Alex Makura is the founder and CMO of Your Digital Summit . A full service company that helps online businesses in their digital growth.
As a B2B marketer, I know the unique struggles you face. I've been doing this for decades, and I have to say from experience it's not easy: same challenges, different clients. So let me give you the tips and tools I've picked up along the way to help you survive the growing pains we all go through.
The first part of this series covered the biggest challenges in B2B funnel marketing. This involves knowing how to define your ideal customer or buyers, then setting KPIs and attribution models to determine what real success means.
Now that we know who we want to reach, map out the path and understand what the end goal looks like, we need to create a strategy.
How to Create a Full Funnel B2B Marketing Strategy
Let me first say that I am using the word strategy very carefully here. When people ask about strategy, they usually want a to-do list. Remember, a strategy is not a to-do list. A strategy is a game plan. approach. A map from A to B.
According to HBR , strategy includes the decisions you (the company and the brand) choose to play on the playing field. A strategy has a "why" (as presented in Simon Sinek's TEDx talk), a winning goal, and a "how" (more on that below). Moreover, it should be comprehensible, coherent and practical.
Listen, as a marketer, you don't have time to get your head around deadlines and campaigns to create a strategy. However, to be successful in B2B marketing, you must. Unlike vague marketing strategies where the main goal is to get leads, for example, a comprehensive B2B marketing strategy focuses on the why and the how. It outlines how we find our ideal customers at each stage of their journey.
why
Until you know the reason Your ideal customer should use you, not your customer. Why is the matter complicated? Once you believe in what you're promoting, your marketing message will become clearer.
Increase your customer awareness now. Before starting with the logical benefits and features of your offer, it is important to identify an emotional trigger for your customers
such as
The B2B buyer journey is very different from the B2C journey. There are often committees, boards, and various levels of approval that approve purchases or purchases. So when it comes to strategy, you can and should be creative.
How does it look? Each stage of the funnel has its own message with one goal: to move the customer to the next stage of the funnel. This means that the objective of your strategy (the objective of the winner) is to successfully move the customer from the unknown stage to the knowledgeable stage, then to consideration and finally to conversion.
Note that full funnel marketing can also refer to multiple channels. So, try Google Ads and Social Ads, SEO Longform Blog and Email Marketing.
What has worked for my business in the B2B digital space is the ultimate in comprehensive search engine marketing and personalized messaging for each of us. We also used downloadable materials, alert tracking metrics and behavioral modeling. Our inner battle cry is "Dare to try, lean to learn and always measure!"
Do not be afraid of this place. If nothing works roll back and start again.
Marketing Strategy for B2B Marketers
Now that you have a strategy, you need to implement it. I've covered some of the basics you'll need to create a complete B2B marketing strategy. Here's an overview with some of the most important steps.
1. Identify your ideal customer profile (ICP). This will help you create a unique message for each step that highlights the problem and how you will solve it.
2. Identify your key performance indicators (KPIs). This will help you know if you are measuring success correctly.
3. Create your proprietary model. This will help you determine which marketing budget is responsible for the change.
4. Gaining the trust of stakeholders. Not a quick check mark on your checklist. Many internal stakeholders depend on you to get things done. The best way to earn this trust is to deliver on point two: delivering results in line with established KPIs. However, this brings us to our next point.
5. You may have to "fake it till you make it" at first. Because it's almost impossible to get results if you don't know what to do. So when you implement your strategy, you need to exercise faith in the beginning and see what works and what doesn't.
6. Care to share. Now that you're focused and starting to see results, you need to present your results in a way that makes sense to non-marketing stakeholders. When I say "know your audience" that includes the internal C-suite audience. When presenting the results, you need to address their pain points: What does this mean for them? How does your information date change? If you can present your findings, ideas and results in a way that shows value to them, you're well on your way to a sustainable B2B marketing strategy.
Last thought
Why should your strategy begin and how should you proceed to reach your ideal customer at each stage of their funnel journey. Finding your customers often requires a multi-funnel strategy, a commitment to scale, and iterative testing. Stakeholder and C-suite buy-in will come when you meet defined KPIs. Always remember to try, experiment, learn and connect. Keep going, take bold action, share your results and don't be afraid.
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