B2B Marketing Communications

Various marketing communications tools are used by B2B companies is to retain existing customers, connect with new customers
and focus on helping to turn prospective customers into sales.

Therefore understanding the buying behaviour of your market, targeting the right prospects and providing the right
information/messages at the right time, through the right channels is of the upmost importance. And as your B2B buyers are more
likely than B2C buyers to research and seek out information on the products they buy, it’s important that any communication your
buyer receives is targeted, highly relevant and easily accessible.

There are many ways you can reach out to your target market, both off line and online. According to industry reports on where
buyers go to gather information on products or services, it seems that websites still remain the most popular destination with nearly
half of people saying they go straight to a company’s website if they are interested in finding out more (B2B Marketing and Base
One: Buyersphere report 2013). Although it’s also good to know that traditional methods remain important with many buyers still
relying on material such as sales brochures or downloading pdfs for their information gathering. Additionally, tools such as Social
media are a growing influencer and source of knowledge so should also be considered an important part of your marketing mix.

B2B marketing communications tools

Below, we’ve put together a check list of the b2b marketing communications tools you should be using to connect with your
customers and enhance your sales

1. Website – A B2B website helps buyers connect with manufactures, wholesalers and exporters and vice versa. It acts as your
online shop window and is the most likely go-to place for any prospective customer or end user wanting to investigate your services
or products. B2B buyers aren’t shoppers they’re researchers and therefore you need to ensure that your website not only
communicates the right level of information but also appeals to your customers as well as end users – two distinct audiences with
two distinct demands. Your trade customers will require detailed, easily accessible information on products, whilst your end users
tend to take a broader approach, being, attracted to you as a company, your professionalism and what you have to offer. Therefore
building an easy to navigate, information rich, professional and clearly branded website to satisfy all channels is essential. Taking
into account how they use the site and on what platform – mobile/tablet/laptop – also goes without saying.

2. Branding – Branding is said to directly affect lead generation and ultimately sales. Get it wrong, by using the wrong messages
and images and you’ll turn potential customers away. Create, develop and use it in the right way and your brand will attract the right
people for the right reasons.

3. Social media – As of 2012, 91% of B2B marketers now use social media but its how you use it that counts. For B2B companies,
businesses should go deep, not broad. It’s better to become a master of one or two channels than struggle in many. Social
platforms allow you to establish your expertise and credibility and also provide a method for feedback and discussion. Social
networks are more like a real-world networking event. Think about Facebook, YouTube Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and possibly
Pinterest. It’s beneficial to choose one platform and one network to focus on initially, and really n engage with your ideal customers
there. As you master those channels, you can then start to expand into other realms.

4. Technology – Treat technology and technological advances as your ally and you could seriously improve your marketing
communications. From developing product Apps that your sales people can use as demonstration tools to mobile websites,
dealership sites, improved direct mail logistics and 3d printing, new technologies allow you to easily and effectively target and
connect with potential customers and improve your ‘pulling power’.

5. Lead generation – Building a database from your own leads, gives you a powerful marketing tool. Using a range of marketing
techniques both online and offline to generate and nurture leads will help to increase your potential customer base, communicate to
existing and potential customers and promote your company’s offering. Your website, social media channels, targeted email
marketing, direct mail, exhibitions and telemarketing are all tools to aid data capture and build your customer relationship marketing
(CRM).

6. Email marketing – Used as an important CRM tool, it will help you retain as well as gain customers. Well executed, targeted
email campaigns to potential buyers in the market or regular e-newsletters are an effective way of engaging and staying in touch
with existing and potential customers.
7. The Right Sales Team Support – Statistics show that a high percentage of sales reps are typically not well enough prepared for
initial sales meetings. Making sure that your sales team or dealers are equipped with the most relevant information is essential, so
give them easy access to product details and tech info through dealership sites, product apps; mobile friendly websites and up-to-
date, well branded sales literature and brochures. The right information, accessible at the right time can make the difference
between a sale and a fail.

8. Traditional marketing techniques: Print, direct mail, and telemarketing can still be a very effective way to target prospective
customers in the B2B world. Correctly targeted and effectively produced direct mail can be more effective than email at converting
potential customers, whilst trade shows and exhibitions offer face to face meetings, data collection possibilities, strong brand
messages and the demonstration of new products and initiatives.

Components of communication strategy

Your communication strategy defines how you’re going to communicate in a way that will make your brand memorable,
persuasive, and credible to your target buyer – at every stage of the buyer’s journey. It defines what you’re going to say and to
whom, where, and when you’re going to say it. More importantly, it’s supported by robust evidence and customer insight. 

The three critical components of a communication strategy are the value proposition, which is your cornerstone, your target
personas and your key messaging.  However, to be truly effective, you need to consider all five elements of the communication
strategy as essential and reliant upon each other. 
1. Value proposition 
2. Sector priorities 
3. Target personas 
4. Positioning statements  
5. Messaging (for each stage of the buying cycle) 
If one or more of the elements is poorly developed or missing, your strategy will be less effective and impactful. 
The 8 essential steps to creating a communication strategy for your business  
The five components require eight important steps to achieve the ideal outcome. In this section, we walk you through the process of
producing a communication strategy for your technology business. 
1. Form ‘The dream team’:
First and foremost, recruit your expert task force from across the business.  Ensure you get the right people on board, so that your
communication strategy will have the insight, expertise and gravitas it needs. Customer insight is essential, so unless you have the
time and resources to conduct a major piece of qualitative and quantitative research, you must include someone who knows your
customers vividly. Your project will also require a board-level champion to embed the new strategy across the business.

2. The commercial context:

Capture your sales lead requirements and determine what success will look like from a business perspective.  What should
marketing deliver for the company to achieve its strategic goals? Whatever your objectives are, they must be SMART and there
should be a communication objective against each business objective. 
3. Value proposition:
Your value proposition is a simple statement to summarise your promise to your customers.
It encapsulates the benefits of buying from you, rather than your competitors; why you exist and most importantly, why your
customers should care.  It should be concise, compelling, and credible. Once crafted, it should be used to guide what everyone in
the company from customer service to R&D, says, does and develops, keeping your communications focused and relevant.
4. Prioritise your audience:
Unless you have an infinite supply of resources (mainly money and time), you will need to prioritise. Identifying your target
audience’s sweet spot is the most effective way of identifying your low-hanging fruit. Look for overlapping common characteristics
to identify groups that form ideal customers – those customers you can help to overcome a key problem or challenge.
5. Target personas:
A target persona is a representation of your ideal customer. They’re not real people, but you depict them so clearly, they should feel
like one. Most people mistakenly think they need to have lots of personas because they try and identify them by job title.  You want
to focus on decision-makers in the buying process, the people who feel the pain you can solve and, most importantly, have a
responsibility for finding a solution.  Three is likely to be the number of personas you can realistically engage with
effectively through any one campaign.  Remember to give your target personas a memorable name that everyone can connect
with – I find alliteration helps e.g., Brilliant Belinda, Innovative Ida, Commercial Colin, Financial Fred, Regimental Roy, IT Tom etc.
6. Positioning statements:
Craft and tailor a positioning statement for each persona you end up with.  A positioning statement is a subset of your value
proposition but speaks directly to the heart of your individual persona(s). It defines the target audience, your product and category,
a specific benefit and, most importantly, it differentiates you from your nearest competitor. This is particularly important if you have
multiple sub-brands or discrete products aimed at different markets.
7. Messaging:
Develop messaging for each stage of the buying cycle.
The four key stages of the buying cycle (or customer journey) are well documented, with the most common being represented in
the acronym AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action). It’s imperative that your messaging considers your customers’ journey
through these stages, and is specific, relevant and compelling – to tailor to each stage of that journey. The first two stages build
trust, whilst the latter two account for the customer’s consideration and desire. These four key stages of messaging need to work in
harmony to inspire interest and help convert prospects into customers.
8. Validation:
Test the assumptions you have made in your draft communication strategy amongst your trusted customers and advisors. You
don’t have to share the exact document but do ask intelligent, searching questions around the key components to get their input. 
Make sure you involve a good mix of different target personas.  If you’ve gone through the process thoroughly, you should not be
seeking to present their ‘agreement’ – you are looking for refinements, it’s more of an opportunity to validate any assumptions
you’ve made. Use their feedback to refine and create your final communication strategy.
Once you have your comprehensive communication strategy, written and approved, all that’s left for you to do is implement it!
Share it with the organisation, and get every department to consider how the strategy impacts their day-to-day activity i.e., are they
aligned with the value proposition?  Review your existing brand assets – everything from website to LinkedIn profiles and ensure
every message is current and accessible to your target audience.  Then, it’s time to start planning your campaigns.
Five Best Practices For B2B Communications

Business-to-business, or B2B, companies communicate in a way that’s different from what you usually see from brands that sell to
individuals. Those differences often stem from the expectations businesses have regarding how they want to be addressed. If you
fail to acknowledge those expectations, they might not be as understanding as individual clients tend to be.

But don’t worry: Apart from some key differences, B2B communication isn’t rocket science, and you can grasp it relatively quickly
once you get familiar with how business relationships work. Here are five best practices of business-to-business communication.

1. Remember That Relationships Are Key

Depending on what they sell, B2C brands don’t always have to work very hard to build individual relationships with their clients.
After all, if one person stops buying their products, there will typically be more lined up and eager to give it a try because the
industry tends to rely on a high number of lower-paying clients (with some exceptions). This trend is reversed in the case of B2B,
where your paycheck often comes from a small number of higher-paying partners.

This means that losing one client can be a significant loss to your company, so you should ensure that every business working with
you feels like something more than just another client. 

There are many things you can do to make them feel like a part of your family, including hosting industry meetings and parties with
other partners, getting to know them on a more personal level, and showing a high level of care for their operations because your
success relies heavily on theirs.
2. Collaborate

As a B2B brand, your relationships with other businesses shouldn’t just be client-provider relationships. There are many companies
that you can team up with to accomplish something that neither of you could do all on your own.

Of course, this is a very popular solution for businesses, but it can be especially beneficial for B2B companies because of how
much there is on the line and how much both parties can get from adding one extra account to their client portfolio.

Whether you partner with a company that serves the same audience, provides a similar solution or does something completely
different than you do, there is often room to do more together. Once you drop the competitor mentality, you may see how
successful you can be by working with others — even when you are in the same market, like Apple and Microsoft did back in the
day.

3. Know Who You Are Talking To

Even though they might be dealing with a relatively low number of clients, many B2B businesses still don’t manage them properly,
and they may leave enormous amounts of money on the table if they’re not keeping track of their client’s behavior, needs and new
possibilities for the future.

Simple customer relationship management software, or CRM for short, can serve as a database of your clients, past encounters
and every piece of information you need to serve them better. Those services are usually extremely cheap compared to the
benefits they offer, and the management itself shouldn’t require much additional effort apart from the initial setup when you first
implement it at your company.

4. Communicate Frequently And In Detail

There is a lot going on in the business world, and waiting too long to share information can cost you time, money or both. As a B2B
company, you will be one of many sources of information for your clients. Failing to communicate that information properly can
potentially lead to their failure, and when they go down, you may, too.

Make sure you communicate with your clients frequently and in detail unless they specifically tell you that they wish to receive less
information from you. While they won’t be interested in everything you send their way, they will likely appreciate the effort and the
attention you devote to their success.

5. Use Case Studies To Tell A Story About Your Offer

Social proof is among the most powerful tools in marketing, but in B2B, it takes quite a different form. Unlike with B2C businesses,
a single-paragraph client story might not be enough to convince a big corporation that they need your solution, and so they will
either keep living without it or they will get it from somebody who can give them enough information.

You can think of case studies as more elaborate testimonials that showcase the client’s situation before, during and after the time
they worked with you. Unlike testimonials, though, the business that provided the service writes the case study. They give you a
chance to include everything you know a potential client would be interested in (though you will still need your client’s approval to
make the case study public).

Another advantage of case studies is their length, which is a blessing in disguise. Because they tend to be long, it’s likely that only
those who are truly interested in your offer will take the time to read them, which means your case studies could provide you with a
steady flow of high-quality leads who already know what you do and why they need you. This can make the sales process at least
slightly easier.

The Bottom Line

Even though B2B clients couldn’t be any more different from their B2C counterparts in many ways, the same general marketing and
communications principles apply to both, as you will still be dealing with people on the other side of your communications. By
understanding the key differences that separate the two, you can better prepare your communication strategy and tailor it to
companies just like yours to help both you and your client reach your business goals — and then exceed them.