Growing your business is always a priority, but growth comes in many forms. With marketing for your B2B professional services firm, it all comes down to efficiency. Who is in your target audience, how are you trying to reach them, and what are you doing to move the relationship forward once they've demonstrated interest? The goal is to maximize your chance at success, while minimizing wasted time. No small task, but I've got three proven B2B growth strategies to help you get there.
Identify your target market and stick to it
This is the big one, because our next two strategies depend on nailing the first step. Inbound marketing gives you the tools to target anyone, anywhere, so there's a natural temptation to get your stuff in front of as many eyes as possible. In reality, it's the classic quality versus quantity dilemma. With B2B marketing, I'll take quality every time.
The basic idea is simple. Target prospects with a higher probability of success, and you've got a better chance of achieving your goals. Just as important, you'll spend less time chasing down dead-end leads. You likely have a target market in mind already, so this step may be as much about “trimming the fat” as it is breaking new ground.
Do your research, choose your target market, and focus your efforts in that direction. Rely on the data, and be confident in the legwork you put in to choose high-probability targets.
Tailor your content to your market's pain points
Now that you've got a solid target market locked in, it's time to open the conversation. Your content might take many forms, from quick hitting blog posts to long, detail-oriented white papers. Ideally, you'll employ a healthy mix.
The goal is to appeal to the key needs of your audience, so your hands-on experience in your industry will be of major value. You show your expertise by answering a simple question with your content, and the reader is more likely to trust you to answer the big questions for their business.
As a professional services firm, your audience is likely coming to you with a problem that needs to be solved, or a question that needs to be answered.
Again, don't be afraid to lean on your day-to-day experiences when brainstorming content topics. When you sit down with a new client, what's the first challenge they usually ask about? Is there anything in the news that your audience would benefit from seeing analyzed?
There's a ton of room to get creative with your content, as long as you always remember to keep the focus on your target market.
Use automation to efficiently deliver relevant content
Growth and efficiency go hand in hand. There's simply no need to tie up your time, or your team's time, on tedious marketing tasks that can be handled more efficiently and effectively by automation. The most relevant content for a given client depends on where they are in the purchasing cycle, the level of their organization you're targeting, and which problems they need solved, to name a few factors.
Automation makes it easy to get the right content in front of the right person at the right time, which goes back to keeping the focus on your target's pain points.
On top of the personalization benefits, automation simply makes it easier to manage and coordinate your contacts, record notes on clients, and have the data you need at your fingertips when it's time to speak with the client directly. It's another piece of the foundation that will allow you to pursue your target with confidence.
As you work implement your B2B growth strategies, remember that it's natural to have some peaks and valleys. No matter how much research you do on your target market, you'll still run into some duds.
So the best thing you can do is lean on the data to learn what's working, and what's not. Keep a close eye on your analytics, and use what you learn to shape your plan going forward. It's all about constant improvement, and putting these three B2B growth strategies to work is the perfect place to start.
