Decoding the myths about B2B marketing

In the B2B marketing world, your professional network is everything. Because your business is about business, the potential of who you know and who they know is where the next big win will happen, writes Kanika Tiwari, Country Director Marketing & Communications, International SOS.

It is often hard to explain Business to Business marketing often referred to as B2B marketing, but we can start by clearing up some common misunderstandings that you come across in the marketing ecosystem or what other functions understanding of B2B marketing is. Here is a list of myths about B2B marketing and how do we get past those misunderstandings! 

Myth 1: B2B Marketing is largely technical and complicated

Many B2B products and services are complicated and technical by nature, regardless of industry verticals. Some marketers may be overwhelmed by business technical terms and solutions, but one thing that marketers need to keep in mind is it is still Human to Human marketing.  B2B Customers certainly need technical information to inform buying decisions, but messaging still needs to serve them on a human level by being easy to find and easy to digest. Just like all audiences, B2B audiences need to be approached with cognitive biases and emotional engagement first followed by price, feature, and functionality content later.

Myth 2: B2B sales deals are made through relationships, so marketing is not important

Relationships definitely drive business in B2B and help close deals. Buying cycles are long and multiple contact points with potential customers are an important part of the process. B2B marketing lays the roadmap that allows you to establish in-person marketing avenues which is one of the most valuable techniques for lead nurturing. We all witnessed how B2B marketing played a vital role to continue driving the sales pipeline and nurturing leads in the pandemic era, where interpersonal relationships, physical meetings, and networking opportunities were limited for consecutive years. An integrated approach with the marketing mix that includes in-person marketing, online marketing, email marketing and content marketing is an important and successful strategy to reach target audiences in the B2B market in any industry.

Myth 3: B2B marketing is boring

It is a common notion that B2C brands are the creative, fun brands with more avenues to market and B2B brands limit the creativity of the marketer or simply put as less creative. In reality, if you take this as a poll of B2B marketers, the results will be contrary to this belief. B2B marketing involves a significant amount of creative thinking behind the campaigns as it targets multiple decision-makers, influencers and coaches at different stages in the buying cycle with various content needs. A B2B marketing strategy needs to decode the complex set of information through powerful storytelling that is tailored to the needs of your audience. What follows after is creative execution using complex marketing automation tools to ramp up the reach and market voice.

Myth 4: B2B marketing is about reaching businesses and not people

B2B marketing’s ultimate target is to reach people that are decision makers behind these businesses. The primary reasons any business engages in marketing are to build awareness, improve sales and build loyalty. These apply to any business, regardless of its target. Studies conducted by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, for example, show that 86% of B2C marketers use content marketing versus 93% of B2B marketers. Content marketing has benefits across both groups. Therefore, the strategy used to gain the attention of consumers, such as appealing to emotions and showing the benefits to the individual still applies. The only thing that changes is determining what cognitive chord to strike – time vseffort/ productivity/ Absenteeism/ Presentism/ Duty of Care/ Reputation are often the triggers that drive BTB marketing. 

Myth 5: B2B marketing is just a sales support function

The evidence could not be more glaring and strong that B2B Marketing rescued many businesses and organisations with the agile adaption of various virtual platforms/ innovative marketing mix that continued contributing to the sales pipelines/ nurturing leads and driving utilisations for service industries. Virtual round tables thought papers, focus group discussions, workshops, email campaigns, polls, research papers, video interactions, media & PR, case studies, client sustainability reports replaced the sales decks and elevator pitches to emerge as a more powerful tool to reach various decision-makers and in engaging influencers at various stages of sales buying cycle.

Myth 6: B2B businesses don’t need an active social media presence

One of the most debated arguments between the financial decision-makers and an enthusiastic B2B marketer. 

Potential customers are readily turning to their personal networks and publicly available information – increasingly via digital and social media channels – to self-diagnose their problems and form opinions about solutions. To understand the scope of this issue in the B2B context, CEB’s Marketing Leadership Council (MLC) surveyed more than 1,500 customer contacts (decision-makers and influencers in a recent major business purchase) for 22 large B2B organizations (spanning all major NAICS categories and 10 industries).

In a striking finding, the survey revealed that the average customer had completed more than one-half of the purchase decision-making process prior to engaging a supplier sales rep directly. At the upper limit, that number ran as high as 70%. The fundamental implication is clear: companies that fail to “show up strong” in this context are underserving potential customers and at risk of losing mindshare and, ultimately, sales opportunities.

Any business in order to succeed will need to create loyal customers who eventually become brand advocates. The very common mistake in B2B marketing is to get complacent once the sale has been made. We think – the research and rigorous tender proposal or purchase department's stamp is enough to retain a client and it is okay to move on to the next potential client. The truth is far away from it – your competition may be one step ahead with lucrative contractual terms, heavily discounted pricing models, and newer technologies as incentives to switch providers.

It is imperative for organisations to secure a client for future sales and in order to do so, it is important to provide a steady flow of information, valuable content and customer services to increase the utilisation of your services. Social Media platforms provide you with customer stickiness, and referrals, reciprocate reputational credibility through the exchange of communications and leverage vast networks of your existing clients to amplify your thought leadership, and brand visibility and find new qualified leads which are worth way more than blowing your own horn. 

Conclusion: B2B marketing is not limited and elusive as it is made out to be. It’s important to remember that, at the core of businesses, there are people, who are just as receptive to creativity, cognitive and emotional appeal and connecting with your business and services at a deeper level.