B2B tech and telecoms enterprises benefit from a consolidated marketing strategy to simplify the complexity of their offerings in a way which potential customers can understand.
However, according to Smart Insights ‘Managing Digital Marketing’ report, 44% of companies did not have a defined digital marketing strategy in 2020. A digital marketing strategy seeks to achieve specific goals via online marketing channels such as paid, owned and earned media.
Since the pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in how goods and services are purchased, with a significant increase in online sales. Research from McKinsey shows more than 90% of B2B companies have transitioned to a virtual sales model since the beginning of COVID-19. At the same time, big trade shows and in-person networking, which were traditionally where a lot of B2B business was conducted, are no longer as effective as they used to be due to travel restrictions and a move to online events in the short term. A digital marketing strategy has therefore never been more important.
We’ve put together five simple steps for building an effective marketing strategy.
Defining Your Goals
For B2B tech and telecoms companies it is important to identify a set of goals to work towards. This increases team motivation and quantifies the success of your marketing efforts.
This starts with defining the businesses objectives and which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you’ll use to track and measure your goals.
Understanding Your Buyers
To understand how to achieve the goals you have laid out, you need to know who you are marketing to. Therefore, a key element of building your marketing strategy is to create buyer personas.
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research about your existing customers. It is important to base personas off real data, as it creates the most accurate profile possible to base your marketing efforts from.
Tech and telecoms companies can use these personas to differentiate customers by their preferred channels and purchasing habits. It is essential to do this as you do not want to be targeting the right customers but in the wrong place. According to LinkedIn internal data, 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn, therefore putting all of your marketing efforts into Instagram or Twitter may not be efficient.
Identifying Your Existing Assets
Now that your goals are outlined and you have a good understanding of the target audience, you need to identify which existing assets are already working well and which areas could be improved.
It is vital to have your existing assets optimised and working together to increase your overall efficiency. For example, you can use your social media profiles to promote your blog posts which will drive traffic to your website.
Due to the complexity of B2B tech and telecoms products and services, maintaining a seamless brand voice across all channels is a good way to ensure potential leads can understand your offerings.
Know Your Resources
Achieving your goals isn’t going to happen without the right resources. Determining your budget, channels and team is essential to bringing the strategy together.
By identifying and planning the resources you have or will need it is much easier to anticipate costs and have greater profitability. Ensuring your team has the correct resources in advance will also decrease stress in the workplace.
Form a Cohesive Strategy
You can now evaluate all these elements as one and create a series of actions based upon your goals and research.
B2B tech and telecoms companies sometimes face challenges, so it’s important to revisit areas of your strategy that aren’t creating results. As the industry evolves so will your strategy.
An effective marketing strategy will give all employees a cohesive plan to what is next for your company.
Our team of marketing experts are available to walk you through an in-depth guide to putting your marketing strategy together, integrating it and evolving it when the time is right. Book a consultation today to discuss what we can do for you.