In any small business, resources are precious, whether people, time, money or kit. Crucial is you use your resources to develop a compelling product and “cut through” so that the people who need to know about you, do so.
If you are a business owner or CEO then marketing is at the heart of your role and central to your success. But first make sure you developed your proposition: who you are, what you do and how you do it. No business should even commission any marketing until they have defined their proposition in a way that is unique to them.
In B2B marketing, the buyer decision is probably complex. It may also be expensive. And indeed it may be risky. For all these reasons think about marketing as a buyer journey, not a one-off impact.
Central to the marketing of any B2B product or service is building trust and credibility. This doesn’t come quickly or cheaply. You need to plan to make a strong first impression, focus on the marketing not only on selling and make sure you measure the impact of your marketing. That old chestnut about “half my advertising works but I don’t know which half” is out of date.
Brief your ideas before you start creating, evaluate your ideas and ask for second opinions from other people. This will prevent many marketing failures.
Marketing for B2B companies isn’t an exact science. Not everything will work. Sometimes you won’t even know if your activity worked or not. It may feel like you are wasting precious money. But the important thing to remember is that your marketing effectiveness is likely to be measured over years not weeks.
