Monday 12 September 2011

B2B Marketing Fundamentals – Your Identity & Target

In a recent blog I outlined some of EWA’s fundamentals when it comes to B2B marketing. Within the blog 3 main areas were explored, which if understood could help you to make positive changes in your marketing efforts. The first of these areas is Your Identity & Target, which are both vitally important if your marketing is to be effectively focussed. Consider the following in order to achieve this marketing fundamental.

Who are you and what do you offer?

As a business you should have a clear idea of who you are but it is equally important to define this in a concise statement. This statement should combine your company identity with the types of services where you excel, clearly showing any potential clients your positioning, whatever the communication medium.

What is your target market?

Marketing without targeting is unlikely to be effective or profitable making identifying a target audience for your B2B marketing essential. Any targeting exercise should consider who you are planning to sell your services or products to by defining the size and type of businesses they should be.

Why should businesses buy from you?

By now you will have established your own identity and even the role that your specialities play in this, however, it is also important to consider your USPs (Unique Selling Points). These USPs are what sets your business apart from the competition and should consist of specific features and benefits customers will gain if they choose you.

Who do you need to speak to?

The final area of your identity and targeting is to define exactly who you need to contact. Ideally these contacts should be someone within a business with the power to make decisions as to arranging meeting with the key stakeholders in the company. For some businesses this may purely be the MD, but with others this could be a marketing manager or commercial director.

B2B differs from B2C in that the people you deal with have different considerations to make and are driven by different purchasing factors. By asking yourself these questions and setting your stall out early on in the marketing process you should be able to find ways to appeal to these purchasing factors from the outset, greatly improving the chances of success for your marketing.

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