Category Archives: Business to Business Marketing Strategies

Tips for improving your business to business marketing strategies and campaigns.  Learn how to find a market niche, and why having a niche is so important.  There are also posts about finding your ideal client (and why you need that too).  Trying to market to everyone only leaves you “spraying and praying” without actually hitting anything.

These pages also cover common business to business marketing mistakes (made by companies both large and small). If you’ve made one of these, you’ll learn how you can fix the errors you’ve made (and avoid future gaffes).

Need more clients? Or better clients? Check out the posts on lead generation, how to set and negotiate higher fees, and what red flags to look for when prospecting for new work.

Finally, there are posts on creating your brand and your company’s “story.” What you are selling isn’t necessarily what you think.  The way you present your products and services can make a big difference in your results.

Marketing Plans Made Simple

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marketing plans made simple

I recently read a series of posts on another blog about effective marketing plans.

The posts went through all sorts of useful (but complicated) analysis – SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), psychographics, barriers to entry and so on.

All good to know, but a bit overwhelming. Heck, some of it made my head spin.

Marketing is complicated when you’re:

1. Selling to everybody instead of just “your tribe.” Don’t try to sell holistic medicine, childcare tips, and photography all on the same website.

2. Not differentiating yourself: “price,” “quality,” or “service” aren’t enough.

3. Marketing to demographics instead of problems. Never assume that shared demographics (age, income, children, geography) equals shared needs.

These tips are from my new two-part program, Marketing Plans Made Simple.

Find out:

* how to pick your dream client

* if your niche is big enough, or too small

* ways to stand out from your competition (or have none at all)

Click here to get the full scoop.

P.S. Price goes up October 15

Is Your Business Marketing Failing Like Blockbuster Video?

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DVDs of The Twilight Saga: New Moon at Costco ...

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Remember Blockbuster Video? They used to be the biggest name in video rentals.  Now, they’re a symbol of business marketing mistakes and failures.  Back then, when video was physical, instead of digital, the stores would be packed with people on a weekday night.

Blockbuster charged a lot, but the novelty and pleasure of being able to see movies whenever you wanted was initially irresistible to people who had grown up having to choose between going to a theatre, or waiting until (and if) the movie showed up on TV.

Well, they’ve just filed for bankruptcy protection. The store near me closed long ago. I’ve been happily using Netflix instead. So have a lot of other people.

Blockbuster’s big marketing mistake

Blockbuster started out well, but then tried to appeal to everyone, or maybe nobody. I’d go in for a movie and would see 20 copies of cartoons and Adam Sandler’s latest (now, it would probably be Twilight movies).  Maybe a few classics. That was about it. Rotten selection, high fees, limited viewing time: it was hard, expensive, and unpleasant.

Blockbuster was hard, Netflix is easy

Netflix, on the other hand, is easy. They have a large selection, you can keep movies as long as you like, and now, even watch them over the Internet (instant gratification). Netflix works because they took a model that was broken (video rental) and made it sleek, easy, and rewarding.

Look at some of your own practices.  Are you marketing to everyone or marketing to your tribe? Are you a eierlegendewollmilchsau?

Are you making it hard for your clients? Could be that you tend to use email when your clients prefer the phone. Or requiring too many steps to enter your blog contest? Or maybe your newsletter sign-up is confusing.

Go take a look. Let me know what you found.

Why You Need a “Why”: Marketing Tips From a Tow Truck

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Tow truck on duty, Hinaus-Team Oy, Jyväskylä, ...

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Have you found your why?  Do you you know why people should buy from you? And is that “why” directed at your potential customers, or only at your own needs?

A tow truck may not seem like an obvious marketing example. After all, when you need one, you want whoever can come quickly, and you don’t have a lot of time, or patience, to think about it much.

Find Your Why

The thing is, that even a tow truck company can stand out.  Or, not.

Here’s what I mean.

Driving down the highway this weekend (well, being a passenger), I spotted a tow truck that said, “All collisions and auto repair.”

It does state what it does.  But what it doesn’t do is tell anyone who sees the truck “why.”

“Why” you

Why choose that company over any other?  Do they specialize in a particular brand of car?  Or type of repair?  What makes them any different from the hundreds of other auto and collision businesses in Westchester or anywhere else?

Find a clear difference

There were no specific reasons. No “because.” No choose us because we specialize in Hondas, or choose us because we’ll loan you a car while we fix yours.

Is it worth spreading?

Another problem.  There was nothing particularly remarkable about them.  The truck, the signs, the service was just like every other tow truck I’d ever seen.  That “why” should not only be a reason, but (preferably) a great reason.  A reason so wonderful that it gets people talking about your company.

What if the tow truck company did something no other company does?  For example, they not only fixed your car, they cleaned and detailed it (no extra charge). Or maybe they leave a box of chocolates on the seat.

Focus on the customer

I saw another truck recently for a distributor of paper products (it looked like they sold to hotels and restaurants).  The truck had two calls to action, one of which was something like, “Call us and save.” Not exciting, but serviceable.  The other one was more problematic.  It said, “If you’re using someone else, we’re both losing money.”

I have no need for their products, but I don’t know why a potential customer should care whether the company was losing some business to their competitors.  If I’m running a hotel or a restaurant, I want to know that I will benefit from their products and prices.  I expect the vendor to make a profit, but that’s it.That was “remarkable” marketing, but in the wrong way!

 

A Surprising Source of Social Media Marketing Secrets

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Indonesian magazines at a kiosk in Jakarta.

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Magazines have been marketing themselves for over 100 years. In that time, they’ve learned lots of ways of interacting with readers.

Some insist that paper is obsolete, but those magazines and newspapers still have a few tricks up their saddle-stitched sleeves. The best part? You can adapt those tactics to the web and social media.

Here’s how it works.

Reader surveys

Magazines, especially women’s magazines love to include reader surveys. Readers write (or email now) in with answers to surveys about food, shopping, TV watching, all sorts of things. The readers are happy because they got to give an opinion (people love sharing opinions). The magazine editors get insights into what their readers want, will buy, and will read about. You can do this online too. Ask a question on your blog. Survey your email list. Then post the results.

Quizzes

Ask people to test their skills and knowledge. How much do you know about digital photography? Or Greek myths? Or Twitter? It’s fun – and it’s a super-sneaky “involvement device” – a way to get people to spend more time on your site.

Contests

Give something away. Everyone likes freebies. Offer a blog review to five random people. Encourage people to tweet, Facebook, and share your contest. In this case, online is even better – it’s easier to share and pass along than cutting out pages from a magazine.

Have you run a contest or quiz? How did it turn out? Do you think it’s a good idea?

Headlines

We’ve all gotten tired of deceptive “click bait’ headlines and “one weird trick,’ but magazines have been writing great headlines for years.  They know how to get your attention and persuade you to grab a copy and buy it. That’s not click bait, that’s good marketing. Use your headlines, subject lines, and post titles to engage emotions, prompt curiosity, and drive more opens and clicks.

Gotta Get a Gimmick: Marketing Secrets from Gypsy Rose Lee

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If you’ve never heard of Gypsy Rose Lee, she was a burlesque dancer. Let’s get that right out front. I was watching the movie Gypsy recently, and there was a scene where the experienced dancers were showing her the ropes and what really mattered to get more attention (and more work).

Use your gimmick to stand out

What made the difference?  Was it talent? Nah. That’s not what counts. “You gotta get a gimmick.” For example, one had blinking lights attached to her costume.  Another woman had a bugle. A third did ballet steps in between bumps and grinds (so mild by today’s standards).

The point? Not that I’m recommending you walk around with a bugle, or decorate your web site with blinking lights.

Marketing gimmick example

Do something that nobody else in your field can match. Something, that gets people talking about you, or makes you recognizable wherever you are on the web or in real life.

Sonia Simone has pink hair. Pat Ferdinandi has a parrot. Other people take pictures of themselves wearing ornithopter glasses (ahem).

Or, it could be something about how you interact with your customers.  I buy barrettes from France Luxe (great for thick hair).  If you buy three at once, they send you a fourth one for free. Everything is also beautifully wrapped in tissue paper.

Warby Parker donates a pair of eyeglasses for each pair they sell. Tom’s Shoes does the same thing with footwear.

I know of a web developer who adds a free favicon URLlogo image to every website he creates.

What’s your gimmick?