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.

Five Free Web Marketing Resources

Posted on by

1. Web Color Combinations
Need to pick colors for your site? Or give direction to your Web designer? This site lets you pick colors that match (not clash). Color swatches include the Web color numbers so you can easily recreate the combinations you like.

2. HTML code checker
HTML code errors can leave your whole site looking like it’s had a bad accident. All bold, all purple, or just plain wrong. This tool checks your code, makes sure it meets Web standards, and points out any mistakes.

3. HTML help
Stuck on how to create smart quotes, special characters, or an indent? This site has tutorials, cheat sheets, and more.

4. Google Analytics
This free tool gives you easy-to-understand reports showing how many people visit your site, which pages they look at, and how much time they spend. You can also create your own reports showing results for specific keywords, visitor locations, and cash earned from e-commerce.

5. Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide
Get the scoop on SEO straight from the source. Find out how to make your site more search-engine friendly, how to name your pages, and what not to do.

Thanks to Greg for pointing out the last one.

Use Word of Mouth to Get More Business

Posted on by

The return on investment from advertising, adwords, and newspapers is dropping. Interrupting people doesn’t work as well as it used to

If you’re not getting the results you want, try word of mouth instead.
It’s a great way to get more business. Instead of spending money on ads to people who don’t know you or your work, why not leverage what you’re already getting? Set up a referral program, encourage, reward the referrals you get. Tell your customers who would be a good referral for you, explain what you’ll do with the information, and how you’ll follow up.

More on this here: Your Customers are Your Most Effective Sales Force.

Should You Specialize or Sell to Everyone

Posted on by

Several months ago, a new business owner on Marketing Profs Exchange (posted 5/23/08 by Raqueld) asked whether she should specialize or not. She wanted to start an event planning business to plan family events (parties, anniversaries, etc.). So far so good. Then she also wanted to use the same company name to host networking and singles events. She said that’s what she really wanted to focus on, but felt she needed to cast as wide a net as possible. She asked, “should I focus on one particular area & will I regret making my focus too broad or too narrow?”

Why You Should Specialize

Yes!!! (I said, jumping up and down). Focus on ONE thing. A company looking for an event planner will be turned off (or at least, very confused) if they come to your site and see singles events. She had five different, and unrelated markets, meaning she’d need five sets of brochures, mailing lists, keywords, and five sections on her web site (more to maintain), etc. It would be very messy, and very expensive.

Stick Out and Be Remembered

Focusing on one thing will make you stick out in people’s minds, make you more credible, and make you more money (Would you rather be a purple cow or a brown one?).

Turn a Struggling Company Into a Profitable One

A small moving company in the northeast US was fighting to compete against the big guys. They had less money for advertising, fewer trucks, and a tiny profit margin. So, they switched to shipping emergency medical supplies overnight. Now, they can charge more money, focus on pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies, and stand out instead of being overwhelmed by larger rivals. They’re now thriving.

A French woman came to the US and had to learn a whole new system, try to get credit with no record here, and fill out unfamiliar paperwork. She then wanted to help other new small business owners do the same thing. At first, she offered her services for $99 (and struggled to find customers).

Then, she decided to focus on other French (and French-speaking) people who wanted to come to the US and start businesses. She helps them with the paperwork, gets them lawyers, accountants, tells them about the US system, etc. She now charges $1,000 for the same service.

Focus Equals Money

Figure out who your ideal customer is, and concentrate on what will appeal to them, where to find them, and the best ways to reach them. Selling to everybody means selling to nobody.

Is Your Web Site Search Broken?

Posted on by

broken egg imageTwo weeks ago, I ran out of fax toner. Staples didn’t have what I wanted, so I turned to the Internet. I found a site that sold ink and toner (so far so good).

I plugged the brand and model number into their search tool… and was sent to the main page for that brand.

There were about 20 pages of toner! I couldn’t find the one I needed unless I looked through each and every one. Not good.

So, I emailed them saying I need Brand X, model Y. Do you carry toner for that? I got an automatic message thanking me for my inquiry…. and nothing since. Now, here I’d raised my hand, saying, ‘hello, I’m a prospect, I want to buy from you.” And nobody cared.

Two important marketing lessons:

1) If you build a search tool into your site, make sure it’s easy to use and delivers visitors directly to the information they’re searching for. Don’t make it hard to buy!

2) If you have a contact button (and you should), follow up on the questions. Ignoring customers (or potential customers) is costing you both money and goodwill.

Image thanks to: stevendepolo