The Ultimate Guide to B2B Digital Marketing Strategies

Digital marketing is constantly evolving. With so many different kinds of technology at our fingertips, it can be tricky to know what kinds of B2B digital marketing strategies will work the best for your business. With competition at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to have a thorough understanding of what your audience will respond best to. In this guide, we’re going to go through the basics of digital marketing, and then go over the top B2B digital marketing strategies that you should be using this year to stand out from the competition. 

The Basics of B2B Digital Marketing

Before we jump right into the B2B digital marketing strategies that you should be using, you’ll need to have a thorough understanding of these marketing basics.

Know Your Audience

Understanding your target audience is crucial. Take the time to understand and research your ideal customer’s pain points, behavior, and firmographics. This will help to ensure you have a thorough understanding of their needs. Knowing your audience may seem straightforward. But, there are so many companies out there that implement generic marketing strategies that don’t have one focus. By knowing your target audience, you can tailor your messaging according to what they will respond the best to. If you need help understanding your audience, take a look at What is ICP Marketing with Examples.

Set SMART Goals

SMART goals are guidelines used to set objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. This approach ensures that goals are well-defined, realistic, and aligned with your company’s overall objectives. Here’s the breakdown of each component of SMART goals:

• Specific: Your goals should be clear and well-defined, leaving no room for confusion. They should answer the questions of what, why, and how. As an example, setting a goal of “increasing sales” is very broad. However, increasing Q1 sales by 10% YoY would be an example of a specific goal.
• Measurable: Your goals should be quantifiable. This often involves setting targets or milestones that can be objectively evaluated.
• Achievable: Goals should be realistic and attainable. Setting unrealistic goals can make your team frustrated and not motivated to try and achieve them. Achievable goals will challenge your team to work hard, without setting them up for failure.
• Relevant: The goals that you set should be aligned with broader organizational goals. They should contribute to the overall mission of your organization, helping your team see the importance of their work. 
• Time-Bound: Your goals should have a timeline or deadline for completion. This creates a sense of urgency and helps prevent procrastination from your team. This can help your team track progress and stay accountable.

Top Marketing Strategies for B2B Companies

Now that you know the basics of marketing, let’s go over the top B2B digital marketing strategies that your company should be using. 

Email Marketing

Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for nurturing leads and maintaining relationships with customers. Your company can use email campaigns to deliver targeted content, promotions, and personalized messages to your subscribers. For example, if you are a SaaS company, you could send out educational resources and tutorials to help your new users get the most out of your software. Additionally, segmenting your email list can help deliver even more relevant content to your audience. In turn, this can can increase engagement and drive conversions.

SEO

Search engine optimization, better known as SEO, is the process of optimizing your website to improve your visibility in search engine results pages. SEO is a pretty complex marketing strategy, including keyword research, on-page optimization, website speed, and link building. By implementing SEO strategies, your company has the opportunity to rank higher in search results, attracting people to your website for free. 

Start a Blog

If you are looking to rank organically, there is only so much SEO work that you can do to your landing pages. You need to take your content further by blogging. Write blogs about common questions, industry trends, and hot topics to try and attract your target audience. If you are not sure what to write about, take a look at what your competitors are doing. Additionally, SEMRush has a very helpful content planning tool that can help you come up with blog titles and keywords based on your website and industry. Below is an example of what SEMRush would recommend to write about based on the keyword “content marketing” along with their website. 

Social Media Marketing

Social media provides a unique opportunity for B2B companies to connect and engage with their audience. LinkedIn specifically is a powerful social media channel for B2B companies to network with industry professionals, join groups, and showcase their expertise. For example, a marketing agency might share industry insights, case studies, and success stories on their LinkedIn company page to attract potential clients. 

Google Ads

Google Ads allows businesses to bid on keywords and display ads in search engine results to appear above organic search results. This can help you appear above your competitors, increasing the likelihood of being clicked on. There are a ton of different ways that you can build your Google Ads, including bidding on your own company’s name, bidding on your competitor’s names, as well as solution terms. If you are looking for a quick way to increase your website traffic and generate leads, then Google Ads can be a great option. But, it’s also crucial to ensure that your landing page is also optimized for conversions. 

Host Webinars and Online Events

Hosting webinars, workshops, and online events is a great way to showcase your expertise, educate your audience, and generate leads. These events provide opportunities for engagement, networking, and knowledge sharing with both your prospects and customers. Ensure you share social posts, create a LinkedIn event, and a registration page to create buzz beforehand and encourage sign-ups. Once the webinar is over, put your new leads into an email sequence that thanks them for attending and gives them a way to contact you for more information. You can also provide more information in this sequence, like blogs or whitepapers to keep them thinking about you.

Use Gated Content

Gated content refers to content like eBooks, whitepapers, guides, or videos that are provided in exchange for the user’s contact information. This allows companies to capture leads while providing additional value to their audience. Once someone has provided their contact information, you can add their contact information to your CRM and automatically follow up. It can be a good idea to send additional information that is aligned with the topic of the original content, like a bottom-of-the-funnel version. 

Implement a Chatbot

Implementing a chatbot can provide 24/7/365 customer support on your website while capturing contact information. Chatbots can handle common customer inquiries and provide automated responses. It can be helpful to have the ability to contact a live representative for more in-depth questions. This can help you better serve your current and potential customers while collecting contact information that you can use to follow up with.

Leverage Referral Programs

Referral programs incentivize satisfied customers to refer new business to your company in exchange for an incentive. This can help drive word-of-mouth marketing and expand your customer base. Here at Visitor Queue, our referral program has gotten us some of our best clients. This is because it reduces the chances of an unqualified lead being referred. By leveraging referral programs, you can tap into your existing customer base and acquire high-quality leads. 

Website Visitor Identification

Most digital marketing strategies that you use will ultimately result in an increase in your website traffic. While you can see this increase in Google Analytics, you can’t see who is visiting your website. With the help of Visitor Queue, you can see exactly what companies visit your website, how they got there, what pages they viewed, and how long they spent on each page. This can help you gauge whether or not your marketing efforts are attracting the right kind of visitors. Additionally, we also provide employee contact information to help you reach out and see if they found what they were looking for. Send their information straight to your CRM of choice to seamlessly follow up. 98% of your website visitors don’t convert, it’s time to find out who they are. Get started for 14 days for free.

Next Steps

We all know that planning and executing B2B digital marketing strategies is not easy. However, trying out new tactics can help you stand out from the crowd and earn ROI. It can take some trial and error to figure out what your audience responds best to, which is why it’s important to track metrics and goals along the way. As always, if you have any questions about using Visitor Queue to identify your website visitors, do not hesitate to reach out.