What is B2B marketing?
B2B (business-to-business) marketing refers to marketing initiatives conducted by businesses that sell their products or services to other businesses, instead of end consumers (as is the case of business-to-consumer, B2C).
This field of marketing has exclusive concerns due to the particular nature of B2B commercial relations, such as longer sales cycles and the action of buying committees, which radically transform the buyer’s journey and, therefore, require specific strategies.
What is the purpose of B2B marketing?
B2B marketing differs from B2C marketing because promoting services to other businesses requires campaigns that target buying committees composed of multiple individuals, instead of targeting a single potential client. Such particularities compared to B2C have given rise to specialized B2B marketing approaches, such as ABM (Account Based Marketing).
How does B2B marketing work?
B2B marketing strategies target multiple decision makers who hold different roles within a target account. Therefore, its staple techniques engage multiple individuals at once, all with their own needs, pain points and challenges that may be resolved by the solution provided by a seller.
For example, a B2B marketing campaign for a company providing cloud-based security services would need to adopt different approaches for each persona: It could win over IT professionals’ with a detailed presentation on the technical features of their flagship product, however, financial decision makers would need to be engaged with messaging around revenue and the product’s return on investment (ROI).
Why is B2B marketing important?
B2B marketing is essential for businesses to drive brand awareness and sales of their products by engaging buyers at their target accounts. It is an ever-changing field which evolves to adapt to new needs and preferences expressed by decision makers.
Effective B2B marketing campaigns empower prospects with tools, knowledge, and actionable advice, cementing their trust in the company as a reliable solution provider. These campaigns also strive to identify their prospects’ major pain points and challenges, educating them on how their solution can contribute to the resolution of these problems.
In short, the importance of B2B marketing ultimately lies in its ability to bridge sellers and prospects to drive brand awareness and product sales.