Digital Marketing Strategies for B2B Companies

Growing up in the 90’s, marketing was completely different. Then, businesses utilized broadcast and print as the most valuable channels to attract their target audience to their brand. In those days, an effective marketing campaign produced clever commercials and eye-catching advertisements.

While traditional channels are still speaking to audiences, digital marketing wins the day in our rapidly evolving digital landscape. Instead of investing in entertaining commercials, many businesses now need to know how to use SEO to connect with new customers. For many B2B companies marketing today, email replaces mailouts, and digital advertising takes precedence over print. 

With all these changes, it can be challenging to keep up! How do you stay ahead of the curve? Whether you’re a seasoned business person or just diving into digital marketing with a new brand, there are several digital marketing strategies B2B companies need to use. Today, we’ll cover what you need to know about SEO for B2B marketing. 

What Is B2B Marketing?

Digital marketing, also known as online marketing, includes any marketing using channels on the internet. Depending on your target audience, specific marketing strategies keep you at the top of your game.

B2B (business-to-business) marketing refers to companies that sell to other businesses instead of individual consumers (business-to-consumer or B2C marketing). Just as B2B business goals differ from B2C, so will your marketing approach. 

A few well-known B2B companies include Zoom, HubSpot, Cisco, DocuSign, and Adobe. These companies craft their marketing strategy, content, products, and services primarily toward other businesses using key digital marketing channels: a well-developed website with search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, email, PPC, and social media.

In the B2B space, your aim is to make other businesses familiar with your brand, name, and value to convert them into customers. You’ll want a stellar online presence because 67% of the purchasing process is typically completed online before B2B buyers contact a company. If you’re a B2B company looking to enhance your digital marketing efforts, it’s essential to understand the strategies that will yield the best results.

6 Best Digital Marketing Strategies for B2B Companies

For every company, the key to marketing is understanding your target audience and planning your digital marketing strategy around your buyer persona. Since B2B companies market to businesses, create your strategy and goals with their pain points in mind. Your buyer persona has specific needs, razor-focused goals, motivation, and a longer buyer’s journey. Here are six marketing strategies to tailor to your ideal customer.

1. Stay Ahead of Your Competitors With Web Development and Design.

To build a robust digital marketing campaign, begin with a compelling website. It’s your digital front door. It’s usually the first impression your customers will have about your brand. Here are a few tips about designing a website that will attract new customers:

• It should be fast, visually appealing, and easy to navigate. 
• Keep your website copy simple, and use your blog to tell your brand’s story. 
• Your website should be optimized for mobile devices and have a fluid user experience (UX).
• Include effective calls-to-action (CTAs).

2. Get Found Online Using SEO Best Practices.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial to reaching the right customer. By optimizing your website with relevant keywords and phrases, B2B businesses can ensure that they are seen by potential customers actively searching for their products or services. One study shows that a business representative does 12 searches online before engaging with a brand’s website. SEO allows B2B businesses to outperform their competitors in search engine rankings, enabling them to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Since SEO significantly improves their online visibility and attracts potential customers, a solid SEO strategy is crucial for B2B businesses. 

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO refers to optimizing individual pages on a webpage to make it more relevant, user-friendly, and easily understandable by search engines. Some key elements of on-page SEO include:

• Relevant keywords. Do your research to find keywords that your buyer persona searches for. 
• Optimized title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and images.
• Use a URL structure that’s clean and includes relevant keywords.
• Internal linking within the web page’s content improves navigation and helps search engines understand the website’s structure.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to optimizing the aspects of a website that help search engines better understand and rank the website. It involves implementing various strategies to ensure search engines can crawl, index, and understand the website’s content. 

Technical SEO optimizes canonical tags, robots.txt, page speed, sitemaps, and more. These optimizations lead to improved organic search visibility and user experience.

3. Write Content That Tells Your Brand’s Story.

B2B buyers are looking for solutions. Many B2B representatives typically review three to five pieces of content before interacting with a sales representative. That makes your content marketing strategy a vital piece of the puzzle to put you in front of your ideal customer. 

If you are wondering where to start, consider this question: What problem does your business solve for other businesses? Your content should focus on providing solutions and answering questions for your target audience. To capture the attention of B2B buyers who are diligently researching and not quite ready to make a purchase, provide them with high-quality content that naturally moves them through every step of their journey–such as blog posts, articles, case studies, and videos.

Remember, B2B content marketing is different from B2C. The B2B sales cycle is longer than B2C because the products and services are more complex. Your messaging is different; think about what you want to hear from potential vendors and business partners. Clearly communicate your expertise rather than relying on the emotional sell. Because business goals differ from individual goals, aim your content at solving companies’ overarching problems. 

4. Boost Your Visibility With Digital Advertising.

Digital advertising involves placing company ads in online locations such as search engine results pages (SERPs) and social media networks. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a great way to drive targeted traffic to your website quickly. Popular platforms for PPC advertising are Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

By creating ads tailored to the keywords B2B companies are searching for, you can ensure that the right people see your ads. Because PPC campaigns require careful planning and monitoring to be successful, it’s helpful to partner with an expert. 

5. Reach out to new leads and nurture existing customers with email campaigns.

Email marketing is a powerful tool for B2B companies. It allows you to nurture leads and keep in touch with them regularly.

Email campaigns allow B2B companies to target specific segments of your audience based on factors such as industry, job title, or location so your message reaches the right people and increases the chances of generating leads or conversions.

A few benefits of email campaigns for B2B companies:

• Email campaigns are cost-effective. Unlike traditional marketing methods, email marketing allows companies to send messages to many recipients at a fraction of the cost.
• Consistent emails increase brand awareness. By sending targeted emails, B2B companies can increase brand awareness with their prospects and customers. 
• Email marketing builds relationships. Email marketing allows companies to build trust and nurture relationships with other businesses by sending relevant and valuable content.
• Email marketing provides measurable results. B2B companies can follow detailed analytics and metrics to track the success of their campaigns, like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.

6. Use Social Media To Engage With Your Audience.

Social media can be an effective channel for B2B companies seeking to connect with their target audience. LinkedIn and YouTube are excellent platforms for businesses to influence other businesses and build relationships. 

Social media is all about connections. Businesses should be active and consistent with social media posts. Regularly share content that resonates with your target audience. Always be authentic and personalize your interactions on social media.

Digital marketing is essential for B2B companies looking to reach their target audience and grow their business. These six strategies are just the beginning, but they will help you get on the right track and set you up for success. You can build a successful digital marketing strategy that will help you increase brand visibility, generate leads, and ultimately grow your business. If you are looking for a digital marketing partner, contact us!

Related article: What is Digital Marketing? Breaking Down the Basics