How To Achieve A Great B2B Marketing Strategy (Hint: It’s Not What You Think)

The term “marketing” is multifaceted and difficult to easily narrow down into a singular definition. When many of us think about the term marketing, our brains immediately go to the memorable ad campaigns of companies like Coca-Cola, or the iconic musical jingles of insurance companies like Farmers Insurance. This kind of marketing, which is primarily targeted toward individual end-users, is known as B2C marketing, or “Business to Consumer” marketing. Hubspot.com defines B2C marketing as marketing that “targets the needs, interests, and challenges of individual consumers who are making purchases on behalf of, or for, themselves.” B2C customers are concerned with products that emotionally connect to themselves, are entertaining, and provide immediate solutions to their problems. This is the kind of marketing we encounter on a day-to-day basis, whether we’re eating out or determining what kind of smartphone we want to purchase.

What is B2B Marketing?

 The other kind of marketing, which targets businesses, is called B2B marketing. Hubspot.com defines B2B as marketing that “targets the needs, interests, and challenges of individuals who are making purchases on behalf of, or for, their organization (rather than for themselves).” B2B clients are more concerned with long-term solutions to their problems, and seek out content that is logical, financially viable, and helpful to their company’s brand and goals. Traditionally, connecting with B2B clients is achieved through methods like event marketing and trade. However, in a world after COVID, digital channels, such as social media, are becoming more important. Other channels, such as TV ads, are much more common in B2C marketing rather than B2B marketing.

These two different kinds of marketing have different target clients, and thus different needs, so they necessitate different approaches.

One of the ways to better understand these different styles of marketing is through the “marketing mix.”

Marketing Mix Differences in B2C & B2B

A marketing mix is a method to identify and define a marketing strategy. Both the B2C and B2B marketing styles share the same set of principles but focus on different criteria and considerations to make decisions within the mix. These 4 principles, called “the 4 P’s,” are Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. B2C Marketing places a greater focus on emotional connections with consumers and does this most often through mass media, particularly through targeted tv commercials, radio ads, some print media, and social media. On the other hand, B2B Marketing, which is the focus of ADV Marketing, uses many different strategies to engage with clients and establish relationships.

B2B Marketing Strategy: Inbound and Account-Based Marketing

ADV Marketing’s unique approach to B2B marketing focuses on inbound and account-based marketing (ABM). Inbound marketing is simply the strategy used to help customers (in this case, other businesses) find your company. This strategy is highly content-driven and requires relevant, educational, and informative content to draw clients in. Using inbound marketing can mean creating multiple rounds of quality content to prove your reputation, credibility, and trustworthiness.

Inbound marketing’s other half, ABM is a customized approach to B2B marketing that focuses on creating business for a company by using several forms of market pulling, such as social media or event creation, to create brand awareness. This strategy places a greater focus on brand targeting and acquiring a key group of ideal customers rather than mass marketing to a broad audience, which is the traditional approach often employed by marketing companies.

Employing this strategy results in a great return on investment (ROI) for marketing companies and can lead to greater retention in the long term.

The First Step

One of the struggles with B2B marketing is that it is difficult to create a holistic, comprehensive, and overall effective strategy. ADV Marketing’s TTL Workshop (Target, Tactics, and Launch) seeks to offer a solution to this problem. The workshop guides business owners through developing a strong B2B brand with a holistic, integrated marketing strategy that matches key business objectives. Through developing an ideal customer profile and SWOT analysis, businesses can build out relevant tactics to actualize their marketing strategy, create marketing collateral prototypes, and receive a detailed plan for co-creating marketing success with ADV Marketing.