By demand generation, Digital Marketing, b2b strategy
In B2B marketing, it is essential to increase lead generation and to have an optimized marketing funnel. A relevant demand generation program is the key to accomplishing these goals since such a function enhances all the touchpoints your business will have with its stakeholders.
Since the COVID-19 crisis has begun, user’s behavior has changed, so marketers everywhere had to elevate their tactics. So what should be the main drivers for B2B demand generation programs in a post-pandemic context?
Pipeline influence is the leading indicator for 30% of demand generation professionals, but how do these experts pave the way to a growing business pipeline?
This article encompasses those strategies that B2B marketers should start deploying within organizations for successful business growth.
Demand generation trends for B2B marketers in post-pandemic
Your business has started working on a strong brand awareness strategy, by nurturing and supporting your audiences via social media channels, and by creating a go-to-market strategy. Now you should be ready to focus your marketing efforts on the next 3 steps of a well planned B2B demand generation program:
- Inbound Marketing
- Sales Enablement
- Customer Retention
Inbound marketing
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Integrate SEO with PPC services
There has been an increased demand for online services due to the digital transformation that has followed the pandemic crisis. The fact that 60% of marketers will use a website to attract more leads proves that search engine optimization should remain one of the main content marketing tactics. This strategy will efficiently grow businesses by generating traffic that will eventually lead to conversions.
New entrants on the market will require online strategies that can boost conversion rates, and integrating SEO with PPC can be a great strategy to achieve that goal.
If you are looking to nurture a multi-channel strategy that can get you a competitive edge on the market, it is time to collaborate with a team of specialists that will give you a customized plan of SEO and PPC services.
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Invest time in lead generation campaigns on social media
Demand generation requires a serious need for marketing (MQLs) and sales qualified leads (SQLs), which would be the ending goal of a B2B marketer’s lead generation campaign.
At the beginning of this year alone, there were 3.80 billion active accounts on social media. Since then, the number has increased tremendously, once with the behavior change of individuals. As a result, B2B marketers use social media as one of their primary channels, in their lead generation campaigns.
Added to that, social platforms are vital in times when events and face to face meetings are put on hold. B2B marketers and salespeople can use these channels effectively, by approaching the targeted prospects.
Before planning lead generation campaigns on social media, you should take into consideration a few general tactics, such as building personal bonds or updating the business’ website with the latest accurate information.
➜ Find out more about these tactics that can boost your B2B lead generation efforts from this !
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Nurture leads through email marketing
A prevalent tactic that has proved to be effective lately, it’s to use video in your email messages. Lead Nurturing campaigns can be very successful when integrating video in the content, and 66% of marketers are using this strategy to provide prospects with valuable information.
To ensure that you are providing relevant information, you will have to implement a tactical lead nurturing strategy that meets your B2B marketing goals. Make sure to start by analyzing these 4 main drivers: Marketing Persona, Position, Responsibilities, and the Typical Content Campaign.
Once you have set these conditions, you can continue by merging these personas with the prospects’ lifecycle stage, which should result in a practical content plan ready to nurture your leads.
Sales Enablement
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Deliver valuable content
Whether you are using gated or ungated content, the information you deliver has to be relevant for your prospects, especially since the COVID outbreak generated an increase in creating content in the online environment. .
Videos, case studies, testimonials, whitepapers, even podcasts are just a few formats of content that have proven to be highly effective for B2B marketing, especially in the last few months.
For marketers seeking to generate leads, white papers and case studies should have a success rate of 50%, while videos are following close with 37%. More than ever, visual content is now essential, since the audience will be more engaged in content formats that will come to them in a more personal and social way.
In a post-pandemic scenario, especially, it is essential to create content based on 2 main rules:
1. Very well documented information
According to reports from the beginning of 2020, 61% of the successful B2B marketers who were interviewed used to have very well documented content.
There are a few reasons why we think this number should increase later in 2020.
By having a deep understanding of the topic you address, not only will you deliver valuable information for businesses that are seeking to grow, but also you will avoid any misinformation that may interfere. There have been many cases lately when the audience has been misled by certain public information, and as a consequence, the image of those brands has been stained.
2. Updated and repurposed content
Creating content can be a long process sometimes, and the time it’s gold these days, but it will be worth it for B2B marketers who are investing enough resources in this strategy.
That is why updating and repurposing existing content can become more efficient, and sometimes more valuable for specific audiences, and even for SEO. Updating content that you have already written is also practical for your Social Media networks calendar by including it multiple times on the channels of your business.
Besides saving some time from creating, you will generate more website or blog traffic for the same piece of information, which eventually will increase the chances of converting more leads.
B2B Marketers should bring value to their businesses, by supporting sales teams to win more contracts for their portfolios. Stay ahead of others, and consider a sales enablement strategy for a B2B demand generation that aligns sales and marketing goals.
Customer retention
As the last step of your demand generation strategy, you will want to retain and evangelize customers. During challenging times, most of the business decision makers and even B2B leaders are looking for guidance.
As a B2B marketer, you should streamline your business knowledge-base to empower your customers. To create the best type of “How to” content, relevant for your audience, start with collecting intent data.
Conclusion
Optimize your B2B marketing funnel with a demand generation strategy that will help your business grow, even during challenging times!
Get in touch with us, and we will create a customizable plan for your business, to build long-lasting relationships with customers and specialists within your industry! Please also join our business community groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, where you can share your experiences and challenges with other businesses alike.
