When you’re running a B2B business, marketing can become a lot more complicated than it is for consumer brands.
Businesses expect to be sold to entirely differently: they want a consultative approach that makes them feel like they’re partnering up with another company rather than being marketed to by a faceless entity.
This means that the best channels and tactics for B2B marketing are different from the ones used by B2C marketers. In this post, I’ll walk you through the 20 best channels your business can use to market itself online and grow its reach. Let’s get started!
| Key Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Diversify your B2B marketing strategy by leveraging multiple online channels. |
| 2. Social media platforms offer valuable opportunities for B2B engagement and lead generation. |
| 3. Content marketing remains a powerful tool to educate and engage B2B audiences. |
| 4. Email campaigns can effectively nurture leads and maintain customer relationships. |
| 5. SEO and SEM help improve online visibility and attract organic traffic. |
| 6. Influencer partnerships can enhance credibility and expand your reach. |
| 7. Webinars and online events offer interactive ways to showcase expertise. |
| 8. Video marketing provides engaging content that resonates with B2B decision-makers. |
| 9. Utilize podcasting to share insights and establish thought leadership. |
| 10. Collaborate with industry publications and guest post for wider exposure. |
1. Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to attract and convert leads. The idea behind content marketing is to create valuable, relevant, and consistent content that educates your customers, builds trust with them, and ultimately converts them into paying customers.
You might be wondering how you can do all that with just one channel: content. The good news is that this type of marketing isn’t confined to just one channel like on-site email or social media ads;
It actually encompasses several different platforms including blogging sites such as HubSpot or e-commerce stores like Shopify.
With these channels combined, you can create a cohesive strategy that meets all your needs while remaining cost-effective at the same time!
Building effective push notification strategies is crucial for engaging your audience. Discover the essential elements in our article on The 13 Ingredients of Every Amazing Push Notification that will help you craft notifications that stand out.
2. Content Syndication
Content syndication is the act of distributing your content to other websites. This is a great way to build links and increase your search engine ranking, which in turn can help with organic traffic growth.
Content syndication is also a great way to grow your audience, as you’ll be able to reach people that would never visit your site otherwise. Finally, it’s a great way to build your brand by connecting with influencers outside of your niche who are interested in what you’re doing.
Content syndication works best when there are clear pieces of information that need to be shared with other sites – for example:
- A listicle (an article formatted like a checklist or numbered list) about the 10 most important things new bloggers need before starting their first blog post
- An infographic about how much money it costs for companies worldwide on average if they don’t have an online presence
Want to foster a strong video marketing community? Learn why using videos is an effective method to connect with your audience in our guide, Why Video Marketing Is an Effective Way to Build a Community.
3. Webinars & Seminars
Webinars and seminars are an excellent way to build your audience, email list, brand, and credibility. They’re also a great way to make new connections with potential partners or clients.
By presenting on topics that relate to your area of expertise in front of a live audience you can create content for your website that people will find useful and shareable (which can help drive traffic).
A webinar is essentially an online seminar you may even have seen somewhere there wasn’t any audio or video but rather just slideshows that were presented by the speakers while they answered questions from the audience via chat rooms or text messages.
If you decide to hold a webinar or seminar it’s important that you market it properly so people will know about it in advance so they can prepare beforehand (i.e., come prepared with questions).
You can do this by sending out invitations via email as well as posting information about the event on social media sites like LinkedIn or Facebook groups where people are already engaged with something similar beforehand!
4. Live Events
Live events are a great way to connect with your customers. You can use them as a platform for building your brand, generating leads and referrals, and building relationships with other businesses in the industry.
They can also be used as an opportunity to educate people on what you do.
Organizing live events is time-consuming but it doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive! Here are some simple tips that will help you make sure the event goes smoothly:
Plan ahead: Make sure you have everything planned out beforehand so there won’t be any surprises during the event itself! This includes things like food/beverage options (if applicable) and decorations/signage outside of where it’s being held at least 24 hours before start time.
Offer value beyond just what attendees get out of attending; this may include offering free access to future webinars before they even begin taking place online
Set up multiple ways for people interested in attending so they’re not limited just by how much space there is inside
Engaging your audience requires smart brand engagement strategies. Dive into our article, 10 Unraveling the Puzzle of Brand Engagement, to uncover key insights that can help you strengthen your brand’s connection with customers.
5. Email Marketing
Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach your audience. And while it’s not a new channel, email marketing has evolved to become even more powerful and effective than ever before.
Email marketing can be used to drive traffic to your website, drive sales and build your brand.
An email has been around since the invention of the internet in the late 1960s but it wasn’t until around 1995 that businesses started using it as a marketing tool because they realized its potential as an effective way for them to nurture relationships with their customers over time.
Since then, email has become one of the most important channels for marketers: over 90% of consumers check their emails daily and almost 70% prefer receiving promotional messages via email rather than other channels like social media or SMS (Short Message Service).
6. Native Advertising
Native advertising is a form of online advertising that matches the form and function of the platform where it appears. It’s intended to look like an organic part of the user experience rather than an ad, to gain greater attention from consumers and increase conversion rates.
Native ads can take many forms, including:
- Articles or videos (native content)
- Photos or infographics (native imagery)
- Promoted listings on search engines like Google’s AdWords program, which display ads at the top or right side of search engine results pages (SERPs).
This type of advertising has been around for a long time but has recently seen new life as it offers marketers more flexibility in terms of creative design.
For example, advertisers can now utilize video and photo content instead of just text-based ads because they’re able to integrate seamlessly into social media streams like Facebook News Feeds and Instagram Stories.
7. Video Content Marketing
Video content marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage your target audience. With a video, you have the opportunity to explain complex concepts in a way that’s engaging and easy for your audience to understand.
Video also helps build trust with your brand because you’re able to connect with people on an emotional level through storytelling.
In addition, video has higher conversion rates than any other type of content, which means it’s also highly effective at getting people off the fence about purchasing from you and converting them into paying customers!
8. Email Signature Marketing
Email signature marketing is one of the most effective ways to promote your company, and it’s a great way to get your brand in front of your customers.
Most people know that an email signature is generally the last thing in an email before the actual content of the message. But what many people don’t realize is that it’s also highly visible in their inboxes (whereas other marketing efforts are often buried).
That means every time you send out an email, you have a chance to get your branding in front of someone who might not have seen it otherwise.
You should make sure each employee has an email signature that reflects their role at your company and makes sure they include links back to important pages on your website like “Contact Us” or “Careers.”
This will help drive qualified traffic back to those pages while also helping customers know how best to reach you when they need assistance with something specific.
9. Conversion Rate Optimization
Conversion rate optimization is a process for increasing the number of visitors to your website who take the desired action. The desired action could be anything from subscribing to a newsletter or purchasing an item.
Conversion rate optimization is a process that involves testing, analyzing, and improving the user experience on a website. Testing involves A/B testing (testing two versions at once) or multivariate testing (testing many versions at once).
Analyzing is done with tools such as heatmaps, click maps, and scroll maps. Improving can be done through usability tests or interviews with customers about their experience on your site.
There are different ways you can optimize your site for conversions:
Create landing pages that convert – This includes creating calls-to-action (CTA) like buttons and developing compelling copy that encourages users to take action. Optimize these CTAs using button color theory so they stand out more than others on your page.
Consider using social proof by providing testimonials from happy customers to build trust. Test different headlines and body copy variations until you find what works best!
Curious about some creative marketing campaigns that can make a lasting impact? Check out our showcase of 12 Marketing Campaigns That Will Blow You Away to get inspired and discover innovative strategies.
10. Influencer Marketing (Not The Kardashians)
Influencer marketing is when someone with a large audience (and therefore a high level of trustworthiness) recommends your product or service to their readers, followers, and subscribers.
In today’s world of social media, there are more ways than ever to reach out to influencers. Here are some tips on how to get started:
Define influencer marketing: This definition will help you understand the scope of what an influencer could be for your brand.
Is it someone who has 20 million followers on Instagram? Or 100K? Maybe it’s a celebrity in the industry you’re targeting or even an average customer who has been raving about your company in their blog posts and videos online.
What are the benefits of influencer marketing? There are many reasons why companies turn towards this tactic as part of their overall strategy but here are some common ones:
Reach new audiences – Build up credibility for your brand – Establish yourself as an expert within an industry – Enhance existing content by having someone else share it
11. SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a must for any B2B website. SEO is the process of improving your website’s visibility in search engines.
It starts with keyword research, which helps you to understand what users are searching for, and then continues with creating content that meets user expectations.
The most common mistake that businesses make when it comes to SEO is focusing solely on keywords and neglecting other important factors such as creating a good user experience on their site.
The actual process of optimizing your website includes many different tasks like optimizing titles, meta descriptions, and URLs as well as ensuring that all content on the website contains relevant keywords in its text or alt tags.
It’s important to keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process and you need to constantly update content and structure so that it continues ranking higher than competitors’ sites.
12. Mobile-Friendly Website Design
Mobile-friendly website design is a must for any B2B business. Websites that are not mobile-friendly will lose visitors and sales, so it’s important to ensure that your site is fully optimized for all devices.
A mobile-friendly website will be easier to use and load faster than one that isn’t. Google rewards websites that are responsive by giving them an advantage in search results rankings, which means more traffic and leads for you!
Launching a successful B2C marketing campaign takes careful planning. To achieve impressive ROI, follow our comprehensive guide on 15 Tips to Launch Your B2C Marketing Campaign with Impressive ROI and make the most out of your efforts.
13. Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is a great way to get your message out there and drive traffic to your website. It’s not only effective for getting leads, but also for building brand awareness.
Paid advertising comes in several forms: search engine marketing (SEM), social media, retargeting, display ads, mobile ads, and video ads. To help you decide which channels are best for your company we’ve outlined them below:
14. Social Media Marketing (LinkedIn)
LinkedIn is a great place to connect with people in your industry, as well as find leads. LinkedIn has over 500 million members and it’s the second-largest social media platform in the world after Facebook.
You can use LinkedIn to:
Find recruiters. Recruiters are looking for talent on LinkedIn all day long! If you have experience in their industry and have done something impressive, they’ll reach out to you through LinkedIn.
And if they don’t reach out? That’s okay too you can still search for them yourself (and let them know you found them).
Find job opportunities through networking groups or by searching for open positions within companies near where you live or work now. You might even see an opening from someone who knows someone else at your company.
Either way, it’s worth keeping track of these types of opportunities since they will come up from time to time no matter what industry category(ies) your focus falls under!
15. Social Media Marketing (Facebook)
Social media is an excellent way for B2B companies to connect with their audience and build brand awareness.
Facebook, in particular, has more than 1 billion active users worldwide. That’s a lot of potential customers!
The best part? Facebook is free you don’t have to pay anything extra to use it as a marketing channel. If you aren’t familiar with how to get started on Facebook, here are some tips:
- Post engaging content regularly (this could be images, videos, or text) that your audience will find interesting or useful
- Share links from other websites related to your niche (e.g.: if you’re selling accounting software, share links about entrepreneurship)
16. Social Media Marketing (Twitter)
Twitter is the perfect platform for B2B marketing. It makes it easy to connect with influencers and potential customers. You can use Twitter to share your content and build up your brand.
Share Content: Twitter is one of the best ways to promote your content, whether you’re sharing blog posts, videos, or images.
Twitter lets you reach a large audience quickly and easily, which means sharing content on Twitter will help you get more exposure for what you offer as a business (including your products).
17. Social Media Marketing (YouTube)
YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and the second largest social network after Facebook. It’s also the second-largest video hosting site after Vimeo and the second most popular video streaming service after Netflix.
YouTube has over one billion users who watch over three billion hours of video on YouTube every single day. With that kind of reach, it’s no wonder why social media marketers are flocking to leverage this platform for their B2B marketing efforts!
18. Paid Search Advertising (Google AdWords)
With the right keywords and ad copy, you can find success with Google AdWords. The platform is easy to use and has a simple interface that makes it easy to create ads. You can also target your audience directly using specific locations, demographics, or interests.
There are two main types of paid search advertising on Google:
Search Ads (on the Google Search Engine) – This includes traditional text ads like you would see in a newspaper classifieds section or on Craigslist
Display Network (Unrelated Websites) – These are banner ads that can be placed on websites outside of Google’s search results
19. Remarketing/Retargeting Ads (Google Ads And Facebook Ads)
Remarketing is a type of online advertising in which you show ads to people who have already visited your site.
Retargeting is a type of remarketing in which you show ads to people who have visited a specific page on your sites, like checkout or product pages.
Using these two online marketing channels together can help you convert more visitors into customers by making it easier for them to make purchases by showing them relevant products again and again without having to search for them again or fill out forms again.
20. Podcasting And Other Audio Channels
Podcasting is a great way to connect with your audience and can be a great way to connect with customers who are an hour away from your office. Another benefit of podcasting is that it allows you to easily repurpose old content, saving you time and money in the long run.
You might also consider creating an audio version of one of the blog posts on your site or other marketing materials like white papers or case studies.
This helps build brand awareness and reach hard-to-find audiences who may have missed out on seeing your video, print ad, or billboard at work because they’re driving through rush hour traffic.
Conclusion
If there’s one thing we hope you take away from this post, it’s that there are more channels out there than you probably think. And many of them have vast potential to significantly improve your results.
We suggest that you start by picking one of these 20 channels and doing a little more research into it before you dive in. And then, keep practicing and learning as things change which they inevitably will!
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to further enhance your understanding of B2B marketing strategies:
B2B Marketing Strategies: 10 Effective Tactics You Need to Know Short Description: Explore this comprehensive guide that outlines 10 effective B2B marketing tactics to elevate your strategy and drive results.
Unlock Global B2B Marketplace Success with These Tactics Short Description: Discover key tactics for succeeding in the global B2B marketplace and expanding your business reach effectively.
Effective B2B Marketing Channels You Should Utilize Short Description: Learn about various B2B marketing channels that can drive engagement and growth in your business.
FAQs
Have questions about B2B marketing? We’ve got answers.
How can I improve my B2B marketing strategy?
Improving your B2B marketing strategy involves a combination of understanding your target audience, utilizing effective channels, crafting compelling content, and consistently measuring and optimizing your efforts.
What are some key trends in global B2B marketplaces?
Some key trends in global B2B marketplaces include the rise of digital platforms, the importance of personalized experiences, the growth of cross-border trade, and the integration of AI and automation.
Which B2B marketing channels should I prioritize?
The choice of B2B marketing channels depends on your target audience and goals. Social media, content marketing, email campaigns, and SEO are commonly used channels, but it’s essential to tailor your strategy to your unique business needs.
How can I ensure my B2B marketing tactics are effective?
To ensure your B2B marketing tactics are effective, establish clear goals, monitor key performance metrics, gather customer feedback, and adapt your strategies based on data-driven insights.
What role does content play in B2B marketing?
Content is a cornerstone of B2B marketing. High-quality and relevant content positions your brand as an industry leader, provides value to your audience, and fosters trust and engagement, ultimately driving conversions and customer loyalty.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.