Digital marketing has grown in the last decade to encompass numerous different categories that can sometimes overwhelm. For a first-time B2B business, there may also be a tendency to feel like they don’t know where to begin or which categories to focus on more than others. But with statistics tabulated regularly, you can see what other B2B businesses nationally are doing and finding the most success using. Recently, a new research study from Gigaom revealed what categories of digital marketing are starting to be nurtured most often and which ones capture the most amount of customers.
Social Media Marketing
There shouldn’t be any surprise that social media marketing came first in the above Gigaom study. Then again, perhaps some might be surprised when you consider digital video advertising was way below that. This isn’t to say using video can’t be integrated into social media marketing. Marketing on social media is a subject with numerous subcategories and almost comprehensive in what you can do using media.
However, the main aspect of social media is going to be communication, which is usually done through text more than anything through Twitter and Facebook. For a B2B business, this might mean first watching Twitter conversations through specific hashtag searches and nurturing relationships over a period of time. It also means gathering a list of those people who could be prospective business customers later, yet avoiding selling to them right away in order to establish a normal conversation.
Content Marketing
Some might think that content marketing should have come first above social media. Yet, it came second in the study, even if it’s also cross-relational when it comes to social media marketing. It also goes beyond social media into what you place on your website, and even in marketing materials offline. Never underestimate the power of print marketing since it still gets noticed when sent in a business customer’s mailbox. The same goes with flyers and business cards.
Online content can mean videos, as well as infographics. The latter is still a hot trend, and it’s one a business customer can quickly read to get a gist of what you offer.
Email Marketing
With email marketing third in the study, it continues to prove the validity of email in reaching a wide audience. In a B2B business, you want customers to opt in to an email list through a newsletter you send out or regular notices of discounts. These business customers want to know what kind of discounts they can receive from you, and email marketing can send to all those customers at once.
Your only challenge with email marketing is making the email clear who you are so it won’t be mistaken for spam or a phishing scam.
The rest of the above study showed awareness as one of the top marketing objectives. This was followed by customer acquisition, which makes sense considering email marketing was noted to be the best way toward customer retention.
A really great business, however, will not only focus on the big three we’ve discussed, but will also incorporate SEO, mobile advertising, referral marketing, and even affiliate marketing. With digital marketing more vast than ever, you need an expert marketing team to help you navigate every road and to capture what B2B businesses are doing right now.
Much success,
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