General opinion is that consumer businesses have all the fun, right? They’re early adopters, the first to try new social networks, willing to take risks and are usually the most recognisable for award-winning campaigns. Yes, but also no. There’s an art to B2B marketing that requires originality and dexterity, where the wins will be much greater.
So how do marketers make sure their B2B brand is ahead of the game? The digital realm is so vast that businesses can often splinter their identity by trying everything. To save you the time and effort, we’ve narrowed down the core tenets of a successful brand:
- Tell your brand’s story: remove all of the corporate jargon and tell a tale which includes passion, a protagonist, an antagonist, a revelation, and a transformation. This will go a long way in humanising a brand and making it relatable, regardless of your product.
- Push your brand’s values: Don’t be afraid of taking a stand; recent statistics state that 91% of millennials would switch brands for one driving a cause. Employees will also be a key driver of B2B corporate conscience.
- Get personal: B2B businesses have tended towards an account-based strategy to target key customers. According to TTEC’s VP of Product Strategy & Marketing, “Personas and segments don’t buy your product – a human buys your product.”
- Engage your social audience: LinkedIn is the social media platform of choice for 92% of B2B marketers. Again, don’t forget that your strongest advocates are your employees.
- Finally, keep up to date with content and what resonates with audiences. Video is a format that brands simply can’t afford to ignore, and analysts predict that video will represent 82% of all web traffic by 2021, so make sure you give your brand a head start.
The B2B marketing space is jam-packed with innovative strategies for your businesses. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but rather test-and-learn. So, start experimenting!
