Entering the world of B2B marketing without a strategy is like entering the ring without training, without thinking, and without good advice from a coach. You’re in for a knockout without a fight. Let us reveal some of our B2B marketing know-how and give you our tips for creating a realistic action plan. A B2B marketing strategy is often the first step we take with a new client, so we dare to say that we really know how to walk in it. So let’s get started.
Your goals must be SMART
One thing needs to be said at the very beginning. Even before you start creating a specific action plan, set SMART goals, i.e. goals that are:
- Specific ( S pecific)
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time – bound
The milestones set should be ambitious enough, but there is a catch
When formulating goals, be as specific as possible. Avoid general formulations. Instead of “increase sales,” set a goal of “increase sales of product XY by 10% by the end of Q3.” Measurability is equally important. Quality metrics and KPIs are necessary to monitor whether you are spending money on the right activities and moving towards the goal . Do not set low goals. The milestones you set should be gambling data taiwan ambitious enough, but at the same time realistic and achievable within your resources, time available, and abilities. Unrealistically set goals will only cause frustration and the marketing strategy will be useless.
The “R” in SMART isn’t for nothing either. Goals need to be relevant – i.e. in line with your overall marketing strategy, brand presence and customer communications. And finally, we come to the last point. A time frame is essential . A goal without a deadline is just wishful thinking.
B2B marketing strategy should be linked to the business strategy
Goals should not just be the brainchild of a visionary CMO or COO. Quite the opposite. Marketing and sales teams, or at least their leaders, should work together to set goals , that is the first tip a beginner and the entire marketing strategy should be tied to the business strategy. A dysfunctional model might look like this: the sales department sets its goals to impress management, and then the COO comes after the CMO, saying that to close a specific number of opportunities, he or she needs to deliver a certain number of leads. As British Army officer Ernest Goodbody would say in Patrick Ryan’s book How I Won the War: “That’s just not how cricket is played.”
Define target segments, or rather micro-segments
Have you successfully defined and quantified your goals? We shake your right hand and congratulate you. But we don’t stop there – on the contrary. It’s high time for your B2B marketing strategy to take on clearer contours. First of all, determine your target segments – realize how many there are and how they differ from each other. These differences may originate from the focus of your addressees, company size, turnover or elsewhere. In the case of one segment, divide your audience into micro-segments.
B2B Marketing Strategy In the next step, list all the marketing activities you are already doing and evaluate them objectively. When doing this evaluation, you must keep in mind the goal of your B2B strategy. In the case of B2B, there are usually two directions – generating new employees or generating leads . If one of your activities is, for example, creating content on Linkedin , networking and Linkedin advertising , belize lists you must be aware that your addressees are really active on Linkedin. If you are looking for new employees, you should be sure that there is a certain set of talents for your business there, and so on. It is useless to just tick off that you are marketing on Linkedin when you have no real reason or any measurable expectations for it.
B2B Marketing Strategy
It is necessary to separate potentials from the target group . Let’s say that your target segment (one of them) is companies with a turnover of 100 to 500 million and the target roles that interest you are CEOs, CIOs and CTOs. Your marketers then have a clear mission – to empathize with these roles, to realize what decision makers read, what interests them and what information they are looking for on a given social network. Always keep in mind why you are creating an action plan in the first place. A B2B marketing strategy should ultimately cause you to undertake only those activities in your marketing that make sense to you . Therefore, do not underestimate the aforementioned work with segments (and microsegments).