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In this article, we’ll talk about the changes we’re noticing in the market and how you can use a full-funnel approach to combat the longer and more complex buying process that has emerged.
The reality of B2B marketing in 2024
Buyers are well-educated
Buyers are privy to how the marketing engine works, and they’re tired of mediocre content. They need to see incredible work or they’re going to check out. Here are a few ways you can stand out:
- Publish expert content with zero fluff
- Create ad messaging that hits the nail on the head for your target audience
- Get in front of the right buyers at the right time with smarter advertising. We can help with that.
- If you’re doing outreach, make sure it’s personalised and well-nurtured
Buyers are limiting their expenses and closely monitoring their ROI
By now, your buyers likely have the attitude of “do more with less.”
To win their business, you need to demonstrate the value of your offer. Show them how effective it is. Focus on the tangible results and let your success stories shine. Social proof goes a long way in this climate to in still confidence in a potential purchase.
The buying process is longer and more complex – expect to talk to multiple stakeholders
Most companies today are already overwhelmed with software solutions in their tech stacks. Adding new software is not only an investment of money but also an investment of time to learn and train their teams. This makes B2B companies more hesitant and careful about their selection of new software. Add to that the tighter budgets and you have a much longer and more complex buying process.
Lead generation alone won’t capture customers
Because the buying process is longer and more complex, your lead generation strategies (such as content marketing, PPC, and SEO) won’t usually work by themselves. They need to be connected to a full marketing funnel that pulls a lead all the way through to become a customer. More on this below.
How to win at B2B marketing in 2024
The following steps are listed in order. We recommend working top-down to build the strongest system possible.
Prevent churn
Keep your existing customers satisfied by:
- Offering exceptional customer support
- Proactively offering assistance to identify problems
- Continuously delivering value in your product with regular updates and fixes
- Offer personalised solutions for top customers
- Provide ongoing valuable education via articles, webinars, emails, etc.
- Actively seeking and incorporating customer feedback via surveys, interviews, and other feedback channels
Prioritising churn will help you foster long-term customer relationships and keep revenue stable while you work toward growth.
Expand revenue with existing customers
Up next, focus on expanding revenue with your existing accounts. Can you add more services or features? Can you find out what else they need help with and build that for them?
If you’re managing relationships with your top customers, you’ll often hear hints of what else they need help with and that can be your opportunity to step in and offer help.
Interview your best customers
Analyse their buying process. Find out:
- How did they find you?
- What caught their attention about your brand?
- Did they switch from different software? Why?
- What triggered them to go looking for a solution like yours?
- What influenced their decision to buy?
Create your ideal customer profile (ICP)
Your current top-spending customers can serve as inspirations for your ideal customer. Start to build a profile (or a few) that tells you their:
- Demographics: age, gender, location, marital status, education level, occupation
- Quick bio with their “backstory” to make them come to life in your mind
- Motivations
- Pain points
- Brands and influencers they follow
- Factors that influence their buying decision
- Which social platforms they hang out on
- Content types they prefer: Social media? Reading articles? Podcasts?
- Content themes and topics they devour
Map out your buyer journeys using a full-funnel approach
Lead generation alone isn’t going to work as well in this current landscape. It helps to see how lead generation feeds into an entire funnel that continues to pull your lead all the way through to “winning” that customer.
Here’s what we mean by a full-funnel approach:
- It starts with cohesive brand awareness. This is where your branding, messaging, and chosen marketing channels come into play.
- Demand generation: blogging, downloadable content, webinars, podcasts, videos, influencer marketing, PR, SEO
- Lead nurturing: email marketing
- Account-based marketing (ABM): your marketing and sales team both engage accounts that are a good fit for the brand
- Activation and onboarding
- Client success program
- Churn prevention, renewal, and revenue expansion
Collaborate with your sales team
Your marketing and sales team should both be aligned on the ICP, buyer journey, key programs, and metrics. You can even develop a playbook on how both teams will divide and conquer when it comes to the funnel:
- Marketing is in charge of brand awareness, brand generation, and lead nurturing.
- Both teams collaborate on ABM. For example, your marketing team can set up ads targeted to capture a specific customer list. And the sales team can proactively follow up with them. Both teams should also collaborate on successful onboarding.
- Your sales team owns your client success program, churn prevention, and revenue expansion.
Lastly, both teams should regularly meet to review your pipeline.
Final thoughts
Marketing on the internet is maturing and evolving. Lead generation alone is often not enough to secure a sale. It takes nurturing and a full-funnel approach to make your product a ‘hell yes’ for someone.
You need ads to fuel your growth. We’re experts at getting the job done.
With paid ads, you can access your target demographic right when they’re searching for a solution. That’s where we come in. We’ve helped brands like Uplisting, Spell, and Craft grow their revenue. Fill out this quick form and we’ll send you a free proposal. No meeting required!
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