The B2B buying process tends to be longer than most B2C purchases. For this reason, it is vital to understand the B2C buying lifecycle. Here are the four components of the B2B marketing lifecycle:
- Brand visibility & reach
- Acquisition
- Conversion
- Retention
- Advocacy or loyalty
Brand visibility (reach marketing)
Building brand visibility through appropriate channels and understanding how users discover a brand. Many of the visibility channels and techniques are shared with the next stage, acquisition.
- Advertising
- PR
- Organic search
- PPC
- Social media
- Event sponsorship
Acquisition marketing
Acquisition is a vital component for most B2B campaigns. Many of reach/visibility channels can be used within the acquisition process. Acquisition may be measured with metrics such as cost-per-subscriber or cost-per-lead. Examples of acquisition techniques:
- Email marketing (follow-ups, nurturing emails, education, etc)
- Website (information, brand experience, education, authority)
- Advertising (print, directories, etc)
- PPC advertising
- Remarketing (re-targeting users)
- Organic search (SEO)
- PR
- Tradeshows & conferences
- Email marketing
- Direct
- Partnerships
- Social media
Conversion marketing
A user may engage with a B2B company multiple times before converting. B2B companies benefit from being able to track all the touchpoints a client experiences before converting. It is a mistake to only attribute the conversion to the last touch point. Examples of techniques that play a large role in B2B conversion marketing:
- Email nurturing ( offers, information for sale, etc)
- Marketing automation
- Website (optimization, calls-to-action, forms, conversion points, trust)
- Closed loop marketing solution (lifecycle analytics)
- Webinars
- Social media marketing
- Remarketing and PPC advertising
- Factsheets, whitepapers, eBooks
Retention marketing
Retaining clients can be far cheaper than acquiring new ones. B2B brands should work hard to keep clients happy and determine a lifetime value of a customer. Are there upsell opportunities? What opportunities does a client have to come back to a B2B company?
- Quality assurance
- Education of customer/client
- Up-selling
- Client events
- Training
- Upgrades to service or product
B2B Marketing Tools
There are a number of tools useful in B2B marketing. B2B companies can be as creative in their approach to marketing as B2C brands. Here is a list of common tools that tend to be appropriate for B2B marketing. Certainly this list is a generality.
- Website
- Microsites
- Whitepapers
- Factsheets, whitepapers, eBooks, Spec sheets
- Email Marketing Solution
- Ads
- Landing pages
- Analytics: web analytics & lifecycle tracking (automation marketing)
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