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Why b2b businesses need to market like b2c businesses

by Codesign Labs
June 5, 2019

Does a B2B company needs to stand out in 2019 with strong brand presence and digital communication? Yes, more than ever. For years, B2B spaces have thrived on personal relationships which has led many businesses to flourish without no or little competition but this is the case no more.

Why now

It took B2B firms long enough to realise that there is a human taking decisions for a business, quite similar to how a B2C works. Forgetting the human on the other side of the business had led to a forgotten pattern of putting the best foot forward approach on all fronts.

Most midsize B2B businesses in India are still thriving on the notion that their businesses don’t need to have a digital identity yet and their physical identity and decade long relationships are enough. What they don’t realise is that with the changing business dynamics especially in 2019, the brand identity, communication & user experience will take precedence over the decade long relationships.

In 2019, it has become essential to adopt B2C like strategies to ensure that you reach the right businesses and retain the old businesses. Hence, going that extra mile to please your audience has become a mandate because at the end it’s a person interacting with another person.

Experiential marketing is the key

Well, we agree that a B2B brand can’t adopt all that a B2C brand does, but there are still a few strategies that one can adopt and practice it consistently to strengthen the brand position. If you are a B2B brand, here’s what you can do-:

Social is king

Social media reigns power and that is just not restrictive to B2C companies but extends to B2B. With everything and everyone going social, it is essential for a B2B brand to have a social media presence.

You can start by at least setting up Facebook and LinkedIn pages (Instagram and Twitter, though are not mandatory but good to have). If you already have these pages, then make sure they are active. We’re often asked by a lot of B2B brands that what do we publish to keep our pages active. Here’s what you can do -:

  • Post brand integrated graphics on important national days, festivals or special days relevant to your industry. For instance, if you’re a manufacturing concern you should post on Labour Day or if you’re an organization that supports sustainable development then you should post on days like Environment Day, Earth Day, etc. apart from posting on Independence Day, Diwali, Eid, New Year, Christmas, Republic Day, etc.
    Not sure how to do this, we can help you do this through our product Social Cue which can resolve all your concerns in one go
  • Post updates about your company such as esteemed customer visits, achievements, awards or employee activities, etc. If you dig deep, your company must be doing something awesome every now and then; all you need to do is to showcase it to the world

Building brand value via campaigns

If not a social media campaign for the business, creating an image synonymous to your brand value can work via social awareness campaigns on topics related to your business such as sustainable development, green and clean environment, etc. And if campaigns like these pique’s someone’s (content curation platforms) interest; who knows you become the talk of the town overnight. Well, this might sound to you a long shot but this is the power of social media where information travels faster than light ????

Tapping the traditional methods

As they say, old is gold and therefore sending out business newsletters to keep your audience updated and spreading information through blogs are easier, tried and tested tactics to ensure retention. If you think who reads emails these days, then read the below-:

On average, marketing emails have a click-through rate of 3.57%. Meanwhile, on Facebook, paid ad campaigns and targeted posts possess a 0.07% click-through rate.

Source: https://bit.ly/2WPRCZg

Finally, don’t fall for the cost benefit analysis

n most cases, B2B businesses shun off the idea of marketing or building a strong presence saying “We don’t have deep pockets to fuel this up and it does not bring in business”. Then there are those who’ve tried it but stopped it since they could not see results in 2-3 months. What they are hugely missing on is that no one gets it on the first day whether its a B2B brand or a B2C brand. One has to be persistent in the marketing efforts (be it posting on special days, sending newsletters, writing blogs) to see the results.

Yes, it does cost you a dime, but it will be worth it in the long run.

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