Opinion: Guide to re-think your B2B Go-To-Market strategy

Glad U Came's Maddie Amrutkar writes about the changing dynamics of marketing strategies and how to prepare an effective marketing plan with the rapidly evolving internet ecosystem.

A go-to-B2B-marketing strategy brings together all the key elements that drive your business. It focuses on how a business can utilize its resources to deliver a value proposition to the customer and gain a competitive advantage over others. Developing a go-to-market strategy is crucial to the success of any B2B organization as it provides a strategic plan to reach the target audience and provide an excellent customer experience.

However, in today’s internet-driven world, businesses must alter their traditional market strategies and evolve with changing times. Thanks to the internet, customers have access to a plethora of information on different products and do not need to rely on a sales representative for it. Thus, businesses need to build their strategies while keeping the power of the internet in mind.

Here are some of the key steps that will help you develop an effective go-to-B2B-marketing strategy:

Assess the market and define your target audience

It is imperative for B2B organizations to have in-depth knowledge about their stakeholders in order to succeed. For instance, a housing developer has several stakeholders like customers, suppliers, government authorities, banks, etc. Each of these stakeholders can influence the company’s performance and need to be taken into consideration for long-term sustainable success.

Conduct in-depth research about the market that you are launching in. It will help you understand the retailers and end-users better and identify the gaps that exist. Geographic location, market size, and existing client base are examples that you can consider while selecting the right market.

Once you choose an appropriate market, you need to define the audience you will be catering to.

Gain customer insights and turn them into business results

Gaining customer insights (for example, who they are, how they behave, and what they need) are invaluable for your organization. Understanding your end-users will help you cater to their unique needs and offer them personalized solutions.

However, while collecting insights through your sales representatives in a post-pandemic world seems difficult, businesses can switch to online modes of communication. In today’s day, everyone is willing to share a screen, making it the best time to invest in zoom calls. It will give you easy access to customer information and help you penetrate a larger market.

For example, Microsoft has updated its marketing strategy by simply shifting its focus from product to people during the pandemic. They believe that the company needs to play a larger role in the customer journey when the digital space has witnessed a boom, even though they do not deal with the consumers directly.

This will help them customize their products better for the end-user.

Define your brand positioning and choose your service offerings

Position your brand as the best option for your customers. Understand the unique features your product/service has to offer and create compelling reasons for customers to buy them. This will establish you as a strong player in the market and give you an edge over others.

Your brand position will help you drive the creation of your go-to-market strategy and help you in the long run.

What features in your offering best serve the customers? How is it different from others? How will the customers use it? are some of the questions you need to answer for positioning your brand in the market.

Also Read: Opinion: Understanding Native Advertising in the context of 2021

Develop a marketing strategy that resonates with your stakeholders

Your marketing strategy should align with the clients’ preferences and resonate with them. It should address the pain points that you are going to resolve through your offerings.

• Update your website. Most customers today check your company’s website before making any kind of purchase. Your website defines who you are as a brand, and what unique services you offer. Hence, it is essential for you to have a website that is visually appealing, fast, and secure to use.

IndiaMart is one of the best examples of a great website. It provides B2B sales service via a web portal, making it a convenient platform for both manufacturers and suppliers.

• Invest in B2B Content Marketing. We live in a digital- era where content marketing has become key to success. Generating high-quality content will help you demonstrate your expertise in the market. Blogs, articles, and research papers can be used to publish on your website.

Create Interactive Content for your business in order to engage your audience. Video marketing and chatbots are experiencing explosive growth in marketing and can be used to increase client interactions.

• Engage in Social Media Marketing. B2B organizations can thrive through social media platforms. It will enable you to connect with a larger audience and understand them better. Feedbacks, testimonials, and comments on social media are great tools to get validation from third parties and strengthen your brand position.

For example, We Work utilized the power of social media to build an authentic community of like-minded people. They created 30-second educational videos for businesses and encouraged their customers and prospects to engage by sharing stories with the hashtag #wework on LinkedIn and Facebook. Their social media strategy worked because it was community focussed and brand-consistent

• Retention marketing is an excellent strategy in a post-covid world. Marketers accept that it is easier to retain existing customers than acquiring new ones. This form of marketing makes the customer return to your brand to shop again. It is a marketing strategy for your business that increases purchase frequency and in-turn the customer lifetime value (CLV) in the long run. Customer appreciation, testimonials, customer care & support are some of the best ways to retain clients.
• Increase your recall value through Nostalgic Marketing. Nostalgia marketing has become a valuable tool in the unprecedented times that we are living in. It provides the customer with a familiar, safe, and comforting feeling and increases their chances of a recall. This form of marketing can help B2B organizations to relate their products and services to the world, improving their sales figures.

These were some of the steps required to create an effective go-to-B2B-marketing strategy for your business. In order for it to be successful, make sure it aligns with the current trends and is relevant to your stakeholders. In a post-covid world, where the market is constantly changing, be ready to revise this strategy and adapt to changing times.

The piece is authored by Maddie Amrutkar, Founder, Glad U Came.