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The business world is currently facing many challenges. Artificial intelligence and the 4.0 revolution in the industry are not the only challenges keeping companies busy.
We invite you to continue reading and discover 10 recommendations when implementing a data-driven B2B marketing strategy...
The growing digitization, the automation of routine activities of daily life, and the increasing role of the Internet, where society spends most of its time and 85% of consumers make their purchases, have led to an increasing amount of information that is generated around buyers and sellers.
What does this mean? Marketing professionals and sales representatives in B2B companies have had to change their way of doing things. Likewise, traditional marketing has had to evolve as part of its adaptation to the social, economic, and technological changes that mark the interests and habits of the new society.
If before the market trend was to create false consumer needs or "spray and pray" (reaching an audience with a non-personalized treatment), now it is the data generated by the "fingerprint" of Internet users that dictates the companies what products and services to develop and even the best way to market them. This is due to the data-driven marketing strategy.
B2B marketing refers to any marketing strategy or content targeted at a company or organization. Any business that sells products or services to others (rather than to end consumers) typically uses B2B marketing strategies.
@hubspot is an example of a company that is dedicated to B2B marketing. They point out that an important fact to highlight is that 70% of B2B companies in Latin America are carrying out some type of digitization process; and 95% agree that this segment should focus mainly on improving the consumer experience, which, a priori, is more easily related to the B2C segment.
So, let's agree that a B2B strategy is a marketing plan that focuses on business relationships between two companies, whose objective is to generate more sales for the company, either directly or through intermediaries. B2B strategies can include the use of digital and traditional marketing channels to reach potential customers.
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Social networks are one more channel to communicate with your customers, whether they are final consumers or other companies. In the case of B2B, there are some points that you must take into account so that your marketing campaign is as successful as possible:
Before starting to publish on social networks, you should think about what you want to publish and how you want to do it. Being present in networks implies certain perseverance, and the objectives must be clear and measurable over time. Posting on social media can help you:
In each social network, there is a different public. Therefore, you should study which social network your audience is on. Businesses that target other businesses typically use the following platforms to communicate with their customers:
LinkedIn is the professional social network par excellence. If your company is B2B, it is highly recommended that you create a profile on LinkedIn. It will allow you, among other things:
Twitter is the other social network with extensive advantages in the B2B world. And it is that 500 tweets a day are a lot of tweets… Here you can take the opportunity to:
Improve your positioning in Google, because the tweets are indexed in this search engine.
Connect with your audience.
Communicate about your services through short, clear, and concise messages.
Improve your customer service.
This does not mean that you cannot post on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, for example. Remember, every business is different, and everything will depend on the type of audience and the type of content you publish.
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(1) Think of data-driven marketing as a business strategy or a new marketing approach. Data-driven marketing is not a project in which you should venture thinking in the short term. You should see it as the path to success in automating your B2B business.
Use inbound marketing in your digital strategy:
Inbound Marketing consists of bringing the client by itself in a natural way, unlike the classic method of looking for it in an intrusive way. The idea is to attract a qualified audience to your website using all the channels adapted to your target.
In practice, a keyword and content strategy is implemented. A few months later, their first prospects appear. Your strategy is starting to work. Now, you must keep the interest of your potential customers by capturing them with even more appropriate content. For example, using a free eBook download system with a form to fill out to get to know your new visitors better, you can also use email marketing strategies; this is undoubtedly a powerful tool to consider... Find out how to do it in our Blog...
The inbound marketing methodology
The principle of the Inbound Marketing strategy is to attract visitors to your website and then convert them into prospects and then into customers. And for that, you need to create relevant and relevant content to attract and seduce them without investing a colossal budget in advertising. It is a complete and global strategy at the service of your commercial development, which allows you to generate traffic, obtain leads, and convert prospects into customers without forgetting loyalty.
Once the information has been collected, you move on to the next step: transforming your prospects into buyers. In the case of a digital marketing strategy for BtoB companies, the prospect can also be relaunched by a marketing automation system, personalized newsletters, etc.
Later, it will be necessary to preserve it. This is an essential step! Winning new clients thanks to an efficient prospecting plan will increase your billing, but the retention of professionals will allow you to sustain your business in the long term.
(2) Define a data strategy suitable for your business. It is essential that in your company, based on the objectives that have been set, a guide is established with all the procedures to handle the data. To do this, it must be clear: how to standardize those generated from multiple sources, what the business rules are, the access policies and data protection, and the tools that may be needed. In addition, this strategic plan must include the technical details of the environment where the data is located.
(3) Do not skimp on the training of your employees, nor on hiring qualified personnel or on technology. Developing a new business culture that is more focused on data requires great effort and the participation of all company departments. Each one must understand the importance of data analysis, for more rational decision-making.
(4) Create your own data-savvy marketing team. When implementing the data-driven marketing strategy, you will have to deal with a large amount of information, in the most challenging of cases, in the form of "big data". This information must be made actionable and useful to your goals. For this, you will need teams of specialists who know the operation of all the company's departments, databases, and, above all, marketing automation.
(5) Get clear on what your goals are before worrying about the data source. You must determine what you intend to achieve with them and what you need them for. For example: to decide which new products to incorporate in your production line, to identify how to increase efficiency, to decide where to open a new warehouse, or how to generate more leads. This is the first step in developing a data-driven marketing strategy. Then you will have to analyze where you can get that data from and define the tools and technologies you will need to achieve it.
(6) Adopt a centralized database with customer data as the main source of information, but it is not the only one. This is the function of CRM (Customer Relationship Management): to help you organize and manage customer relationships from a single place. Your CRM should be a primary source of competitive intelligence, but not the only one. B2B sales and marketing leaders are improving the quality of their CRM data and supplementing it with data obtained directly from their buyers.
(7) Convince your sales reps about the benefits of collecting customer and sales data. If necessary, do internal marketing. Having well-nourished and error-free databases places you in a better position compared to the competition. In order to obtain quality information, your salespeople have to be aware of the importance of collecting and correctly entering into the systems they use, as much data as possible resulting from each interaction with the customer.
(8) Collect data only from trusted sources. Make sure that the information in your sources has been generated by certified and frequently audited software tools. Also, it has been handled by responsible and qualified personnel.
(9) Collect data that allows you to address your audience with a highly personalized treatment. Experience the benefits of customer segmentation. Look for patterns within firmographic data (key information that characterizes a business such as its size, credit history, growth rate, etc.) and the digital body language of your audience. Get the most out of your data, reach your potential customers through the right channel and with greater chances of effectiveness, offering them only what interests them.
(10) With professionals focused on converting market opportunities, the best allies are the KPIs. They accurately show the result of each action taken and the consequences for your business, but how to maximize the efficiency of your processes?... Find out how to do it with our free KPI Implementation eBook.
(11) Avoid the formation of data silos. In companies with their desire to collect as much data as possible and as a result of process automation, it is very common for there to be data that is trapped on multiple platforms, with different formats, and for exclusive use by a certain work team or department. Also for a security issue, sometimes there is data that remains inaccessible, outside the network, in isolated storage devices. In this case, its usefulness should be seriously questioned. One way to avoid this is by defining a data strategy, as we mentioned earlier.
With professionals focused on converting market opportunities, the best allies are the KPIs, they accurately show the result of each action taken and the consequences for your business, but how to maximize the efficiency of your processes? Find out how to do it with our free KPI Implementation eBook.
In summary, the first step is to clearly establish the business objectives that you want to achieve with the data-driven marketing strategy. This will help focus efforts more effectively. It is important to have a reliable source of data and use analysis tools to identify behavior patterns and trends in the target market. Once the data has been collected and analyzed, it is vital to tailor the communication to suit the specific needs of each customer or prospect.
The return on investment (ROI) of the data-driven marketing strategy must be measured and evaluated to determine its effectiveness and adjusted accordingly. Technological tools are essential to collect, analyze and apply data in marketing strategy. It is crucial to choose the right technology and make sure that it is correctly integrated into the operation of the business. By following these key recommendations, success in this highly competitive field is possible.
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