Transform your business into an engine of growth
So you’re in B2B, focused on serving other businesses. It’s possible you’ll be a small manufacturer, but it’s more likely that you’re a service business, in IT, marketing, property or professional services like management consultancy, finance or law. How’s it for you? How are you dealing with the post-Brexit vote, post-Trump, post-financial crisis world? And, in particular… how are your sales holding up? Not easy, is it?
Up to now, perhaps you’ve placed too much reliance on your sales team or account managers to find and retain clients. You exhibit at conferences, issue the occasional press release, tweet now and then. You might even have someone in-house who does a bit of marketing when they can find the time around their real job. So far so good, but is this low B2B marketing impact enough to cut through the endless noise from your competitors?
Passionate founders and skilled sales people can always find early adopters for new services. But there comes a point in your growth cycle when you need to create B2B brand awareness to reach a wider pool of new clients. And cold calling isn’t going to cut it.
Just think. Given the competitive pressure on your business, and current market uncertainty, isn’t it time to build a bolder and more impactful presence – so you’ll be more visible when your prospects are on the hunt for solutions. That’s where targeted, effective professional marketing is your best bet.
Introducing professional B2B marketing
Professional B2B marketing is the well-planned and structured variety normally found in larger corporates. A dedicated, quality resource – all focused on you and your brand. Too expensive? Think again.
Easier market access through digital and mobile channels, and more plentiful choice of skilled self-employed marketers has now leveled the playing field… assuming that forward-thinking SMEs play their cards right and use the playing field. Few do. And that’s your opportunity.
Of course resources, time and budget can get in the way. Or SME founders can’t find the right people to fit with a growth-stage business. But left ignored, it can lead to the creation of a growth gap. Referrals slow. The B2B sales pipeline is empty. Stagnation sets in.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Professional B2B marketing: transforming prospects into customers
Without dedicated professional marketing support, websites go out of date, social media gets patchy, PR opportunities are missed and there’s no-one to produce relevant content for potential customers.
All of which slows down the process of getting your word out there. Slows down educating customers about your expertise. Slows down building trust in your quality. And slows down turning the goodwill of existing, happy customers into referrals. In a 24/7 world, you feel like yesterday’s 9-5 brand.
Today, 24/7 is everything. Long before the decision stage, your prospects are out there, educating themselves about the challenges they face. It’s an overwhelmingly online task. Then, they’ll go on to find solutions – and assess suppliers. So much so, it’s said that by the time a potential customer gets in touch with you, as much as 70% may have already decided to buy (Source: Survey by Consumer Executive Board (CEB). In other words, you only need to push the remaining third of the way.
A professional marketing team will give you the strategy, talent and systems to make you more relevant, visible and helpful all the way through the buying cycle. So that when customers are ready to buy, you’ll be front of mind. And beat larger B2B competitors.
Professional B2B marketing: driving your sales
Sales people should sell. Get on calls, jump on planes, organise demos and attend meetings with potential customers. Yet all too often they spend far too much valuable time rectifying your lack of sales leads: sourcing contact details, cold calling, building Powerpoint decks and trying to deliver the most basic information about who you are and what you do. What a waste.
One of the most valuable (and quantifiable) effects of professional B2B marketing is time – the time your marketers give back to your sales team, by providing them with a sales toolbox so they don’t have to spend time on building sales materials.
Professional B2B marketers work hand-in-hand with Sales, identifying and profiling your buyers to understand their questions and business challenges, and stamping out poor lead management. Properly targeted B2B marketing investment will produce articles, videos, infographics and more – in formats that suit your target market – that get you found early in the buying cycle. All of which helps to add qualified leads to your sales funnel.
Professional B2B marketing: growing your business
From the outset, dedicated B2B marketers use the right tools from the marketing box to get you better known by your most relevant audiences. They develop persuasive case studies, shout about your successes, keep your digital channels current, stimulate referrals and more – increasing your presence and reputation in the market while enhancing sales leads and efficiency. In short, the net effect of fully resourced professional B2B marketing is growth. See how Your Allies has helped professionalise other B2B businesses’ marketing.
Set your marketing free to perform
Is your B2B marketing an engine of growth in your b
usiness? Time to find out. Our quick Self-Assessment tool is a tailored B2B marketing audit that’ll help you see where your B2B sales challenges could be lurking.