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B2B Digital Marketing Blog

What Are The Qualities of Successful Marketing for B2B?

In general most marketers can rattle of a list of qualities that they think should be embodied when it comes to B2B marketing but what we’ll get to more specifically are the qualities of the executed marketing on specific channels.  Doing these things will set you up online for success!

 

The List of Successful B2B Marketing Qualities

We’re going to make this easy by literally creating a definitive list for you here:

 

Know Your Audience!

More specifically know details about that audience such as industry, company 7 job title

 

Write 2 to 4 Blog Posts per month

Not just write them but research the topics through SEO / Keyword research

 

Post 3 types of content on Social Media (Awareness, Consideration & Conversion

Most marketers get Awareness up, some post consideration focused message but few publish conversion based content, which is arguably the most important of the three.

 

Run Ads

To be clear we’re talking ads across all networks (Google, LinkedIn, Facebook)

 

Send Email

At least 1 to 2 times per month is fine to start and will keep you top of mind.  Send emails that round up your blogs, new products or promotions.

 

SEO

Good B2B Marketers are Good at SEO. And they employ it across all they do.

 

Measure Everything

Don’t get hung up on the extreme details, but do make sure you are tracking conversions and knowing what channels contributed to those conversions.

 

If you or your team can enlist all of these marketing qualities and get good at them, then you’ll be set up for success, generate more traffic, gain more leads and close more sales!

 

Call Us at 314-736-4434

Or Submit your information below

 

    No matter the size of your company, the products or services you offer or how long your company has been around, there is tons of competition out there, especially in the digital space. We often hear “There is no one out that offers what we do” or “My business is so unique we don’t have any competition.” While that isn’t necessarily an untrue statement, regardless of the companies or business out there in the same industry, there is and will always be other companies taking up digital real estate.

     

    Why All Competitors Matter Online

    You’re probably wondering why you should care if there is competition out there even if they don’t offer the same product or service as your company. Here’s why:

    • They are showing up in search engines for the terms your brand wants to be found for
    • They are providing the valuable content that your potential customers are needing at that point in time in their buyer’s journey.
    • They are putting ad spend behind valuable search terms and showing those that could be your customers, why they are the best

     

    Digital Competitive Analysis is Key

    When you look at your company’s position online and you realize you hardly show up for important search terms, or that you’re not providing anything valuable to potential visitors through downloadable assets or website content, it’s time to start looking at those that are taking up that space online; even those that don’t sell or offer exactly what your company does. By evaluating those companies online, you are taking the steps to truly increase your digital presence and get ahead of your competitors.

     

    Call Us at 314-736-4434

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      Companies in the Print Industry are DOING NOTHING Online. Why?

      This is the question everyone should be asking.

      We have been asking this question of many printers in the industry and the most common answers we get back always fall into two categories.

      1. Online Marketing Doesn’t Work For Our Print Company / Print Industry Company
      2. It’s Too Expensive and Takes Too Long to Get Results

       

      Online / Content Marketing Doesn’t Work for the Print Industry

      Not to sound too harsh, but this is just wrong!

      We work with a ton of companies in the Print Industry and it works for ALL of them.

      It really comes down to doing the marketing activities online that will actually produce results for you.  Yes, this sounds a little vague but below are a few details that ensure it works.

      • As long as you ARE Targeting a specific audience it works
      • As long as you ARE Optimizing your website & Google listing for search engines it works
      • As long as your site IS Optimized for conversions it works

       

      Even those details may be a little too vague, but you can read even more detail here: https://acumenstudio.com/print-industry-digital-marketing/

       

      It’s Too Expensive to Market Online

      I can tell you it’s much more expensive to NOT market online.

      You’re missing out on tons of opportunity and the second your competitors figure this out and start doing it you’re dead in the water.  *at least until you start doing it well yourself

       

      The problem really is with our Industry (Digital Marketing / Content Marketing).

      There are too many marketers and agencies that say they are the “Guru” of this or the “Expert” in that, but the truth is they just know how to market themselves.

      You MUST know the industry you are marketing for (Print in this case) and be good at the tactics of what you recommend (SEO, PPC, Social, Email and Analytics).

       

      If you’re hiring a marketer in-house or an agency ask them these things…

      • How well do you know SEO?
        • Can you show me an example, tell me how you did it and the results you got?
      • How well do you know PPC?
        • Can you show me an example, tell me how you did it and the results you got?
      • How well do you know Social Media & Paid Social Media (LinkedIn Ads and Facebook Ads)
        • Can you show me an example, tell me how you did it and the results you got?
      • How well do you know Google Analytics?
        • How have you used Analytics to solve a marketing problem?

       

      If you do these things then your online content marketing will work AND will cost less AND will get you More Leads & More Sales.

      You can read more about Digital Marketing & Content Marketing for Print Companies by Clicking Here.

       

      Call Us at 314-736-4434

      Or Submit your information below

       

        Let’s get right to it on this one!

         

        The Importance of Core Values to a Company

        We’ve all heard of core values and how they help to shape a company.  But why are they important and what are they really meant to do?

        Core values are meant to help align an organization as a whole and to help everyone achieve its mission.  When values are not established or unknown to the employees of the organization or company, it’s easy to start working towards different goals, have different intentions and thus produce different outcomes.

        Core values should help an organization to hire, fire and set the tone for the company culture.  Have you ever heard of the phrase, “your vibe attracts your tribe”? This phrase speaks to having solid core values and making them known not only to your employees but to your customers, and to the public.  The more you practice your core values the more like-minded individuals you will attract whether that be the next rockstar employee or the next loyal client/customer.

         

        Common Core Values found in Companies Across the United States

        Check out some of the most common core values among US companies below.

        • Integrity
        • Boldness
        • Honesty
        • Trust
        • Accountability

        What are your thoughts on this?

        What are some of the core values of your company? What are your personal core values?

         

        Call Us at 314-736-4434

        Or Submit your information below

         

          At this point you should already realize that social media isn’t just a place where friends and family connect, share photos and like posts.

          Social has become a repository of knowledge, similar to the search engines, but more affinity driven by relationships and trusted sources.

          If you want to know who to use for internet law, who can help you with an ESOP or what company is building quality apps, then social is a great place to get real feedback and reviews from people who have ACTUALLY used those services or know their work.

          A B2B Social Media Strategy

          Understanding how your target customers are using social media is key to gaining visibility, providing education to and engaging with these targets.

          1. Customers are asking their network for recommendations
          2. They are qualifying your company on social media
          3. These targets are educating themselves on your products & services

          Has Anyone Heard of this Company?

          A go to question asked by many business owners, executives, directors, buyers, managers, etc.
          This is very powerful.

          If an executive reaches out to their network asking for personal feedback on a company and one of their peers responds with good things to say, then you are on your way to landing new business.

          While not every business will get a personal recommendation, if you have been marketing yourself well, then someone will at least know of you and respond with something like “I’ve seen this company and they look like they know what they are doing.”.
          This is the next best thing, because you have built a small amount of social capital and trust with this target.

          This stage of discovery is very important and completes the infinite loop of growth through marketing, which you can see clearly in our content marketing funnel (which is more of an hourglass), where past customers become salesmen for your business.

          Who Are You Really?

          Once a customer has been made aware of your business, whether it was from a referral on social media or they got nothing on social and asked the wise search engine Google, they will absolutely look your company up on social media.
          Again this is a critical B2B Social Media step.

          While the majority of B2B product & services companies are served well on LinkedIn, it is important to understand that these same customer targets have social profiles on many platforms and will look to find you where they are at in the moment (this could be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest in addition to LinkedIn).
          Plus, you will have a more diverse result in the search engines with a cross-platform social media presence. More results, Knowledgegraph inclusions, image results, Twitter feed, etc.

          These customers will look to see if you are a legitimate business and size you up to see if you are a good fit.
          Questions like “Are they too big?”, “Are they too small?”, “Do they think like I think?”, and many more. This is where being clear on your own brand and business is important, because it will qualify buyers for you in a very efficient way, driving better leads into your sales funnel.

          At this point two main things will happen.
          A customer will contact you via phone, form submission or email (they will find this info on your social profiles, if you have built them out completely).
          Or the customer will educate themselves more on a specific product or service.

          How Will Your Product or Service Help Me?

          This is what most businesses think of as soon as they hear B2B Social Media or Social Media Strategy.
          And rightfully so, because it is so critical.

          Customers need to understand:

          • What problem you solve
          • What you sell / solution you provide
          • How it works
          • Why it fits their needs
          • Why you are better or different
          • Your process

          Social Media is a great place to get this clarifying, compelling and enlightening content in front of prospective buyers.
          These customers are comparing you to your competitors and the more you can educate them, the better chance you have of winning that business.

          While you will want this content to primarily live on your website, social is the channel you will distribute this educational material to ensure it gets seen and gets the buyer back to your site where you can convert them or reach back out and communicate in other ways.

          Types of B2B Content for Social Media

          • Blog Posts
          • Whitepapers
          • Ebooks
          • One Sheeters
          • Video
          • Infographics
          • Research Papers
          • Webinars
          • Case Studies
          • Podcasts

          Depending on your product or service the mix of B2B content types will differ and the tactical strategy for each channel can be tailored as well.

          B2B Social Media Research & Tactics

          As with any marketing you should conduct research to identify key information to that will guide the marketing efforts. B2B Social Media is no different.

          Our recommendation is to take the research beyond social as well by using Google search query data (the keywords) and pair it with social media research on your target customers social platforms, including the less thought about forums and groups such as Quora and LinkedIn groups.

          Creating an inventory of who your target prospects is very important and taking this even further by identifying the stakeholders in those companies and engaging with their personal accounts on social will drive massive results.

          This leads us to a few specific tactics that we recommend for a superior B2B Social Media Strategy.

          Following and engaging with the business accounts of your prospective customers, the individual accounts of the decision makers of those businesses and the same for your current customers will create much-needed visibility, awareness, affinity and trust with the organizations that you want to do business with.

          • Like, Comment & Share Posts
          • Favorite, Reply & Retweet
          • Like & Comment using Video

          This exposes you to the businesses you want to work with and gets your customers talking about you more, while at the same time you are indirectly getting in front of other potential customers who also engage with the same companies you are targeting.

          This works like a charm and very few businesses are doing this!

          You can learn more about our approach to social media here: https://acumenstudio.com/social-media-marketing-agency/

          How Do I Know If It’s Working?

          To be 100% Honest, this isn’t easy for most businesses.
          Tracking, monitoring, analyzing, measuring and reporting to identify an ROI on your B2B marketing and social media efforts takes using platforms that can help you measure impact, attribution, and sales.
          Most businesses are not equipped to do this (as are most marketers!).

          You will either need to educate yourself on using platform specific social media analytics, social media tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer, SproutSocial, etc. or hire an agency to help you with this.

          What we can tell you is that social media for B2B companies Pays Off BIG!

           

          Download a Social Media Case Study Below to Learn More

          Or, You can give us a call now at 866-357-7422 to talk.

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