I’ve been in the world of B2B digital marketing for more than a decade now, and this experience has taught me A LOT.
Early in my career when I was working as a web developer I had a boss describe the Internet as being like the Wild West. At the time, I remember internally scoffing.
I’d been making websites since I was 12 at this point (shout out to Geocities), so it seemed like the Internet had been around forever by the time I’d graduated college.
But, as I got into digital marketing I now realize how right that boss was. The Internet, and especially the world of Digital Marketing, is still the Wild West.
Consider that Google Ads was first launched in 2000 and Facebook Ads in 2007.
If these billion-dollar ad platforms were people, then Google Ads would be barely old enough to legally drink and Facebook Ads wouldn’t be allowed to drive until later this year!
And clearly, as evidenced by Zuckerberg’s appearance in front of congress a few years ago, much of the world, and especially the government, is still catching up with how digital marketing actually works.
Zuckerberg: “…Senator, we run ads.”
Why Digital Marketing is So Challenging – Especially for Smaller B2B Companies
Many small B2B companies make the mistake of jumping into digital marketing without fully understanding the complexities involved.
Hiring a team to create a website and launch ad campaigns may seem like a good idea, but it often leads to missed opportunities, subpar results, and worst of all, wasted resources.
I call this the “If You Build It They Will Come” strategy. And unfortunately, it rarely works out as well as it did for Kevin Costner.
To get great results in digital marketing, you need to create a strategy that leads your target audience through the marketing funnel and uses data to determine campaign success.
This is admittedly tough, especially for smaller B2B businesses for a variety of reasons…
Here are some challenges I’ve faced over the years:
- Most B2B marketing books and online resources are targeted towards bigger companies with larger geographic footprints and bigger budgets
- Harder and more expensive to target the right people at companies, compared to targeting consumers
- Constant evolution of third-party platforms like YouTube, Google, and Facebook
- Longer time frame to determine results from marketing campaigns. This is because both the target audience and budgets are small compared to larger B2Bs and B2C companies.
These challenges make it easy for B2Bs to dig themselves a hole where they’re just being reactive and continue to do things because that’s what they’ve always done.
As a result, small and local B2Bs often cling to traditional methods like cold calling, relationship selling, and marketing to existing lists.
Most digital marketing takes the form of email blasts to purchased lists, periodic blog posts, and limited advertising on platforms like Google or Facebook.
By embracing a more data-driven approach, small B2B companies can overcome these challenges and reap the benefits of digital marketing.
Start Getting More Out of Your B2B Marketing Budget
With the right approach, B2Bs can boost lead generation… even on a limited budget.
I’ve helped some companies reduce their cost per lead by as much as a factor of ten while simultaneously increasing lead generation by up to five times. This meant twice as many leads at half the monthly ad budget.
Here are a few ways I achieve these results:
- Accurate audience targeting
- Reducing PPC budget waste
- Incorporating conversion-focused design into websites and landing pages
- Brand differentiation that takes calculated risks
- Producing valuable content
- Creating an SEO strategies that actually work
And, most importantly working all of these individual tactics into a strategy that automatically targets, nurtures, and converts prospects into leads and sales.
Through this blog, I aim to help B2B executives and marketers, especially those at small organizations, fully harness the potential of digital marketing.
Here are a few of my first blog posts if you’d like to dig deeper: