While both consumers and businesses were on a long trend toward doing more business online, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a rapid shift. Your customers are likely handling everything from research to shopping to business communications completely online. In the B2B space, businesses have come up with new and innovative marketing strategies to remain connected to valued clients and build connections to new and prospective customers.
COVID-19 has certainly been a challenge for most businesses and individuals to cope with, but it’s also leading to new opportunities when it comes to B2B marketing. Here are some modern B2B marketing strategies in the pandemic era that may help your business better weather the current marketing landscape and reach for new levels of success.
B2B Marketing Strategies
Refresh Your Website
For brick and mortar businesses, having a clean and professional office or storefront is essential for both first impressions and a useful venue to conduct business. In the digital era, your website has to live up to these expectations. Moving toward a digital marketing B2B strategy could mean you should update your website to include clearer navigation, new features, or other design features.
Double down on account-based-marketing
If you are used to sending sales staff to client sites for meetings, you shouldn’t give up on those valuable face-to-face meetings. But these days, they are more likely to take place online. Ensure your valued B2B customers know that you care by scheduling meetings with existing customers that support your business and new potential clients that make up your sales funnel.
Take in-person events virtual
Conferences and other in-person educational events are on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many potential customers would not be willing to walk into a grocery store, let alone a packed business conference room. Hosting webinars and other virtual events may allow you to connect and answer questions without risking in-person virus transmission.
Implement video marketing
Video is a growing part of digital marketing, and the most effective B2B marketing strategies during the pandemic may include video. Video puts a face to your brand and gives customers insights into the real people that run your business. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, what’s a video worth? When it comes to digital marketing during COVID-19, video marketing could be invaluable.
Overhaul your social media
When a business is considering buying from you or establishing a relationship, they may head to your social media channels to learn about your business. If you have stale pages with few updates, or even worse, none at all, your prospective customer could leave and never return. Make sure your team releases consistent, valuable, thoughtful content that is useful to your target customers. And be ready to reply and keep the conversation if anyone reaches out.
Create content that converts
Content may bring in readers through search engines and referrals. If you create useful content that educates your ideal client or shows thought leadership, you may even turn some browsers into customers. Create high quality and engaging content for the best results. Engagement is key when looking to build trust and attract new customers.
Don't underestimate SEO
If you didn't give your SEO strategy a lot of thought prior to the pandemic, it's worth getting started now. Spending time on an SEO strategy that complements your content strategy may be the difference between publishing content that’s hardly seen and publishing content that goes viral and brings in thousands of viewers, if not millions. Be sure to play by the rules and follow “white hat” SEO strategies that are ethical and lead to the best long-term results.
Stay mindful of your tone and content
A pandemic isn’t the only headline going around. 2020 has seen protests and social unrest around the world related to race, financial equality, and other important societal issues. Wherever you stand politically, it’s wise to be mindful of the tone of your digital content. It’s easy to write a quick online message that you intend to be positive but is offensive when taken out of context. Take care and give your team a chance to review everything with fresh eyes to ensure it’s not sending an unintentional, negative message.
Digital marketing is important for long-term business viability
The pandemic won’t be here forever. It’s important to keep your business nimble and adjust to the right B2B marketing approach for what the entire business community is grappling with today. As you build your short-term plans, don’t let longer-term goals go by the wayside.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion on any issue. It should not be regarded as comprehensive or a substitute for professional advice.