During the COVID-19 pandemic, the B2B sector is still less subject to excitement than B2C, since decisions are made there more balanced, nevertheless, time dictates changes and leads to changes in many business processes, including in the B2B sector.
Various market players are now rapidly changing processes and switching to digital. It will be difficult to survive in another way, since the patterns of behavior that consumers have acquired during self-isolation will remain.
Against the background of the complete unpredictability of the B2B market, constant testing, learning of successful strategies, a willingness to experiment and a great desire to improve the customer experience will save you.
Five rules for an effective B2B campaign during a covid 19
- Conduct A / B tests, experiment constantly.
- Segment audiences, target relevant audiences, use smart targeting.
- Focus on ROI, not clicks or CTR.
- Track competitors’ strategies and activities.
- Use free mechanics: content marketing (blog, SMM, YouTube, webinars and events), CRM marketing (interaction with the database, mailings, push notifications), networking and work with reviews. This increases your expertise and confidence in you
In addition, today it is not enough for B2B businesses to generate sales or cover an ever-increasing territory. In order for the company to increase revenues and stand out from competitors (even with lower prices), it is necessary to change the marketing approach: instead of price, focus on customer experience .
To do this, you need to analyze customer data, turn the received insights into the needs and priorities of users. And to promote products and services based on the value that the company gives to specific segments of users.
“The better a company responds to and matches customer needs, the more competitive it becomes in the B2B segment, where all industries are under pressure from rising customer expectations.”
It should be understood that CTR (Click Through Rate), CPC (Cost Per Click) and CPM (Cost Per Mille) are not suitable performance metrics for B2B companies.
Focus on metrics such as CR (conversion rate), CPL (Cost Per Lead), CPA (Cost Per Action), ROI (Return On Investment), LTV (Lifetime Value, customer lifetime value).
A Base For a B2B Marketing Mix
1.Maintain Close Contact With Customers
Typically, B2B companies are in regular contact with B2B customers, and they tend to be loyal to their partners. A B2B company may well know the name, address and phone number of the customer, perhaps even the birthday, personal interests and names of children – all of which are important for personalization and building an emotional connection.
2. Collect Feedback
Find out how you can support your loyal customers, anticipate changes and improve CX. But remember that you cannot focus only on current customers – you will always lose them for reasons beyond our control. Therefore, it is vital to attract new ones.
3. Use All Digital Channels
Make sure your brand’s digital channels are up to date, including website, blog, social media profiles. Optimize digital channels: update SEO, SMM and online ads. Determine what works and what doesn’t, reallocate resources and budget as needed.
4. Don't ignore videos
Convert your B2B brand marketing messages into video, the format of the future that will be in demand. At the end of 2019, 87% of businesses now use video as a marketing tool (this figure grew from 63% in 2017 and 81% in 2018). That being said, 83% of marketers believe video brings them good ROI.
5. Manage Your Online Reputation
Previously, it was believed that online reviews were important only for B2C companies, but for B2B brands it was shallow and not particularly relevant. But the reputation of the company on the Internet and the general impression of it affect the decisions of customers to cooperate with the company in the B2B segment as well.
Accordingly, you need to monitor reviews, mentions, follow what they say about the company in social networks, on review sites and on industry sites. There are various tools, services, bots for this.
It is important to work with negative reviews (remembering that by responding to one user on a public platform, you are responding to all your existing and potential customers at once), and with SEO optimization so that positive, relevant content overlaps negative ones.
6. Give Customers Something Of Value
A good customer acquisition tactic is to give them something of value right away that costs you almost nothing. For example, expert assistance in one form or another: checklists, optimization recommendations, trainings and webinars, access to digital services.
That said, be sure to collect contact information – this will allow you to re-contact with a person who clearly has an interest in your field, initial knowledge of your brand and a positive attitude towards it (if what you gave was really useful).
7. Be Flexible When Planning Your Marketing Activities
When marketers were making up budgets for 2020, they probably took into account a lot: a possible recession, the Summer Olympics, American marketers probably took into account the upcoming presidential elections in the United States. But who could have foreseen what happened in 2020?
Therefore, in an unstable environment, planning today requires flexibility and the willingness to replay everything in real time. This is all the more relevant because many companies have smaller marketing budgets.