7 Essential B2B Marketing Strategies

Summary

In this informative session, Tim from Exposure Ninja shares seven effective B2B marketing strategies, emphasizing the importance of standing out in a competitive market. He challenges the notion that B2B marketing must be boring, highlighting the need for a clear value proposition and the power of storytelling. Tim also covers the nuances of B2B SEO, the surprising role of social media, the growing trend of video marketing, and the underestimated potential of email marketing. He concludes with a bonus tip on leveraging case studies to offer valuable insights rather than just showcasing client success stories.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Don't be boring - Just because competitors are, doesn't mean you have to be. Embrace creativity in your marketing approach.
• 💡 Understand your audience - Remember, you're selling to individuals, not faceless businesses. Tailor your marketing to appeal to their personal interests and needs.
• 📈 Clarify your value proposition - Be clear about what you do and who you do it for. A strong, compelling message can differentiate you from competitors.
• 🔍 Optimize B2B SEO - Target informational terms and create long-form content to guide potential customers through the longer B2B buying cycle.
• 📱 Leverage social media - Even B2B companies should be active on social platforms, as decision-makers use social media for purchasing insights.
• 🎥 Utilize video content - Video is a powerful tool for B2B marketing, allowing you to showcase your products, services, and company culture in an engaging way.
• 📝 Invest in content marketing - Blogging and knowledge bases are crucial for educating B2B buyers and establishing your brand as a thought leader.
• 💌 Embrace email marketing - Segment your audience and tailor your emails to provide value, maintain relationships, and encourage repeat business.
• 🚀 Adapt PPC strategies for B2B - Be mindful of the language used by your target B2B customers and ensure your ads are tailored to exclude B2C traffic.
• 📊 Use case studies effectively - Frame case studies as actionable tips or guides that offer broad appeal and demonstrate your solution's effectiveness.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of Exposure Ninja's digital marketing agency?

The primary goal of Exposure Ninja is to help clients generate more leads and sales from the internet.

What misconception does Tim want to challenge about marketing?

Tim wants to challenge the misconception that just because competitors are boring, you also have to be boring in your marketing approach.

What is a key mindset hack for B2B marketing?

A key mindset hack for B2B marketing is understanding that you are always selling to a person, not just a business.

How does the B2B sales cycle typically differ from B2C?

The B2B sales cycle typically involves more decision-makers and is often longer, requiring more focus on training and education to help potential customers learn how to buy.

What is the importance of being clear about what you do and who you do it for in B2B marketing?

Being clear about your offerings and target audience is crucial as it helps differentiate your business from competitors and makes it easier for potential customers to understand why they should choose you.

How does MailChimp differentiate itself in the email marketing space?

MailChimp differentiates itself by focusing on building brands and integrating marketing and commerce tools, rather than just improving deliverability or automating sequences like its competitors.

What is a strategic consideration for B2B SEO compared to B2C SEO?

B2B SEO often targets more informational terms due to the longer sales cycle and the need to educate potential customers about the product or service.

Why is social media important for B2B marketing?

Social media is important for B2B marketing because it allows businesses to connect with decision-makers on a more personal level and provides an opportunity to share stories and information that can influence buying decisions.

How can B2B companies effectively use video marketing?

B2B companies can effectively use video marketing by showcasing their passion, expertise, and the interesting aspects of their business, turning potentially dry information into engaging and relatable content.

What is the role of content marketing in B2B strategies?

Content marketing in B2B strategies helps educate and inform potential customers, answering their questions, and guiding them through the buying process with valuable and relevant information.

How should B2B businesses approach email marketing?

B2B businesses should approach email marketing by segmenting their audience and tailoring content to specific groups, such as previous customers or those who have shown interest in certain products or services, and using automations to keep them engaged.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to B2B Marketing Strategies

Tim from Exposure Ninja introduces the video, discussing the seven B2B marketing strategies that can be applied by anyone, even B2C businesses. He emphasizes the importance of not being boring just because competitors are and highlights the misconception that B2B marketing is too different from B2C. Tim also introduces the idea that B2B businesses are selling to people, not just businesses, and that understanding the decision-making process is crucial.

05:01

🎯 Clear Positioning and Differentiation

The paragraph discusses the importance of having a clear and compelling positioning statement for B2B businesses. It emphasizes that even if a product or service seems identical to others, there are ways to differentiate, such as using credibility and awards to persuade potential customers. The example of CHAS is provided to illustrate how they differentiate themselves through credibility and client logos.

10:03

🔍 B2B SEO Strategy

This section delves into the nuances of B2B SEO, highlighting the similarities and differences with B2C SEO. It stresses the importance of targeting informational terms due to the longer sales cycle in B2B and the need to provide in-depth information to attract potential customers. The paragraph also discusses the intent behind searches and how to turn informational searchers into customers through content and email signups.

15:03

📱 B2B Social Media Marketing

The paragraph addresses the misconception that B2B marketing doesn't belong on social media. It cites research showing that a significant percentage of C-level and VP level buyers turn to social media when purchasing. The importance of storytelling and personal connection on social platforms is emphasized, with examples from HubSpot and the presenter's own style of video to illustrate how B2B companies can succeed on social media.

20:03

🎥 Leveraging Video for B2B

This section discusses the increasing use of video in B2B marketing, with examples from Adobe and Caterpillar. It highlights the power of video to showcase the cool aspects of B2B businesses and to engage audiences with storytelling. The paragraph encourages B2B companies to find their unique selling points and to present them in an entertaining and informative way through video content.

25:04

📚 Content Marketing for B2B

The paragraph focuses on the role of content marketing in B2B, particularly the importance of blogs and knowledge bases. It explains that B2B buyers often need to be educated before making a purchase, making informative content crucial. The section provides examples from Shopify and Salesforce, showing how these companies use content to attract and educate potential customers at various stages of the buying process.

30:04

💌 Effective Email Marketing for B2B

This section dispels the myth that email marketing is not effective for B2B companies. It stresses the importance of segmenting the audience and tailoring email content to specific groups, such as those who have purchased certain products or services. The paragraph encourages B2B businesses to invest in email marketing, citing the potential for low hanging fruit and the opportunity to build automations that remind customers to repurchase or leave reviews.

📈 Case Study Optimization

The final tip focuses on the strategic use of case studies in B2B marketing. It criticizes the traditional approach of presenting case studies as specific examples and instead suggests framing them as actionable tips or guides that offer broad appeal and clear benefits. The example of a chatbot improving customer service scores is used to illustrate how to reframe case studies to increase engagement and relevance to potential customers.

🎉 Conclusion and Call to Action

Tim concludes the video by recapping the main points covered in the strategies and providing a final secret tip on using case studies effectively. He encourages viewers to engage with the content, ask questions, and request a free website and marketing review from Exposure Ninja, reiterating the company's commitment to helping businesses generate more leads and sales.

Keywords

💡Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing refers to the promotional strategies and tactics employed to connect with leads and customers online. In the video, Tim's agency, Exposure Ninja, specializes in this field, helping clients generate leads and sales through internet marketing strategies.

💡B2B Marketing Strategies

B2B (Business-to-Business) Marketing Strategies are methods and plans used to attract and engage other businesses as clients. The video discusses seven specific strategies that can be applied in B2B marketing to improve lead generation and sales.

💡Mindset Hacks

Mindset Hacks are psychological techniques or approaches that help change one's mindset or perspective to achieve better outcomes. In the context of the video, Tim discusses mindset hacks related to not being boring just because competitors are and understanding that B2B marketing is ultimately about selling to individuals, not faceless businesses.

💡Leads and Sales

Leads are potential customers who have shown interest in a product or service, while sales refer to the actual conversion of these leads into paying customers. The video aims to provide strategies for increasing both leads and sales through effective digital marketing.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is the practice of optimizing a website to rank higher in search engine results, thereby increasing the site's visibility and attracting more organic (non-paid) traffic. In the video, Tim discusses the importance of tailoring SEO strategies for B2B markets, focusing on informational terms and long-form content.

💡Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing involves promoting products or services on social media platforms to engage with a wider audience. The video highlights the importance of social media for B2B marketing, emphasizing that even B2B buyers use social media for purchasing decisions.

💡Content Marketing

Content Marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating, distributing, and promoting valuable content to attract, engage, and retain a clearly defined audience. In the video, Tim stresses the significance of content marketing for B2B, especially through blogs and knowledge bases that educate potential customers.

💡Email Marketing

Email Marketing is the practice of sending promotional messages or newsletters to a group of people via email. The video encourages B2B businesses to leverage email marketing to segment their audience and provide tailored content that can lead to increased customer engagement and sales.

💡PPC (Pay-Per-Click Advertising)

PPC is an online advertising model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their ads. In B2B, PPC requires careful targeting to ensure that the ads are seen by potential business customers rather than consumers, and that the language used in ads and keywords is appropriate for the B2B audience.

💡Case Studies

Case Studies are in-depth reports that demonstrate the effectiveness of a product, service, or strategy by telling the story of a specific instance where it was successfully implemented. In the video, Tim suggests presenting case studies as actionable tips or guides to make them more relatable and appealing to a broader audience.

Highlights

Exposure Ninja is a digital marketing agency that helps clients generate leads and sales online.

Seven B2B marketing strategies are discussed, applicable even for B2C businesses.

Marketing should not be boring; businesses often copy competitors leading to repetitive, unoriginal strategies.

Misconception busting: selling to a business doesn't mean you're not selling to a person.

B2B marketing differs from B2C mainly in targeting a smaller audience and having more specific messages.

B2B sales cycles are often longer, requiring more focus on education and training for potential customers.

Exposure Ninja offers a free website and marketing review for businesses looking to improve their online presence.

Clarity in marketing messages is crucial; B2B clients should not assume their audience understands the nuances of their products.

Differentiation is key; businesses should stand out from competitors, even if the audience perceives products as identical.

SEO is important for B2B; targeting informational terms and understanding the buyer's journey is essential.

Social media is a powerful tool for B2B, as 84% of C-level and VP level buyers use it in the purchasing process.

Video marketing is on the rise for B2B, with platforms like YouTube dominating because of people's love for video content.

Content marketing for B2B should focus on blogs and knowledge bases, educating the audience and attracting their attention.

PPC advertising requires careful consideration for B2B, ensuring the right audience is targeted and consumer keywords are excluded.

Email marketing is a misconception for B2B businesses; it's a powerful tool that should not be overlooked.

Case studies should be framed in a way that appeals broadly to potential customers, not just as promotions for specific businesses.

Transcripts

My name's Tim.

I run a digital marketing agency called Exposure Ninja

and we help our clients generate more leads

and sales from the internet.

In this episode we're going to be looking at seven

B2B marketing strategies that anyone can use.

And by the way, you can even use these if you're B2C,

but that's going to get a little bit confusing.

So let's just get straight into the strategies.

Actually, before we do that though

we do need to cover a couple of things.

You can call these mindset hacks or whatever,

but these are really important to give context to everything

that we're going to be looking at today.

The first of those is that just because your competitors

are boring, doesn't mean that you have to be.

A lot of what goes on in marketing in a particular market

is because people copy each other.

You get one business doing things one way, they grow,

and then everyone copies them

and you get this kind of perpetual cycle of in many cases,

boring marketing that is copied over

and over and over again.

People make the assumption that just because other

competitors are playing it safe that they have to as well.

Now I want to challenge you on this.

Exposure Ninja is B2B.

This is Exposure Ninja marketing.

Most of our competitors are well boring

and I've been called loads of things,

but boring so far, touch wood, hasn't been one of them.

So you don't have to be boring either.

Misconception mindset hack number two

is that you are selling to a business.

You are never selling to a business.

You are always selling to a person.

And sometimes people buy on behalf of themselves.

Sometimes people buy on behalf of their company.

So when they're going home, they're buying Gymshark stuff.

They're buying workout supplements.

They're buying food and drink.

They're buying fast moving consumer goods.

So they're acting as a B2C target some of the time

and a B2B target some of the time.

And alongside these fun, cool things they might be buying

your waste management services when they're at work.

But they are the same people.

And how we make decisions is basically the same.

We are tapping into what makes people buy

and what attracts them to certain businesses.

They only have one brain

and they only know one way to make decisions.

So whilst there are definitely some subtleties

and some major differences between B2B and B2C sales cycles,

actually how we market to people doesn't need to be

as different as most B2B businesses think it needs to.

Most of the difference with B2B marketing is because you're

targeting a smaller audience and you have much more specific

messages that you need to give them because you're offering

working to a longer sales cycle.

But in terms of the things that actually make people buy

and get their interest,

much more similar than people give them credit.

Another key difference from B2B and B2C is that there are

often more decision-makers involved.

And like I said you might be working with people that have

a much longer sales cycle so you might need to focus more

on training and education to help them learn how to buy

before you actually sell to them.

And that can have implications for some of

the marketing channels and the strategies that you

might gravitate towards,

but we'll cover those in today's show.

By the way, if you're enjoying this,

here's something else that you might also enjoy.

Our company Exposure Ninja helps our clients generate more

leads and sales from their website.

You might not be a client of Exposure Ninja.

In fact statistically speaking

the majority of the world still isn't a client

of Exposure Ninja, much to our intense disappointment.

But we still want to help you.

So if you want to help generating more leads

and sales through your website,

then what you can do is request a free website

and marketing review from the team here

at Exposure Ninja.

All you need to do is go to our website.

Yes, it's really that simple.

We just go to ExposureNinja.com.

We'll then ask you a few questions about your business.

Once you've answered those,

we will then prepare a review of your website,

your digital marketing, and your competitors.

We'll take a look at what you're doing well,

what you could be doing more of.

We'll also find the low hanging fruit,

the stuff that you could improve in order to

generate more leads and sales through your website.

We'll do the same for your competitors.

Seeing what's working well in the space,

which you could exploit, and what's working poorly,

which you probably wanna stay away from.

We'll put all of this information into a 15 minute video,

which we send over to you by email,

usually within two to three working days.

It's fantastic.

So go to ExposureNinja.com,

click the big button to request your free website

and digital marketing review today.

Okay, so thing number one is to get super clear

about what you do and who you do it for.

There is a misconception that we've noticed amongst

a lot of our B2B clients that because they're selling

to a more experienced audience

or they're selling to people who they perceive

know what they want more because they are professional

in that area that they can afford to somehow dial down the

clarity of their marketing message.

This could not be further from the truth.

In fact, let me talk through an example.

So MailChimp is an email marketing platform

and they sell to businesses.

There are so many email marketing platforms out there.

They are 10 a penny,

and there's very little to choose between a lot of them.

But the messaging that MailChimp uses,

and we can see this very clearly

when we look at the headline which says build your brand,

sell online, all in one place,

our marketing and commerce tools work together to help you

run your business.

This is very different positioning

to where their competitors are,

which is basically we help you improve your deliverability.

We help you get your emails throughout to people.

We help you automate the sequences.

MailChimp is about building your brand and selling,

integrating the marketing and commerce tools.

So this is a B2B space, but they have carved out their own

niche within this.

How much of this is about having a differentiated product

can be argued, but that doesn't really matter.

This is about making sure that when customers say,

why should I choose you rather than one of your competitors,

you have a clear and compelling answer.

If you need more help with this,

we have another video all about how to build

your positioning statement.

This is what this is really all about.

Well, what if you're selling something that is literally

identical to other people or that your audience perceives

as being identical?

Well, you can still differentiate and you really should.

Here is one of our fantastic clients CHAS.

So how do they differentiate given that their customers

might not be as educated as knowing the differences between

what CHAS is offering and competitors?

So what they do is they rely on credibility

to persuade the visitor to use them rather than competitors.

So notice how there's allsorts going on here.

From their headline saying we are the UK's award-winning

and leading, from the use of the Feefo platinum awards

and the number of reviews that they've got.

And also the logos and names of the reputable clients

that they've worked with.

So what they're doing here and what we're doing when we

built this site was helping them to differentiate themselves

from their competitors.

This is really important in a B2B setting.

And so many companies don't give it the time it deserves

because they think, well our audience is educated.

So they're going to understand the differences

between the options.

Not so.

Your audience is just as busy as you are

and any help you can give them to choose you

is gonna work in your favour.

Strategy numero two is to get your B2B SEO strategy nailed.

Now, there are loads of similarities between B2B SEO

and B2C SEO.

Don't get me wrong.

Content, links, relevance.

These are still really important.

In fact, this is the fundamentals of whatever

SEO you're going to be doing.

SEO is all about ranking pages of information with links.

This is what SEO is,

but there are some important subtleties with the targeting

and the strategy that you're following with

B2B SEO versus B2C.

Consideration number one is that you're often going to be

selling to a smaller audience.

For many of our B2B clients that small search volume

isn't necessarily an issue because they have

a high average order value.

So it's still worth targeting those phrases

to get those people onto the site.

The other main consideration with B2B SEO

is the sales cycle.

Like we said in the intro,

the sales cycle tends to be longer

for a lot of B2B businesses,

which means that they're helping the potential customer

go through more of a journey from awareness, interest,

desire, all the way through to action.

So what this often means for B2B SEO is that you're

targeting more informational terms.

And even some of the terms that you think might be

commercial, i.e. might immediately lead to a purchase,

actually you'll often see there are informational pages

showing up in the search results.

What are you talking about Tim?

Let me explain.

So let's say for example that you were looking for

a chat bot for customer service

and you go onto Google and you type in chat bot

for customer service.

You might reasonably expect that this is going to show you

a page of chat bots and all of these pages have been

optimised for chat bots for customer service.

And there are going to be people trying to sell

you a chat bot.

You'd be wrong.

What you're going to see instead is that the majority of the

search results on that page are informational.

These are articles, they are blog pages,

they're knowledge-based pages,

they're information about chat bots for customer service.

So what's going on here?

Has Google completely lost its mind,

and it's showing the wrong sorts of search results?

Possibly, unlikely.

What's actually happened here is that the people searching

for these terms have clicked on these sorts of pages

over and over and over again.

So Google has got the picture that actually what people are

really looking for is information in this scenario.

So if you're trying to build visibility

for a term like this,

what you want to do is you want to play the information,

you want to play the long form content game.

You'll want to provide some really in-depth information

about this topic.

And then if you want to sell your chat bot

for customer service,

what you need to do then is either get someone to sign up

for some sort of email thing from your article,

or link your article through to the pages where they can

actually sign up for the service, or both.

And that's how you're going to turn that informational

searcher into a customer.

But you've got to recognise the intent behind the search

and what people actually want according to where they're at

in the buying cycle.

Tip twa, social media.

Yes, even for B2B.

Social media.

Now let me get this quote right.

IDG research shows that 84% of C-level and VP level buyers

turn to social media when purchasing.

Now to be honest that's worded in a way

that I don't really understand.

And I definitely don't understand how that was put together.

But what I do know is this,

that big boss person that you're trying to sell to

is taking their phone into the toilet.

And when they do that, they are scrolling social.

Everyone is doing it.

And that means if they are there, you need to be there too.

I mean obviously not there, but you know.

That connection with your audience is really important.

You know you might imagine that B2B buyer is somehow kind of

disconnected from what they're buying.

They're just kind of doing this on behalf of work

and they don't really care.

Actually, according to Google,

B2B buyers have a significantly higher emotional connection

with their vendors than B2C customers.

Now the trouble with social if you're a B2B,

you've tried social and you're just like, ah,

there's no way to talk about waste management that is fun.

The trouble is that a lot of B2B companies tend towards

facts and stats.

Yes they go straight for the logical argument.

This approach doesn't tend to work that well on social

because on social people are typically heading there

for stories, they're heading there for personal.

Now this great example from HubSpot shows that actually

there are ways of winning on social

even if you're a B to B company.

You'll notice for example that in this video,

a lot of it is kind of personality led, like me.

I'm not trying to bombard you with facts and stats

and read from our latest white paper,

because that is dry as you like.

And people just aren't into that stuff.

Now not to get all inception on you,

but the video that you're watching now is B2B marketing.

And we've intentionally made this in a way that's a little

bit more like entertainment,

a bit more like vlogger style than it is some kind of

traditional white paper presentation with me stood in front

of a big white wall with a lectern and slides.

And you're probably watching or listening to this

on a platform, which is B2C predominantly,

whether it's a podcast or video.

Most of our audience are bored

and confused by marketing information

so we're trying to do the opposite and you can do this too.

Even if your audience understands what they're buying,

you can still educate.

You can still educate and interest them and you should.

So don't be afraid to be the personality oasis

in the desert of boring.

Your audience might be craving it.

They probably are.

Tip number four, video.

We're seeing a lot more B2Bs using video.

You've even got companies like Adobe doing things like this,

where they're actually using vloggers.

Now if you look at the time spent on each platform,

YouTube is killing everyone.

Everyone.

People think Tik Tok's hot.

YouTube is crushing it.

Instagram, YouTube is crushing it.

Why is YouTube crushing everyone?

Because people love video.

It gives us the opportunity to move from the channels

that we have on our TVs,

where they're programmed by someone who doesn't know us,

we can build our own TV channels on YouTube.

This is amazing.

And you can do exactly this as well, even though you're B2B.

So whilst Adobe's using vloggers,

you've got videos like this one,

which I've filmed in a sort of lager style

rather than a typical corporate style.

You can also really mix things up just like Caterpillar

have done in this video.

(dramatic music)

(machines beeping) (machines rumbling)

(gentle music)

That guy kind of looks like, he's saying,

what am I doing here right?

And by the way my own personal highlight from this

was in the YouTube comments where BinkieMcFartnuggets

says great, just what the internet needs, another cat video.

Lol, great one BinkieMcFartnuggets.

And here's the thing about video.

Most B2B companies either do something really, really cool.

They just don't realise it because it's so normal to them.

Or they enable something that is really, really cool,

which you can show people.

People are interested in the most crazy things aren't they?

And often B2B is just thinking yeah,

but you know we're really boring because we just make

these little widgets.

And then you find that the little widgets are like

built into the wings of NASA space shuttles

and you're like, hold on,

you have something that every teenager is fascinated in.

Let's just show more of that.

Let's talk to your engineers about the tolerances

of working in outer space.

Let's showcase a bit more about what makes you cool because

in every company there are people that are

seriously passionate about what they do.

Some people don't think that pay-per-click advertising

is that sexy. (cricket chirping)

We do, we think it's awesome.

Some people think that a website is just a website.

We don't think that, we think that the difference between

a website that's rubbish and a website that's awesome

is an absolute gulf and a game changer

and the single most important thing in the entire world.

And it's that passion,

it's that interest which keeps people hooked,

not necessarily the topic.

So show it off and do some videos.

And yes you could be shouting into a camera in your office.

B2B turbo level up booster number five

is B2B content marketing.

Now for B2Bs content marketing is not king,

but it's really important.

And the particular part of content marketing that is

important for B2Bs our blogs and knowledge bases.

We've already talked about the fact that you're often

gonna be targeting informational terms.

You're going to be targeting buyers that needs to go through

an education process in order to buy.

That makes your blog

or your knowledge base really important.

This is understanding the questions that your customers

or clients might have prior to their purchase

and providing information that helps

to answer those questions.

Now you can take this to whatever level you want.

On the Shopify website for example

you'll see that they are teaching people how to build

a business, they're teaching people about e-commerce.

Obviously Shopify is an e-commerce platform

that people can use.

So they've got stuff about how to use Shopify,

but they've also got stuff about how to build a bigger

business and what are they doing here?

They're trying to attract people who are in the process of

setting up a business.

They're trying to track them to get them on the Shopify

site because if they can do that,

then when they come to choose an e-commerce platform,

they're more likely to choose Shopify.

You can do exactly this yourself.

Now, you don't necessarily have to get loads of celebrities

in this space and compile these free courses

that people can sign up for and stuff like that.

This is more about understanding what's going on

in your customer's head.

Whether it's specifically about the thing that you sell

or whether it's about the step before that,

or even the step after that,

how can you provide information?

How can you collect the expertise that you have

inside your business,

and also that you have throughout your customer base

and provide this in a way that gets more customers

onto your site, whether they're ready to purchase or not.

Another B2B example, Salesforce.

And by the way if you're watching the video of this

on YouTube, check out this site.

This is full of cartoons.

It looks so B2C it's not even funny.

This looks like fricking the cartoon page on Netflix, right?

But what Salesforce has done is they've built a blog

on their site which is full of information.

It's basically a magazine for people

that are their potential customers.

They've got things like how to reopen your business,

a guide to reopening.

They've got stories to inspire you

from some of their trailblazing customers.

They've got testimonials and case studies from businesses

that they've worked with where they share tips

and strategies that they've used to grow their business.

This is basically a magazine for business growth.

They provide this to get people on their site

in the first place,

but also to have the Salesforce customers

come onto this site and get this level of information

and entertainment and advice shows that Salesforce cares

about their growth.

So this is a really mature and high investment approach

to content marketing.

Now you might not want to go all the way through to setting

up a full magazine.

Our client Mint Formations here has a knowledge base

on their site all about how to set up a company

because they sell company formation services.

And by the way if you need a company set up

mintformations.co.uk, great option.

So they are restricting their content marketing to people

that are likely to become a customer in the sort of

short to medium term,

which is a great way to get started with this

if you don't want to go full in to running basically

a media property designed for your target customers.

So think, what are people into and what sort of information

can we give them?

And this is a pure B2C strategy, right?

We see this all day from massive e-commerce brands,

but this is something that works

fantastically well for B2Bs.

And by the way if you're getting the impression

that the key to great B2B marketing

is actually to be a little bit more B2C, you're not wrong.

Hey, you may have picked up a little secret there.

Tip number six is B2B pay-per-click also requires

some important considerations.

Now yes, pay-per-click advertising,

Google search advertising on Google ads is remarkably

similar for any business because you're basically

bidding on certain keywords, you're running ads,

you're driving people through to a landing page.

But for B2B there are some really important considerations.

Firstly, the language that your target customers are using.

Now sometimes we'll have a B2B client that sells something

specific to B2B but actually there is a B2C version of this.

For example, let's say that you're selling

waste management service.

Your B2B customers will call this waste management.

Your B 2C may call it rubbish collection or trash collection

or something like that.

So it's really important that if you're only serving the B2B

side of this market, you exclude the B2C audience.

You can do this through the keywords that you target,

the keywords that you don't target,

i.e. the keywords that you add as negatives,

but also through the copy in your ads.

It's important that you differentiate and disqualify people

from clicking on your ads.

Otherwise you're going to waste that ad spend

and potentially if they end up converting

because they don't really understand what they're

requesting information about you end up potentially

informing Google's advertising algorithms

that this is more of the person that you want

when you really don't want that person.

So trim out the B2C stuff through the keywords

and the ad copy disqualification.

Often people searching for a B2B solution will ask

for things like supplier or agency

or solution or management.

And there are often those little keyword modifiers

that they use which signal that they are a business customer

rather than a customer customer,

rather than a person at the pub customer.

Consumer I think is the word I was looking for there.

The final tip before the bonus tip.

Email marketing for B2B.

Again, this is something that a lot of B2Bs

completely write off because they think, well,

we're not Amazon.

We don't need to send out emails to our customers.

No, no, no, terrible misconception.

Wash your mouth out with soap and battery acid.

That's a little harsh, Tim.

It's a bad misconception.

Every B2B can be using email marketing.

Now, when we get an email marketing client

we find loads and loads of low hanging fruit.

The first thing that we'll do is go

and have a look at the emails they're sending.

Often they're just kind of generic broadcast stuff.

It's just about the business, about you know,

the waste management company has changed the sewer pipe

in the warehouse.

Nobody cares.

The much better to take with your email marketing

is to segment your audience into people

who have bought from you,

people who have bought particular products

or services from you,

and then you can tailor the stuff that they're getting.

So we'll build automations for example for people that have

purchased something to remind them when it's time

to repurchase and to remind them to leave a review

and that type of thing.

We'll build automations based on particular articles that

people have visited or whatever it might be okay.

So take a mature approach to email marketing.

And don't just say that email marketing isn't gonna work for

us just because we have a relatively small number of

customers or whatever.

There is so much opportunity inside email marketing.

We've got loads of videos on email marketing with

the fantastic Abby from Exposure Ninja

so go and check them out.

I'm not gonna duplicate all of that stuff here,

but trust me, the email marketing for B2Bs is amazing.

And you want to invest the proper attention there.

Okay, so there you have it.

Seven B2B marketing strategies that can use.

Quick recap, don't mind if I do.

And then your bonus tip.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten.

By the way, if you're enjoying this,

here's something else that you might also enjoy.

Our company Exposure Ninja helps our clients generate

more leads and sales from their website.

You might not be a client of Exposure Ninja.

In fact statistically speaking the majority of the world

still isn't a client of Exposure Ninja,

much to our intense disappointment.

But we still want to help you.

So if you want to help generating more leads

and sales through your website

then what you can do is request a free website

and marketing review from the team here at Exposure Ninja.

All you need to do is go to our website.

Yes, it's really that simple.

We just go to ExposureNinja.com.

We'll then ask you a few questions about your business.

Once you've answered those,

we will then prepare a review of your website,

your digital marketing, and your competitors.

We'll take a look at what you're doing well,

which you could be doing more of.

We'll also find the low hanging fruit,

the stuff that you could improve in order to generate more

leads and sales through your website.

We'll do the same for your competitors.

Seeing what's working well in the space,

which you could exploit, and what's working poorly,

which you probably want to stay away from.

We'll put all of this information into a 15 minute video,

which we send over to you by email,

usually within two to three working days.

It's fantastic.

So go to ExposureNinja.com,

click the big button to request your free website

and digital marketing review today.

So first principle we said, don't be boring.

Just 'cause your competitors are doesn't mean

that you have to be.

Second thing, don't overthink this.

We all buy as businesses as well as consumers.

The process that we go through and the marketing stuff that

works is actually remarkably similar for B2B to B2C.

Number one, make it compelling.

Make sure you understand your positioning clearly,

and you can communicate it to potential customers.

Think of the MailChimp example.

Any way that you can differentiate yourself from your

competitors you're doing something good.

Number two, B2B SEO requires some important tweaks,

namely to target information or content being

much more top of funnel a lot of the time,

knowing that we're going to have a longer buying cycle,

usually in B2B than B2C.

Also, don't be afraid of those keywords

which have lower search volume if you have a very high

average order value.

Number three, B2B social.

Again, don't be boring.

Just because you're B2B doesn't mean that you can talk facts

and stats and have people interested in your social feeds.

Think of the big boss person on their phone

while they're on the toilet.

What's getting their attention is probably not

a percentage cost saving that your waste management service

gives them over dumping it into the sea.

You don't need to be filming dance Tik Toks.

That's horrible, nobody wants to see that,

but you do need to be interesting

and you do need to play on stories

and entertainment a little bit more

than you would otherwise.

Number four, videos.

Think about the sort of videos that people actually

like to watch.

How can you tell a story about what your business does well

Just because you're B2B doesn't mean that it's boring.

You have passion inside your business.

You need a way of letting that out.

Number five, content marketing.

Think about those blogs and knowledge bases.

How can you give your target customers information which is

useful and relevant to them?

Educate your audience,

attract their attention, keep their attention.

That is basically the formula for content marketing success.

Then we talked about B2B PPC and the difference,

the important subtle differences sometimes between

the PPC keywords that we're targeting for B2B versus B2C.

The use of those words like solutions, management, agency,

and making sure we're not casting too wide a net

and picking up some consumer keywords

just because they have higher search volumes.

Also don't forget that you should be disqualifying consumers

in your ad copy if there's any risk that you're going to be

picking them up through the keywords that you're targeting.

Final tip was email.

It's just a no brainer for everyone.

So check out our related videos all about email

if you're interested in more information about this.

Alright, final super top secret tip.

You remember I said at the start

I'll give you a free tip about how to use case studies.

Well, here's how most businesses use case studies.

And for B2Bs case studies are really important.

So a lot of B2Bs will use case studies like ChatBot

and ChatBot have a case study on their website

which says Valley Driving School reaches 94% customer

satisfaction with ChatBot.

And they will publish these on their website.

Now I can only assume that they have some sort of deal with

Valley Driving School where they are trying to

promote their business,

or they're trying to attract lots of other driving schools.

Because other than that, from a marketing perspective,

this sort of case study presentation is supremely suboptimal

as we would say.

Why is it suboptimal?

Well, unless I'm a driving school,

I might look at this case study and say,

not relevant for me.

I'm not a driving school.

Also, reaches 94% customer satisfaction.

Well, in fact in our business

we have a more than 94% customer satisfaction actually.

So reaching 94% will be a wash out for us.

Or we might not care about customer satisfaction.

In which case I don't care about this case study.

So what they've done is they've taken one specific situation

and they framed it in a way that there's a high percentage

chance that people won't care.

Or even if they do care they might assume it's not relevant

for them because they are not in the same business

as this company,

or they're not in the same territory or whatever.

So there is a better way to frame this case study.

And that is to turn it into tips,

to turn it into important information.

So let's say that your chat bot helps people

improve their customer service.

What you might do is you might write a guide

on how to improve your customer service score by 15%.

Five ways to improve your customer service score

to get customers to give you five-star reviews.

Right, this is something which has broad appeal.

People are interested in that sort of topic.

And there is a clear perceived benefit to them

of reading that case study,

rather than reading about some random driving school

in a place they've never heard of

who has used your service to do something

they may or may not care about.

So let's say that you write the guide on how to get

customers to leave you five star reviews.

Well, one of the tips might be you want to improve

the speed of communication once someone gets in contact

with you to when they get a resolution to their question.

This is something that a chat bot would do.

And in fact here's an example of a business that used

the chat bot to do exactly that.

Another tip might be you might want to make sure that people

can contact you from any device that suits them.

And by the way this is something that a chat bot can do.

So you see how you can take the same information,

but present it in a way that actually means something to

potential customers and get a much higher click through

and engagement rate with it than if you just

stick something up that seems like a thinly veiled promotion

for the business that you're talking about.

So there you have it, the secret tip,

and don't forget the other secret tip I gave you.

Licorice allsorts of conferences.

So I hope you've enjoyed today's show.

If you have please like comment, subscribe,

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Later. (dramatic music)