The main complexities of the sphere and the principles of a competent business promotion strategy.

Companies in the field of B2B do not work with ordinary buyers, but with other companies – they sell industrial equipment, advise, and develop dealer networks. This type of business can be successfully promoted on the Internet, but there are pitfalls here. In the article, we will figure out what the difficulties of the sphere are and how we in “EasyClick Studio ” bypass them, building an Internet marketing strategy.

Difficulties of promotion in the field of B2B

Possible problems in promotion are associated with the peculiarities of the B2B sphere – the principles and conditions of doing business here are not the same as, for example, in an online retail store.
Why is it more difficult for B2B companies to promote on the Internet:

• They usually offer a specific product. Commercial equipment, security systems, financial audit – such goods and services are needed not by a wide audience, but by a very limited number of other companies (which, moreover, may be heterogeneous). To sell such a product, it is not enough just to set up contextual advertising and optimise the site. It is important to work on brand reputation, create expert content and build an information field around your product – all this will help the company gradually gain authority in its niche.

Example of a B2B product – Power Generators.

• Decisions are taken for a long time. The cycle of concluding a deal between companies is long: an agreement can be concluded only six months or even a year after the first contact. This is due to the fact that on the client’s side, the purchase decision is usually made not by one person, but by a chain of employees – from the secretary to the top management. During the “maturing” of the transaction, it is important to maintain contact with the potential client and not rely on a quick result.
• Instead of direct sales – deals with dealers. Many B2B companies do not do retail sales. On the one hand, it is easier for the company: there is no need to be torn between production and sales. But there are also difficulties, because the efficiency of work and the conscientiousness of dealers must be monitored. It is also more difficult for B2B companies without direct sales to build a website, web analytics and a promotion system in general.
• In the end, communication decides everything. Multimillion-dollar deals are not made blindly, based on the materials on the site. The client will definitely communicate with the manager, and this is the most important link in the sales chain. Therefore, in the field of B2B, it is especially important to control the quality of the work of sales managers.
• The goal of online promotion for B2B is not always sales. Sometimes it is worth focusing on something else: to make the brand recognisable, attract new dealers, announce a new product on the market, etc. Therefore, it is wrong to judge the effectiveness of Internet marketing for B2B only by the actual profit. Even with a small number of applications, the benefits of promotion for the company can be large.

Read How to attract more clients to your medical business

Features of Internet Marketing Strategy in B2B

A strategy is a comprehensive marketing plan for the near future, which is developed for a specific company.

• There is no separate way to draw up a strategy specifically for a B2B company; in any case, you will need to go through the standard steps:
• Conduct a market and demand audit;
• Analyze all aspects of the business – transaction cycle, product, geography of work, website and much more;
• Study the closest competitors;
• Determine the target audience and find places where it can be concentrated;
• Analyse all available advertising channels;
• Setting specific goals and making a plan – we have already talked about this in detail in our blog.

• The principles of working with dealers should be indicated in one of the sections of the site, if the openness of the conditions meets your policy.

• Segment the target audience: it is in B2B companies that it is most often heterogeneous. For example, a building materials manufacturing plant can sell bricks in bulk to individuals and at the same time cooperate with construction companies, architectural bureaus, and also build a network of dealers. If several different groups of consumers are interested in a product, each should be taken into account when promoting.
• Be sure to find out who the final consumer of the product is. End consumers are people who purchase goods from your dealers. They do not make a decision to buy from a supplier and may not know about it, but in product development, you need to focus specifically on their interests, expectations and needs.
• Find sites with target audience outside of search engines. This is especially important for the B2B sphere, because the product is most often specific and potential buyers are a rather narrow circle. Thematic groups in social networks, industry forums and portals, blogs and other communities can serve as gateways to the target audience.

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