Defining the best B2B marketing strategy in a manufacturing or service industry is not an easy task if you are facing it for the first time. I can be proud to highlight only these 4 (which I will describe below as the best) since each company has its own method. However, I want to share with you a B2B business process that has always affected me and that I often engage in when explaining the B2B company’s approach to these issues. I hope you like it. Let’s get started!
What is B2B?
If you are a frequent visitor to this blog, or you are connecting for the first time (welcome), you will notice that I am always very clear about the difference between the center of commerce and industry or B2B services versus B2C consumption.
- B2B means business to business. If your company sells to other companies, it operates in a B2B environment.
But Be Careful! Some Things To Be Aware Of
- For example, a company that sells management software, or a company that sells industrial machinery to other companies like the International B2B Marketplace, either directly or through B2B distribution, is not the same as a shoe manufacturer. -sold through distribution (one store is another company).
- The second case is not an example of a B2B transaction because the end customer, the buyer, is the customer. The same thing happens with bags, clothes, jewelry … or other manufacturers.
- Some companies may also operate in B2B and B2C environments. Some examples of companies we can highlight include MediaMarkt, which has a B2B sector in its business, where it also sells its products directly to companies and end consumers, or, for example, Apple, which also has a presence in it.
Examples of companies that work in a “pure B2B environment”, let’s say they are technology companies, marketing consulting services (like the Chinese B2B Platform), law firms that only provide services for companies, business engineering, or industrial engineering. .. Of course, you can think of many other examples.
If you want to learn more, I will link you to the first article I wrote on the blog Business and B2C vs B2B Marketing, where you will find out the difference between B2B and B2C.
If you have the task of defining a B2B marketing strategy in your company or a B2B business project, first of all, I thank you, I am happy, then I will show you some examples of strategies that should not be lost in your plan. Here we go!
Check First-hand With Your Ideal Customer Or B2B Buyer
If b2b marketing connects people who make the buying decisions of b2b companies to solve their common problems with our products or services. Then we must know the customers and their concerns.
The more we know about our ideal customers and how they behave, the better. Things we need to know:
- Name, title, the company you work for, and some company characteristics (number of employees, headquarters, size, market in which you work…)
- Others influence the purchase and the organization makes this decision.
- Some personal data we know about the person we are trying to contact. With the help of social networks, it is now easy to get information about certain hobbies or personal interests.
- The company or the real problem of the customer or the motivation that drives their interest in our solution.
- Benefits we provide you as a company if you purchase our products or services.
- Objections or questions may be raised during the negotiation process.
Define Your Value Proposition And Strategy Differently.
Don’t walk away without thoroughly researching your buyer and your value proposition. There are two main elements of the strategy part of a b2b marketing strategy that you must work on and master.
In this benefit definition process, you will answer the following general questions:
Are we doing it better than anyone else?
What did we do that no one else did?
What problems do we have to solve?
What benefits do we offer?
To do this, you need to do research on the situation with your competitors to design your products or services differently before you put your marketing and communication together and go out to sell.
Your differentiation may be based on price, service, quality, or other attributes that make you more closely associated with your company.
I always like to create differences in order based on other characteristics than price, it is always dangerous to be cheap if you don’t put a value on it at some point.
