B2B marketing has always been an intricate subject. It is much different compared to traditional B2C marketing. While B2C is all about focusing attention on the needs of the customer, B2B needs to focus on the needs of the business. And the needs of a business often vary from that of the customers. As the world grapples with the economic impact of the pandemic, marketing trends have shifted quite a bit. This has created new challenges in the process. Here are some of the key challenges of B2B marketing and the best way to overcome them.
Key Challenges of B2B Marketing
Lack of Human Interaction
The global social distancing and lockdowns have put a bar on day-to-day interactions. B2B marketing highly depends on the face-to-face interaction between the seller and the business. The sales pitch has been the proven approach for B2B marketing. However, businesses are forced to take their pitch to the online platform. The lack of human touch in the process may prove costly for many businesses.
The probable solution for this challenge is to go all-in on the online platform. Design sales pitch in an interactive way that can better engage the target businesses. The key here is to get the customer hooked on the idea and the marketing, regardless of the medium.
Getting Around with Covid-19
Almost all the countries of the world were hit by the economic impact of the pandemic. The business and the retail sector suffered the most because of the imposed lockdown. The impact of the Covid-19 has forced many businesses to take drastic measures in their spending. This in turn has impacted how the marketer spends on marketing.
The continuous change in adaptation to the pandemic has made every existing strategy uncertain. The factor of budget and spending came to the forefront before every purchasing decision.
Marketers should focus on digital marketing more in these trying times. Digital marketing seems to be the way forward considering the uncertain nature of the other channels.
Lack of Resources
The lack of resources isn’t apparent in the budget justification. There are other tactical heads of marketing that are facing an acute shortage. The most common ones are lack of time, lack of ideas, and talent. Much of it has to do with the next challenge in this list.
With the shortage in effect, it becomes increasingly difficult for businesses to conduct singular marketing. To save time and get around the lack of resources, businesses can shift to marketing agencies. Most of the marketing agencies these days provide a unified marketing approach. This tends to cover everything between ad campaigns, lead generation, and lead conversion.
Saturated Digital Marketing
Every business is looking to jump on the digital marketing bandwagon. As a result, client businesses now have more choices than ever. This ultimately makes the space more competitive for the marketing businesses.
This is also the leading factor for the lack of talent in the strategy. There is a high demand for a digital marketer but an acute shortage of skilled and qualified marketers. The imbalance in supply and demand has made way for higher marketing costs with low ROI.
Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is a key determinant of the success of a business. The more buzz a business creates around itself, the more it stands to capture the market. With the pandemic in effect, more and more businesses are looking to digitize their marketing endeavors as mentioned above. There are two effects to this. Businesses are getting better exposure compared to traditional marketing strategies. There is also the issue of market saturation. As more and more businesses opt for online ads, consumers are left with more choices than ever.
Businesses need to tailor their marketing strategies to stand out from the rest. It’s the impression that will make or break the marketing strategy.
Data Accumulation
Data accumulation is another important aspect of the success of any marketing strategy. Firms need to make sure that the user data they are collecting is authentic and accurate.
Every marketing strategy is designed for a targeted customer base. The same is true for B2B marketing as well.
Google Analytics and HubSpot Analytics can be a great starting point to see what’s working and what’s not. The targeted marketing campaign should be designed based on customer interaction and response.
Ensuring Highest ROI
The goal of every marketing tactic is simple – to ensure the highest amount of ROI. As a result, it becomes important to ensure the correct implementation of the marketing strategy.
There are countless different marketing strategies out there. There are ones that focus on offline ads and there are ones that work on the digital platform. Before choosing any strategy, it’s important to understand whether it aligns with the organizational goals as well as the target audience.
Understanding the past marketing metrics, marketing channels, marketing plan, SWOT analysis, and report can all work in favor to maximize the ROI.
Lead Conversion
Marketing strategies involve shelling out money so that people see the ads and click on them. However, there is no indication regarding whether the ad click is converted or not. This creates a two-way problem for the business. Firstly, the business cannot ensure whether its ads are generating enough leads or not. Secondly, whether the generated leads are convertible or not.
Lead conversion is an important aspect of any marketing strategy, both online and offline. The only way to generate effective leads is through a quality targeted client base. Nowadays, different marketing agencies provide marketing services. However, the target generation becomes difficult considering B2B strategies. Invest in a target audience based on their purchasing habits and business profile. This will not only ensure lead generation but also better lead conversion as well.
Source: United News of Bangladesh