Lead conversions through effective B2B Marketing Strategies
Figuring out how to convert a huge number of leads from marketing strategies is a classic problem everyone in the B2B space relates to. In order to tackle this problem, we invited Samah El Naggar, EMEA Marketing Digital Squad Manager of IBM, to The B2B POD and asked her to share her thoughts and experiences on some of the marketing issues all of us in the B2B industry face.
Marketing is all about getting conversions. You want to convert browsers into buyers, get people to sign up for your email list, or make a purchase. But what are the elements that are crucial for getting conversions in marketing? In this blog post, we’re going to answer all these questions by discussing:
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3 key elements required for better marketing conversions
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How B2B conversion has evolved after the pandemic
Let’s start with some of the crucial elements you need to attain better conversion
3 elements for better marketing conversions
While running any marketing campaign, you need to keep three factors in mind if you want to see better conversion rates: establish trust, have an open communication channel, and focus on different marketing tactics.
In our latest episode on the B2B POD, our guest Samah El Naggar, sheds light on these three elements and explains their importance.
Establish trust
If you want people to buy your product or service, you need to establish trust. This can be done in a number of ways, but one of the most important is through transparency. Let your customers know what you’re selling them, how it works, and what they can expect.
Be honest about your products and services and don’t try to hide anything. Transparency builds trust, and when people trust you, they’re more likely to buy from you.
Make sure your website is trustworthy as well. Use a secure connection (SSL) and have a privacy policy in place. People are more likely to buy from websites they trust, so make sure your site looks credible and professional.
However, establishing trust among customers is just not enough. For a marketing campaign to succeed, you need to cultivate trust among your team members and all the other stakeholders.
This is where open communication comes in.
Have an open communication channel
Open communication builds trust and allows for better collaboration among team members. When everyone knows what’s going on, they’re able to work together more effectively to achieve common goals. This not only leads to a more cohesive team but also increases productivity and reduces the chances of any misunderstandings.
Make sure you have a communication platform that is easily accessible to everyone. This could be a chat platform, email, or even telephone. And make sure you use it often to keep everyone in the loop.
This is how Samah established an open communication channel to establish trust:
“To be honest, it’s really important to avoid blaming and pointing fingers and making sure that we are focusing on the solution rather than the problem itself. Trying to be positive is the key. Also, we made sure that we were recognizing and appreciating our team members whenever necessary.
With this in place, we’re open to having healthy discussions and coming up with credible solutions for our problems.“
At the end of the day, we all are one team and that’s the key element. If we fail to understand this then we will not be able to reach our target. So that’s why it’s important to establish an open communication channel and ensure that all the parties are involved in the campaign from the beginning.
Focus on different marketing tactics
In order to increase your conversion rate, you need to focus on different marketing tactics. This could mean using a variety of channels to reach your target audience or experimenting with different content formats.
When asked Samah about her perspective on what kind of marketing tactics work, she suggested trying out a few different marketing tactics and seeing which ones work best for your company.
Samah on different marketing tactics:
“I wouldn’t say I can actually, I cannot rely on one tactic to come to the customer journey. It’s something really important to have, so we can actually take in the customers through the different channels, online and offline, thinking of a channel.“
B2B conversion after the pandemic
The pandemic was a wake-up call for a lot of businesses, and the B2B sector was no exception. With the rise of COVID-19, businesses were forced to take a closer look at their sales process and figure out how they could improve their conversion rate.
One more significant shift we can see in the B2B space is the wide-scale adoption of remote purchases. According to Mckinsey’s report, 70 percent of B2B decision-makers say they are open to making new, fully self-serve or remote purchases in excess of $50,000, and 27 percent are open to spending more than $500,000 on the same.
With this development in mind, the new-age marketers need to keep certain things in mind to maximize their conversions:
Be Customer-Centric
Now more than ever, businesses need to be customer-centric. This means understanding your customers’ needs and wants and catering to them.
One way to do this is by creating buyer personas. Buyer personas are fictional, generalised representations of your ideal customer. By having a deep understanding of your buyer persona’s needs, you can create content and marketing campaigns that resonate with them.
Samah on being customer-centric:
“During the pandemic, our focus was on building up some sort of personal relationship with the customers. Having empathy at that stage rather than pushing out products was our sole focus.
So we were keen actually to send emails and try to reach our customers through different channels, by reassuring and reconfirming that times are challenging for all of us. So let’s keep in touch and look after each other. That was one of the key elements. We were not focusing on how we should be closing the deal rather we were focusing on the client itself.“
Employ 360 Marketing
360 marketing is a holistic approach to marketing that takes into account all aspects of the customer experience. It encompasses everything from marketing and advertising to customer service and support.
By using 360 marketing, you can create a seamless experience for your customers that will keep them coming back for more.
In our latest episode of the B2B POD, Samah explains how she employs 360 marketing to her advantage:
“The 360 approach is really important. It’s not just about working on email marketing alone but focusing on prospecting and retargeting approaches as well. Make sure that the customers, whenever and wherever they land, will interact with our assets on the digital platform and even offline or anything like that. Our aim is to interact with them based on the buyer stage. So email is one of the tactics, but it’s not like an absolute tactic, it should be combined with a different tactic.“
The power of google search
Google is the undisputed king of search. With a significant market share under its belt, there’s no doubt that Google is a powerful tool for businesses that are looking to increase their conversion rate.
By optimising your website for Google search, you can improve your ranking and attract more traffic to your site. This will help you convert more leads into paying customers.
When asked Samah how she uses the google search for her marketing campaigns, she replied:
“Even though we run paid campaigns on Google search, I count Google search as inbound, not as outbound, even if we are pushing in that case. Because even if you are paying money for Google to push your keywords for the first rank, you will not be able to do that, if you are not offering what the client requires.
Google is super keen on their customers and they will not be pushing whatever. Even if you are paying or bidding lots of money. You will not be ranked properly in the first five ranks unless it’s in alignment with the client-centricity approach. So Google is one of the key elements or one of the key tactics that we were relying on, but in collaboration and integration with the existing tactics that we have.“
Key takeaways
Coming to the end, it’s time we recap what we’ve learned:
Collaborate and listen to each other for continuous feedback
In order to create successful marketing campaigns, it’s important to collaborate and listen to each other for continuous feedback. Don’t shy away from involving all the stakeholders in the starting process. Instead, this will help ensure that your campaigns are in line with your customers’ needs and wants.
Go with the flow and optimize when you have enough data
Marketing is a fluid process, and you need to be prepared to go with the flow and optimize when you have enough data. Don’t try to rush things; let the data guide your decisions instead.
Keep all the stakeholders connected
Finally, it’s important to keep all the stakeholders connected. This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and that you’re able to get the most out of your marketing campaigns.
By following these tips, you can increase your conversion rate and boost your business’s bottom line. If you’re interested in more such topics, then we have a podcast you can check out where we release new episodes on B2B marketing and everything else that is related to it. You can listen to B2B POD on all leading platforms like Spotify, Google podcast, Apple podcast, and Stitcher.
Thanks for reading!!