Incendium’s Post

B2B Marketing; Old Way: - Lacking a clear value proposition   - Creating content with no real value   - Neglecting branding in B2B marketing   - Failing to track marketing performance   - Relying on complex language and jargon   - Using generic messages for all audiences   - Focusing only on acquiring new customers  New Way:   - Building a clear, problem-solving value proposition   - Targeting specific audiences with buyer personas   - Humanizing your website for better engagement  - Creating helpful, high-quality content for leads  - Balancing customer acquisition and retention   - Tracking and optimizing marketing with data   - Using simple, clear language without jargon   - Developing a strong B2B brand identity   Anything you'd add?

Are you reaching all of your potential B2B buyers? Probably not. Mass marketing isn’t about neglecting your niche; it’s about knowing the common threads that unite your buyers. Prof. Byron Sharp and Prof. Jenni Romaniuk reveal why a broad approach may be the key to sustained growth. 3 Key Learnings & Critical Insights for B2B Marketers 1.) Broad Reach is Key for Growth The authors challenge the idea that narrow targeting drives growth, arguing that successful brands aim for broad reach. For B2B marketers, this means casting a wider net, ensuring your brand is visible to all potential buyers in your category, not just a tightly defined niche. 2.) Understanding Buyer Commonalities and Differences Sharp and Romaniuk emphasise that sophisticated marketers identify both what unites and distinguishes their buyers. For B2B, this means balancing industry-wide messaging with content that resonates with specific buyer personas, ensuring relevance while maximising appeal across segments. 3.) Consistency in Brand Messaging Across Channels The book highlights the importance of consistent messaging, which helps reinforce memory structures. B2B brands can apply this by creating unified messages that resonate across LinkedIn, trade publications, and industry events, building brand recognition and recall in diverse buyer contexts. Not that we would ever be B2B-biased or anything, but we particularly enjoyed chapter 11 😉

"But Rory, is that kind of brand building not something that is better to B2C businesses? We're B2B, we need to focus on lead gen, no?" I've had some great conversations this week around the challenges of balancing brand building vs. sales activation campaigns in advertising, particularly for B2B segments going after high value lead opportunities. There are few books - if any - which tackle this question better than How Brands Grow, and it's great to have Part 2 to reference with newer research specifically on our beloved B2B! For the marketing nerds out there, I highly recommend this read 🤓

The future of B2B marketing lies in personalization. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) allows us to tailor our strategies to meet the unique needs of individual accounts. This isn't just about targeting companies; it's about connecting with the right people within those companies. By focusing on high-value accounts, we can deliver personalized experiences that drive engagement and foster long-term relationships. It's not about reaching as many people as possible; it's about reaching the right people with the right message.

How B2C brands engage their customers Then: - Generic, one-size-fits-all marketing campaigns, hoping something would stick. - No personalisation. - No follow-ups. - Limited data to improve strategy. Customers were left feeling like just another name on a mailing list. Now: - Every message is tailored based on real customer behaviour. - Automated follow-ups bring customers back without you lifting a finger. - Seamless experiences across email, social, and web keep customers engaged. - Targeting is precise, hitting the right customer with the right message at the right time. - Data drives continuous improvement, helping you refine and optimise your strategy. - Key touchpoints like abandoned cart reminders and post-purchase follow-ups are automated, boosting conversions. The result? Stronger connections, better retention, and more sales. Are you still marketing the old way, or have you made the shift?

Email and SMS Marketing Alone Isn't Enough. But, when integrated with other digital efforts, magic happens. In today's fast-paced digital world, standalone strategies fall short. To truly captivate your customers, coordination is key. Here’s how to seamlessly blend Email, SMS, and other marketing channels: 1. Unified Campaigns Align your email, SMS, and social media messaging. Consistency builds trust. 2. Cross-Channel Promotions Use emails to drive traffic to your latest social media posts and vice versa. 3. Personalized Automated Emails Tailor content based on customer behavior. Use data from all channels for a cohesive experience. 4. Segmentation & Targeting Divide your audience into segments. Deliver specific messages via email, SMS, or social media based on their preferences. 5. Analyze & Adjust Track performance across channels. Refine your strategies based on what works. 6. Engagement & Feedback Encourage customer interaction across all platforms. Listen, respond, and adapt. 7. Omnichannel Experience Create a seamless experience. Ensure customers feel connected, no matter how they interact with your brand. 8. Consistent Branding Your brand’s voice should echo across all platforms. This builds a strong, unified presence. 9. Measure ROI Holistically Don’t look at channels in isolation. Evaluate the combined impact on your bottom line. Integration isn't just a strategy—it's a necessity. Make your marketing efforts work together, not apart. The result? A stronger, more engaged audience and a brand that stands out. #ecommerce #d2c

We really need to start seeing brand awareness as its own objective. This is how it typically works in marketing, but not in B2B SaaS. What we do instead with brand awareness is treat it like a layer, like a step that we want to get past as quickly as possible in order to get the thing that we really want - a conversion. And we try to accomplish that in the shortest window possible, whether through nurturing, or retargeting, or a last ditch flurry of ads in an ABM play. But brand awareness is a critical asset to build and maintain, especially in an industry like B2B where the 95:5 rule means buying frequency is often incredibly low. It's crucial to be known by as much of the market as possible and to maintain that awareness, so that you benefit by being the preferred vendor on their initial consideration set. And all the buyer research, such as the recent 6sense report, speaks to the value of that, with 81% of buyers picking their initial choice. We have to treat, fund, and measure brand awareness as an objective and accomplishment in its own right, and not just a cold layer on the way to a conversion. It's the prerequisite to all conversions, and arguably the hardest part of marketing: Being known, being remembered, and being thought of when it matters.

FASHION FIX ONLINE https//:taplink.cc/Collins2 #B2C B2C marketing presents a lucrative opportunity for investment due to its direct approach in targeting individual consumers. One of the key advantages of B2C marketing over B2B marketing is the potential for higher sales volume, as the target audience is much larger and consists of a diverse range of individuals. Additionally, B2C marketing allows for more personalized and emotional connections with consumers, leading to increased brand loyalty and repeat purchases. The ability to leverage social media and digital platforms effectively in B2C marketing also provides a cost-effective way to reach a wider audience and drive engagement. Overall, the consumer-centric nature of B2C marketing makes it a profitable ground for investment with the potential for significant returns.

Is 1/4/7... marketing's magic number? It might just be the reminder we need to return marketing to sensible and enduring principles. When you get past the jargon and nonsense, marketing comes back to a few simple objectives. First is, come to mind at the right time in the purchase cycle. Second, stand apart from your competitors to establish real, value beyond price Third, invest in the relationship and lifetime value All models are wrong, but 1/4/7 as a ratio is undeniably useful. But the 'x7' is not $7... far from it! Here's a sample of cost to acquire across categories... B2B Sectors: SaaS (Software as a Service): $702 SaaS companies tend to have higher CAC due to the need for personalized sales and customer support B2B Services: $536 This includes professional services, consulting, and other business-to-business offerings, where acquisition often requires significant relationship-building efforts Higher Education (B2B): $1,143 Targeting businesses like corporate training or enterprise educational services comes with a high CAC due to the complex sales cycle( Userpilot Top 3 Consumer Sectors: Electronics: $377 Electronics have high acquisition costs, often requiring detailed information and product comparisons to convince buyers Fashion and Accessories: $129 The fashion industry sees steady competition, driving brands to spend on promotions, influencers, and ads Health and Beauty: $127 Health and beauty brands need to invest in influencer partnerships and content marketing to build trust with consumers Bradley Jansen Noel Flowers #marketing

I tend to go through different periods when marketing. While I am critical of individual pieces of content (which I'm always making but usually go through certain periods where I batch making a lot of content) And critical of campaigns, targeting, and budget control. I usually enter into periods that emphasize growing traffic and brand recognition. Followed by periods that carve out what is useful from that traffic and refine. This is very similar to the profitability staircase you see in b2c. Brand building followed by profitable growth. What they don't usually say is that after the first few rounds of this, assuming you're doing it correctly, you shouldn't ever drop below a certain point from the previous traffic swells even during a refinement point. For instance at Nectar, I've drastically reduced spend and have cut specific portions of campaigns, resulting in lower traffic, but organic traffic remains higher, the bounce rates for all traffic channels are insanely low (sub 60%), and the lead generation continues to increase. After this month I'll put the heat on a lot of new content and begin the process anew. I'll expect a lot more traffic a bit of a drop in the quality numbers and a few more spam leads, but I'll learn something from the very specific levers I pulled to do it. #b2b #demandgen #digitalamarketing #contentstrategy