5 Ways To Optimize Your B2B Sales Using Explainer Videos
With an almost-endless choice, today’s prospects have become pickier than ever. This means one thing for marketers: it’s a battle for them to win attention and make more prospects convert into buyers.
For B2B marketing, all those bulky paragraphs in product descriptions now seem like a reading chore for the prospect. The key to catching more eyeballs and optimizing the sale in this saturated marketplace is to provide potential buyers with something that is straightforward and illustrative. That's why explainer videos rise above the clutter.
Let’s see how to use explainer videos so you can sell your product or service better.
Why Explainer Videos for Optimizing B2B Sales?
If you’re looking to see conversion rates rise and sales go up, you’ve got to get more prospects to watch your explainer videos. But you have a question: what makes explainer videos so important for increasing sales in the first place?
First, people are more visual than ever, including B2B prospects. Visual content is more likely to be shared and remembered. Explainer videos are well-known for their storytelling visuals that can increase viewers’ retention.
Second, you can use explainer videos to tell a complete story about your brand and product than you can with written content alone.
At their core, these videos are a combination of marketing and storytelling. Marketers use them not only to convey information about their products and services but also to bring those products to life for potential buyers.
How to Use Explainer Videos for Optimizing B2B Sales
Now that we understand why explainer videos are a worth-considering tool when it comes to optimizing sales, let’s break down how you can utilize them right.
Tip #1. Use Story-Driven Narratives
Explainer videos aren’t just good for your SEO but also effective sales tools. However, they also double as storytelling tools. The most successful explainer video campaigns use this narrative structure to help prospects understand the problem, what the product or service is all about, and the benefits they can receive from it.
Planning the storyline of the explainer video begins with the question: “Who is actually the prospect?” It’s crucial to understand the type of person you’re trying to sell to because it will help you determine their pain points, buy decision process, and what they want out of their solution.
Understanding your prospects’ needs and wants is critical to creating a successful product or service. This also enables you to create a successful video by using story-driven narratives to engage viewers and close more sales.
Tip #2. Add Animation
Explainer videos go hand-in-hand with animations. Many viral explainer videos use animation to deliver messages to the prospect. Take the popular Dropbox or Crazy Egg explainer videos, for example.
After all, the animation is a powerful way to illustrate your point in almost any type of sales video. It can help you to illustrate anything– even concepts that you can’t capture with real-life cameras.
Well-produced animations also do a great job at making the whole complex explanations much easier to follow.
Tip #3. Make It Short and Sweet
Long videos are viewed as a nuisance. Online users now expect video content to be short and concise. The shorter your video, the more likely it is to be watched. And explainer videos are well-known for their capability in breaking down a complex topic in a short amount of time.
The sweet spot for an explainer video is 2-minute. But, it actually all depends on the message and platform you use. For instance, if you use Instagram Reels for your social media explainer video, then it’s better to keep it under one minute– as it only takes a second for the user to scroll through it.
There are many cases of short videos actually outperforming long videos. Most importantly, your video should be short and sweet by having a focused message.
Moreover if you want to put it on your marketplace. Beside adding an additional loyalty rewards app, you don’t want to overwhelm your prospects with too much information at once. You can also use it as social proof.
Tip #4. Choose the Right Platform
The right video platform can mean the difference between a video that drives sales and one that languishes in obscurity.
Social media platforms might seem like straightforward platforms for businesses with a tight budget. They’re quick and easy to use, making them more accessible for businesses of all sizes. But, when you’re looking for more exposure and advanced features, you can consider using video-hosting services designed for marketing like Wistia, Vidyard, Basecamp, etc.
Most video-hosting services now allow you to create a professional-looking video without creating it from scratch. Some even offer simplicity in the form of creating a storyboard or a script. You’ll want to research which hosting service is best for your brand and goals.
Tip #5. One Explainer Video for One Goal
There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all explainer videos. When you cram too many goals into one single explainer video, chances are you’re going to overwhelm the viewer and dilute the core message.
That’s why the last thing you want is to create an explainer video that drags on and talks about a bunch of different things.
So, you don’t want your video to be a sales pitch, and a feature list rolled into one. Your video should be laser-focused on achieving one goal, one message, and one core takeaway. This will ensure that you don’t lose your prospects’ attention. It will also help you stay on track and keep your video relatively brief.
For example, if you’re creating an explainer product video for an eCommerce product, your goal could be to drive more paid conversions. Or, if you’re creating a video for a B2B product, you could focus on increasing the number of qualified leads in your sales funnel.
Over to You
Explainer videos were once a nice-to-have marketing tool. Now they have become a must-have– as today’s potential buyers demand a straightforward medium that can explain complex topics to them in a matter of minutes.
By all means, if you aim to make your B2B business stand out and stay relevant in the sea of the content of the digital world, then you might start creating one today.
Author

Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
Twitter: @breadnbeyond
Email: andre@breadnbeyond.com
LinkedIn: Andre Oentoro
Omnichannel Automation in B2B Marketing – A Game Changer
Have you ever wondered why some B2B marketing campaigns seem to just miss the mark, while others seem to hit it out of the park? The answer could lie in the use of omnichannel automation. But what exactly is omnichannel automation, and how does it differ from omnichannel marketing?
Let me ask you this: have you ever had a fragmented customer experience, where one interaction with a brand was completely different from another? This is where omnichannel marketing comes in. It's a strategy that aims to create a seamless and consistent customer experience across multiple channels.
Now, add technology to the mix and you have omnichannel automation. This tool helps businesses automate and streamline the marketing process, allowing marketers to better manage customer data, personalize interactions, and focus on creating impactful campaigns.
But you may wonder, how can this approach drive better results for B2B marketers? In this blog, we'll dive into the evolution of B2B marketing and the rise of omnichannel automation. We'll explore the primary benefits, such as improved customer interaction, higher lead generation and conversion rates, tailored customer experiences, and better customer data management. And we'll discuss best practices for using omnichannel automation in B2B marketing. Are you ready to take your B2B marketing to the next level?
Let 's get started!
Defining Omnichannel Automation – The Game Changer
Omnichannel automation is a marketing approach that leverages technology to deliver personalized, consistent, and seamless experiences across multiple customer touchpoints, such as email, social media, website, and more. It automates repetitive and time-consuming tasks, freeing up marketers to focus on strategic and impactful campaigns.
Omnichannel automation works by using technology to collect and manage customer data, personalize marketing messages, and automate repetitive tasks such as email campaigns, social media posts, and lead nurturing. This allows marketers to focus on creating and delivering more strategic and impactful marketing campaigns, while also delivering consistent and personalized experiences to customers across multiple channels.
In today's rapidly changing business landscape, B2B marketers are facing the challenge of reaching and engaging their target audience in meaningful and impactful ways. Omnichannel automation provides a solution to this challenge by enabling B2B marketers to deliver consistent and personalized experiences across multiple channels. By automating repetitive tasks, marketers can focus on creating and delivering more strategic campaigns that drive results.
The Evolution of B2B Marketing
B2B marketing has evolved significantly over the years, and today's business landscape is vastly different from what it was just a few years ago. As a result, the way B2B marketers approach their target audience has also evolved. In this section, we will explore the evolution of B2B marketing, starting with traditional approaches and moving towards the omnichannel approach that is prevalent today. By understanding the evolution of B2B marketing, we can see how technology and changes in customer behavior have driven this transformation and why omnichannel marketing is crucial in today's business landscape.
- Traditional B2B Marketing Approaches: Historically, B2B marketers relied on traditional marketing methods such as trade shows, direct mail, and print advertising to reach their target audience. These methods were effective in their time, but as the business landscape changed, so did the needs and preferences of B2B customers.
- The Shift towards Omnichannel Marketing: With the rise of digital technologies and the increasing importance of customer experience, B2B marketers have shifted towards omnichannel marketing. This approach recognizes that B2B customers engage with brands across multiple channels and seeks to deliver consistent and personalized experiences across all touchpoints.
- The Benefits of Omnichannel Marketing in B2B: The benefits of omnichannel marketing in B2B are many, including increased customer engagement, improved lead generation and conversion rates, and better customer data management. By delivering consistent and personalized experiences across multiple channels, B2B marketers can build stronger relationships with their target audience and drive better results.
Key Features of Omnichannel Automation
Some key features of omnichannel automation include:
- Personalization: Personalization is a key feature of omnichannel automation as it allows businesses to deliver individualized experiences to each customer based on their behavior and preferences. This can range from customizing the content of marketing emails, to suggesting products based on previous purchases, to providing personalized support based on a customer's past interactions. Personalization helps build stronger customer relationships and increase engagement and conversions.
- Seamless Integration: Seamless integration is crucial for an omnichannel strategy as it ensures a consistent experience for customers across all touchpoints. Omnichannel automation helps integrate different channels and systems, such as email, social media, website, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, allowing for a smooth and seamless customer experience. This integration helps to avoid any confusion or frustration for the customer, making their experience with the brand more enjoyable.
- Data Management: Data management is another important aspect of omnichannel automation. With the ability to collect and manage customer data in one centralized location, businesses can gain a complete view of their customer's behavior and preferences. This allows for more targeted and effective marketing campaigns, as well as a better understanding of customer behavior.
- Automation: Automation is a major benefit of omnichannel automation as it can save time and resources by automating repetitive tasks. For example, automated email campaigns, social media posts, and customer segmentation can be set up and managed without manual intervention. This allows marketers to focus on more strategic and impactful campaigns, while the automation handles the more routine tasks.
- Reporting and Analytics: Finally, reporting and analytics is an important feature of omnichannel automation as it allows businesses to track the performance of their marketing campaigns. This data can then be analyzed to make data-driven decisions and optimize the approach. Reporting and analytics help businesses understand the effectiveness of their campaigns, what works, what doesn't, and what can be improved, which in turn can help improve overall marketing performance and customer satisfaction.
The Benefits of Omnichannel Automation in B2B Marketing
In today's competitive business landscape, delivering a seamless and personalized customer experience across multiple channels is crucial for success. This is where omnichannel automation comes into play, offering numerous benefits to B2B marketers. In this section, we will explore the key benefits of omnichannel automation in B2B marketing, including increased customer engagement, improved lead generation and conversion rates, personalized customer experiences, and better customer data management. These benefits demonstrate how omnichannel automation can revolutionize B2B marketing and drive better results for businesses.
- Increased Customer Engagement: Omnichannel automation allows B2B marketers to deliver consistent and personalized experiences to their target audience, leading to increased customer engagement. By leveraging customer data and automating repetitive tasks, B2B marketers can create more impactful and strategic marketing campaigns that resonate with their target audience.
- Improved Lead Generation and Conversion Rates: By delivering personalized and consistent experiences across multiple channels, B2B marketers can improve lead generation and conversion rates. Omnichannel automation allows marketers to target the right people with the right message, at the right time, leading to increased conversions and better results.
- Personalized Customer Experiences: Omnichannel automation enables B2B marketers to personalize customer experiences based on customer data and behavior. This leads to more relevant and impactful marketing campaigns that resonate with customers and drive better results.
- Better Customer Data Management: With omnichannel automation, customer data is collected and managed in one centralized location, allowing B2B marketers to have a comprehensive view of their target audience. This enables them to make data-driven decisions, personalize marketing campaigns, and deliver consistent experiences across all touchpoints. Additionally, omnichannel automation makes it easier to segment and target specific customer groups, leading to more efficient and effective marketing efforts.
Best Practices for Implementing Omnichannel Automation in B2B Marketing
Implementing omnichannel automation in B2B marketing can be a game-changer for businesses looking to improve customer engagement, lead generation, and conversion rates. However, to ensure success, it's important to follow best practices when implementing omnichannel automation. In this section, we'll cover key best practices, including understanding your target audience, developing a customer-centric strategy, integrating omnichannel automation into your marketing mix, and measuring and analyzing your results. By following these best practices, you can maximize the benefits of omnichannel automation and drive better results for your B2B marketing efforts.
- Understanding Your Target Audience: To effectively implement omnichannel automation in B2B marketing, it's important to have a deep understanding of your target audience. This includes their behavior, preferences, and the channels they use to engage with your business. By understanding your target audience, you can tailor your marketing campaigns and personalize your customer experiences.
- Developing a Customer-Centric Strategy: A customer-centric strategy is at the heart of omnichannel automation. By focusing on the needs and preferences of your customers, you can deliver more impactful and personalized marketing campaigns. This includes developing a clear understanding of the customer journey, segmenting your target audience, and tailoring your marketing messages to meet their needs.
- Integrating Omnichannel Automation into Your Marketing Mix: Omnichannel automation should be integrated into your overall marketing mix, not used in isolation. This means leveraging omnichannel automation to support your overall marketing strategy and goals, rather than relying on it as a standalone solution. This includes integrating omnichannel automation into your lead generation, lead nurturing, and conversion optimization efforts.
- Measuring and Analyzing Your Results: Omnichannel automation should be continuously optimized based on data and analytics. This means regularly measuring and analyzing your results to determine what is working and what can be improved. By leveraging data and analytics, you can make data-driven decisions, optimize your marketing campaigns, and drive better results for your business.
Wrapping It Up
In conclusion, the integration of omnichannel automation in B2B marketing is a game-changer. With its ability to deliver personalized experiences, seamless integration, effective data management, automation of repetitive tasks, and detailed reporting and analytics, B2B marketers can achieve improved results and a competitive edge. By embracing this technology, businesses can stay ahead of the curve and be well-positioned for success in the future. So, don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to take your B2B marketing to the next level with omnichannel automation. The future is here, and it's omnichannel!
Author’s Bio:
Purbali Sarmah is a versatile content writer with over three years of experience in the field. Her expertise spans both B2B and B2C domains, with a particular interest in the marketing world, technology, travel, and fashion. With a keen eye for detail and a creative spirit, she believes in crafting compelling content that captures the attention of her readers. She has had a passion for writing from an early age. She developed her writing talents and found her voice as a writer by growing up as a native Assamese and contributing to several regional newspapers and journals.
Aside from her professional life, Purbali is deeply committed to making a difference in the world through social work. She strongly believes in spreading happiness and works tirelessly to bring a smile to those in need. Whether she is listening to music or creating a few lines of poetry, she is always finding new and innovative ways to bring happiness to those around her. She holds a post-graduate degree in mass communication and journalism and is currently working as a content writer at Valasys Media. Purbali is a driven and dedicated content writer who is passionate about her craft and the impact she can have on the world.
Achieving Success Through a Strategic B2B SEO Launch
In today's digital age, businesses must have a solid search engine optimization (SEO) strategy in order to remain competitive and capitalize on the power of the internet.
In the Business-to-Business (B2B) space, mastering SEO tactics is essential for success in a crowded market. Over the years, Google’s algorithm has become increasingly complex, and it’s important to stay on top of the current trends and best practices. For businesses that don't take the necessary steps to optimize their SEO, they are missing out on a huge opportunity for growth.
With the right approach, a B2B business can launch an effective SEO campaign that drives traffic to its website and generates leads on autopilot.
Understanding The Importance of B2B SEO
B2B SEO is essential for businesses of all sizes, from small to international organizations. Having a successful search engine optimization campaign can be the difference between success and failure in this highly competitive digital landscape. Utilizing powerful tactics such as link building and keyword targeting can help companies stand out from their competitors and drive more visibility among potential customers.
Moreover, modern SEO strategies such as voice search optimization are becoming increasingly important for businesses aiming to capitalize on local markets or reach customers through devices such as Alexa or Google Home. Without taking advantage of these new opportunities, businesses risk losing out on potential leads that are actively searching for them online. As a result, an effective B2B SEO launch should take into account both traditional and modern techniques to ensure maximum visibility across the desired marketplaces.
Ultimately, the importance of B2B SEO cannot be overstated in today’s game-changing digital environment. Companies need to embrace strategic tactics if they want to increase their rankings and reach more potential customers - something that can drastically increase their overall success. An effective launch plan considers both traditional and modern approaches, enabling companies to get the most out of their search engine optimization efforts and stay ahead of their competition.
Research & Strategy Development
Effective B2B SEO strategies require research and planning to ensure maximum visibility in desired target markets. To begin, organizations should identify relevant target markets and conduct competitor analysis to understand the competitive landscape.
From there, businesses should create an optimized SEO strategy by analyzing existing B2B marketing materials and assessing the existing content for optimization opportunities. This step is crucial for creating an effective keyword research plan that will maximize visibility among desired audiences.
Careful consideration must be taken to ensure all keywords are relevant, targeted, and have the potential to drive website visits and customer engagement. By researching competitor tactics and leveraging the right tools to craft a comprehensive SEO strategy, businesses can set themselves up for success in the B2B space.
Optimizing Content & Infrastructure
Optimizing your web content for B2B SEO is essential for achieving success. Organizations should conduct a website audit to identify areas of improvement within their B2B sector. Existing web pages should be optimized with content, images, and metadata optimization techniques specifically tailored to B2B audiences. New web pages may need to be created in order to enhance visibility and usability for businesses.
Broadcasting social media accounts is an effective tactic for boosting awareness among B2B customers, leading to more organic website visits. By embracing an all-inclusive strategy when optimizing content and infrastructure, businesses can maximize the impact of their B2B SEO launch.
Meta structure is another important consideration for B2B SEO campaigns. Adding structured data to pages can help search engines accurately index the content and rank it more appropriately in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is especially important for larger businesses with a wide range of products or services that need to be properly indexed. For example, using schema markup to indicate the availability and price of products along with other relevant information can help search engines better serve customers searching for that type of product.
Testing & Evaluation
Implementing a strategic B2B SEO plan is essential for businesses looking to succeed in the digital era.
Testing, evaluating, and adjusting your plan over time will allow you to take full advantage of all its potential benefits. By monitoring analytics and testing various methods of optimization and assessment targeting a business audience, key performance indicators can be tracked, and content can be optimized for keyword searches to increasing visibility.
Once you have the results of your tests, it’s important to analyze them carefully. Identify areas of improvement and consider making changes to improve the effectiveness of your B2B SEO plan.
Taking advantage of lead tracking capabilities can help you better understand how visitors interact with your website and which keywords they used to get there. By combining analytics with user feedback, you can refine and create strategies that will help you take full advantage of any opportunities available in the market.
Businesses can reap huge rewards from their B2B SEO efforts by taking a proactive approach to monitoring and testing. Successful implementation requires dedication and focus on outcomes, but with effort, patience, and planning, a business can easily reap the benefits of this powerful tool.
Choosing The Right Paid Advertising Channels
Paid advertising channels are an important component of any successful B2B SEO strategy. When it comes to selecting the right paid advertising channels, businesses need to consider factors such as cost-effectiveness, audience reach, and brand relevance. The most popular channels for B2B marketing include search engines (like Google Adwords), social media platforms (like LinkedIn Ads), and other display networks.
Google Adwords is a powerful tool for reaching potential customers and driving traffic to your website quickly. It allows you to target users based on keywords they're searching for or their demographic information. LinkedIn Ads is another great platform for targeting an audience specific to the B2B market. You can create ads that appear in targeted users' homepage feed or targeted networking posts they are likely to engage with.
Another great option for B2B paid to advertise is to leverage retargeting ads. Retargeting ads allow you to show your ad to an audience who has already visited your website and show them more products or services they may not have noticed on their first visit. This ensures that businesses are reaching the right people with the right message instead of wasting money on ads that people may not be interested in.
It's important to remember that experimentation is key when it comes to paid advertising channels. Every company has different goals, audiences, and budgets, so testing different strategies will help you determine which ones work best for you. Take the time to analyze how each channel is performing and adjust your strategy accordingly to get better results and make the most of your advertising budget.
Take Action and Reach Your B2B SEO Goals
B2B SEO is a powerful tool for businesses looking to succeed in the digital era. With careful strategy, testing and evaluation, optimization of content and infrastructure, as well as the selection of the right paid advertising channels, B2B companies can maximize their reach among target audiences and drive website visits organically. Now that you understand the basics behind successful B2B search engine optimization campaigns, it's time to take action and start reaching your goals!
----------------Author Bio Below

Jason Khoo started freelancing in SEO back in college, sold his first agency, and now is founder of Zupo, which is an Orange County based SEO consulting agency helping construct powerful long term SEO strategies for our clients. Jason also enjoys multiple cups of tea a day, hiding away on weekends, catching up on reading, and rewatching The Simpsons for the 20th time.
How to Build a B2B Marketing and Sales Funnel That Grows Your ROI
One of the main reasons for a business to take off is good marketing. A B2B sales and marketing funnel are one of the most important aspects of developing a successful marketing strategy and it can be used by both SMBs & large businesses. If you are in business, you need to have a marketing and sales funnel. It is the lifeblood of your business and it makes your customer relationships sustainable.
Here are the steps to create your B2B sales funnel and marketing funnel, which helps to grow your business.
How to Build a B2B Sales Funnel?
Building an effective sales funnel isn’t easy, especially if you want it to be effective. But it’s not impossible. Despite the complexity of the process, building your own sales funnel can help grow your business and bring with it many benefits that automation just won’t provide.
Sales Funnel to raise your customers
A sales funnel is a way to get your visitors through the conversion process, step by step. You can use a sales funnel for customer service or get emails in your marketing strategy. The main goal of a sales funnel is to educate customers, ultimately converting them into paying customers
The sales funnel attracts customers
A sales funnel is a tool used to attract visitors and convert them into leads, customers, and repeat buyers. The process starts with an offer or content at the top of a funnel, which you hope will appeal to as many people as possible. As visitors come in, you filter out those who are not interested in adding additional steps in your funnel. Those who make it to the end are your best customers who have shown interest in what you offer, making them more valuable than random visitors
4 stages to building your sales funnel
To sell your product or service online, you need a sales funnel. The sales funnel is the backbone of an effective digital marketing strategy that can be used to generate leads, build your brand and ultimately, make more money. In this post, I walk you through how to build a sales funnel and create actionable goals that can help you achieve long-term success with your business.

Awareness Stage
The first stage of the B2B sales funnel is the awareness stage. In this stage, prospects receive information about your company through public channels—such as social media posts and articles. This helps you build a list of people who may be interested in what you're selling and in some cases leads to qualified sales opportunities.
During the awareness stage of the B2B sales funnel, you introduce your business and its offerings to new potential clients. You'll set up a lead capture form on your website and send it out to people who are interested in your products or services, as well as publish articles that promote your expertise as a small business owner.
Interest Stage
The second stage in the B2B sales funnel is the Interest Stage. This is when your leads have expressed interest in learning more about your product or service. It’s where you convert your prospects from people who know about your product or service to those who are interested in buying it. The content sent during this stage should be focused on educating potential buyers about their pain points and how your product can help them overcome them.
The Interest Stage is all about building relationships, educating your prospects on how you can help them, and creating the desire for the product. You accomplish this by providing free educational materials like ebooks, videos, and webinars that talk about all of the benefits of using your product, who it's for, and why it's better than anything else out there.
Consideration stage
The third stage of the B2B sales funnel is the Consideration Stage. This stage focuses on building interest and continuing to move forward with your contact towards a sale. Think of it as a research phase, where you could help your buyer understand their options.
At this stage, the buyer is seriously considering a purchase but may be shopping around to compare prices and features. Your job at this stage is to encourage them to make a purchase. The primary goal of your messaging during the Consideration Stage should be to educate the buyer on what they'll get when they buy from you.
The goal of the third stage is to advance awareness and consideration for your product or service. This is where you will begin to see a slowing in the lead flow, but not a complete absence. If you have been following our advice from previous articles regarding nurturing opportunities, you should have a healthy list of leads to work with at this stage.
Decision stage
The Decision Stage is the final part of the B2B sales funnel. This is where you close the deal, whether it’s signing on a new customer or upgrading an existing one. The decision stage is when you are ready to ask for the sale. This stage requires a certain amount of planning and thought, as it’s where you close the deal by getting them to actually say yes or no to your offer.
How to Build a B2B Marketing Funnel?
In today's digital world, attracting the right target audience and converting them into leads is key to a successful business. The marketing funnel provides an overview of your conversion strategy.
The B2B Marketing Funnel allows you to measure sales, revenue, and leads generated from your website. Get answers to all your questions about what is working or not working on your website.
Building a B2B marketing funnel is easier than you think. This article will dive into the different components, how to optimize each step for your lead generation goals, and more.
Steps to building a B2B Marketing funnel
The Ultimate B2B Marketing Funnel is the first and most comprehensive guide for developing a marketing funnel for your product or service. Follow these steps to create a highly profitable B2B Marketing funnel.
Step 1:
The first step in building a B2B marketing funnel is to open a blank spreadsheet or a google sheet and apply the below stages on each of the columns as done before.

Step 2:
The next step in this marketing funnel is to document the high-level objectives for every stage of the funnel.
However, there are some basic goals that many businesses will have. One goal may be to move leads through the funnel and towards conversion. Another might be to generate interest in your product or service. A third might be to increase positive sentiment within your niche market.

Step 3:
The next step in the queue is to determine the KPIs for every stage to estimate your company's success/failure.

Step 4:
Likewise, document your target content ideas, email sequences, and SEO keywords for the various funnel phases (where appropriate)

The above is just a model template to reveal how you'll go about building your B2B marketing funnel. From starting an online grocery business to any kind of business the above sales funnel and marketing will guide you to reach the right target audience with an increased ROI. Don’t forget to make sure that you’re using the right tools and tactics to create a solid foundation for your business, so that when you do begin your campaign, everything runs seamlessly.
5 B2B Benefits of Content Marketing
Why has the topic of content marketing become so intrusive in the B2B market? It’s simply because this type of marketing has plenty to offer to businesses in general, including those targeting other businesses. In the sections that follow, we will define content marketing, especially compared to traditional marketing and B2C content marketing, and provide five reasons you should consider developing your own content marketing strategy.
What Is B2B Content Marketing?
To put it simply, B2B content marketing is the production of content for the purpose of increasing sales. How is that different from traditional marketing?
A standard ad interrupts the prospect in what they’re doing and tries to convince them to take an action right then and there. Content produced for content marketing purposes is of the type prospects themselves search for. It’s also not aimed at making a sale, at least not directly. Instead it works toward:
- Expanding your audience
- Raising awareness of your business
- Engaging your prospects
Differences Between B2B and B2C Content Marketing
It’s true that B2B and B2C content marketing have a shared goal - to engage prospects with the purpose of driving sales. However, that’s where the similarities end. It’s simply because these two markets differ in three major aspects.
Purchasing journey
The purchasing journeys of individuals and businesses couldn’t be less alike. While an individual sometimes makes impulsive decisions and is driven only by their own needs and preferences, a business usually:
- Takes longer to reach a decision
- Is driven by data
- Has multiple stakeholders involved in the process
To illustrate the point, according to Gartner, the typical purchasing journey of a business looking for a solution to a problem involves six to 10 different decision makers.
This is exactly why successful B2B companies make sure their content is data driven and distributed across multiple channels.
Target personas
It could be said that B2C content marketing is simpler in terms of target personas as well. When you’re marketing your product or service to an individual, that person is both the buyer and the end user.
Of course, this is not the case with businesses. In a company setting, the person who will use a business solution is typically not the person in charge of selecting and buying it.
This is why successful B2B content marketing involves creating at least two different target personas, one for the buyer and one for the end user.
Main content
What type of content you choose to serve your prospects should depend on what drives them. When it comes to B2B and B2C audiences, there are more differences than similarities.
While individuals are typically driven by emotion and engagement, in a company setting it is thought leadership that plays an important role. In fact, as shown in the LinkedIn-Edelman report, 54 percent of decision makers spend at least one hour each week reading thought-leadership content.
This is exactly why strategic B2B content marketing focuses more on white papers, case studies and product guides than emotionally charged videos, for example.
Why Is Content Marketing Important for B2B Businesses?
The ultimate goal of any business is to increase sales. The B2B market in particular is witnessing three major obstacles to achieving this, all of which are at least partially eliminated through strategic content marketing efforts.
The B2B market is more competitive than ever
According to Accenture, customer experience has become more important than ever. In 2019, a staggering one-third of B2B decision makers worldwide said they had higher expectations of their experience compared to the previous year.
Not all your prospects are aware they have a problem
Inefficient processes and unaddressed issues can stomp the growth of any business, regardless of the quality of its product or service. However, there are few businesses out there that are aware of all their problems.
Even your clients and partners need to be incentivized
The work of a B2B business is not done even after sealing the deal. There is no guarantee that your clients will want to renew their contracts or that your partners won’t stop selling your products. These types of relationships are especially fragile during the partner onboarding process, when providing training resources and encouraging communication are vital to the success of the endeavor.
5 B2B Benefits of Content Marketing
A successful content marketing strategy can have a positive impact on virtually all performance aspects. However, there are five benefits that are especially important for B2B businesses.
Increases your visibility
Producing your own content significantly increases your online visibility. This is especially important considering the data gathered by DemandGen. It shows that 42 percent of B2B decision makers consume from three to five pieces of content before moving on to engaging a salesperson.
What does this mean? You should find out which channels your prospects prefer and start using them to distribute your content.
Helps you establish authority
When you’re the one producing and publishing content, you automatically appear more authoritative in the eyes of your audience. It’s the first step to becoming a thought leader in your industry. A good place to start would be to produce a white paper on a topic you believe would interest your prospects.
Paves the path to market domination
Did you know that 71 percent of commercial buyers start their purchasing journey by doing a generic Google search? This means that you could achieve market domination simply by targeting the right keywords. However, a quality SEO strategy is much easier to execute when it’s part of an overarching content marketing strategy.
Gets more prospects into your funnel
Traditional marketing can be immensely effective, but it has its limits. A Google ad, however masterfully crafted, will only grab the attention of late-stage buyers. Prospects who aren’t even aware of their problems or are still in the research phase simply won’t engage.
This is why you should create content for all three stages of the purchasing journey. According to the DemandGen report, 81 percent of early-stage buyers prefer listicles, 50 percent of mid-stage buyers want webinars, and 39 percent of late-stage buyers are interested in case studies.
Increases your conversion rates
Of course, the biggest benefit of content marketing for your B2B business is its impact on your conversion rates. It gets you the attention of a larger percentage of prospects and moves them through your funnel with greater speed and ease. This is why you should make sure to:
- Produce content
- Make it as relevant as possible
- Address all your reader’s pain points
- Show them why your offer is the solution to their problem
- Use quality internal linking to direct them to your sales pages
Conclusion
The B2B market is a competitive one. To make sure your business is the one that gets chosen by your prospects, you need to work harder at grabbing their attention and providing them with the best possible customer experience. Content marketing is the most sustainable and effective way of achieving such results. It could even be argued that, in the B2B market, there can be no true success without it.
6 Powerful B2B Marketing Strategies That Will Boost Your Sales
Business to business (B2B) marketing, as defined by most google search results, is the process of selling products from one business to another. It may sound as simple as its general definition, but there's more to B2B than you think.
In B2B marketing, you categorize businesses that are highly likely to buy from you, then create campaigns and strategies that will trigger a demand among the category of business recognized as your target market. Since buyers in B2B are also businesses, they are fewer in number with higher value orders in larger quantities. Sellers involved in B2B transactions must have a more fortified salesforce to convince other businesses that they can solve their problems with the products they offer.
Now that we have a more accurate idea of what B2B marketing is, how do businesses sell in B2B transactions? Here we have listed six powerful B2B marketing strategies that can boost your sales:
- Create a Marketing Plan And Be Strategic
The most vital step in marketing before anything else is to map out a strategic marketing plan. Successful marketing doesn't happen overnight. You will have to research more to ensure your legion efforts will generate leads and convert to sales.
The next most important strategy in marketing is creating a marketing plan. Every successful marketing strategy is stitched in a marketing plan. This step might get too technical, but you need it. You need to have data that will back up your strategies. You need to know the numbers and statistics to help you build demand. You need to double your effort and get technical to make strategies to answer your marketing needs and your target market's problem. A formal marketing plan will become your ultimate selling guide.
- Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is something you cannot take out of marketing strategies simply because everybody's there! It's effective in distributing your content on sites you can find your target market in, plus it boosts your online visibility.
Social media marketing also influences your SEO efforts every time your content like videos and images is being shared. Social media also boosts your visibility in search engine results and helps you engage more proactively with your audience.
- Search Engine Marketing
Marketers use search engine marketing or SEM to boost traffic on their website through paid advertisements like pay-per-click ads or PPC. SEM is effective because it helps you become more visible online. If a company searches for keywords related to your company, then you are most likely to appear in their search results.
You have to take advantage of the benefits of SEO because it gives more potential for your business to boost now that most people search for everything they need online.
- Affiliate Marketing
You must be wondering how affiliate marketing made it to our list, then here's why. Affiliate marketing is when you pay an advertising model to promote your products and services and make more sales. The rule of thumb in marketing is the more you promote effectively, the more you will generate leads.
You have to be careful because picking the wrong affiliates can waste not only your time but also your resources. You have to be smart and invest in the right affiliates.
In addition to this, affiliate marketing allows your target businesses to think that you can help solve their problem, especially when they see well-known and trusted personalities promoting your business.
- Post-Quality Visual Content On Your Website
A website plays a crucial role in making you look legitimate and appeal to your target businesses, but your website will render useless if you don't post quality visual content.
No matter how big companies are, they are still controlled by people behind, and these people can be picky if they want to. One of the first few things they will look for is visual content. If you want to appeal more, you need images and videos for your products. Product images and videos manage the expectations of your target businesses while it helps them picture how your products can accommodate their company's needs.
There are many video editing tools on the internet that you can use for promotional purposes, such as product videos, social media advertisements, and more.
- Keep Tabs On Marketing Analytics
When you're in B2B, you will inevitably invest in different marketing strategies like those mentioned above. One tip while doing this: track your investments. One of the common mistakes of businesses that you need to avoid at all costs is losing more in marketing than gaining in return.
You need to monitor the performances of your strategies, from emails to social media marketing to SEO to affiliate marketing. Keeping tabs on your analytics will help you take action immediately once something is not working as it should be, and this will help prevent you from losing money on the wrong investments.
Conclusion
Remember, in B2B transactions, the target market is businesses like you. They take longer to decide than a regular consumer, and it takes more than product pitches to convince them that you can help their problem, which is why you need to do thorough research to know which strategies will work best. You may even encounter marketing opportunities that will knock directly on your door, but be careful as not all opportunities work best with your business. Good B2B marketing strategies are products of well-made market research.
Digital Marketing Tips for B2B Products & Services
With the evolution of the digital age, the way B2B communication is conducted has also evolved. That involves figuring out how to advertise your products and services effectively. Digital marketing demands a more dynamic strategy as technology continues to grow. To match the demands of your audience, you must be willing to adjust to changes. Several digital marketing methods should be included in any company's digital marketing strategy. The impact of technology on how organizations operate is nothing new. That's how it's always been. What is different today, though, is the rate at which technology evolves. With the ever-changing development of new technologies, it's critical to ensure that you're up to date.
It is critical to ensure that you are engaging with customers in the manner that they anticipate. If you want to reach today's clientele, you'll need to adopt these winning tips.
Make an Engaging Website or Blog
Today’s digital economy has made it extremely important for a company to have its own website. Your company's website is extremely crucial in today's digital economy! Keep in mind that your website is much more than just a beautiful display of your organization; it's an online show of your products, solutions knowledge, and expertise. There is a high chance that your company’s website will most likely be the first point of contact for your potential customers; so it is very important to keep in check what you provide and the way you share it.
Search engines will start viewing your site as more reputable as you network, get featured, have more users visit your site, and engage with it, leading to higher ranks. This is also a result of creating high-quality blog entries and material for your website! You should not overlook SEO as a powerful tool. And besides, as a B2B company, you won't grow if you don't have any site visits. If you are a manufacturing company, then manufacturing marketing is a powerful marketing tool that can be used to strengthen your online presence and increase your customer network.
Know Your Market by Conducting Thorough Research
Another important tip is that you must conduct research and identify your target demographics. You're wasting your money and time if you don't have a clear image of who your target client and market are.
Targets that can be created and refined are present in any B2B digital marketing plan. Because it is hard to market to everyone at the same time, you must focus on your core demographic. From conducting market research to brand research to buying habits, every step requires complete marketing research. This will help you to make more informed choices as a business owner, which will allow you to not only make connections with your potential customers but also provide a basis for measuring the results.
You will be able to save a lot of money and time on your marketing efforts once pinpoint your potential clients via "hyper-targeting."
Integration
Integrating online and offline marketing initiatives is essential for getting the most value for your marketing money. With an emphasis on excellent customer service, you can smoothly connect the two. Having a way to contact you at all times provides the offline assistance that customers still seek. Television, radio, and print ads, radio can all be used to direct consumers to your website, landing pages, and social media pages. Landing pages are also a great way to track the progress of offline marketing campaigns.
Do Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
Consider integrating a PPC campaign in your digital marketing efforts if your budget allows. The beauty of SEO and content marketing is that it is quite inexpensive or sometimes free if you have the necessary skills. PPC campaigns, on the other hand, are a great choice if you're not getting the results, you want right now, and they're easy to budget for. You pay for ad clicks with PPC.
Some platforms will charge you for engagement or impressions or give you the option of paying in different ways. They offer superior segmentation to reach your precise target and might be the most effective strategy for generating leads and increasing brand recognition.
Conclusion
If you want to increase your business in the age of digital marketing, then don't be scared to try out new techniques that explore new possibilities.
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