Irma D. Rutherford If B2B providers want to remain competitive, they must embrace and maintain ongoing digital changes.
This is a complex question. Getting the correct answer to this question is crucial for today’s business audience.
Digital advertising has become a necessity for the B2B sector.
In the last few years, B2B companies have become more aware of the importance of digital marketing. Why? Because digital marketing drives revenue.
It’s unacceptable for a B2B buyer to experience a poor buying experience.
This blog will look at how you can use digital to provide value to today’s B2B customers and what strategies you should employ to ensure they find you online while researching.
How to create value for changing B2B buyer needs
In the past five years, B2B buyers have changed their buying, research, and comparison habits.
Buyers no longer meet with their sales reps or attend industry events to meet potential suppliers.
Digital is at the forefront of most buyers’ journeys, even if they buy offline.
Recent Google research has shown that 67% of all purchases across multiple industries are influenced by digital.
The same study found that before making a B2B purchase, the typical buyer would look online at categories, do multiple Google searches, and visit websites with branded logos.
They compare brands and product specifications and look for the best offers or promotions.
The B2B purchasing experience is moving towards a consumer-based model. The buyer does their research before purchasing, similar to how consumers compare and read product reviews on Amazon.
Marketing must be more proactive to engage modern buyers. Digital marketing strategies that work help people make faster decisions and to act. They will also do their due diligence. The digital world allows today’s B2B buyers to quickly make instantaneous decisions and research.
You need to be present during the research phase to have a chance to be selected.
How can you create a digital strategy to engage B2B buyers today?
The Pillars that Make Up a Modern Digital Marketing Strategy
Digital marketing is essential if you want your business to grow over the long term. You can meet your customers at each stage of the buying journey with the right strategy.
Here are four core pillars of a modern digital strategy:
Pillar 1: SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) boosts the visibility of your content. When you do it correctly, B2B buyers will gain trust in your company, and you’ll drive more traffic. Are they ready to purchase? Keywords can tell you if they are prepared to buy. It’s also easier to rank for B2B keywords because they are more open.
SEO, or search engine optimization (SEO), is optimizing your website to appear higher on the SERPs to increase traffic to your site.
Customers often use Google to find products and services. For this reason, being on the first page in the search engine results will increase your chances of converting traffic into sales.
SEO is the foundation of digital marketing. It is composed of several elements:
- On-page SEO is the content of your website, including landing pages and blogs.
- Off-page SEO is any activity that takes place outside of the web page. This includes gaining inbound or backlinks.
- Technical SEO involves your website’s backend and affects its performance, such as the site speed.
- Local SEO: A regional SEO strategy will help you to appear in searches conducted by customers within your locality and increase footfall at your business.
Pillar 2: Content Marketing
Content marketing is promoting and creating content assets that help you generate brand recognition, traffic on your website, new customers, and demand generation. It allows you to create informative content to help answer your customers’ questions and solve their problems through your products and services.
Customers use search engines to learn about products, services, and topics. The content you create and promote must match the search intentions of your customers. This includes checking their intent throughout the customer journey.
Why is B2B Marketing so essential today?
If you can create authoritative, trustworthy, and reliable content, then your chances of converting prospects are much higher.
The following are some of the most important types of content:
- They help you to show your expertise and generate organic traffic to your website. This will help your brand reach the top of SERPs.
- Infographics are a way to present information visually in a digestible and easy-to-read format.
- Whitepapers and Ebooks can give website visitors more information about the problems you can solve.
Pillar 3: Social Media Marketing
Social media is crucial for B2B companies that want to build their brand, increase sales, and boost their reputation. Consistency and familiarity are key!
This is a great way to increase brand awareness and sales.
You can use social media in many ways to promote your business.
- You can post organic content (free) on all social media channels. It will only be visible to your followers, and the reach of this content can be limited.
- Paid social media channels – such as Facebook and Instagram, can create ads and pay for them to be boosted to a specific audience.
Social media can be a powerful tool to increase your brand’s awareness, generate traffic, boost sales, and create new leads for your company.
Pillar 4: PPC (Paid Search)
PPC (also known as Paid Search or pay-per-click) drives traffic to a website. You only pay when someone clicks on your link. It’s a better ROI for B2B because you can target your budget to those who intend to buy. Here you can be hyper-personalized to ensure that the ad resonates and the B2B buyers have an expectation of your ability to solve their problem.
Your ad should lead users to your website, where they can take action that is valuable to them, such as buying a product.
The keywords that you choose for your business will determine the PPC ads. Searchers enter these phrases or keywords into a search engine such as Google. An auction is then held to determine which ad will be shown. The winning ad is displayed at the top of search results.
