The general approach to B2B advertising is not all that different from B2C advertising. The fundamentals are the same:
- Know your customers and develop buyer personas
- Know their pain points and solve their problems
- Understand the buyer’s journey and sales cycle
The messages and message distribution you choose will be driven by the specific trade(s) your service or product targets. Bouvier Kelly works with clients that have a broad horizontal trade focus such as Industrial Safety; or a vertical trade focus such as Convenience Stores; or an extremely niche focus such as Surfboard Shapers and Manufacturers. Each trade, industry or target has nuances that influence the distribution of messaging.
Let’s take a look at these 3 key tactics of B2B advertising to help you better understand your customer and how to reach them.
1) Know your customers and develop buyer personas
Get to know your customers as well as the industry(ies) they serve. Are there associations and/or trade publishers that support them? These associations and publishers can be a good source of information for defining buyer personas and their influencers as well as assist in shaping the buyer’s journey and delivering effective touchpoints during the journey.
All industries vary and the landscape is ever-evolving, but publishers (including their printed publications, eNewsletters and trade shows) are still a top source for both the awareness and consideration phase of the buyer’s journey. And when you’re mapping out effective touchpoints, don’t count social media out entirely. Even for a niche audience, platforms like LinkedIn can offer great one-on-one contact and even something like Instagram or Pinterest can be highly effective if your B2B audience is on the more visual or creative side.
2) Know your customers’ pain points and solve their problems
Knowing pain points and developing solutions speaks more to messaging than distribution. However, once you have that key messaging, you can determine the best media type and then move to its distribution method. When considering message distribution, you should also determine where in the buyer’s journey that information or message is appropriate. Some may be appropriate in more than one phase of the journey.
3) Understand the buyer’s journey
For customers in the Awareness phase, you’ll need to develop broader, attention-grabbing messages. During the Consideration phase, the messaging and content should educate your prospects, moving them closer to purchase. In both phases, trade publishers’ platforms are still viable in providing touchpoints to assist in moving prospects through the funnel. If digital platforms are utilized, a site-retargeting tactic and/or an email drip campaign should be used in order to stay top-of-mind. Once customers are in the Decision phase, the process focuses less on advertising and more toward marketing. However, advertising supports the prospect’s decision to purchase as well as builds loyalty.
You know a lot about your customers and your industry, but by organizing what you already know, you’ll uncover insights you hadn’t considered. Buyer Personas and the Buyer’s Journey are tools to help you build a more global strategy and see things from a perspective the hectic pace of your day-to-day may not always allow.
