Heading into 2021, many businesses are still struggling, their priorities are shifting, and so are their pain-points. Many face unfamiliar challenges, with face-to-face meetings still not happening, events and trade-shows still a long way from rebooting, and decision cycles across the board taking longer than before; marketers may feel that their normal strategies have been turned on their heads. The new normal may, in fact, turn out to be new marketing strategies for many businesses as adaptability is proving to be essential for pivoting and preparing for what comes next. Looking ahead to 2021, here are 5 tips to rebound your marketing.
5 Tips to Rebound Your B2B Digital Marketing in 2021
1. Rebound Your Marketing by Investing in Marketing Now
There is opportunity in adversity. One way marketers can help their businesses rebound faster from the recession is to invest in marketing. It was a natural reaction for marketers to hit pause at the start of the pandemic, as everyone needed to take a moment to assess and set new strategies, but you can’t pause for too long. Businesses frequently want to scale back marketing spending during an economic slowdown when they should be doing the opposite.
Cutting your marketing budget only saves you money in the short term. Companies that invest in marketing heading into 2021 will create an opportunity to accelerate growth faster than competitors who have cut their marketing spending. It is important to pair this investment with quality marketing efforts, focusing on ROI, getting the most out of every dollar spent, and demonstrating marketing’s impact on overall revenue. Investing in marketing is investing in the future of the company, amplifying your message at a time when fewer companies are actually marketing, and making sure your business is well-positioned to rebound in 2021.
2. Create a Full-Funnel Strategy
Awareness, evaluation, and decision, full-funnel marketing means reaching consumers where they fall within the funnel. Full-funnel marketing is a necessary approach because it allows marketing efforts to be calculated. Creating a successful full-funnel marketing strategy starts with B2B marketers mapping out the three stages of the funnel and the content assets required for each.
With the funnel mapped out, marketers can take a deeper look, using marketing data to evaluate what’s working and what isn’t. It allows marketers to identify which part of the funnel is leaking and where they might be losing customers, as this should be a top priority to fix. Knowing where the funnel is failing can help marketers look for ways to improve and enhance the customer journey. Creating a full-funnel marketing strategy ensures that marketing efforts are calculated, with clear potential results, and keeps efforts focused on outcomes rather than just activities.
3. Focus on Multi-Channel Marketing
The more visible your brand, the more likely businesses are to find you and remember you when they see you again. Your customers log on to multiple devices every day, including their phones, laptops, and tablets, and bounce around between email, websites, search engines, and various social channels. Marketers have to take advantage of a multitude of digital channels to reach customers. However, multi-channel doesn’t mean every channel; marketers need to think about their unique audience and select the digital channels where they will be most effective. For example, TikTok may be a popular social media channel, but it may not be as good a fit for your business as LinkedIn. To make your efforts and budget as effective as possible, you need to be strategic with your channels. Top B2B marketers invest in at least 3 digital channels and 15 touches.
4. Rebound Your B2B Marketing by Building Your Opt-In List
With events and trade shows still postponed for the foreseeable future and the inability to send direct mail to office locations, lead generation is all happening online. Marketers should be focusing their lead generation advertising on building opt-in lists with top-of-funnel or middle-of-funnel offers. Content marketing is an effective digital lead generation strategy as businesses often want to arm themselves with information before a big purchase. Particularly now, with longer decision cycles, prospects are more likely to respond to a gated asset that will help them accomplish their goal.
5. Focus on Social Selling
The pandemic has permanently changed B2B buying preferences, accelerating the change to digital commerce. With less and less customer face time, sales and marketing leaders need to embrace new tools and channels as well as a new manner of engaging with prospects and buyers digitally. Buyers expect to get the same professional experience as B2B purchasers that they are accustomed to as personal consumers. That makes outstanding digital experiences a priority for B2B marketers.
The pandemic shifted marketing strategies overnight. Focusing on these five tips can help your B2B marketing team adapt to the challenge and rebound for 2021. At Vende Digital growing your business is our business. If you are frustrated with your digital marketing performance, schedule a complimentary Discovery Meeting to see if we’re a fit. We’ll review your digital footprint and provide you with fresh ideas and actionable insights. Contact us today to get started.
Key Takeaways
- Companies who invest in marketing rebound faster from a recession than those who don’t.
- Full-funnel marketing is a necessary approach because it allows marketing efforts to be calculated.
- The more visible your brand is, the more likely businesses will find you.
- Focus your lead generation advertising on building your opt-in list with Top of Funnel or Middle of Funnel offers.
- B2B buying preferences have changed to digital commerce.
