With so much focus on social media and influencers, many B2B businesses feel that digital marketing is reserved for B2C companies. That is untrue. Many B2B businesses that have invested in digital marketing have seen significant growth and expansion. The article will tell you more about how digital marketing can benefit your B2B business.
Digital marketing increases your visibility
Companies looking for product or service providers do not like to waste time. If your prospects are unaware of your business, it is unlikely that they will intentionally seek you out. Therefore, increasing your visibility is essential to raise brand awareness and reach your target audience. Traditionally, you would do this by sending cold emails or flyers to potential clients. However, it is much more efficient to let them come to you.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a powerful tool that allows B2B companies to be discovered by their audience on search engines. That said, an effective SEO campaign involves more than just purchasing Google ads. B2B clients have very specific pain points and search keywords. Hence, businesses need to undertake in-depth keyword research and tailor their SEO to boost their visibility for the relevant keywords.
Digital marketing builds your reputation
Reputation is paramount for B2B sales. Unlike B2C sales, B2B sales can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars per transaction. Unless you are already well acquainted with your prospective clients, it can be tough to convince them that your company can deliver what they need. Hence, B2B companies must support their generic marketing with a persuasive combination of reputation-building content and social proof.
Content is central to digital marketing. When you create content that addresses the concerns and needs of your target audience, you establish yourself as a credible and trustworthy industry leader. Your reputation grows as your content is published on highly-regarded platforms or shared by other players in the field. Think about how a ‘featured on Forbes’ badge on your website will work wonders for your reputation.
Digital marketing shortens the sales cycle
The B2B sales cycle is notoriously time-consuming. According to CSO Insights, almost three-quarters of B2B sales to new customers take a minimum of four months to close. In fact, almost half of them end up taking at least seven months. With several people involved in the endorsing or decision-making process, B2B businesses need to customize their content and tailor their value propositions to expedite the sales cycle.
There are several ways digital marketing can help with this. First of all, keyword research ensures that your business will reach your target audience the minute they are ready to explore a purchase decision. Engaging content compels them to contact your company and reputation boosts convince them to convert. Even if you do not close the sale, digital marketing can help you to follow up automatically and continue to engage prospects with minimal effort until they move down the marketing funnel.
Digital marketing offers better ROI
Compared to traditional marketing, digital marketing offers a much higher ROI. Digital marketing works on many levels to enhance brand awareness, increase leads and conversions, shorten sales cycles, and improve sales and revenue. Content marketing typically costs 62 percent less than traditional marketing and companies can expect to earn $2 for each $1 that they spend on a PPC (pay-per-click) campaign. Furthermore, ROI can be much higher with the help of an experienced digital marketing agency.
Because digital marketing is supported by large amounts of data, you can easily measure your campaigns and eliminate any strategies that are not generating returns. There is little wastage of resources or time. Digital marketing comes with endless metrics that enable you to better understand your audience and finetune your campaigns to capture their attention. Features such as A/B testing allow you to assess and analyze the behavior of your prospects so you can develop content that converts.
It comes down to execution
It is clear that digital marketing offers concrete advantages for businesses. However, digital marketing encompasses a wide array of techniques and strategies. B2B audiences have different needs and decision-making processes than B2C audiences. For B2B companies to fully reap the benefits of digital marketing, they must hire a B2B marketing agency that knows how to tailor their campaigns to a B2B clientele.
B2B agencies have dedicated tools and experts who can research your target audience, plan your marketing strategy, execute campaigns, and measure the results. Hiring a B2B agency to take care of your marketing strategy and execution will enable you to focus on growing your business. This way, when the increased leads from your marketing campaigns start to come in, your business can respond with quality products or services.
Digital marketing is not a choice but a necessity if your B2B business wants to complete in this modern age. Digital marketing will allow you to build your reputation, expand your reach, close more deals, and scale your business. To achieve the best results, leave it to the professionals and engage a digital marketing agency that specializes in B2B marketing.