Winning the challenges of B2B Marketing

Business-to-business marketing, also known as B2B marketing, refers to the marketing of services and products to other businesses and organisations. It varies greatly from B2C marketing, which focuses on business-to-consumer.

B2B marketing content tends to be more straightforward and informative than B2C marketing. This is because businesses purchase decisions, whereas consumers purchase independently, on the lower end of the scale. In a monetary sense, return on investment is very rarely a consideration for the average person, whereas it’s a primary focus for corporations and their decision-makers.

B2B marketers sell to various key stakeholders, often creating a challenging landscape to navigate. Despite this, data sources have become increasingly robust and hold the ability to reach potential buyers with personalised and relevant information. Many organisations fall under the B2B and B2C umbrellas and sell products and services in many forms, including SaaS subscriptions, office supplies, security solutions and accessories and tools.

When it comes to B2B marketing campaigns, they're targeted at decision-makers with an influence on purchasing decisions within their corporations. This often encompasses a variety of titles; from lower-level researchers, all the way up to the C-suite.

Building a successful B2B strategy that delivers high-end results requires a strict process; thoughtful planning, implementation, execution and ongoing management. The key elements to ensuring success are the following:

1. Set out clear business objectives and lay out the framework on how to achieve them

2. Define your buyer persona and research your target market to speak to your audience directly and generate quality leads

3. Identify B2B marketing channels and tactics to determine how you intend to reach your target audience

4. Create the necessary assets and run the campaign, following best practices for each channel

5. Consult your metrics regularly and improve the strategy wherever necessary, differentiating between high and low performing content

Ultimately, let your audience dictate the nature of the strategy's path. There are many B2B marketing channels, such as blogs, social media, ebooks, emails and videos, however, there's not a one-size-fits-all strategy. The best practices to follow when creating your B2B marketing strategy are:

● Be human
● Focus on targeting
● Make an impact through thought leadership
● Generate strong leads
● Produce sponsored content

Ultimately, the fundamental steps in B2B marketing are vision development, audience definition and engagement, tactic identification, content creation and campaign implementation and management. If you follow this structure, you're almost guaranteed to create a successful B2B marketing strategy for your company.

When it comes to online marketing, photography is key to creating brand awareness and a strong brand identity to match. After all, your website is your shop window, right? Does your website reflect your brand values through its photography? What emotions do your images convey? Do you have a combination of candid and poised content to tell your brand’s story?

Photography is ultimately the final layer to polish your brand, yet one of the first elements of your brand that is visible to customers. It has the power to convey a variety of messages through non-verbal communication. Copy is important to actively write a message to your customers, however, photography sells the story. One cannot work without the other, and both require equal attention in the building of your brand.

Another area where photography can help build your brand is, of course, SEO. All digital images hold information, known as metadata, which includes technical settings and copyright information, among other pieces of information. When using photographs on your website, you can amend file names and include relevant keywords, alt text, and captions; all to help increase your website’s SEO.

While there are a plethora of photography sources online to choose from, it’s not always advisable to stick to the stock route. Of course, there are times where a quick stock image says just what you need it to; mostly when writing blog content or for specific pages on your website. With that being said, stock photography does what it says on the tin. There are no specifics to it, and this can negatively impact your brand’s identity. Additionally, stock photography can be expensive so it’s best to regard it as an indulgent treat; once in a while, for the right time!

Nine times out of ten, the best kind of imagery for your brand is created by commissioning a photographer. The role of a photographer is to work through your expectations to gain a clear vision of what you’d like to achieve and will assure you get the results you are looking for on your brand’s website and social media platforms.

Though photography is overlooked by many marketers, let’s remember that age-old expression once more; a photograph speaks a 1000-words. So, what does your website say about your brand?