The digital marketing world is very saturated nowadays. How many online advertising do you see in a single day? How many of them did you actually care about? If you’re like most people, the answer is pretty rare, and it’s even rarer to actually make a purchase.

So it is very important to always stay up to date with the newest trends and strategies to get ahead of the competitors. In this article, we will share some of the best marketing strategies and trends for B2B technology companies.

Let us begin.

Content and Inbound Marketing

Not only the digital world is very saturated, but many internet users are also now resisting disruptive promotions. Ever stumbled upon an unskippable ad in the middle of enjoying a YouTube video? Unless the ad creative is really, really interesting, many of us will resent the brand in the ad instead.

To address that fact, many consultants like Mike who offer SEO services for SaaS, software and IT companies, have now moved towards inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is, in essence, publishing valuable, relevant content so that your prospects are the ones coming to you when they are searching for information.

So, the center of inbound marketing is content. Yet, we should also remember that there are hundreds, if not thousands of contents being published every day, even in the B2B technology market alone. With that being said, we should have a clear content marketing strategy to get ahead.

Here are some of  the key principles of a successful content marketing strategy:

Identify the Needs of Your Audience

The first, and arguably the most important step of content marketing is to figure out your target audience. You’ll need to truly understand their needs, their problems, their online behavior, and you should be able to answer those needs by giving informative solutions.

Also, in a B2B environment, you might need to publish different content to target all the different stakeholders in your target company. Know each role, each specific problem, goals, and motivations. The better you can personalize your content, the more effective they will be.

Tell A Great Story

We all love great stories. Even if the contents are informative and highly technical, doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from good storytelling. Make sure the content flows properly, and you can use entertaining elements like success stories to enhance the content.

Centralize Your Content

While you can use many different distribution channels, make sure you have a centralized digital experience where people can find your content. The easiest way to do this is to have a blog on your site, or you can create “resources” or similar page to store all your content. Make sure it’s easy to navigate and not too cluttered.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to get your voice heard in the saturated digital world. The idea is fairly simple: an influencer already has their own loyal followers, and they can promote your products and/or contents with less resistance compared to an advertisement.

Yet, customers, especially younger ones are getting smarter. They can -and will- recognize when a major influencer is paid to promote a product (sometimes, even the influencer will mention that this is a paid promotion to maintain their credibility). So, we should plan our influencer marketing campaign carefully.

There are the key main areas to focus on here:

Building Your Credibility

The influencers of B2B industries are generally pickier than their B2C counterparts. More often than not, you will need to be a respected expert in your respective niche/industry before you can cooperate with them. One of the best ways to establish a reputation is to regularly publish high-quality content, which we have covered in the previous step.

Finding The Right Influencers

The best way to determine which influencers are right for you is to use your customer’s point of view, and you should target the influencers your audience can identify. Connect with your existing customers as well as prospects on social media and other channels, and see which influencers they are following. You might also want to check groups and message boards.

Building Relationships

Arguably, this is the hardest part. Even after you’ve found the target influencers and have built your credibility, you will need to slowly build a relationship with them. Sometimes, a personalized email is all it takes, yet it’s not always that simple. Connect with your influencers across the channels where they are active. Join the conversation by contributing answers or even asking interesting questions. Comment on, or even link their interesting contents. Check out this guide by Shane Barker that might help you further. 

Increasing Customer Retention

InB2B technology industry, especially for SAAS companies, improving customer retention can be more important than acquiring new customers. The market size in the B2B tech industry is often fairly small, and the value of a single existing customer can be very high. So, if you can keep your customers from churning, you can maintain growth.

Here are some ideas that can help you in this aspect:

Nurturing Programs

Keep existing customers in the loop. Offer them relevant content that might improve their experience with your product. Send them email newsletters, and sometimes even a happy birthday greeting is enough to keep them happy.

Encourage Customer Community

One of the best ways to keep your customers engaged is to encourage them to talk with each other. Build a forum, message board, or other community features where they can interact. Avoid getting in the way of the conversation.

Customer Service Excellence

Nothing shows how you care about your existing customers than giving your absolute best support service. This is especially true if you are a subscription-based business.

Conclusion

For a B2B technology company, there are two key marketing objectives to focus on: lead generation and increasing retention. The three tips we have shared above are focused on those areas, and the balance between them.

There are certainly other marketing strategies, tactics, and services that can be effective in a B2B tech environment. The key here is to always monitor your progress: measure the right metrics according to your KPIs, and adjust your strategy whenever necessary.

Digital Marketing Strategies for B2B Technology Companies

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