components, which later make up the whole car. Another example may be coworking space, i.e. offering office space to remote teams or freelancers. Another is a company that produces marketing software or develops tools for managing social media, which sells them to other companies.

B2B marketing - definition

In order to best understand what B2B marketing is, you need to highlight the main aspects that distinguish it from B2C marketing. The authors of "Four Factors that Make Business-to-Business Marketing Special" listed the following groups of factors: "the complexity of decision-making processes, the complexity of the products offered on the B2B market, fewer buyers, large quantities of one-time batches of purchases, great importance of personal relationships. "

What else distinguishes B2B marketing from B2C?

• The B2B market is much smaller compared to B2B, which means lower sales prospects,
• The process of buying and acquiring customers is much longer in B2B because it involves more people,
• Sales costs in the case of B2B exceed those in B2C,
• B2B marketing activities are based on logic, in the case of B2C - often on emotions,
• B2B consumers make purchasing decisions based on prices and profits, while in B2C they are based on products, their quality, popularity, etc.
• While the majority of B2C marketing spending is spent on advertising and branding, B2B marketing focuses on face-to-face interactions and relationship building.

 

The above-mentioned features mean that on the B2B market there are individualized and multifaceted relations between the buyer and the supplier. It also influences the creation of a product or service by the buyer and the adaptation of the needs to it.

The goal of marketing activities is sales and customer satisfaction, which contribute to achieving profit, which in turn is the overriding goal of enterprises. However, institutional and consumer organizations will conduct their marketing differently.

If you already know what B2B marketing is, consider what marketing activities can a company undertake to attract business customers? The Business Marketing Association lists in order of the most important:

• fairs / events,
• Internet / electronic media,
• promotion, advertising in magazines,
• public relations,
• direct mail,
• materials for distributors,
• market research,
• telemarking.

Other forms that B2B marketing can take include: software as a service, subscriptions, security solutions. In addition, it is worth mentioning which strategies can be included in B2B marketing:

• e-mail marketing,
• content marketing,
• social media,
• SMS,
• web push marketing,
• messenger marketing.

E-mail marketing is a great tool for cyclical communication. Thanks to it, you can maintain relationships with your partners, and additionally inform them about the offered products or services. SEO activities on your website are especially important. It's a smart move to create a business blog from which your customers can learn. Social media is an integral part of modern business that cannot be forgotten.

B2B marketing - quotes

The Business Marketing Association defines business-to-business (B2B) marketing as “Promotion and sale of goods and services to companies that either resell them, use them as components in the products or services they offer, or use them to support their activities. Business-to-business marketing is also sometimes referred to as business marketing or industrial marketing. "  Mruk and Rutkowski in "Product Strategy" add that B2B includes "all entities that buy goods and services that produce other products and services, which are then sold or supplied to other market participants. " These definitions are supplemented by the item "Architectural Issues for Cross Organisational B2B Interactions:"B2B market can be defined as a network of connections between companies created via the Internet, as well as other electronic information exchange systems (...) An inherent feature of B2B is the identification of the user as a business entity cooperating with another entity. "

B2B marketing has a very wide range of activities. Most of them are mentioned by Morris, Leyland and Honeycutt in their book "Business-to-business Marketing":

• "Identification of customer needs,
• Buyer behavior research,
• User segmentation into capital groups,
• Developing new products,
• Setting and negotiating prices,
• Ensuring the correct delivery, installation and servicing of products,
• Taking care of the availability of products in a specific place and time,
• Allocation of marketing resources in individual product lines,
• Communication with customers during and after the sale. "

Many authors of foreign positions or blogs also try to explain what B2B marketing is as simply as possible. Stephen Wenger - an expert in the field of B2B marketing, points out that "B2B marketing are strategies and processes involved in the marketing and distribution of a product or service to another company or organization. " The purpose of this marketing is to create the so-called added value for people and the company that implements it. Enterprises that are profit-driven as part of B2B marketing will want to turn this value into leads, sales opportunities and turnover.

B2B marketing - focused marketing

Unlike B2C, where the offer is directed to individuals. Customers can then make their own purchasing decisions. They can buy the product immediately. On the other hand, reaching a business client with an offer requires a different strategy. Here it comes in B2B marketing. A business customer's purchasing decision must be in the best interest of everyone involved in the process. Therefore, your marketing plans as a B2B company must be precise, clear and engaging. 

Who are your B2B customers?

Effective B2B marketing is activities targeted at specific recipients. If you don't have an accurate picture of who your target customer and audience is, you are wasting time. The common feature of any B2B marketing strategy are goals that can be defined and refined. It is impossible to hit everyone with your offer at the same time. B2B Marketing means focusing activities on the main audience. Focusing efforts on the individual customer segment. 

Customer Journey map

After discovering your target market, the next step is to create context and create content that works with it. Not understanding what your customers care about and what their shopping path is, creating and presenting content is a blind act - time-consuming and does not guarantee any results. You need to know how your customers like to buy and what is important to them in the process. B2B Marketing focuses on creating and learning about the Customer Journey map, i.e. company-customer interaction during the purchasing path. 3 basic elements should be marked on it:

- everything that functions properly and meets the customer's approval (success points),

- areas for improvement (pain points)

- moments when the client decides whether to continue cooperation or say goodbye to the company (moments of truth).

B2B marketing is like a compass that shows you the right way to your customers - it determines what activities need to be implemented and provides tools for their effective measurement.

Customer Journey map 

After discovering your target market, the next step is to create context and create content that works with it. Not understanding what your customers care about and what their shopping path is, creating and presenting content is a blind act - time-consuming and does not guarantee any results. You need to know how your customers like to buy and what is important to them in the process. B2B Marketing focuses on creating and learning about the Customer Journey map, i.e. company-customer interaction during the purchasing path. 3 basic elements should be marked on it:

- everything that functions properly and meets the customer's approval (success points), 

- areas for improvement (pain points)

- moments when the client decides whether to continue cooperation or say goodbye to the company (moments of truth).

B2B marketing is like a compass that shows you the right way to your customers. It allows you to determine what activities need to be implemented and provides tools for their effective measurement. 

B2B is a team game

B2B customers buy in teams. A senior manager can start the purchasing process but delegate its coordination to an individual colleague. End users can also participate in product / service evaluation. B2B marketing thinks of a potential customer as a team of buyers, each of whom plays a different role in the process of making a purchasing decision.

Why? What result does the buyer want to achieve? What need does it want to meet or what area to improve - getting to know the answers to these questions is necessary to understand the perception of the value of your product / service by buyers. It is important to identify the questions that need to be answered at each stage of the purchasing process. It is also important to understand what will lead the buyer to the next stage and identify the barriers that can stop them from doing so.

Qualitative content, i.e. what?

B2B marketing allows you to deliver content that will answer buyers' questions exactly where buyers are looking for them. Since as many as 62% of B2B buyers prefer to obtain information on their own, it is worth providing them with content that will allow them to get to know your product / service and will do it in a convincing way for the purchase. If your target market is not aware of your product / service or the benefits you are offering, the first goal is to increase that awareness - to provide relevant knowledge. The key element here is creating educational content based on a set of keywords and topics that your potential customers are looking for on the Internet. B2B Marketing it's about identifying these areas and communicating effectively to your customers about your unique approach to their problems. They will also want to learn more about your history and business organization. So you have to give them something that sets you apart.

Optimization B2B marketing

Businesses are evolving and your B2B marketing is a must as well if you want to stay ahead of the game. What works today may not be effective in a few months or a year. Likewise, as your business grows, your needs will change as well. Therefore, every B2B strategy should be able to scale. Effective scaling will ensure that your business can continue to increase revenues while meeting the needs of your target market. B2B marketing also needs to be prepared for this. 

The power of social media B2B

Currently, the 57% of inbound marketing marketers are getting connections from LinkedIn, 52% from Facebook and 44% from Twitter. Social media i B2B marketing they cannot exist without each other. Staying only with traditional tactics with the hope of success, especially in the B2B business model, is wishful thinking. The role of B2B marketing is to integrate social media with the adopted strategy to obtain even better results. So as to successfully reach precisely defined recipients, create meaningful and engaging content and optimize your sales activities.

Customer shopping cycle B2B

Today's buyers control their journey through the purchasing cycle far more than today's suppliers control the sales cycle. 74% of customers conduct more than half of their research online before deciding to buy offline. This buyer dynamic is fundamentally changing the role of B2B marketing. Elaborated marketing strategy must be multi-channel to effectively engage with shoppers who are proactively seeking the information they need – through digital and social channels, from other business partners, at events and through sales reps. 

B2B relationships, not transactions

According to the 63% marketers, referrals are still the main source of potential B2B customers. Relationships, a strong bond with the consumer based on dialogue, favor the adaptation of goods and services to the individual needs of customers. Therefore, B2B marketing is based on relationships much more than B2C.

90% of the best B2B sellers puts the information needs of the recipients first. When audience needs are taken into account in a B2B marketing plan, in addition to making content more searched, consumed, discussed and shared, it also helps build a bond with your audience. The more trust your audience trusts, the more likely they are to be open to your company's marketing communications. To build trust, content needs to be relevant, consistent, personal and cumulative.

B2B Reviews and B2B references

Good relations with a B2B client translate into his satisfaction with the cooperation, and thus promoting and recommending the purchased products / services to other clients. Digital marketing statistics show that over 70% buyers are looking for reviews at the purchase processing stage. User reviews are more important than ever in B2B marketing, making customer feedback in the form of comments, interviews or video testimonials an essential part of your B2B digital marketing strategy. However, it is not about giving only superlatives. Nearly 70% B2B buyers expect both positive and negative reviews, and many say negative reviews - or at least with pros and cons - provide better insight into your product / service and help build seller credibility.

What is the purpose of B2B marketing?

The most important goal of B2B marketing is to turn potential customers into customers and increase the number of sales. In the B2B sector, the 80% purchasing decisions is based on direct or indirect customer experience, and only the 20% depends on the price. Now that almost everyone has access to the same information, the B2B sales process has changed for good. Selling isn't just about selling anymore, it's about building trust and educating yourself. There is ample evidence that a buyer-centric selling process is a way to maximize the potential of prospective customers and eliminate redundant - and outdated - sales processes.

69% percent of shoppers say the fastest way to their hearts is to listen to their individual needs. Success in the world of B2B sales means meeting the needs of customers today. With 50% buyers seeing sellers as intrusive - and the 61% saying obtrusiveness hurts the chances of a successful deal - B2B marketing becomes a necessity. It builds trust and engages potential customers at the beginning of their shopping journey. It applies automation where possible and ensures that your business is on the right platforms, ultimately leading the customer to take profitable actions for you.