B2B Marketing In 2024: The Ultimate Guide (2024)

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Most of us are quite familiar with business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, because it surrounds us all day, every day. Business-to-business (B2B) marketing is a different concept, in which businesses are trying to reach other businesses, rather than individual customers, by marketing their services or products. Keep reading to find out more about B2B marketing, why it’s important and some best practices for implementing it in your small business strategy.

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What Is B2B Marketing?

Every company has to have a marketing plan in order to reach customers. B2B marketing is an approach used when those customers are other businesses, as opposed to individuals. It has the same goal as B2C marketing: to attract, convert and retain customers.

The aim of B2B marketing is to share your name, services and offerings with other businesses, and let them know that you have the solution to their problem, in the hopes that they will want to work with you. B2B marketing is important because every business relies on at least one (and usually more) other business to help them operate and grow.

B2B vs. B2C Marketing

While B2B and B2C marketing have the same objective of reaching and converting customers, they are trying to connect with two very different audiences. B2C is selling to individuals, while B2B is selling to businesses. Because of this, their marketing strategies need to be different as well.

B2C Marketing

With B2C marketing, return on investment (ROI) is not a concern for customers, because they are buying for themselves, not an entire company. This type of marketing needs to appeal to customers on a more emotional level in order to be effective, since many buyers make a purchase based on their feelings or needs. B2C marketing works well for selling everything from fast food to shoes to music subscriptions, and is typically bright, helpful and focused.

B2C marketing is a quick sales cycle, since it is an individual choice and few, if any, other options need to be weighed. Since the customer only has to think about themselves, they only need to consider their needs, making impulse buys common.

B2B Marketing

B2B marketing is popular with companies that provide services, such as workflow or automation, as well as those that are in the supply chain for manufacturing materials and service providers, such as property management or industrial cleanup. The target B2B audience is going to be looking for the best ROI, and wanting to work with businesses that have the knowledge and experience to consistently deliver a high-quality product.

In addition, B2B marketing almost always involves more than one decision maker, which usually makes the sales cycle process take longer. Instead of just having to convince an individual to make a purchase, there often needs to be research performed and team discussions carried out before a final choice is made.

Types of B2B Marketing

No matter what type of marketing tactics you’re looking at, the buyer’s journey is the same across the board. The vice president of a widget company is doing her research on prospective battery suppliers, just like the homeowner a few miles away is comparing his options for best watering cans. Every customer goes through the process of awareness, consideration and decision.

Along with B2C marketing, B2B marketing must also focus on this buyer’s journey, taking the time to understand who their target customer is and what they are looking for. Once this piece is figured out, businesses can begin planning out which strategies will likely be the most effective in capturing these target customers.

B2B Email Marketing

Despite being around for a long time, email marketing is still a highly effective strategy for generating leads, nurturing new prospects and building long-term customer relationships. B2B email marketing allows businesses to promote and share their offerings with other businesses, and is often the first line of communication in the marketing process.

While B2C email marketing is known for being catchy and attractive, B2B email marketing often has a reputation for feeling boring and stagnant. That is changing, however, with companies opting for more personalized and targeted messages.

B2B Digital Marketing

B2B digital marketing is an all-encompassing term for using online channels and digital technologies to share and promote your business. This includes user-friendly websites, implementing search engine optimization (SEO), investing in pay-per-click (PPC) ads and, perhaps most importantly, utilizing social media.

It doesn’t matter what you are selling or who you are trying to sell it to—everyone must have an active social media presence. No matter which platforms you opt to use, your business’s social media accounts need to be authentic and creative in order to help establish your brand as an authority. Social media is also a great avenue for dispelling the myth that B2B digital marketing is boring. By creating exciting content and engaging with followers, you’ll show that your business knows how to have fun.

B2B Content Marketing

Content marketing is the umbrella term for both the online and offline content about your business that you produce and share. B2B marketing content can include blog posts, white papers, case studies, webinars, podcasts and infographics. This content is designed to educate and inform your target audience, ultimately driving up conversion rates and sales.

The secret to all content marketing, B2B or otherwise, is that it needs to be beneficial and useful to potential customers. It’s another avenue for establishing your expertise and convincing people that your business is trustworthy.

B2B Marketing Strategies

The best B2B marketing strategies are the ones that get the right content in front of your target audience at the right time. And the most effective way to do this is to implement several different marketing tactics simultaneously in order to maximize your reach. Here are the top B2B marketing strategies to begin executing today:

Market Research

B2B market research is the process of taking a deep dive into examining what your target audience is looking for and what they need. The market research strategy helps you determine how those potential customers think and feel, what their preferences are and what motivates them. Doing this allows you to figure out the gaps where needs are not being met, and then market your product or service to fill that void.

Search Engine Optimization

A solid SEO marketing strategy helps boost your content and get it in front of potential customers who are searching for solutions. By using specific keywords and phrases, your website rankings can improve, putting your business higher towards the top of the search results and leading to more conversions.

Social Media Expansion

Establishing a social media presence is important, and continuing to build upon that presence is vital to the success of your business. Expanding your social media reach through interesting content, higher engagement and consistent posting is a highly effective marketing strategy. Be sure to keep track of your metrics as well, in order to understand what is working and what needs to be adjusted.

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Customer Relationship Management

Customers today have high expectations and can be quick to walk away if they feel that a business doesn’t understand their needs. This is where a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy comes into play, allowing you to manage and optimize your connections and make sure nothing falls between the cracks. Whether you invest in a CRM platform or opt for a less formal system, this strategy helps keep your business organized with customer contact information, preferences and communications.

Automation

Often coupled with CRM is having an automation strategy, which provides a way for small businesses to streamline their operations and spend less time on the mundane daily tasks that eat away at your workday. Automation is a key component to aligning your business goals, and can be as simple or sophisticated a process as you need it to be. Whether you choose to add automatic replies, install chatbots or send out surveys, automation as part of your marketing strategy will give you more time back to take care of other things.

Analytic Tools

Analytic tools are an excellent resource for evaluating the effectiveness of your B2B marketing efforts. These tools track and analyze data, which then allows you to see how close you are to reaching your marketing goals. The data provided by analytic tools measures results from all marketing activities, which is an invaluable resource for understanding where your business stands and what needs to be improved.

B2B Marketing Best Practices

Identify Your Target Audience

Before you start your marketing efforts, you need to figure out exactly who you are marketing to, and as many details about them as possible. You’ll want to know everything about your target audience, from demographics to what social media channels they frequent to which of your competitors they have worked with in the past. All this information will work together to help you establish an accurate picture of your potential customers.

Create a Diverse Content Plan

Once you know your target audience, the next step is to determine how they want to receive information. Most potential customers will need an introduction to your business through several different channels, which is where having a diverse content plan comes in. For example, you could send an informative introductory email and share informative posts on social media, then ramp up your engagement efforts and add a helpful blog post to your website.

Evaluate and Nurture Leads

Once your content plan has been set in motion, the leads will begin coming in. While leads are a positive thing, not everyone who approaches you will be a good fit for your business. You’ll want to evaluate each one and decide if it is worth investing time and energy into, or if you should focus elsewhere. When you do connect with a promising lead, go out of your way to nurture that connection, educate them about your product or service and answer any questions they may have.

Analyze Results

Data is knowledge and knowledge is power, so schedule consistent times when you stop to look at the data. The results from your metrics will illustrate many important angles, including the overall health of your business, how well your B2B marketing efforts are working and which customers are providing the highest ROI. Data is incredibly fluid, so what is working one quarter may be completely different from the next one. Analyzing results allows you to see this and make any necessary changes.

B2B Marketing Benefits

Creating a strong B2B marketing plan is an investment of time and resources, and is also something that needs to be checked on frequently. The good news is that the energy you spend establishing and maintaining your marketing plan will pay off with a myriad of both long- and short-term benefits.

Generate Leads

Arguably the largest benefit you will enjoy is increased lead generation, which in turn means higher conversion rates and more sales.

Expand Brand Awareness

Marketing efforts, particularly consistent and diverse ones, help build awareness around your brand, and also establish your authority as an expert.

Improve Rankings

Customers don’t have hours of time to sort through all their options—that’s why they use Google to narrow down their choices. B2B marketing helps you stay towards the top of the rankings and get higher visibility.

Increase Traffic

An improved ranking also means increased traffic to your website and social media channels, giving you more opportunities to capture and engage with your target audience.

Build Relationships

It doesn’t matter how much AI is taking over the world, because customers still want a human touch, particularly in the B2B space. Building and maintaining relationships is a crucial aspect of business and your marketing strategy plays an important role in doing just that.

Bottom Line

Technology is rapidly changing, which means that your small business needs to keep adapting too. Your B2B marketing plan is an important component of staying in front of your competitors and on top of the results your target audience is searching for.

By integrating multiple strategies into your marketing approach and continuing to monitor your analytics, you will see your lead generation improving and conversion numbers growing. Once you have established a marketing plan that is working, remember to check on how it is performing on at least a quarterly basis.

Know that what is working well now likely won’t stay that way forever, so be prepared to make adjustments in your methods and stay as flexible as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the four Ps of B2B marketing?

The four Ps of B2B marketing are Product, Price, Place and Promotion. These items encompass what you sell, how much you sell it for, where you sell it and how potential customers will find out about it.

What are the four Cs of B2B marketing?

The four Cs of B2B marketing are Content, Connections, Communication and Conversion. Working together, these four pillars help create a strong foundation for your B2B marketing strategy.

What are the six steps to develop a B2B marketing strategy?

The six steps to develop a B2B marketing strategy are market research, search engine optimization, social media expansion, customer relationship management, automation and analytics. These steps make up the components of every successful marketing plan, because each element offers a different benefit.

B2B Marketing In 2024: The Ultimate Guide (2024)
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