The end of the year is fast approaching, and this can be a good time to take stock of your B2B marketing strategy. A survey by Regalix showed that 80% of senior marketing managers prioritized creating marketing collateral. They also considered sales enablement, defining position, creating marketing plans, and launch planning to be high priorities.
The website is still the most popular channel for B2B marketing, and other popular channels include email, webinars, social media, and search engine optimization (SEO). Before setting goals and making plans for 2016, it’s smart to review what went on in 2015 for every team member, because all of them have a stake in your success in the coming year. Here are 5 tips for taking stock of your B2B marketing strategy in preparation for a new year and new goals.
1. Review Current Roles and Responsibilities
Does each team member know what their own and everyone else’s roles and responsibilities are? They should. Make a list of your teams, who is on them, which channels each team manages, and what type of marketing content they produce. When you map out teams, who’s on them, and what each team member does, it’s easier to identify gaps and see where communication between teams can be improved. What B2B marketing tasks are most susceptible to falling through the cracks? Who is the best person to address each of these tasks?
2. Clearly Define Your Target Personas
In B2B, you’re probably not addressing only a single player during the sales journey, but several. Each of those people has a different view of their organization’s challenges and how to solve them. Your B2B marketing strategy should include creating content that addresses the unique needs of all the “personas” you work with during the sales process. Your team should know what their “pain points” are too, so consider surveying your team on the personas they work with and their pain points. This makes it easier to identify where teams are mis-aligned.
3. Trace the Buyer Journey and Match Team Members to Stages
Have you mapped out the buyer’s journey recently? You can generally do this through your website and social media analytics. It’s important to do this periodically, because the buying journey changes with new ad platforms and changes in customer behavior. Understand typical buyer journeys, from awareness of your products to repeat purchases and, learn what they are doing at every step. Are the best team members associated with the right steps in the buyer journey? If not, perhaps some rearrangement of team members is needed.
4. Review Which Metrics You’re Using
Ideally you should be tracking performance at every stage of the buyer journey. How well is your content performing? Is your social media marketing on point? You need to know these figures because without them, you’re doing little more than guessing the right next steps. Metrics sometimes belie your preconceived notions, so it’s important that they’re tracked regularly. It’s also good to have a handle on these metrics for conversations with upper management about what parts of your B2B marketing strategy are working best.
5. Take a Hard Look at Your Mobile Marketing Strategy
Mobile may not have been a part of your B2B marketing until recently, but you should still assess the mobile marketing situation as the year draws to a close. More mobile marketing options are available, and platforms like Facebook and Instagram are gathering numbers that can help you make the right call on where to direct your mobile marketing dollars. Your customer journey map can also be immensely helpful in fine-tuning your mobile marketing strategy. Optimizing mobile interactions with customers is indispensable now.
Conclusion
Marketing content existed long before the internet, because marketers have always used a range of marketing collateral to demonstrate value. But it’s safe to say that the B2B marketing landscape is more complicated today due to changing technology and changing customers. The volume of marketing content necessary for today’s campaign has increased, but distributing it has become easier and more targeted. As 2015 draws to a close, it’s important to take some time to look back and gain some perspective on the year: what your strengths were, and where there’s opportunity for improvement. By doing this, you’ll be better prepared for a stellar 2016.
