Much like a revolution, there has been a big change in B2B industrial marketing over the last decade. Looking forward into 2020, it is clear that businesses working in the industrial space are transitioning their old offline marketing strategies to modern digital replacements. The traditional offline tactics haven’t completely had their day, for example, advertisements and signage will always have their place.
However, these offsite techniques have a limited reach and can end up being costly, it’s hard to measure the results. By using multiple digital techniques to market, you have a near infinite reach to potential customers. By mixing traditional and digital industrial marketing techniques to create a well-rounded multi-channel strategy, you can significantly increase your success.
B2B marketing.
If we are discussing industrial marketing then we need to start by looking at B2B marketing. B2B marketing has to be approached very differently to B2C techniques. The audience you are marketing to have different criteria’s that you must meet to secure a sale. A big difference in the two are the emotive factors placed on a buying decision. When using B2C techniques, marketers may look at engaging with the consumer on an emotional level to influence their purchasing decisions. With a B2B marketing plan, this will be a very small element. In a B2B arena your target audience are going to be a lot more focused on the results and return on investment. This means that your marketing focus needs to step away from the family run business angle. Instead you need to push the benefits of the product or service you are selling.
Your B2B industrial marketing strategy will need to look at and focus on what is important to the buyers and the businesses that they represent. Chances are that the overall buying decision will not be down to just one person. This means that a practical approach will be beneficial. You will need to promote why your service or products are constructive to the customers business operations and why they should choose you over a competitor.
Effective inbound marketing techniques.
Inbound marketing is a strategy that puts a focus on creating valuable content aimed at a target audience. This content is then distributed online and placed in channels where the audience will see it.
The idea is that the audience engage with this content and approach the company directly for their services or products. This has a much higher conversion rate in terms of sales. In fact, when executed well inbound marketing is ten times more effective for lead generation than outbound marketing. As a result, it is a great strategy to implement for industrial marketing.
Below are just a few examples of inbound marketing.
Social media marketing.
In the new decade it is more important than ever for businesses to have a strong social media presence. When you consider that Instagram alone has over one billion monthly active users; and out of those users 90% follow at least one business, it is clear that there is a captive audience. It is important to look at what platforms would work best for the results you are hoping to achieve and the time you have available.
The chances are that LinkedIn will be the primary platform to use as it offers a professional online networking opportunity. Make sure you do not soley use these methods as a modern way to cold call people. For inbound marketing to work you will need to produce content that will have your ideal customers coming to you. As you can imagine this can take time to ensure you are consistent with your posts. It may be beneficial for you to outsource this portion of your B2B industrial marketing plan. If this is a route you take, it is important to look for an accomplished agency who specialise in growing businesses social media presence such as VerriBerri.
SEO.
In most cases the search for a particular product or service starts with a simple Google search. This is an important point to remember as it is one of the most effective methods of inbound marketing. SEO is vital if you want your company website to have any impact online. Not only does climbing up the rankings make you more visible to potential leads and gain you higher conversion rates it also shows your companies credibility. There are many ways to improve your websites SEO. However, SEO should only be carried out by someone who has the appropriate knowledge to do so. Bad SEO techniques can have a detrimental effect on your search engine ranking position.
PR.
Another really effective form of inbound B2B industry marketing is PR (public relations), in this case press exposure. It is said that people need to see your brand at least seven times before they recognise it. If your brand is featured in national and industry specific press you can be sure that you are gaining masses of brand exposure. Along with this you are much more likely to be seen as a credible and reliable source for your industry.
Unlike an offsite advertisement an editorial feature will mean that your company is offering valuable content to its audience and is less likely to be ignored. It also offers you more content for your social media campaigns as you can share the article you have been featured in on your platforms.
To take on B2B industry PR internally can be incredibly difficult and would require very good connections with journalists and a good understanding of how to write for each publication. The best route for companies looking to increase their B2B industry marketing efforts is to outsource their marketing and PR to a trustworthy agency.
VerriBerri has been trading for eleven years and in that time worked within a vast amount of industries. Mix this with our team’s previous work experiences’ and we boast a team that successfully integrate themselves in any industry; becoming a crucial part of any business.
If you would like more information on how our team could assist your company with its marketing and PR strategy, then contact us today on 01376 386 850 or click here to fill out a contact form.