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.

Why Do You Really Need a Target Audience?

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Why do marketers always ask if you have a target audience? Why not just tell the client what to do? You know, a step-by-step tutorial. Isn’t marketing just marketing? Why does it matter?

It may seem odd, but there is method to this madness.

Target More, Spend Less

The reason we ask is because we’re trying to find out how to help you and what to recommend. It matters because what’s appropriate for a business trying to reach Fortune 500 companies is not suitable for a business who wants to sell  hangers to local dry cleaners.

Choose the Right Message

If you were going to do a logo for a toy store, you’d choose different fonts, colors, and design elements than you would if you were creating a logo for a funeral home. The first should be lively and happy and bright. The second should be somber and reassuring.

Spending a lot of time creating a cheery logo for the funeral home would be a mistake. The client would be unhappy and you’d probably have to redo it (costing you time and money). If you spend a lot of time and money trying to reach “everybody,” you’ll end up with fewer clients (not more). Market to fewer people, and you’ll earn more.

Get More Money

You need a target audience so you know where to focus. Picture a real archery target. There’s a big red circle in the middle, and rings around it. Hitting the circle gets you 10 points. Hitting one of the rings gets you fewer points. The further the ring is from the center, the fewer points you get. If you miss the target entirely, you get nothing.

Marketing works the same way.  If you hit the center of the target (your ideal customer) and you make money. Hit something close, you make some money, but not as much. Miss the target entirely, you get nothing.

Let’s say you’re selling  car insurance for commercial fleets.  Your ideal customer might be moving companies. A close second could be florists or contractors.  They all have several vehicles, which get a lot of use, and have to be insured.  On the other hand, copywriters and designers likely only need a single car, for their own use.  Marketing to them (and I have personally received offers for this) is a complete miss.  That sort of marketing is completely broken (and unfortunately, too common).  It costs lots of money, but earns very little.

On the other hand, once you have a real ideal customer profile, you can then narrow down where you look for prospects, what to offer them. and how you reach them. Think like a fisherman. Go where the fish are.

Photo: Sachin Ghodke

How to Educate Your Non-Tech Clients

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blackboard_abcEver had a client you had to educate?

You know, they want to change the design of their Web site,  and “just want you to switch a few things around”? And, it shouldn’t be a big deal…

But, of course, if you do, the pages won’t flow properly, the code will break, and it won’t load properly.

Frustrating, isn’t it?

Don’t argue based on design principles

Your instinct may be to talk about design integrity, being search-engine friendly, or compliance with web standards. But your client isn’t a techie (that’s why you are at an impasse in the first place).  She’s in the insurance, hardware, or accounting business. She’s not a graphic designer or a Web developer, and doesn’t speak “design.”

Use everyday language, not tech-speak

Translate the problem into terms the client will instantly understand.

Tell her that swapping some colors or switching fonts is like repainting the kitchen. Redoing the code, adding Flash, and assuring the design works correctly on all browsers, is like doing a complete overhaul — tearing out all the appliances, replacing the cabinets, and ripping out the plumbing. Complying with Web standards is like following local building codes.

Explain the work involved this way, and she’ll have a better understanding of the costs and time required to fix her site.

Photo: Cecile Graat

Remarkable Can be Small

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Top-and-bottom pedestrian countdown

On Tuesday, Seth said that you can create a breakthrough or you can win incrementally – with small changes that gradually build attention and trust.

A change can be small and still be remarkable.

On Monday, I was down in Union Square in New York City. I noticed that the crossing lights had a countdown clock. The lights counted down, so you knew how much time you had to get across the street before the light changed.

A small thing, but one that made it much easier to cross the street.

What small thing can you do that will make it easier for your customers? Or for yourself? Or that would be worth talking about?

Business Marketing Tips from Dr. Dolittle

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dr. dolittle albumWhat does Dr. Dolittle have to do with business marketing tips? Or even marketing in the 21st century? What kind of marketing tips can we get from a story written about a man who wore a tall top hat, tails and lived “long ago when our grandfathers were little children.”

Dr. Dolittle may have “lived” a long time ago, and may have been fictional, but  he also knew the value of taking the time to listen, learn, and use his patients’ language.

Use your customers’ language

In the movie musical version, Dr. Dolittle sang,
“If I could talk to the animals, just imagine it,
Chattin’ with a chimp in chimpanzee”

Marketers need to do this too.

If you don’t talk the way your prospects talk, they’ll tune you out.

For instance, I got an email message today that said, “How can I get BDM for my Product?…We specialize in optimizing business processes and implementing ERPs.”

I have no idea what that means, what problem they solve, or whether I have it. He might as well have sent that message in chimpanzee.

Where does it hurt?

In the book, once the animals learned that Dr. Dolittle could speak to them in their own language, they told him where it hurt, how they felt, and he could cure them easily.

If you tell the average non-techie business owner that you create Joomla web sites it won’t mean anything. Say you can get them a Web site that will improve their sales and they’ll sit up and take notice. Because more revenue is something that every business owner understands.

Understanding and trust lead to referrals

After Dr. Dolittle cured them, the first group of animals went back and told their friends that there was a doctor who understood them. Whenever any creature got sick, they came directly to his house, so his garden was always crowded with animals trying to see him.

He’d built authority and trust with his patients, so they felt comfortable recommending him to other animals who needed medical care.   You can do the same thing.  Take the time to talk to your customers, use their language when you speak to them, and they will start to like you, trust you, and refer you.

In fact, new customers will (ahem) flock to you.

Photo: the young thousands

The Number One Marketing Secret You Need to Know

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Greg said today that his biggest marketing secret is treating people the way he would want to be treated.

A great way to act if (like Greg) you’re marketing to people like yourselves (he’s a geeky type, marketing to other geeky types).

Think Like Your Customer

A few weeks ago, I was trying to take some pictures with my new digital camera. I needed the date stamped on the photos, and pulled out the manual to find out how. I looked under “date stamp,” with no luck. Then I tried, “time stamp,” still no good.

Finally, I started paging through the entire book. I finally found it under “embed date stamp.” Who thinks like that?! Use your customers’ language, not your own (hmm, that gives me an idea for another post, tune in tomorrow).

A Common Marketing Mistake

However, it can be a big mistake if you’re trying to reach people who aren’t exactly like you. In fact, it’s a very common beginning marketing mistake. If you choose a sailboat photo because you like sailboats, you’re making a mistake (unless your potential clients are sailing enthusiasts — you can’t go wrong with a picture of a sailboat if you’re selling sails, for instance).

Different Messages for Different People

Present your information in different ways, to reach people who learn differently. Don’t assume that because you like to get information by reading (my preferred method) that all people like to get information that way. Some prefer reading, others video, still others learn best when they hear something.

The Real Secret to Successful Marketing

The real secret to marketing is to get inside your customers’ heads (not your own). Think and worry and plan about what their challenges are, what keeps them up at night, and how your products and services can help fix those problems. If you’re not sure, ask them. Bring them together and have them talk to each other.

How are you getting inside your customers’ heads? Share your tactics in the comments.

Photo: bigdodaddy