Most decision-makers these days spend more time looking up a prospective product or service providers online before making a purchasing decision—67% of decision-makers in fact. Which is what makes B2B digital marketing such a vital component to your overall B2B lead generation strategy.
In this blog, we’ll cover all things B2B digital marketing and how it impacts B2B lead generation, including the following:
B2B DIGITAL MARKETING DEFINITION
Digital marketing (aka online marketing) is the use of digital channels to market products and services. It’s different from traditional marketing methods (such as billboards, magazine ads, direct mail, or even TV and radio ads) in that it’s spread through the internet and digital devices (such as computers, phones, and tablets).
Various digital marketing strategies have been around since the beginning of the internet in the 1990s. Today, some of the most common digital marketing strategies include display ads, search engine optimization (SEO), paid search, and email marketing.
The goal of digital marketing for B2B companies is to raise brand awareness, generate leads, attract new customers, improve market share, and ultimately, increase revenue and profits. The stronger your B2B business’s digital marketing strategy, the more likely it is to be successful
BENEFITS OF USING B2B DIGITAL MARKETING FOR LEAD GENERATION
Companies are using B2B digital marketing for lead generation because it offers a wide range of advantages and aligns with the evolving business landscape. Here are some key reasons why businesses are increasingly turning to B2B digital marketing for lead generation:
- Ability to target a specific audience
- More cost-effective than traditional marketing methods
- Allows companies to have a wider audience reach
- Provides accurate data-driven insights
- Increased scalability opportunities
- Ability to further automate business growth efforts
- Improved lead conversion rates
- 24/7 availability to access your resources
BEST DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR B2B COMPANIES TO FOLLOW
Every business has their own unique take to B2B digital marketing. However, some strategies are more common (and effective) than others. Here are the core digital marketing strategies that B2B companies should follow:
Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable and relevant content to attract and educate potential B2B customers. This content can take various forms, including blog posts, articles, whitepapers, ebooks, webinars, videos, and infographics. The goal is to establish thought leadership, address pain points, and provide solutions that resonate with other businesses.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search engine marketing (SEM) is a B2B digital marketing strategy aimed at increasing a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through both search engine optimization (SEO) and paid advertising efforts.
Combining SEO’s long-term, cost-effective benefits with PPC’s precision and speed, B2B SEM is a potent strategy for driving targeted traffic and generating leads. Let’s dive into what goes into SEO and PPC campaigns:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the practice of optimizing your online content and website to rank higher in SERPs. By improving your website’s visibility for relevant keywords and phrases, you can attract organic traffic and generate B2B leads that are interested in investing in your product or service offerings.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Many B2B companies run PPC campaigns on platforms like Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads to drive traffic and generate leads. These campaigns allow you to display ads to a highly targeted audience and pay only when users click on your ad, making it a cost-effective way to reach potential B2B customers.
Email Marketing
Email marketing involves sending targeted and personalized emails to B2B prospects and leads. These emails can include newsletters, product updates, educational content, and promotional offers. Email marketing is effective for nurturing leads and maintaining ongoing communication with potential customers.
Social Media Marketing
B2B companies use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to connect with other businesses, industry professionals, and decision-makers. Social media allows for content sharing, engagement, networking, and brand building within the B2B space.
WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR B2B DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY
Anyone can go on their blog, email, or social media platforms and post whatever they want. However, it’s more than likely not going to gain any attraction, which is why it’s important to build a B2B digital marketing strategy and consistently adjust to improve it over time.
Here are some of our best tips on how you can improve your overall digital marketing strategy:
Set Clear Goals and KPIs
Setting clear goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) is vital for enhancing a B2B digital marketing strategy. They provide a well-defined roadmap for success and serve as measurable benchmarks.
Goals align efforts and ensure that everyone is working toward the same objectives, fostering team cohesion. KPIs offer actionable insights into performance, helping identify areas that require improvement and enabling data-driven decision-making.
Here are a few of the main KPIs lead generation and marketing teams can track to help enhance performance and the outcome:
- Number of leads generated
- Total website visits (organic and paid)
- Unique web page visitors
- Time spent on web page
- Web lead conversion rate
- Keyword rankings on SERP
- Cost-per-click (CPC)
- Return on ad spend (ROAS)
- Email open rate
- Email click-through rate
- Social media follower growth
- Social media engagement rates
- Sales cycle length
- Overall marketing ROI
Without clear goals and KPIs, a digital marketing strategy can lack direction and measurement, making it challenging to assess progress, optimize campaigns, and achieve the desired outcomes.
Know What Your Target Audience Is Looking For
Understanding your target audience’s needs and preferences is crucial for improving your B2B digital marketing strategy. It allows you to create content and messaging that resonate with potential business customers, addressing their specific pain points and challenges.
By tailoring your approach to what your audience is actively seeking, you increase the likelihood of engagement and conversions. This understanding also helps in selecting the right channels, keywords, and content formats, optimizing your strategy for maximum impact.
Write and Distribute High-Quality Content
Valuable, informative content positions your business as an industry authority, earning the trust of potential business clients. It addresses their specific challenges, providing solutions and insights that can guide their decision-making.
This content not only attracts and engages your target audience but also supports your SEO efforts, boosting organic visibility. When distributed strategically, this content drives traffic, generates leads, and fosters long-term relationships, making it a cornerstone of a successful B2B digital marketing strategy that educates, resonates, and ultimately converts prospects into loyal customers.
Combine Content Marketing and SEO Efforts
Content marketing provides valuable, relevant content that educates and engages your target audience, while SEO optimizes that content for search engines. When combined, they improve organic visibility, making your content discoverable by potential business clients actively searching for solutions. This integration not only attracts high-quality traffic but also positions your business as an industry authority. The content keeps visitors engaged, and optimized SEO elements ensure they find it.
Optimize Your Company Website For Both Desktop and Mobile
Optimizing your company website for both desktop and mobile ensures that potential business clients have a seamless and user-friendly experience regardless of their device. Mobile optimization caters to the increasing number of professionals using smartphones and tablets for research. Google also prioritizes mobile-first sites in search results, boosting your organic visibility.
A responsive design enhances your site’s credibility and accessibility, reducing bounce rates and improving engagement. This adaptability across platforms maximizes your reach, facilitates lead generation, and bolsters your reputation, making it an essential element of effective B2B digital marketing.
Segment and Personalize Email Marketing Efforts
Segmenting and personalizing email marketing efforts are key for maximizing digital marketing impact. Segmentation divides your email list into distinct groups based on criteria like industry, behavior, or demographics, while personalization tailors email content to each segment’s specific needs, interests, and pain points. This approach makes your messages more relevant and engaging, increasing open and click-through rates.
It fosters a sense of individualized attention, building trust and relationships with potential business clients. Segmenting and personalizing emails demonstrate that you understand your B2B audience, ultimately driving higher conversion rates, nurturing leads effectively, and delivering a more impactful and successful email marketing strategy.
Use Data and Analytics to See How Campaigns Are Performing
Data and analytic insights provide a clear view of how your marketing campaigns and website are performing, allowing you to assess what’s working and what needs improvement. By tracking key metrics like conversion rates, click-through rates, and ROI, you can make informed decisions, optimize strategies, and allocate resources more effectively.
Data-driven analysis helps identify audience behavior, preferences, and trends, enabling you to tailor content and strategies accordingly. This continuous feedback loop ensures your B2B marketing efforts remain relevant, efficient, and responsive to your target audience.
Take Advantage of the Marketing Technology Tech Stack
Utilizing a well-structured marketing technology stack is essential for accelerating your B2B digital marketing efforts. This stack consists of various tools and software that streamline marketing processes, automate tasks, and provide valuable data insights. It enables you to efficiently manage campaigns, segment audiences, track performance, and nurture leads.
Marketing automation, CRM systems, analytics platforms, and other tools work cohesively to enhance productivity and maximize the impact of your marketing efforts. By integrating technology, you can make data-driven decisions, personalize communications, and optimize strategies, ensuring that your B2B marketing remains competitive, efficient, and adaptable in the dynamic digital landscape.
Stay Up-to-Date on on B2B Digital Marketing Trends
Staying current with B2B digital marketing trends is essential because the digital landscape is continually evolving. New technologies, platforms, and strategies emerge regularly, influencing how businesses connect with potential clients.
By staying updated, you can leverage innovative tools and approaches that resonate with your target audience. Adapting to changing preferences and behaviors ensures that your B2B marketing remains relevant and effective.
Moreover, keeping pace with industry trends allows you to stay competitive, outpace rivals, and capitalize on emerging opportunities. In essence, staying current with B2B digital marketing trends is a recipe for maintaining a dynamic, responsive, and successful marketing strategy.
WHY MORE COMPANIES ARE OUTSOURCING DIGITAL MARKETING EFFORTS
More companies are outsourcing their digital marketing efforts because of several compelling reasons. Outsourcing allows businesses to tap into specialized expertise and cutting-edge tools that in-house teams may lack. It often proves cost-effective, as it eliminates the need for hiring and training additional staff.
Hiring an outsourced marketing firm also offers flexibility, enabling companies to scale up or down as needed without the commitments of full-time employees. Moreover, outsourcing grants access to a diverse talent pool and a broader perspective, fostering creativity and innovation.
Ultimately, B2B inbound lead generation outsourcing allows companies to focus on their core competencies while entrusting digital marketing to professionals, enhancing overall efficiency and competitiveness.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
B2B digital marketing may be competitive in many industries, but it’s absolutely necessary if you want to get in front of decision-makers before your competitors. With the majority of decision-makers searching online for product or service solutions, B2B digital marketing is more important now than ever before. Therefore, it’s vital to have a strategy that yields results.
At Abstrakt Marketing Group, we collaborate with B2B companies across the U.S. to help them maximize their inbound lead generation efforts through B2B digital marketing. When you’re ready to get in front of more decision-makers and drive them to the end of the B2B lead generation funnel, contact the experts at Abstrakt!
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