Business to Business Business to Business MarketingMarketing

Presented by

Advisors On TargetAdvisors On TargetPACE 2010

What Is B2B Marketing?

• B2B: buying and selling goods and services between businesses

• B2B Marketing: efforts geared to generating inquiries, leads and direct sales, as well as helping companies to establish and maintain their brand presence, among the other companies they deal with

Information used in this presentation is sourced from RAN ONE, Inc., used with permission

What We’ll Discuss Today• The essential differences between B2B and

B2C markets

• Marketing to Businesses– Segmenting your B2B customers– Developing client relationships and accumulating

customer business intelligence

• How to leverage your advantage as a small to medium business

• How to promote your services B2B

Business And Consumer Markets Are Different

CHARACTERISITIC B2B B2C

CUSTOMERS Companies Individuals

SALES VOLUME Larger Smaller

MARKET SIZE Smaller Larger

LOCATION OF CUSTOMERS

Often localized Often dispersed

DECISION-TO-BUY For business reasons

Extended over time

Many decision makers

For personal reasons

Immediate purchase

One or few decision makers

MARKETING Personal relationship Mass advertising

The B2B Marketplace is Primarily Local

• Marketing to businesses means that you are targeting a limited number of customers or prospects

• Most of those businesses are likely to be local, because small businesses still benefit from sourcing their suppliers locally

The B2B Buying Process Is Involved

• The larger the business the more people involved in the decision

• Decisions are made on more rational and objective grounds

• The buying decision can be much longer

Complexity Affects B2B Marketing

• Business-to-business products/services are more likely to be complex than the B2C end product – Even where the products are of like complexity, the

buying decision for a business might be based on entirely different drivers than for a consumer

• Business buyers are analytically focused, ask a lot of tough, detailed questions, and expect comprehensive answers that are strong on technicalities

Personal Relationships Are Important To B2B Marketing

• You need to develop personal relationship in B2B marketing– Where the number of buyers

is small, their needs complicated and their decision making process influenced by many people, the most effective way of marketing is through personal contact to build trust and understanding

B2B Market Research

• When you deal B2B you need to take the characteristics of the B2B marketplace into account and develop a marketing strategy that answers to them

• Start by segmenting your current customers:– If you can identify groups with similar characteristics, then you

can develop products and services according to their needs– You can also customize your marketing to each so as to

concentrate on what is of interest to them personally and what they want from a supplier or a product.

• Marketing to segments is more efficient and less costly than a shotgun approach

Segmenting B2B Customers and Prospects

• Location• How much they spend

with you and their spending pattern – how many projects and how valuable they are on average

• Needs (price, quality, technical support etc.)

• How they position themselves in the marketplace What trade associations do they belong to?

• How they use the product• Annual revenue• How they place their

orders with you • How loyal they are to you

Segmenting By Location

• A common way to segment in B2B is by location

Segmenting By Company Size And Value

• Company size determines the complexity of their internal decision making process

• Their current and possible future value to you will determine how intensively you market to them and service their needs

Segmenting By Needs

• Segmenting B2B by needs can be complicated but it can be worthwhile. – Knowing the needs of an individual customer, e.g. price

conscious or in need of high after sales support and tailoring marketing to meet that need can provide you with a competitive advantage

• Because the decision to buy may be multi-layered, you need to know what information to provide to which people

• Information about client needs is likely to be gathered

over time as the relationship develops

Segmenting By Market Positioning

• How does the business characterize itself (innovative; cutting edge; conservative; environment friendly etc.)?

• What growth stage is the business in (start-up, growth, stable or decline)?

• What is the type of workforce they employ?• What trade associations do they belong to?• What publications do they subscribe to?

Validating Target Segments

• Create groups that are different from each other in a meaningful way’

• Analyze the segments by value to see if developing an individualized marketing approach is a cost effective proposition

• Group customers with common needs to be able to create a marketing approach for each

Client Relationship Management

• Knowing who makes what decisions and maintaining good relationships with them is crucial

• A good CRM system should gather and make available information that includes some personal details of the effective decision makers– Allows you to target them for individual attention such

as invitations to product releases, congratulatory messages, a card or corporate gift at Christmas etc.

Get To Know The Decision Makers

• The decision-to-buy process can be very involved - while consumers often make choices as individuals, business buyers usually work as part of a group

• If you want anyone in a company to be your advocate, you’ll need to identify who could be useful and provide them with the appropriate detail to make your product seem the best choice for their particular purpose

Understand How They Make Purchasing Decisions

• The evaluation criteria a company uses to get to a buy decision will vary according to the kind of goods or services involved

• Recognize what criteria they use to make their decision and cover them in your offer

B2B Success Depends On Good Business Intelligence

• You need to know who to send marketing material to• You need to understand the individual views and

preferences of people within client companies, and also when and how these people have influence

• You need an appreciation of their internal policies and how they approach the buying decision for the type of product or service you are offering them

• It helps to have a good understanding of both the individual decision makers within an organization, and some awareness of their group dynamics

Building Relationships – The Heart Of B2B Marketing

• Focus on initiating, building, and maintaining relationships with clients

– Close business relationships may become alliances

• Advertising is only the first step - the marketing budget will be spent mostly on strengthening relationships rather than advertising campaigns

• Aim to develop trust and loyalty with the customer to increase retention and lifetime value

Use Business Networks

• Networking is useful for word of mouth promotion

• Use both direct and indirect relationships to develop your reputation

The Small Business Advantage

• Smaller companies have some advantages when it comes to building B2B relationships– Can be more flexible than larger companies in

delivering customized products/services– Owners & top managers are available to deal directly

with clients so strategic business issues can be discussed and resolved quickly

Determine How You Can Add Value

• Frame your offer to add value to the customer’s operation

• Bundle products and services to suit specific customer needs

Try to Lock In the Business Process

• The more you can customize your offer, the closer you get to being indispensable to the client– Be the last supplier to be

cut– Be there when things

improve

Getting Your Business Known Locally (and Globally)

• Yellow Pages• Other Local Listings• Your Website & Blog• Internet Marketing• Social Media Marketing• Consumer Review

Websites• Ads in Trade Magazines• Product/Service Vendor

Directories• Articles

Make Your Website A Marketing Tool

• To achieve this you need to consider two main things:– Is your website easily findable through web

search engines?, and– Does it provide the range of information on

the site that would make it of interest to a customer regardless of where they are up to in the buying process?

Making Your Website Findable

• The Internet is becoming increasingly used for searching supply sources

• To come up in the near front pages of search results you need to optimize your web pages for location

• You should also be listed in online catalogs, product/vendor directories and online yellow pages listings– Always include your site url

Provide Information That Keeps Prospects Interested

PHASE INFORMATION

Researching solutions Range of services with features & benefits

Industry best practices

Articles & Case studies

Technical specifications

Product & Service Comparisons

Selecting appropriate vendors, obtaining bids, final selection

Capabilities

Testimonials

Reliability / Flexibility

Service locations

Contact Form or Info

Capture Prospect Information On Your Website

• Use your website to capture information about visitors and use it in your direct marketing – Comply with permission based marketing

guidelines – Make it easy to supply registration details so

that prospects will not feel like it’s too much trouble to sign up

– Offer an incentive

Conclusion

• B2B marketing requires a unique approach to match the way businesses work

• Marketing emphasis is on targeting your target prospect and referral relationships based on demographic (and “firmographic”) segmentation

• Keep client and prospect information records updated and accessible

• Develop trust and loyalty to improve retention and lifetime value

• Recognize how B2B marketing works and develop your marketing strategies accordingly

Information used in this presentation is sourced from RAN ONE, Inc., used with permission

Contact us to help get your business On Target for success!

Advisors On Target

Business & Marketing ConsultingLinnea Blair

Office: 619.291.3700Email: Lblair@AdvisorsOnTarget.comWeb: www.AdvisorsOnTarget.comTwitter: AdvisorOnTarget