We have always been used to think about traditional methods such as fairs, catalogs, and many others when we thought about marketing strategy for B2B companies. Related to this idea, is the fact that B2B firms have usually planned to invest huge budgets for these kinds of expenses in the past.
Nowadays things have changed. With the advent of Globalization (and the consequent digitalization) the focus moved from the product itself to customers, since this process allowed people to be much more connected than before and to communicate in easier and faster ways.
For this reason, companies that were able to express their value effectively and reach customers through it, often won against companies that, on the other hand, overestimate the product quality and characteristics and underestimate the power of the new communication techniques.
B2B companies are an example of those firms that remained stuck to the old marketing strategies, not considering the possibility of succeeding with new digital ones.
The goal of this article is to highlight the critical impact that implementing and coordinate the digital side in the overall marketing strategy has, especially for B2B companies.
To do so, it is also necessary to consider that the customer journey has transformed too, becoming cyclical; as a consequence, the digital marketing strategy must be carefully studied for each of the singular steps, consisting of:
- Information phase information provision by the mean of different channels;
- Touch phase virtual valorization of the physical contacts point, as involving virtual reality experiences in fairs;
III. Sell phase be as digitalized as clients are in selling products;
- Keep phase increase customer lifecycle value.
A focus on the post-purchase phase
Since B2B companies, unlike B2C ones, can count on a smaller number of clients purchasing huger quantities of products, it is worthy to focus marketing efforts on the post-purchase relationship management.
To keep engagement up and to gain customer loyalty, digital marketing strategy should involve a follow-up plan, usually consisting of automatic emails about topics such as product usage, customer experience feedback, acknowledgments and so on. Surveys may also be a valued tool through which engage clients and strengthen relationships.
Besides, B2B firms would take advantage in considering the sales cycle of their customers. Knowing consumers, their frequency and amount of purchase and having a general knowledge of their business model, allows B2B companies to remind them of their own cycle.
B2B digital marketing strategies must aim at maintaining the communication pattern even if the sale process has ended and make sure relationships are built and reinforced.