B2B vs B2C Vs H2H marketing model

B2B / H2H MARKETING MODULE
Get instigated by

Have you considered
how a Fortune 500
company provides new
computers for its 1000 +
employees?

Yet these
transactions are
vital for the future
success of the
business
They wouldn’t
simply ask the
office manager
to a store for an
order that large!

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS (B2B) INVOLVES THE SALE OF
ONE COMPANY’S PRODUCT OR SERVICE TO ANOTHER
COMPANY

HOW IS B2B DIFFERENT FROM
B2C (BUSINESS TO CONSUMER)?
B2B
B2C

CUSTOMERS
SELECTED
PRODUCTS
B2C B2B
Individuals and
households
Businesses
Global
Large corporations
Small & medium
sized businesses
Institutions
Healthcare
Education
Government
Federal
State
Local
PCs
Printers
Consumer electronics
Simple service
agreements
PCs
Enterprise storage
Servers
Complex service
offerings

BUT HOW IS
MARKETING
DIFFERENT FOR B2B
AND B2C?

B2B MARKETS HAVE A MORE COMPLEX DECISION MAKING UNIT
B2B BUYERS ARE MORE RATIONAL
B2B PRODUCT PRESENTATION MORE COMPLEX
B2B MARKETS HAVE FEWER BEHAVIOURAL AND NEEDS BASED SEGMENTS
PERSONAL RELATIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT IN B2B MARKETS
KEY DIFFERENCES:
B2B MARKETS DRIVE LESS INNOVATION

The target audiences for B2B communications are amorphous, made up of groups of constantly changing individuals with
different interests and motivations. Buyers seek a good financial deal. Production managers want high
throughput. Health and safety executives want low risk. And those are just their simple, functional needs. Each person
who is party to the DMU will also bring their psychological and cultural baggage to the decision and this can create
interesting variations to the selection of products and suppliers.
• Low-risk, low-value purchases are the least distinct from consumer
purchases. They often involve just one, frequently junior person. There is little
financial or business risk involved on getting the decision wrong, meaning that
relatively little thought goes into the decision.
• Low-risk, high-value items such as raw materials typically involve a mixture of
technical and purchasing personnel, and often very senior people such as
board members. This complexity is necessary to ensure that price is minimised
without impacting upon quality. Purchasing personnel would usually be the key
decision makers on a transaction-by-transaction basis, under the general
guidance of more technical employees, who would review suppliers
periodically.
• Low-value, high-risk items such as office insurance would similarly involve a
mixture of specialists and purchasers. As the ‘risk’ is in the product rather than
the price, and as each transaction is likely to be unique, an expert (in this case
perhaps an in-house legal expert) would tend to be the key decision maker
every time a purchase takes place.
• High-value, high-risk purchases are the most distinct from consumer purchases,
with a large number of senior decision makers evaluating a large range of
purchase criteria. In the case of plant equipment, we might expect a CFO, R&D
Director, Production Director, Purchasing Director, Head of Legal Department,
CEO and a number of upper-management department heads to be involved. The figure above divides business-to-business purchases into four
categories according to their financial value and the level of business risk
associated with the purchase. Each of these categories gives rise to
different purchasing behaviour and different complexities.

What does this mean for the B2B marketer?
Faced with a multifaceted and knowledgeable buyer, it is critical
that the B2B marketer demonstrates a high level of expertise in all of
its interactions with the target audience. This refers not only to
product knowledge, but also to the technical and other back-up
that the buyer will receive throughout the life of the purchase.
B2B MARKETERS NEED TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENT NEEDS
OF DECISIONS MAKERS – OFTEN WITH THE SAME CUSTOMER

The truth is that as consumers we are
often less well-informed, less
accountable to others and far more
susceptible to whims, indulgences,
recklessness and showing off than is
the case when we are in the
workplace.
We therefore have a tendency to
make purchasing decisions that a
rational observer - a business-to-
business buyer that has to make a
profit each month, would regard as
ludicrous.
As consumers we are far less likely to ask
whether the product we are buying has
an ROI (return on investment).
We buy what we want, not what
we need.

It would be false to claim that business-to-business buyers
are entirely rational. Due to the accountability that constrains most
B2B buyers, trust and security are key issues.
No B2B buyer wants to risk his or her livelihood or reputation buying
an unreliable product and service. This makes emotional issues such
as trust and security absolutely critical.
This in turn places great emphasis on brand, reputation, case studies
and other factors which convey reliability and consistency over the
life of the product or service being purchased.

While consumer products frequently target appeal and usefulness on a superficial level, B2B
products require profound technical expertise in the field of a potential purchase. A buyer in
B2B interaction is not interested in the appearance of the product as much as in specifications
in its production, features and functionality, as well as the post sales, support management
and issue resolution strategies of the seller.
The choice of turbine will involve a whole host of technical, productivity and safety issues, whilst the
choice of website might be based on its integration into a wider B2B marketing campaign, its interactivity
with users and the degree to which it draws potential clients via search engines.
Imagine a turbine manufacturer having a look
at three or four products and then choosing
one simply because it looks nice?
Or a commercial website design buyer who
chooses on the basis of colour or format?

The key for the B2B marketer is to be fully informed in relation to the
product or service being sold. This understanding must cover not
only the ‘technical’ details of the offering, but also the extended
offer including aftersales service, problem resolution, client
management team, etc.
As a result, the B2B sale is often a ‘technical sale’, meaning that
salespeople in business-to-business markets are often extremely
experienced and originate from a technical discipline within their
organisation.
The success or otherwise of an entire business-to-business product
line can be largely dependent on the abilities of a small team of
salespeople.

Due to the smaller amounts of customers as well as, the lesser differentiation between target audience’s
particular needs, B2B enterprises have fewer segments of customers and are divided on more of
technical than behavioural basis.
Frequent segmentation in B2B marketing includes focusing on price, focus on brand and quality, service
focus and focus on partnership audiences. These segments are managed according to their
characteristics but also based on the strategic importance of the buyer for the enterprise.
It is noticeable that the behavioural and needs-based segments that emerge in
business-to-business markets are frequently similar across different
industries. Needs-based segments in a typical business-to business market often
resemble the following:
A price-focused segment, which
has a transactional outlook to
doing business and does not
seek any ‘extras’. Companies in
this segment are often small,
working to low margins and
regard the product/service in
question as of low strategic
importance to their business.
A quality and brand-focused
segment, which wants the best
possible product and is prepared
to pay for it. Companies in this
segment often work to high
margins, are medium-sized or
large, and regard the
product/service as of high
strategic importance.
A service-focused segment, which
has high requirements in terms of
product quality and range, but
also in terms of aftersales, delivery,
etc. These companies tend to
work in time-critical industries and
can be small, medium or
large. They are usually purchasing
relatively high volumes.
A partnership-focused
segment, usually consisting of key
accounts, which seeks trust and
reliability and regards the supplier as
a strategic partner. Such
companies tend to be large,
operate on relatively high margins,
and regard the product or service in
question as strategically important.

The fact that business-to-business markets have relatively few segments makes the job
of the B2B marketer easier than it might otherwise be. Nevertheless, skills in
recognising which customers fit which segments, and how to appeal to each of
these segments, are not easy to come by. Key challenges in establishing a
behavioural or needs-based segmentation are as follows:
• Obtaining a consensus on exactly what the segments are, and what characterises
them, usually requires investment in quantitative market research.
• Once a segmentation has been achieved, identifying which companies are in
which segment is extremely difficult. Behavioural and needs-based segments
usually transcend ‘firmographic’ segments, meaning that there are often no
immediately manifest indicators (such as country, industry sector) of the segment to
which a company belongs.
• Training sales teams, marketing teams, customer relationship and other
departments must implement the segmentation by adjusting their approach to
often intangible criteria. This requires huge effort and investment horizontally and
vertically within an organisation.

An important distinguishing feature of business-to-business markets is the importance of the personal
relationship. A small customer base that buys regularly from the business-to-business supplier is
relatively easy to talk to. Sales and technical representatives visit the customers. People are on first-
name terms. Personal relationships and trust develop. It is not unusual for a business-to-business
supplier to have customers that have been loyal and committed for many years.
B2B marketers must exploit the benefits of customer
engagement management strategies in order to
ensure retention of key accounts: personalized
approach in B2B takes form of a partnership

The consequences of this emphasis on relationships for marketing
budgets are a relatively high expenditure on people (sales and
technical support) and a more modest expenditure on other forms
of promotion.
Advertising budgets for business marketers are usually measured in
thousands of pounds (or Euros or dollars) and not millions.
The B2B salesperson is also a different animal to the consumer
salesperson, in that the focus is on listening and cultivating a limited
number of relationships rather than the more quantity-driven and
transactional approach seen in consumer markets. This places
emphasis on face-to-face contact and this salesperson must have
an in-depth technical understanding of whatever he or she is selling.
Trade shows therefore become far more important in B2B markets –
indeed, they are the number one promotional tool of American
business-to-business companies

In opposition to risk taking tendencies in innovation of B2C marketing which are caused by the
growing need for differentiation, B2B marketers are all in a somewhat similar situation (being recklessly
innovative would be unproductive) and build innovation from quality research and collected
information on trends which have been established upstream so as to create a sustainable market.
It is not that companies in B2B markets are ‘worse’ innovators than
those in consumer markets. Indeed, the opposite is repeatedly the
case, as innovations are often more carefully planned and
successfully commercialised in the B2B world, in which audiences
are more clearly defined and trends more easily identified.

Business-to-business marketers have both the time and the indicative
data from upstream to carefully assess their options before making a
decision. As competitors are in the same position, this makes
gathering good quality intelligence absolutely critical.
B2B marketers are advised to undertake detailed market research,
combining this with upstream information in order to build up a
complete market intelligence picture.

B2B MARKETING HAS A MORE PROFESSIONAL TOUCH
B2B CUSTOMERS PREFER LONGER CONTENT
HYPER PERSONALISED MARKETING TACTICS WORK FOR B2B
EMOTIONAL V/S LOGICAL COMMUNICATION
WITH RESPECT TO ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATION:

B2B MARKETING HAS A MORE PROFESSIONAL TOUCH
B2B CUSTOMERS PREFER LONGER CONTENT
HYPER PERSONALISED MARKETING TACTICS WORK FOR B2B
EMOTIONAL V/S LOGICAL COMMUNICATION

The B2B market is more interested in the usefulness that the product will have for their customers
and in the technical specifications. They are knowledge seekers that want detailed descriptions,
especially about the materials used in the product. Therefore, more technical jargon may be
used effectively in B2B marketing.
However, the B2C market requires the use of layman’s language which can be easily
understood.
MilMila.com offers detailed
product descriptions of all
items available in the B2B
marketplace.
Product demos are also
provided with the help of
clear videos.

While short blog posts and articles continue to attract subscribers, B2B buyers
are looking for more depth and value than a simple 500 word post can provide.
While short posts may continue to generate significant traffic, they tend to have
a shorter lifespan.
However, B2C consumers are attracted to shorter, engaging and interesting
content that catches their eye.
When it came to promoting its
upgraded cyber security services, Cisco
could have gotten away with an
infographic or a blog post about
internet safety. Instead, the company
decided to stand out by producing a
graphic novel on the same topic.
Why It Works
This concept works because it’s so
unique. No one associates cyber
security with graphic novels. It’s the
perfect hook.
People who read the comic could be so
engaged in the hijinks of SuperSmart
that they would barely realize Cisco was
trying to sell them on a service.

B2B purchases are highly specific and niche-driven. This means
that B2B marketers have to use tools like predictive analysis to
formulate personalised profiles that they need to target
systematically.
B2C marketing, however, tends to be broader and can be
directed towards specific groups of people like “new-age
moms” or “senior citizens”.
Business continuity and disaster recovery solution
provider Datto, Inc. hosts regular roadshows throughout
the country and wanted to prominently promote them on
the website without creating a distraction for visitors who
aren’t located near the roadshow location.
The Datto team leveraged geo-targeted event
promotions. Datto targeted website visitors that are within
a hundred miles of an upcoming roadshow location to
promote the event and encourage attendance.

B2C marketing is more emotional and focuses on the benefits of
the product whereas B2B marketing is more logical and focuses on
the knowledge and return on investment.
Consider this:
My product is lotion.
My lotion will moisturize the skin and relieve itching skin.
If I have a B2B client, they will be most interested in the feature of the
client which is moisturizing the skin. If I have a B2C client, they will be
most interested in the benefit which is relief of itching skin.

Now that we understand the key differences between B2B and B2C marketing,
let us analyse its dos and donts…

B2B MARKETING
DO’S AND DONT’S

DO’S
Prioritise measurable objectives
Rather than focusing solely on diagnostics such as database size or lead scores, you should use them as means of objective measurement of activity and
potential conversion through stages of customer lifecycle. For example, if you are attracting a lot of prospects, you will focus on qualifying their
receptiveness for potential conversion, nurturing their engagement through expert content presentation (within your industry) and acquisition of new ones.
Articulate your business in a customer focused way
Relationship construction is crucial for successful B2B marketing management so you should implement an outside-in perspective when structuring your
campaigns. The holy grail of marketing is being able to articulate offers to customers not as sales but as means to reach their preferred ends (because a
customer essentially does not want a drill, they want a hole). An outside-in perspective, i.e. examination of your target audience will provide insights on
what to focus on.
Target your customer segmentation
Proper allocation of investment (of time, money and personnel), as well as the efficiency of your overall marketing endeavors, depends on the
determination of segment characteristics in your target customers. Such results are obtained by data collection, analysis as well as interaction. The more
informed you are of your potential buyers, the more you will be able to answer their particular needs.
Perform content marketing
In order to make your customer more knowledgeable about your business and its products as well as services that accompany it (post-sales support,
technical consultation, etc.) you should implement content marketing strategies. Identify and align content with regard to all of the stages of the custom
journey and present it through the implementation of effective tactics – such as social media, in-person communication, blogs, newsletters, etc.
Share your knowledge and a few trade secrets with your customers
As relations between a customer and the provider in B2B marketing resemble a partnership, it is advisable to let your prospects know what and how you
are doing the things they require. Sharing some trade secrets will convince your customers of your expertise and competence. Presenting content (such
as webinars, courses or ebooks) should be free because it builds the most positive relationship with prospects. Your target customers are not willing to
perform these operations and processes by themselves, but they want to be well informed in matters of their investment

DONT’S
Rush with your customers
Creating an instantaneous network of customers is not only virtually impossible nowadays but it is also not sustainable if there is no substance in your
business. Instead of chasing buyers, take time and focus on building a comprehensive union of expertise, skilled employees and targeted marketing
strategies for diverse stages of customer lifecycle which will be based on thorough examination and analysis of the current market.
Pretend you have products you cannot offer
Do not employ traditional tactics such as deceiving prospect regarding the products or services you offer. Bear in mind that amount of customers is not
endless; if you prove to be a fraud (in any sense) you will lose not only your existing prospects, leads and customers but also the chance to bring in new
ones (word of mouth travels fast).
Copy competition
The quality of service and expertise, as well as the realization of projects, is what differentiate you from competition. Claiming to have something better
than your competition or copying their successful endeavours will most likely result in mediocre products and services as well as inconsistency in realization
– in other words, it will bring more trouble than profit.
Overdo marketing
Social media in B2B marketing serves as a discussion platform not the presentation of useless information. Hence, your content marketing should promote your
products and services but not advertise them – content must be built as niche-oriented and customer-focused. Form a comprehensive and all-encompassing
marketing strategy with specific objectives every step of the way but make sure you are subtle and useful in your endeavours towards prospect.
Overdo with data
A massive amount of data which does not have applicable properties and actual value is completely useless. Determine which activities need to be
monitored and documented and why. In other words, choose metrics that will be beneficial in the realization of your objectives. Do not collect data for
its sake (it is time and finance consuming as well as utterly pointless).

EXAMPLE OF
SUCCESSFUL B2B
MARKETING STRATEGY

AMEX
Need:
As big business continues to take over the retail and service landscape across the nation, ‘mom and pop’ shops that were once
American staples, have faded from the mainstream. In such a landscape, running a small business has become harder than ever
before; in fact, 22% of American small businesses fail within the first year.
Campaign strategy:
• AMEX’s OPEN card (a financial solution for small businesses) started the OPEN forum: A strategic, online campaign geared specifically toward the
small business population, which provides business owners with the necessary tools and insight to build, grow, and sustain their businesses.
• Through OPEN forum’s unique online platform and social media accounts, users can access relevant, useful content such as blog posts, videos,
and ‘how-to’ guides, filled with tips, tricks and best practices for small business success. AMEX has also created the “Idea Hub”, a forum that
allows members to network and share ideas with each other and industry experts.
• AMEX OPEN then launched the “Big Break for Small Business” campaign, a national competition that challenged participants to tap into the
power of social media to grow their businesses. Teaming up with Facebook, AMEX provided participants with the tools a needed to build a killer
social media presence.
• Winning contestants walked home with the grand prize: $25,000 and the opportunity to network with the social media professionals from AMEX
and Facebook.
• The campaign boasted over 12,500 entries, which were then narrowed down to ten finalists by a panel of expert judges. From there, the finalists
enlisted the help of their social networks to garner votes in the form of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’. Altogether, the campaign garnered nearly 57,000 votes
(45% of which were generated through organic traffic). Through the big break program, AMEX experienced a 78% increase in PR impressions from
the year before.

AMEX
Why it worked:
1. Incentivized their target audience, small businesses, to interact with their brand.
2. Demonstrated their commitment to their customers and prospects.
Through OPEN forum and the big break campaign, AMEX was able to foster deep engagement with their audience and create
a community where their consumers felt enabled to succeed.

FOR A SUCCESSFUL
STRATEGY, WE NEED TO
FOLLOW CERTAIN
PRINCIPLES.
SO WHAT ARE THE KEY
MARKETING
PRINCIPLES FOR A B2B
BRAND?

B2B MARKETING
PRINCIPLES
SMART GOALS
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
BE CONSISTENT AND CREDIBLE
CREATE VALUE
UTILIZE TECHNOLOGY
SOCIAL LISTENING
VISUAL ASSETS
SEO OPTIMISATION
PAID SOCIAL
LEAD CAPTURING
MEASUREMENT AND
IMPROVEMENT
INFLUENCER IMPACT

SMART GOALS
Specific
Aim your
marketing
campaigns towar
d the people who
most want to hear
from you
Measurable
Identify goals and
assign numbers to
them. When a goal
is measurable, you
can set milestones
to help track your
progress
Achievable
Establish metrics
that are realistic,
motivating and
achievable
Relevance
Make sure the goals
you set are relevant
given the resources
you have available
as well as internal
and external
constraints.
Time Sensitive
Every viable goal
need to have a
deadline but also
have a way to
track progress
quaterly
In many ways, this acronym sums up the modern movement in marketing as the entire field becomes more
data-driven and focused in its strategies. Every great B2B marketing campaign today starts with proper
planning and groundwork. Embracing the principles of SMART is how we can prove our value.

SMART GOALS
In attempting to engage a challenging
audience, asset management firm J.P.
Morgan put together an extensive blueprint
that focused on reaching financial advisors
with specific messaging at different stages of
the customer journey.
Measured results:
20% increase in on-site conversions
200% engagement rates compared to
bechnmarks
Ten fold growth in financial advisors followers
These results reflected successful achievement
of clear objectives .
Software solution provider NICE had a set of
goals in mind: build awareness of its back-
office solutions, engage high-level decision-
makers, and generate more leads.
They formulated a strategy around eBooks
with high relevance to their target audience,
promoting them with LinkedIn ads.
They blew away their projected leads and
had salespeople follow through with timely
InMails to push those leads forward.
These clearly helped them achieve the
desired goals.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
B2B marketing basics are all about understanding your audience, but in this
case, it’s about more than just one person. It means learning about and getting
your message across to an entire team.
You’ve got multiple audience segments to consider, all of which play a critical
role in the buying process.
If you don’t start by identifying and defining those segments, you could waste
countless hours sending the wrong message to the wrong people.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – STEP I
Typically, B2B buying involves
roughly 3-5 different departments
But this can also vary by company
type and industry

Generating demand for your B2B service or products requires knowing how
these different departments work together to decide on purchases, and
who the individual personas are that influence those decisions.
The best way to do this is by researching the firmographics of your target
market and building personas for each of your audience segments.
What is filmographics?
In the B2C world, demographics hold the
biggest weight when it comes to defining a
key audience. Age, gender, location, race,
and so on all play a role in creating a
buyer’s persona.
In the B2B world, on the other
hand, firmographics are king.
Firmographics are customer profiles that
define attributes of a prospective business.
These attributes might involve annual
company revenue, acquisition cost,
purchase size, sales cycles, and so on.
NOTE: The challenge is to get information on these variables. Tools like Datanyze, ZoomInfo and LinkedIn Sales Navigator
can give a clear idea of the people or teams involved.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – STEP I

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – STEP II
Now that you have a better understanding of the big picture of
your core audience, it’s time to break them down into individual
buyer personas.
This will allow you to create highly customized marketing
messages to address their needs.
A typical buyer persona looks something like this

Based on this persona, we can build a content strategy, craft topics, and
improve our marketing efforts when reaching out to potential buyers.
When creating your personas, it’s important to focus on facts and research.
This process should not be complicated but it should be insightful.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – STEP II
Here’s another example of a buyer
persona created based on
firmographics or other attributes learnt
during research

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – STEP III
Once you have a grasp on your buyer persona, the next step is to
identify the buyer’s journey and how your brand can solve their core
problems. Create a strategy on how to reach them.
If you can walk each of your personas through their own unique
purchasing journey, you should see much better marketing ROI.
The typical buyer’s journey looks something
like this
Marketing for each buyer’s journey involves addressing each
persona’s needs and concerns.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Engaging C-level
executives is never easy,
but in promoting its IoT-
enabled EcoStruxure
system, Schneider Electric
took advantage of
LinkedIn’s deeper targeting
features to refine audience
segments, conveying
specific benefits to acute
subsets. Headlines that
spoke directly to the needs
of recipients helped
produce strong open and
clickthrough rates .

BE CONSISTENT AND CREDIBLE
Marketing across all channels – from paid
advertising to sales letters, from websites to face-
to-face presentations – should support your brand
positioning and consistently repeat the same key
statements about who you are, what you do, and
how you do it better than anyone else.
Business prospects need to trust and believe
you to recommend you or buy from you. Back
up your marketing claims with case studies,
testimonials, and statistics to establish
credibility and position your company as a
trusted provider.

When it comes to attracting and retaining B2B customers, the biggest
push is on creating value. We know B2B customers buy value – in the
form of convenience, simplicity or integration.
But what exactly is value and is it something that can be created?
Let us first understand the different areas of customer buying behaviour.
CREATE VALUE

CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR
Response
The knowledge
that someone
understands your
problem and is
ready to solve it
Quality
A consistent formula
that results in well-
made products or
services that help
the customer
achieve their goal(s)
Service
The ability to
clearly spell out
the details while
eliminating all of
the risk (or
perceived risk)
Time
The product or
service is
dependable, has a
sensible learning
curve, demonstrates
clear return on
investment in a
shorter period
Price
An assigned value
that’s clear,
practical and
competitive
But here’s the issue – B2B customers aren’t going to tell you what they want.
It’s possible that they don’t even know, or can’t articulate it in a way that you can easily turn it
into a solution. They don’t have the time, expertise or desire to do so.

CREATE VALUE
Response Quality Service Time Price
Each factor can be defined. Which means it can be measured.
And when Value is measured in terms of its importance to customers, it can be
managed, improved, and delivered in ways that will motivate customers to buy.

One exciting thing about digital marketing is that it is always
changing. There is always a new strategy to test or a new update
that makes you question what you thought you knew.
B2B marketers likely sense this pressure in a unique way, as they often
find they can’t utilize all of the same channels that B2C marketers
use (e.g., Snapchat might not be the best place to find a B2B lead),
but they still want to be just as relevant and in front of their buyers.
Here are a few areas where B2B marketing is flourishing and should
continue to focus on in the next few years.
UTILIZE TECHNOLOGY

Social listening is sometimes called social monitoring and consists of
making a concentrated effort to see what potential and current
customers are saying about your brand, products, or industry, online.
Social media is the focus, but many search tools, like
SocialMention.com (which is free) also can incorporate results from
discussion boards, like Quora and Reddit, as well as blog results.
SOCIAL LISTENING

Why is social listening important for B2B marketers?
SOCIAL LISTENING
It allows them to see that
brand sentiment that may
not come across in official
surveys or feedback forms
It gives them an
opportunity to fix issues
and address customer
frustrations
It can supply
valuable
content ideas
It allows brands to
get into the online
conversation
Brands can track what
listening strategy
competitors are using
online

For example take this tweet from SEO consultant, Steve Scott
SOCIAL LISTENING
He uses the hashtag #semrush
instead of tagging the username
@semrush. The SEMrush team is very
active on social media but hadn’t
responded to this tweet at the time
of this writing. This instance could
be a missed opportunity to save
this tweet as a testimonial and to
thank Steve for his
recommendation.

Statistics show that people are far better at remembering pictures or
watching videos than words. It goes without saying that when you’re
scrolling through a website, SERP, or social media feed, poppy
images are going to catch your eye more than blocks of text.
So it isn’t hard to see why fetching visuals are fundamental elements
of high-performing B2B campaigns.
VISUAL ASSETS

VISUAL ASSETS
Live video
use Facebook Live or the
Hangouts on Air feature
on YouTube to conduct
interviews, speak about
industry topics, or talk
about new product
releases
Virtual Reality
Have 3D virtual tours
of all meeting
spaces which is
perfect for potential
clients to get a
better feel of the
place
Thought leadership
Invest in creating
more video content
that is easily
consumable and
may be more
engaging for your
audience
Infographics
This form of content
complements a text-
based summary
elegantly and lets
users choose which
way they want to
consume the
information

VISUAL ASSETS
Lets understand this with a few examples
SlideShare is a popular platform for drawing in readers with visually appealing
slides that bring copy and statistics to life.
Toshiba created a SlideShare account and started running ads as business
slides, adding some color to a topic they were struggling to energize
(sustainable “smart communities”).
In conjunction with an aesthetically vivid Showcase Page, Toshiba was able to
dramatically boost engagement and lead conversions.

VISUAL ASSETS
Sappi, which is a global company that produces
chemical cellulose, paper pulp, and other paper
products in over 100 countries. They have several
different videos on their YouTube channel with millions
of views. This one is an overview of how paper is made.
While this video also is interesting for consumers, it’s
useful from a B2B standpoint because it shows thought
leadership.
Think about it—would a potential prospect decide to
work with a company who has a useful YouTube
channel like Sappi, or a company with barely any
online presence at all? Of course, a lot goes into a
decision maker’s choice to pick one company over
another, but for many, a creative online presence goes
a long way.

SEO OPTIMISATION
Social media is one part of the puzzle, but companies also must
make sure that they are visible on search engines, especially when it
comes to prioritised keywords and initiatives.
Competition for many terms is is reaching such heights that B2B
marketers must get creative in order to keep appearing in results.

SEO OPTIMISATION
B2B Internet marketers need new content to enforce and
build upon keyword strategies, acquire links, and attract
attention in social media.

SEO OPTIMISATION
ExactTarget showed some serious SEO
savvy in 2014 by creating a State of
Marketing report and then supporting
it with cross-channel assets, tons of
inbound links from authoritative
sources, and easy shareability.
Ragan’s Healthcare Communication News picking
up and publicly thanking the organization (linking
to their Google+ account) for a valuable piece of
content shared.

PAID SOCIAL
Achieving organic reach on social media is great, but in many cases
a paid boost is necessary to gain visibility against competitors and
ensure targeted reach.
With the right message, oriented toward the right audience, you
can get plenty of bang for your buck and score serious ROI.

PAID SOCIAL
MarketShare is in the business of big data
and analytics, so the company had a
particular appreciation for LinkedIn’s
extensive targeting parameters, which they
used to pinpoint marketing executives at
larger companies through Display Ads.
The campaign’s CTR ended up doubling
internal expectations, and MarketShare was
able to generate many leads in new
verticals.
Many of the best paid social strategies incorporate
multiple ad formats, as Seed Equity did in efforts to
raise awareness for a new crowdfunding platform
for startups.
With a combination of Sponsored Content and
Dynamic Ads, the registered broker dealer saw
explosive gains in investor signups and Company
Page follows while cruising past engagement
benchmarks.

LEAD CAPTURING
Anyone who works with a sales funnel understands the
importance of keeping the top end filled with potential
opportunities. Social media channels are among the best
places to do this in a cost-effective manner.
The best social lead gen campaigns are those that
combine quantity and quality, aiming for not only volume
but relevance as well.

LEAD CAPTURING
Frustrated with the expense of acquiring
leads through social media, research group
Info-Tech turned up the targeting to sharpen
its scope, and continually optimised all
aspects of its content.
As a result, they drastically reduced CPLs
and captured a fantastic 42% click-to-
conversion rate, while yielding 90% qualified
leads for specific titles.

MEASUREMENT AND
IMPROVEMENT
Initially, creation of a campaign is based on informed
guesswork. We don’t really know what is going to work until the
content goes live and we can gauge the way people are
responding to it. This is why continual tweaking is critical.
Optimising on the fly can dramatically bolster your final results,
and those who leave out this component are doing themselves
a disservice.
In the age of metrics for measuring everything, applying insights
from campaign data has never been easier.

MEASUREMENT AND
IMPROVEMENT
In order to get the most out of its ad spend, ConnectWise
implemented a conversion-tracking tool on LinkedIn and
monitored every element of its Sponsored Content, specifically
zeroing in on CTAs to see which ones were proving effective.
Based on this information, they swapped in top performers to
ensure maximum ROI.

INFLUENCER IMPACT
Contemporary marketers are increasingly harnessing the power of
influencers. The recognition factor weighs heavily, so when you
pinpoint the right person with a message that aligns with their
audience, engagement levels can skyrocket.
Influencers are particularly powerful on LinkedIn, where members
are already following and consuming their content heavily.

INFLUENCER IMPACT
Influencers don’t necessarily need to come from
outside of your company. In Shell’s case, they took
advantage of the expertise of Climate Change
Adviser and blogger David Hone in order to
convincingly communicate their message on
tackling energy issues.
Placing him at the forefront of an informational
campaign, Shell crushed expectations for
impressions and engagement.

POST ANALYSING
THESE BEST
PRACTICES IN
DEPTH, LET US NOW
UNDERSTAND WHAT
IS THE FUTURE OF
B2B?

In the era of big data, artificial intelligence and rapid
innovation, change is the only constant.
While marketing has without a doubt gone digital, we
are simultaneously seeing a revival in human-centric
thinking — a shift toward catering to individuals with
deeper empathy and care, though now at scale.

LETS TAKE A LOOK AT TWO PEOPLE:
Person A is the CMO at a
Fortune 500 company.
He’s focused on increasing
conversion rates, optimizing
advertising spend, increasing
ARR by whatever lofty
percentage came up the
year before, and a handful of
other business-focused tasks,
projects, and goals.
Person B is an avid lover of
yoga and fantasy football.
He hasn’t missed a yoga class
in weeks, consistently finishes
in the top 3 in his office
fantasy league, spends more
time than she’ll likely admit
scrolling through Pinterest,
and loves nothing more than
curling up with a good book.

Guess what…
These two different people aren’t actually two
different people at all.

That big-time, corporate CMO you’ve been trying to reach
also loves fantasy sports, yoga, and scrolling through Pinterest
looking for vegan recipes.

What does this mean from a marketing point of view?

B2B marketing doesn’t only exist on LinkedIn between the hours of
9am and 5pm.
It doesn’t matter if that CMO is in suit-and-tie mode during the week,
or lounging in a hoodie on the weekend. The bottom line is this…
They’re still humans.
And because of this, you need to market to them in a human way.

H2H (HUMAN TO HUMAN) IS THE NEW NORMAL
Whether you’re on the B2B side or the B2C side, at the end
of the day it all comes down to humans.
For that reason, you should always be thinking from a H2H
perspective. Human to human marketing is going to be at
the root of everything you do.

B2B àH2H
We also need to understand how our audience is changing and why it is necessary
for us to adapt to H2H marketing
When newly minted Millennial who advise on–or make–B2B purchases as part of
their daily duties, they tend to respond to marketing that is similar to consumer
marketing. They look for believable data points that prove a B2B product’s ease-
of-use, as well as believable information that feels customized and even
conversational. A human intimate connect will appeal to them more over data
driven jargons.
Regardless of what business or technology you represent, these modern customers
expect brands to recognize them as individuals.

Maybe you are targeting that CMO of a Fortune 500 company.
Maybe you’re targeting Jim Working Man from the next town over.
Maybe it’s a university student obsessed with fashion influencers.
Maybe you’re just targeting an office manager from a local paper company.
Four very different people, yet still four humans.
At the root of any marketing campaigns you run, one of your goals is going to be educating
your audience on what you’re offering and why they should want it.
No matter what role they fill, what social status they hold, or what they like to do on their
Saturdays, they’re still going to have certain questions that need to be answered.
If you can answer these questions, you’re going to set yourself up for success, whether you’re in
B2B, B2C, ABC, or 123.

Humans connect with humans.
Even if you’re business is looking to close a deal with another
business, the conversations are still going to take place between real
people. If you can build that meaningful connection initially, you’re
going to be in a much better spot.
But how do you build these connections?
Create content
Your audience is unique. You
need to build an in-depth
understanding of what
content they want and what
they look for.
Research and ask
You need to understand what
your audience wants, and
then understand how to get it
to them. This isn’t a B2B
concept. It’s not a B2C
concept. It’s a H2H
requirement.
Sales + marketing
= smarketing
Uniting these two teams also
translates to collaboration
opportunities that ultimately
benefit the customer with a
more personalized approach

SO WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES FOR
H2H MARKETING?

H2H MARKETING
PRINCIPLES
ENGAGEMENT IS THE NEW FORM
QUALITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN QUANTITY
A RENEWED FOCUS ON STORYTELLING
BECOME THE TRUSTED ADVISOR
FUTURE CUSTOMERS COME FROM A COMMUNITY

ENGAGEMENT IS THE NEW FORM
What we write is often more formal than how we actually speak. We
try to be perfect and avoid mistakes and, in the process, we end up
sounding more like a robot than a human.
Stop trying to be perfect and communicate like an actual human
With H2H, engagement is a better way to measure success to see if
the right people matching your ideal customer profile are interested
in your company's offering.Look beyond a form fill or content
download and use the data in your customer relationship
management (CRM) tool to find other touch points of engagement.

Tracking meaningful conversations is much more important
than the number of cold calls and email blasts your team does
every week. The future of H2H focuses on new ways to get in
front of your target buyer.
Humor is nearly always welcome. You can add humor to your
website, product descriptions, social media posts, or your blog.
QUALITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN QUANTITY
NOTE:
Instead of having sales reps leave countless voicemails for prospects, there are a
ton of marketing technology solutions to leave a personalized message. Tools like
Vidyard for 1:1 videos and Drift for online chat.

With H2H marketing, it's about creating a compelling narrative, a
story that people will actually care about.
It's extremely rare to get people to care about your brand unless you
already have a certain amount of prestige associated with your
company.
Crafting a story that makes people care about what you're selling
will have a much stronger impact.
A RENEWED FOCUS ON STORYTELLING

In the modern digital world, it's so difficult for a salesperson to break
through the noise.
To truly make a connection, salespeople have to assume the role of
a consultant or trusted advisor.
Marketers can support sales by serving up content-e-books, white
papers, webinars, blogs, you name it-to help create thought
leadership for the brand.
BECOME THE TRUSTED ADVISOR

Across an array of industries, there's a focus on building a community
of like-minded individuals.
Your community will be bigger than your current customer base,
and the more humans that are part of that community, the more
opportunities you'll create for marketing and sales.
FUTURE CUSTOMERS COME FROM A COMMUNITY

A FEW MARKETING TECHNIQUES FOR
B2B BRAND COMMUNICATION

BUSINESSES DON’T HAVE EMOTION. HUMANS DO.
HUMANS WANT TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THEMSELVES
HUMANS WANT TO FEEL SOMETHING
HUMANS WANT TO BE INCLUDED
HUMANS WANT TO UNDERSTAND

BUSINESSES DON’T HAVE EMOTION. HUMANS DO.
We are aware that automated, generic, unclear email
campaigns do virtually nothing for businesses.
That’s because people feel like they’re one of millions being
spoken to, and that the voice speaking to them is a robotic one.
If someone takes the time out to get to know you, to tailor a
product to you, anything that will make you feel special, you’d
be far more likely to interact with them.

If you can relate a product to a group of people so well that
they feel they have a tangible human connection to it, then you
know you have succeeded.
When someone is made to feel that way by a business, they’re
likely to permanently praise and endorse it by using the same
human, emotion-based tactics that worked for them originally
(we all want to be referred, right?).
HUMANS WANT TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THEMSELVES

We watch comedies to laugh, they make us feel better
We book holidays because we remember we enjoy going on holiday.
This nostalgic association can be combined with the notion of scarcity
to create a formidable marketing technique.
Some things can only really be felt when seeing or hearing about it from
others.
HUMANS WANT TO FEEL SOMETHING

You probably didn’t care about watching ‘Game of Thrones’ until Jay
from work, Tina from down the road, and your old university lecturer all
told you how good it was.
But the opinion of those you trust is far more important than what some
guy told you in a blog, right?
HUMANS WANT TO BE INCLUDED

Wattage, broadband speed, horsepower… All things I hear all the time
but don’t really understand.
But if it was explained to me by a friendly face, in the simplest way
possible, then not only would I understand it, I would tell others about it.
As a byproduct, I would also be far more likely to return to this person if I
struggled to understand something else.
It’s a need to understand and to feel included. It’s simple really, or at
least it should be.
HUMANS WANT TO UNDERSTAND

Marketing platform for small businesses
One strategy is to find connections between your brand
and concepts that anyone can wrap their head around.
This can take on many forms, whether it’s a simple analogy
to everyday life that sticks or more literally comparing the
relationship of your company’s many parts to that of the
human body.
It’s about reframing your business proposition in a simple,
easy-to-understand perspective.
A brilliant campaign that follows this philosophy comes from
MailChimp. By equating marketing automation with a
second brain, the understanding of what they offer is
instantaneous and transcends their core email marketing
solution.
The campaign communicates the company’s benefit to
the individual in a relatable, human way. And, who
wouldn’t want a second brain? In this case, MailChimp isn’t
the victor; it’s the savvy business owner who decided to
invest in a second brain!

Goldman Sachs ’Progress Campaign’ is one of
the brands who took a storytelling approach. By
celebrating the leaders of the cities and
businesses in the firm’s investment portfolio,
what could be a boring case study becomes as
interesting as a short film.
Those stories will drive authentic curiosity and
interest among prospects. They will want to
learn more!
The dominance of the form-fill as your
marketing campaign’s primary goal is
outdated; instead, focus on making an
emotional connection with your customers, and
the customer information will follow.
Leading investment management firm

The company provides links to free ebooks, customizable templates and
strategy workbooks for their customers (marketers) to learn more about
the marketing discipline and do their jobs more efficiently.
Looking at the numbers, this resonates. With over 400,000 subscribers and
4.5 million monthly visitors, the HubSpot blog has become the go-to
resource for all things inbound marketing.

B2B vs B2C Vs H2H marketing model

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