Creating a B2B marketing plan from scratch? This guide will give you all the resources you need to cover every aspect, from content to social, influencers, and more. Let’s get started.
What is B2B marketing?
Business-to-business (B2B) marketing is the process of marketing products or services to other businesses. This type of marketing is typically used to promote goods or services that are not typically marketed to consumers, such as industrial products or services.
There are a number of different marketing tactics that can be used in B2B marketing, including advertising, public relations, direct mail, and telemarketing. In general, B2B marketers tend to focus on creating relationships with potential customers, rather than trying to make a sale immediately.
An example of B2B marketing in action would be a company that sells industrial-grade lubricants. This company might use a mix of paid advertising, PR, and email to reach potential customers in the industrial manufacturing industry. The company might also try to establish relationships with decision-makers at these businesses, to create opportunities for future sales.
How is B2B marketing different from B2C marketing?
B2B marketing uses the same elements that make up a successful B2C marketing strategy:
- Content mapping and strategy
- Influencer campaigns
- Paid advertising
- Social campaigns
- Digital PR
The differences are in how each component is used and, most importantly, the length and complexity of the buyer journey.
In B2B, the buyer journey is much longer than B2C—Forrester found in 2021 that the average B2B buyer needed 27 touchpoints before choosing to purchase. And B2B buyers are roughly 57% of the way through their buying journey before they ever engage with sales.
This gives content and branding, in particular, an even more important role. B2B brands can be certain that a majority of their potential buyers—72% according to the latest data—are researching their companies for weeks, months, sometimes even years before the brand ever knows they exist.
So what’s the ROI on that whitepaper that keeps bringing in leads or the social campaign that you’ve been running for a month?
To be honest, you may not truly know for five years, or ever, since each piece of content and marketing strategy is always running in the background.
Someone who heard about your brand at a conference three years ago may fill out a contact form today. Someone who was a junior product manager when you worked with a company 10 years ago may have joined another company that hires you in a month.
One thing is certain: without B2B marketing, your brand is dead in the water.
Every Ultimate Guide You Could Ever Need for B2B Marketing
Now that we’ve discussed the differences between B2B marketing and B2C marketing, let’s get into the good stuff!
We’ve created Ultimate Guides for every type of tool you’ll be using as you craft your B2B marketing strategy.
Each guide is presented with a summary and a link where you can find it.
Additional resources for each topic are also linked below the Ultimate Guide.
The Ultimate Guide to B2B Content Marketing
Here’s a stat you need to know: B2B content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing and generates 3x the leads.
If you’re not investing in content marketing yet, then it’s time to start.
In this guide, you’ll find:
- A breakdown of the types of content B2B brands can create
- How to develop an effective content strategy that covers every stage of the B2B buyer journey
- The importance of zero-party data when it comes to creating content
- Jump-starts to brainstorm content ideas
- How to find relevant keywords to build your content around
- How to implement your B2B content strategy
- How to measure your content’s effectiveness
Additional blog posts about content marketing:
- How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy That Wins Market Share
- 3 Critical Content Marketing Tactics that Actually Drive Leads for B2B Tech Companies
The Ultimate Guide to B2B Social Media Marketing
Social media may not seem like a critical B2B buyer research tool, but in actuality—it is. 92% of B2B buyers use social media to engage with industry thought leaders, while 72% of B2B buyers use social media to research potential business solutions.
So a strong social media presence is necessary if you want to have a chance of standing out amid the online noise.
This guide covers:
- The details on why your brand needs social media
- How to develop a brand voice on social
- Tools and platforms that can help you
- How to create and execute a a B2B social media marketing strategy
Additional blog posts on social media marketing:
- Why Do B2B Brands Need Social Media Marketing?
- 21 Common Questions About Social Media Marketing Answered
The Ultimate Guide to B2B Email Marketing
B2B email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to engage with customers, with the average ROI being $36 for every $1 spent.
There’s no arguing with those numbers.
Email marketing is a long game, but it can generate incredible returns and become an essential part of your lead-nurturing process when done well.
This guide will help you:
- Create and develop your email list
- Develop your B2B email marketing strategy
- Measure your email marketing success
- Avoid common email marketing mistakes
Additional blog posts on email marketing:
- 21 Common Questions About Email Marketing Answered
- 5 Email Marketing Secrets for Boosting Conversions
The Ultimate Guide to B2B PR
B2B PR is a different animal from B2C, and it serves an even more integral function in terms of branding and reputation building.
This guide can help you get started, whether you’re handling PR in-house or hiring a PR agency to help you.
You’ll learn:
- How PR functions in the B2B space
- How to craft a successful B2B PR strategy
- How to determine whether you’re getting a good return
Additional blog posts about PR:
- 9 Successful PR Campaigns from Innovative Companies
- The Future of Public Relations: 12 PR Trends for 2022
The Ultimate Guide to Influencer Marketing
Is your B2B company one of the many still reluctant to get into influencer marketing? Here’s what you need to know: This view of influencer marketing as solely a B2C endeavor is outdated and incorrect.
In fact, influencer marketing can be even more effective for B2B than B2C. Why? Because reputation, trust, and social proof matter more in B2B purchases, which are large, complex, and typically involve multiple buyers working together than they do in B2C (and they matter a lot for B2C).
In this guide, we cover:
- How to identify and choose influencers to work with
- The metrics to look at before engaging an influencer
- Case studies of successful B2B influencer marketing partnerships
Additional blog posts on influencer marketing:
- Influencer Marketing from A to Z: A Complete Guide for Businesses
- Need Proof That B2B Influencer Marketing Works? Here are 7 Great Examples
The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Search Engine Marketing Strategy (including paid ads)
You can have the best content in the world, but if your SEO isn’t up to par, it’s unlikely many people will see it.
SEO is a massive, integrated cornerstone of digital marketing that influences how well the rest of your marketing efforts perform.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- What B2B SEO is
- How it affects your website and where you are in the search engine results
- Ways to improve your B2B SEO
- How to create solid landing pages
- How to create ads for each stage of the sales funnel/buyer journey
Need some motivation? Check out our case studies to see some of the results these B2B digital marketing strategies have gotten for our clients.
And if you need a more hands-on approach, our team of experts is always available. Get in touch here.
