Business customer acquisition - how to improve the results?

The statistics can be discouraging: only one in four B2B e-mails will be opened, and an average of a dozen phone calls are needed to close the sale. How to improve the efficiency of business customer acquisition? 

B2C a customer acquisition business 

Acquiring business customers does not differ much from generating B2C leads. In cooperation with companies, emotions are also important, and these are built using similar tactics as in communication with ordinary customers. The main differences are: 

• Duration - usually the process of acquiring an individual customer is shorter and less complicated. You need to put more effort into B2B communication. 
• Value of the transaction - most often in B2B the contract value is higher, which translates into the complexity of the sales process. 
• Tongue - although there is also room for relaxation in communication with a corporate client, the CEO or business owners need more specificity. More formal language reaches them. 
• Personalization - there are millions of individual customers, while companies interested in a specific service - much less. In each of them, the decision is made by one or more people who have a lot in common. The message addressed to them may therefore be more personal than in communication strategy addressed to individual clients. 

The above list itself contains hints when it comes to acquiring a business client. It's worth adjusting your message to what business owners expect. The basis should, of course, be the selection of the target group of customers. It can help marketing audit. Sometimes completely new groups can be identified in the process. 

Marketing automation tools allow you to qualify as leads, for example, all entrepreneurs who submitted an inquiry on the website or visited a certain number of subpages and subscribed to the newsletter. You can also start acquiring a business client by creating regional or industry databases. 

Channels and methods used to acquire business customers 

In the off-line world, methods of acquiring business customers include telemarketing or visits of sales representatives in branches. In B2B on-line marketing it can be called cold mailing or contact via social media. The most effective method, however, is to direct your customers' attention to your business so that you don't have to call or write to them first. This can very often be observed on the example of companies from the SaaS industry.  

An advanced product or an expensive service is not for everyone. Such companies often use a free, simple version of the product to generate leads. Instead, they add the user's e-mail address to the database. The next step may be content that is helpful for business owners - a slightly more specialized newsletter or content on a company blog. Such a sales funnel strategy means that companies interested in the paid version of the product will soon start applying for it themselves. Remember that business people are practical people, constantly looking for new inspiration. Closed groups, business webinars or e-books have become a good way to reach them.

When acquiring an individual customer online, you need to focus on many different platforms at the same time. It could be Instagram, Facebook, TikTok ... Acquiring business customers requires a slightly different tactic. Rather, you'll find them on LinkedIn, so that's where it is worth focusing your efforts on. Of course, there are living people behind each company, and they search the Internet for passwords just like all customers. Therefore, it is also worth investing in tailor-made strategies: 

• Google Ads, 
• SEO, i.e. positioning of pages 
• maximum responsive and informative website. 

Do you know that according to HubSpot increasing the number landing pages will increase the number of potential customers by 55 percent from 10 to 15? It is with the help of such tricks that you can significantly improve the acquisition of business customers in your company. 

Acquiring business customers - the most common problems 

Not all companies use in practice to warm up relations with potential customers. Warm e-mails, warm calls, and finally warm leads - this is the holy grail of the marketing world, because it significantly increases conversion. Meanwhile, some still use ineffective techniques, such as sending flyers or hundreds of random e-mails blindly. Acquiring business customers this way is usually a waste of time. Like individual clients, business owners increasingly want to feel that the business partner understands their problems. Personalization and personal contact make the offer of one company look much more interesting in their eyes than the competition. That's why it's a myth that you should have a universal offer addressed to everyone. It is worth looking for a distinguishing feature that will be remembered by customers - including business customers. 

Examples of interesting B2B customer acquisition strategies 

Wishpond is dedicated to providing solutions for marketers. He uses an interesting lead generation strategy. For its advice-filled articles it offers free downloadable content: 

• mini-e-books, 
• check-lists, 
• step by step guides, 
• listings such as "100 ideas for ...". 

To receive such a guide, all you need to do is enter your e-mail address. During 10 months of such a campaign, 2,302 marketers decided to do so. Many of them soon reached for the company's paid product.  

Another very popular strategy used by debuting brands is free consultation. Some offer 10-minute Skype calls or half-hourly advice over the phone. If the value of a potential contract is high, it pays off to have even a dozen of such talks to find one B2B customer. Business owners often do not know how to approach the problem they are struggling with. They may not want to blindly opt for an expensive advice package. A meaningful consultation will allow them to find a simple solution on their own or to make sure that they really need specific help. 

On the web you will find lists of dozens or even hundreds of inspirations for acquiring a business client, step-by-step guides and e-books. But do you have time to read them? If not, contact us. Experts from Commplace will select ready-made strategies to be used in your company.