7 Steps to Develop a B2B Marketing Strategy
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 5:49 am
Traditionally, B2B was known as the market for industrial products. But thanks to the evolution of technology and mainly the development of software and information technologies, its classification evolved towards B2B.
It is very important to clarify that, even though it is an industrial market, it is people who make the decisions and are at the center of the entire purchasing process. In this sense, it is very important to know your Buyer Persona in depth , in order to design a humanized and personalized experience throughout the entire purchasing process, regardless of the level of digitalization in your processes.
In the industrial or B2B segment, personal support and advice are key elements that must be present at each stage of the purchasing process to help your client make the best decision.
For this support, it will be necessary to use different informative, educational and sales materials, through different channels (website, blog, social networks, etc.) But how do you know when to publish? What content do you invest money in for advertising guidelines? What objectives will your company achieve?
A marketing plan answers these questions and more. Today we bring you 7 steps to create one.
What is a marketing plan?
It is an organized and structured document that defines the commercial objectives to be achieved in a given period. The document details the strategies and actions to be undertaken to achieve the objectives within the planned time frame. It is integrated into and forms part of a company's strategic plan.
1. External and internal analysis of your company
The starting point is usually always an analysis of the current situation.
External aspects include competition, target market, current customers and buyer personas. Ideal customer profiles (buyer personas) will be used at many later stages within the marketing plan and in defining tactics and their implementation.
Internal aspects, on the other hand, involve the company's gambling data philippine phone number structure, its economic and human resources, objectives, etc.
It is therefore a matter of determining where we are, what the scenario is, the history, and the objectives of the business.
To carry out this analysis, it is essential to prepare a SWOT, a study that helps us discover:
The strengths and weaknesses that we have internally, relative to our organization, product or services.
The opportunities or threats that we have externally.
When analyzing opportunities and threats, we must take into account that these variables not only affect us, but also our competition, since they are elements of the market.
2. Definition of objectives
Once the initial situation analysis has been carried out, we must define the objectives. This is a very important step for our marketing strategy to be successful. This definition will determine whether we can subsequently establish the strategies, tactics and measurement elements that will allow us to justify the investment made.
To correctly define objectives that help the success of our marketing strategy, these must be SMART. SMART objectives are:
Specific: These should be concrete, without abstractions. For example, increasing sales through an internet marketing action.
Measurable: They must be quantifiable so that we can measure their scope. If the objectives are not measurable, they will be goals and/or wishes, but not strategic objectives. Following the example above, we would say “increase sales by 25% through an internet marketing action.”
Achievable: They must be achievable, attainable, and to do so, it is important to take the results of the SWOT as a basis.
Relevant: They must be appropriate to our business. In line with the previous point (achievable), we cannot set objectives outside the general objectives of our business.
Targeted and Time Bound: We must establish the time in which the objective must be achieved. Following the first example, we would say “increase sales by 25% through an internet marketing action within the next 12 months”.
3. Definition of strategies
At this point we must define our strategy based on our objectives, which can also serve to correct and enhance the data we have extracted with our SWOT analysis.
Starting from our initial SWOT, we can create a cross SWOT that will help us establish strategies, starting with offensive strategies, continuing with adaptive and survival strategies, and ending with defensive strategies.
FO strategies: taking advantage of opportunities and relying on strengths, we define our offensive strategy.
DO strategies: when faced with the inability to take advantage of an opportunity due to the existence of a weakness, we establish our adaptive strategy.
DA strategies: are based on the existence of a threat that allows us to rely on a weakness; thus we establish survival and conservation strategies.
FA Strategies: Given the possibility of relying on a strength to reduce the possibility of a threat, we establish defensive strategies.
4. Definition of tactics and actions
Based on the established B2B digital marketing strategies, we must establish the tactics that we will carry out and, within these, the list of actions to be carried out to achieve the objectives.
It is very important to clarify that, even though it is an industrial market, it is people who make the decisions and are at the center of the entire purchasing process. In this sense, it is very important to know your Buyer Persona in depth , in order to design a humanized and personalized experience throughout the entire purchasing process, regardless of the level of digitalization in your processes.
In the industrial or B2B segment, personal support and advice are key elements that must be present at each stage of the purchasing process to help your client make the best decision.
For this support, it will be necessary to use different informative, educational and sales materials, through different channels (website, blog, social networks, etc.) But how do you know when to publish? What content do you invest money in for advertising guidelines? What objectives will your company achieve?
A marketing plan answers these questions and more. Today we bring you 7 steps to create one.
What is a marketing plan?
It is an organized and structured document that defines the commercial objectives to be achieved in a given period. The document details the strategies and actions to be undertaken to achieve the objectives within the planned time frame. It is integrated into and forms part of a company's strategic plan.
1. External and internal analysis of your company
The starting point is usually always an analysis of the current situation.
External aspects include competition, target market, current customers and buyer personas. Ideal customer profiles (buyer personas) will be used at many later stages within the marketing plan and in defining tactics and their implementation.
Internal aspects, on the other hand, involve the company's gambling data philippine phone number structure, its economic and human resources, objectives, etc.
It is therefore a matter of determining where we are, what the scenario is, the history, and the objectives of the business.
To carry out this analysis, it is essential to prepare a SWOT, a study that helps us discover:
The strengths and weaknesses that we have internally, relative to our organization, product or services.
The opportunities or threats that we have externally.
When analyzing opportunities and threats, we must take into account that these variables not only affect us, but also our competition, since they are elements of the market.
2. Definition of objectives
Once the initial situation analysis has been carried out, we must define the objectives. This is a very important step for our marketing strategy to be successful. This definition will determine whether we can subsequently establish the strategies, tactics and measurement elements that will allow us to justify the investment made.
To correctly define objectives that help the success of our marketing strategy, these must be SMART. SMART objectives are:
Specific: These should be concrete, without abstractions. For example, increasing sales through an internet marketing action.
Measurable: They must be quantifiable so that we can measure their scope. If the objectives are not measurable, they will be goals and/or wishes, but not strategic objectives. Following the example above, we would say “increase sales by 25% through an internet marketing action.”
Achievable: They must be achievable, attainable, and to do so, it is important to take the results of the SWOT as a basis.
Relevant: They must be appropriate to our business. In line with the previous point (achievable), we cannot set objectives outside the general objectives of our business.
Targeted and Time Bound: We must establish the time in which the objective must be achieved. Following the first example, we would say “increase sales by 25% through an internet marketing action within the next 12 months”.
3. Definition of strategies
At this point we must define our strategy based on our objectives, which can also serve to correct and enhance the data we have extracted with our SWOT analysis.
Starting from our initial SWOT, we can create a cross SWOT that will help us establish strategies, starting with offensive strategies, continuing with adaptive and survival strategies, and ending with defensive strategies.
FO strategies: taking advantage of opportunities and relying on strengths, we define our offensive strategy.
DO strategies: when faced with the inability to take advantage of an opportunity due to the existence of a weakness, we establish our adaptive strategy.
DA strategies: are based on the existence of a threat that allows us to rely on a weakness; thus we establish survival and conservation strategies.
FA Strategies: Given the possibility of relying on a strength to reduce the possibility of a threat, we establish defensive strategies.
4. Definition of tactics and actions
Based on the established B2B digital marketing strategies, we must establish the tactics that we will carry out and, within these, the list of actions to be carried out to achieve the objectives.