11 B2B Marketing Tips For Business Owners

B2B businesses need to reach their target audience to sell their services, but it can oftentimes be difficult to stand out in a sea of competitors. Far different than classic consumer marketing, B2B marketing can be a bit more difficult to navigate. Rather than starting from scratch with trial and error runs, dive into the tried-and-true methods below.

Here, 11 experts weigh in on their best B2B marketing tip for business owners.

Be Authentic

Always provide value in the most authentic way possible. It is amazing how people gravitate towards individuals they can trust to help them solve real problems.

Lukas Ruebbelke, BrieBug

Offer Services Nationwide

Optimizing your business website for nationally searched keywords enables you to deliver services outside of Phoenix. Our Tempe-based search firm began a national SEO strategy several years ago. Since then, it’s not uncommon for us to field inquiries from a city like Seattle to a rural area in Kansas – as well as from our own backyard. Of course, this requires content creation and an expert strategy. But when executed correctly, businesses can expand the geographical area in which they can deliver services. 

Ryan Nouis, TruPath

Know Your Customers 

Know your ideal customer profile (ICP), but more importantly, ensure you understand your buyer personas. Buyer personas help teams allocate resources, attract leads, and understand what drives people to make purchases. Truly understanding your buyer personas will help guide your marketing efforts so you know what type of content is most likely to generate a response, how your ideal customer prefers to engage in the sales process, and what problems these customers need to solve.

Jen Spencer, SmartBug Media

Take It Personally

Business is still about personal relationships. From this, we focus on how to make interactions more personal and meaningful. Technology has its place, but picking up the phone or meeting face to face is required to achieve and maintain successful outcomes. Especially as a “millennial,” breaking a stereotype makes people interested and intrigued by how you are doing things.

Austin Schwartz, Schwartz Insurance Agency

Use Social Media for Timely Messages

During this time of crisis, businesses can use social media to post timely, relevant messages for their respective communities. Whether the social media update is a message from the Founders or a link to a helpful COVID-19 resources guide, it is important for businesses to be devoted to supporting the success of customers and stakeholders in their greatest time of need. 

Kimberly Kriewald, AVANA Capital

Be Genuine

Come from a place of genuinely wanting to help. Be empathetic to their biggest pain points, especially when you’ve overcome them yourself. Emphasize how your solution will help then avoid losses or further pain. The solution from you will sell itself.

Yuri Kruman, HR, Talent & Systems

Start With a Conversation

Whenever approaching our B2B product and services, we have to remember that the person on the other end is a business owner, just like ourselves. If you wouldn’t like to be approached the way you’re trying to approach your audience, then why are you doing it? You’re building a relationship, so start with a conversation.

Hana Ruzsa Alanis, Solar-Breeze

Personalization Is the Name of the Game

Before you sell to your audience, you need to understand them deeply. Walk a mile in their shoes, identify their needs, what’s important to them, their buying behavior, and emotional triggers. Then and only then can you offer them a product/service that speaks to them on an intimate level.

Rani Sweis, AtticSalt

Market What Makes You Different

On our website, we have a section that shares “six ways we are better than our competition.” Marketing these differences is a lot more effective than stopping at saying, “We offer industrial recycling services.” There’s a lot of companies competing for attention online. A prospective customer needs to understand how you are different from competitors so that they can make the best decision for their business. Share those differences.

Jonathan Cohen, Generated

Create Value

Always create value with your target audience before you move towards the sale. Whether it is a white paper, tip sheet, video, or another format, giving first will build trust and help to establish you as a subject matter expert. Doing this will move you further along in the sales discovery process than making a bunch of cold calls/emails.

Nicole Spracale, vCandidates

Don’t Forget About Human Connection

I believe businesses must first think of their marketing efforts from a fundamental ‘human connection’ lens. People buy products and services from other people. Understand the needs and challenges of the people you want to help and then market your products/services to address the needs and challenges of the people.

Brian Mohr, Mohr Impact Group