Content Marketing
B2B Digital Marketing: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need

B2B Digital Marketing: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need

May 15, 2023
5 min read

If you’re a business owner, marketing professional, or digital enthusiast, you already know how important it is to perfect your B2B digital marketing strategy. But you know what they say – nothing good comes easy.

Navigating the complex landscape of B2B marketing and creating a strategy that generates results can be tricky, especially with today’s ever-evolving digital technologies and trends.

But why is digital marketing so important? B2B marketing may help businesses promote their products or services, but it’s more than that – it focuses on building customer relationships, establishing trust, and driving revenue through an optimized digital experience.

If you’re ready to perfect your B2B digital marketing strategy, you’re in the right place! In this article, we’re outlining everything you need to know about B2B digital marketing, from identifying your target audience and analyzing competitors, to exploring different digital channels and building trust with your customers.

Quick Takeaways

  • B2B digital marketing refers to the promotion of products or services between businesses using digital channels, like content marketing and social media
  • The benefits of B2B digital marketing include increased visibility, improved customer engagement, targeted advertising, cost-effective marketing, and measurable results
  • Buyers are 52% more likely to make a purchase after reading your business’s content
  • B2B digital marketing focuses on brand positioning, target audiences, segmenting markets, analyzing competitors, exploring marketing channels, using SEO, guiding prospects, and optimizing online presence

Here’s how you can perfect your B2B digital marketing strategy and drive measurable results in today’s digital landscape.

What Is B2B Digital Marketing?

B2B digital marketing refers to the promotion of products or services between businesses using digital channels. This can include many strategies you’ve likely already heard of, like:

  • Email marketing
  • Search engine optimization (SEO)
  • Content marketing
  • Live events
  • Social media

graph shows b2b digital marketing channels producing leads with the highest ROI

Image Source: 99 Firms

Simply put, digital marketing utilizes various online tactics to reach and engage with other businesses, ultimately convincing them to buy your products or services. The ultimate goal is to build customer relationships, establish trust, and drive revenue.

Why Is B2B Digital Marketing Important?

B2B digital marketing is vital to modern business, as more and more companies rely on digital channels to find, research, and purchase products and services. In fact, 70% of marketing technology buyers look for content on vendor websites. This means that your digital presence is essential to educating prospects and securing conversions.

bar graph shows that 70% of marketing technology buyers look for content on vendor websites

Image Source: Marketing Charts

Not only that, but B2B businesses using digital marketing strategies benefit from:

  • Increased visibility
  • Improved customer engagement
  • Targeted advertising
  • Cost-effective marketing
  • Measurable results

Each of these factors work together to ultimately help businesses grow and succeed in today’s digital landscape.

8 Essential B2B Digital Marketing Strategies

Perfecting your business’s B2B digital marketing means implementing strategies that generate results. Here’s 8 of our favorite digital marketing best practices that help secure a positive ROI.

1. Determine Brand Positioning

Start by determining your brand positioning. What is your business’s unique value proposition and what sets your company apart from the competition? What story does your brand tell? How does it solve your customer’s problems?

By understanding what makes your specific products or services unique, you can better develop a strategy that communicates and connects with your target audience.

2. Identify Your Target Audience

Once you understand your brand’s mission, you need to understand your audience. Here are some key aspects you need to identify to develop an effect B2B digital marketing strategy:

  • Demographics. Identify your audience’s age, gender, location, job title, and income level to make sure your strategy resonates.
  • Pain Points. Understand your audience’s challenges and how your product will help them solve their problems.
  • Purchase Decision Makers. Who is making the decision to purchase your product or service? Is it a company CEO, CFO, or head of department? Know your decision maker to develop a message that resonates.
  • Buyer Personas. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of an ideal customer, based on data and research. Buyer personas help B2B businesses further understand the needs, pain points, and motivations of their target audience.

When you fully understand your audience, you can better develop messaging that excites and engages audience members.

3. Segment Your Market

Now that you have identified your target audience, it’s time to further break down your market. In most cases, effective B2B digital marketing calls for segmentation to really make the most of your efforts.

When you segment your market, you can curate your content library and tailor messages to the specific expectations and needs of each group, ultimately creating personalized experiences that excite your audience members.

4. Analyze Your Competitors

Analyzing the competition is one of the most important steps to developing a successful B2B digital marketing strategy. Start by identifying your competitors, their product offerings, and the audience they target. Then, determine what makes their business unique – this could include aspects like pricing, features, customer service, or expertise.

Once you’ve done your research, start identifying their strengths and weaknesses, marketing research, and differentiation. This process will give you key insights into how you can optimize your own strategy to fill any gaps your competitors have.

5. Explore Different Marketing Channels

Remember, there are tons of marketing channels you can use to effectively reach and engage your target audience! This means that experimenting and researching each channel is essential to determine which resonate best with your audience.

  • Content Marketing. Content marketing calls for high quality, relevant content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience. This includes blog posts, eBooks, whitepapers, webinars, and more. When you use content to build trust and establish yourself as an industry leader, you’ll also generate more leads and drive sales.
  • Social Media. Social media is a fun and engaging way to connect with your target audience and build relationships on a daily basis. By sharing valuable content via social media, engaging with followers, and using targeted advertising, businesses can attract new customers and increase brand awareness consistently.
  • Email Marketing. Email marketing is ideal for nurturing leads and keeping customers engaged. We love sending targeted and personalized messages, to help increase brand loyalty, generate leads, and drive conversions.
  • Video Marketing. Video marketing is the latest and greatest way to connect with your audience and showcase your products or services. After all, 82% of online traffic comes from video content. By creating engaging videos and sharing them across various platforms, like your website’s homepage or TikTok, you can increase brand awareness and attract new customers.

graph shows 3 statistics that demonstrate how important video marketing is to a b2b marketing strategy

Image Source: Elite Content Marketer

By exploring multiple marketing channels, your content will better reach your target market, cater to customer preferences, and maintain consistency across messaging.

6. Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Optimizing your high quality content for search engines is the key to a successful strategy. Although it’s extremely important to prioritize meeting your audience’s needs, tailoring your content to satisfy the search engine algorithm goes a long way.

SEO is a long-term B2B digital marketing strategy that includes many tools and tactics:

  • Keyword research & placement
  • On-page optimization
  • Link building
  • Mobile optimization

Although SEO takes a little extra time and effort to perfect, it makes a massive difference. SEO will help your website appear at the top of SERPs and generate an impressive amount of organic traffic. To learn more about how to perfect your SEO results, read our article here and watch the video below!

Video Source: Adam Enfroy

7. Guide Your Prospects Through The Buyer’s Journey

Successful B2B digital marketing is also specifically designed to guide prospects through the buyer’s journey.

infographic outlines the 3 main stages of the buyer’s journey

Image Source: Qualtrics

Buyers start their journey as they become aware of their specific problem, and end when they decide your solution will meet their needs. And, they’re 52% more likely to make a purchase after reading your business’s content.

This means that as a B2B business, it is your responsibility to effectively educate and nurture your prospects throughout their journey via digital marketing best practices, like sharing high quality content.

8. Optimize Your Online Presence

Last but certainly not least, your online presence should always be optimized and up-to-date. This means regularly updating your:

  • Website
  • Social media accounts
  • Business information
  • Directory entries
  • Reviews

When you craft an online presence that’s well-organized, mobile-friendly, and optimized for conversions, your audience will take you more seriously and trust that you have the expertise to solve their problems.

Perfect Your B2B Digital Marketing Strategy Today!

When you take advantage of B2B digital marketing, you can benefit from increased visibility, improved customer engagement, and measurable results. Following effective strategies and B2B digital marketing best practices is key to curating a comprehensive strategy that competes in today’s digital landscape.

Are you ready to create a B2B digital marketing strategy that drives results? The best way to level up your marketing game is to publish high quality content consistently. Get started today by checking out our weekly blog content service, or schedule a free consultation now to learn more!

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Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner is an international keynote speaker, author of "Mean People Suck" and "The Content Formula", and Founder of Marketing Insider Group. Recognized as a Top Content Marketing expert and Digital Marketing Leader, Michael leverages his experience from roles in sales and marketing for global brands like SAP and Nielsen, as well as his leadership in leading teams and driving growth for thriving startups. Today, Michael delivers empowering keynotes on marketing and leadership, and facilitates actionable workshops on content marketing strategy. Connect with Michael today.

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