With the rise of digital marketing, B2B marketers are increasingly turning to online platforms to connect with their target audiences.
But while the internet can be a great way to reach new customers and gain exposure, it’s not always the ideal medium for communicating the benefits of your product or service—especially if your target audience is made up of business people who aren’t particularly tech-savvy, or aren’t easily accessible online.
As a result, many B2B marketers are looking for ways to take advantage of both traditional and digital channels in order to reach their target audiences effectively. The following B2B field marketing strategies can help you do just that.
8 Effective Field Marketing Strategies for B2B Businesses
1. Build your network
Networking is an essential part of B2B field marketing. It helps you build relationships with other professionals in your industry who can help you acquire new leads.
You can network with people who are in the same geographic location as you by attending industry events such as tradeshows and conventions.
Aside from in-person networking strategies, consider building your network online. For example, you can find online groups such as the ones on Facebook, which have a lot of businesses in your niche. Introduce your business to the community and start building relationships with the ones you vibe with.
2. Event marketing
Event marketing is a great way to build brand awareness by physically getting your products in front of your target audience. It makes it easier to illustrate all the key details that make you better than your competitors.
Also, event marketing can be an excellent opportunity to interact with your customers and encourage them to engage with your products or services. It can be one of the effective ways to generate more leads by getting the attention of your existing and potential customers. Lastly, event marketing can be used to gather some feedback and insights from your customers, which can help you improve your overall marketing efforts.
Hence, a good event marketing strategy is essential for any B2B business. Thankfully, there are many ways to carry out event marketing. For example, if you have the capacity to host your own events, then you should definitely consider it, as all the focus would be on your brand. You can host it in partnership with a few other companies in your industry so that the costs will be shared. If you cannot host your own events, you can book a spot in various tradeshows.
3. Emphasize What Makes You Different
Put extra emphasis on what makes you different from your competitors. Unique and quality services, products, and prices usually have a much higher conversion rate than their counterparts.
The entire basis of your sales pitch should be on your USP. Otherwise, you’re just another company selling products that can easily be acquired elsewhere.
But aside from the ones mentioned above, there are other ways to highlight what makes your B2B business different. For instance, if you’re running a trade service business, having a field service management system like the Field Edge can help make you stand out from the competitors. It can be used to provide more efficient inventory management, job monitoring, and day-to-day workflow management.
However, if Field Edge lacks features your service business needs, you may want to explore other Field Edge alternatives. And choosing the right software solution can keep your business on track, streamline your workflow, and highlight your advantage over your competitors.
4. Go Where Your Potential Customers Are
Identify where the majority of our target market is, and then make the effort to go there a few times a year. Even if they’re located in a different country, you should try to visit them occasionally.
Doing so gives you the opportunity to obtain first-hand feedback on their experiences with your products/services, which can help you improve them accordingly.
You’ll also be able to sell additional products to them, or acquire new customers through their referrals. Eventually, as your business grows, you can even set up a physical branch (or a service center) in those areas.
5. Start an Affiliate Program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to build brand awareness and increase sales by leveraging other people’s networks. You can start an affiliate program and offer various incentives and lucrative commissions to people who help you acquire new customers.
One of the biggest advantages of affiliate marketing is that it’s a very low-risk strategy. You don’t incur any costs for products that are unsold. Affiliates only earn a commission for the sales that they drive. That means if they don’t sell anything, your cost is zero. They are not like permanent employees who you have to pay regardless of their results.
If you want to achieve great success with this approach, make sure to offer lucrative commission rates. This will entice your affiliates to work harder to promote your business.
6. Focus on the Customer Experience
You should always focus on the customer experience, not just the product. Speak to customers in a friendly tone. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and make sure that everyone involved knows what’s going on, from sales reps and managers down to support teams and even marketing executives.
Use a friendly tone in all of your communications—emails, phone calls, websites, and social media posts. This will help set you apart from competitors who may be more focused on selling their products or services than they are on providing great customer service.
7. Partner Marketing
Partner marketing entails partnering with other businesses in your industry that you’re not directly competing with. The goal is to promote each other to your respective audiences.
It’s a great way to build credibility and social proof through your partner’s brand equity. There’s no limit to the number of partnerships you can have, as long as your visions align.
8. Host Virtual Seminars
Hosting virtual seminars (or webinars) is a great way to bring together people with similar interests, and then provide them with so much free value that their perception of your brand changes.
You can host webinars on any topics which are remotely related to your products. Just make sure it’s not directly about your products, otherwise it’s a sales pitch, and nobody would be interested in attending.
For example, if your business deals with printing and photocopying machines, you can host a webinar about “how to 10x your sales with print media”, a topic that would be of interest to your target audience. The focus of the webinar should be 95% educating and only 5% selling.
Conclusion
In the world of B2B marketing, you have to think about your prospects differently than in B2C businesses.
The goal is not just to sell the product—it’s about building and strengthening relationships with them in order to create long-term value for your company.
It’s important that companies understand that B2B field marketing is more than just a sales strategy: it’s an entire way of doing business that involves creating a strong customer experience and establishing trust with potential clients.
