7 Steps to Build a B2B Digital Strategy that Works

B2B digital strategy is the process of planning, executing and measuring online marketing activities that target other businesses. It involves creating a clear value proposition, identifying the best channels and tactics, optimizing the user experience, and tracking the results.

A well-designed B2B digital strategy can help you:

Generate more leads and sales
Increase brand awareness and reputation
Build trust and loyalty with your customers
Gain a competitive edge in your industry
Improve your return on investment (ROI)

But how do you create a B2B digital strategy that works? Here are seven steps to follow:

Key Takeaways

B2B digital strategy is the process of planning, executing and measuring online marketing activities that target other businesses.

A well-designed B2B digital strategy can help you achieve various goals such as generating more leads and sales, increasing brand awareness and reputation, building trust and loyalty with your customers, gaining a competitive edge in your industry, and improving your return on investment (ROI).

To create a B2B digital strategy that works, you need to follow seven steps: define your goals and objectives, know your audience, develop your value proposition, choose your channels and tactics, optimize your user experience, track and measure your results, and learn and improve.

You also need to use various tools and techniques such as buyer personas, customer journey maps, value proposition canvas, channel matrix, content calendar, email marketing software, user testing, analytics, heatmaps, A/B testing, conversion rate optimization, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Data Studio, dashboards, SWOT analysis, benchmarking, competitor analysis, online courses, blogs, podcasts, webinars, books, etc. to plan and execute your B2B digital strategy.

You also need to follow some best practices such as focusing on solving your customers’ problems and adding value to their businesses, creating content that educates, informs, entertains, and inspires your audience, using social media to build relationships, generate leads, and increase brand awareness, using email marketing to nurture leads, increase conversions, and retain customers, using video marketing to showcase your products or services, demonstrate your expertise, and tell stories, using SEO to optimize your website and content for search engines and users, using PPC to drive targeted traffic to your website and landing pages, using webinars to showcase your thought leadership, generate leads, and increase conversions, and using analytics to measure your performance and optimize your strategy.

You also need to be aware of some trends such as personalization, automation, artificial intelligence, video marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, influencer marketing, account-based marketing, omnichannel marketing, and mobile marketing that are shaping the future of B2B digital marketing.

1. Define your goals and objectives

What are you trying to achieve with your B2B digital strategy? Do you want to increase traffic, conversions, revenue, retention, or something else? How will you measure your success? Be specific and realistic with your goals and objectives, and align them with your overall business strategy.

2. Know your audience

Who are you targeting with your B2B digital strategy? What are their pain points, needs, preferences, and behaviors? How do they make buying decisions? What are their online habits and preferences? Use tools like buyer personas, customer journey maps, and surveys to understand your audience better.

3. Develop your value proposition

What makes your product or service unique and valuable for your target audience? How do you solve their problems or fulfill their needs better than your competitors? What are the benefits and features of your offer? How do you communicate them clearly and persuasively? Use tools like value proposition canvas, elevator pitch, and landing pages to craft your value proposition.

4. Choose your channels and tactics

What are the best online platforms and methods to reach your target audience and achieve your goals? Do you need a website, a blog, an email list, a social media presence, a video channel, a podcast, a webinar series, or something else? How will you use each channel to deliver your value proposition and engage your audience? Use tools like channel matrix, content calendar, and email marketing software to plan and execute your channels and tactics.

5. Optimize your user experience

How easy and enjoyable is it for your target audience to interact with your online presence and offer? How can you improve the usability, accessibility, design, content, navigation, speed, security, and functionality of your website and other channels? How can you reduce friction and increase conversions along the customer journey? Use tools like user testing, analytics, heatmaps, A/B testing, and conversion rate optimization to optimize your user experience.

6. Track and measure your results

How well are you performing against your goals and objectives? What are the key metrics and indicators that show your progress and success? How can you collect, analyze, and report data from your online channels and activities? How can you use data to make informed decisions and optimize your B2B digital strategy? Use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Data Studio, and dashboards to track and measure your results.

7. Learn and improve

What are the strengths and weaknesses of your B2B digital strategy? What are the opportunities and threats in your market and industry? What are the best practices and trends in B2B digital marketing? How can you learn from your successes and failures, as well as from others in your field? How can you test new ideas and experiment with different approaches? Use tools like SWOT analysis, benchmarking, competitor analysis, online courses, blogs, podcasts, webinars, books, etc. to learn and improve.

Tips

Focus on solving your customers’ problems and adding value to their businesses.

Create content that educates, informs, entertains, and inspires your audience.

Use social media to build relationships, generate leads, and increase brand awareness.

Use email marketing to nurture leads, increase conversions, and retain customers.

Use video marketing to showcase your products or services, demonstrate your expertise, and tell stories.

Use SEO to optimize your website and content for search engines and users.

Use PPC to drive targeted traffic to your website and landing pages.

Use webinars to showcase your thought leadership, generate leads, and increase conversions.

Use analytics to measure your performance and optimize your strategy.

B2B Digital Strategy: A Statistical Report

B2B digital strategy is the process of planning, executing, and optimizing online marketing activities for businesses that sell products or services to other businesses. B2B digital strategy aims to generate leads, nurture prospects, and close deals through various digital channels, such as websites, social media, email, content, and advertising.

B2B digital strategy is becoming more important as the B2B market evolves and adapts to the changing customer behavior and expectations. B2B buyers are increasingly using digital platforms to research, compare, and purchase solutions, and they expect a seamless, personalized, and engaging experience from B2B sellers.

In this report, we will present some key statistics that illustrate the current state and trends of B2B digital strategy, as well as the challenges and opportunities for B2B marketers in 2023.

Statistics

According to IDC, 89% of enterprises are planning to adopt or have already adopted a digital business strategy in 2018. Top digital business strategy adopters include services (95%), financial services (93%), and healthcare (92%).
According to HubSpot, 56% of B2B organizations are investing in digital marketing in 2023. The top digital marketing channels for B2B are email (78%), website (75%), social media (64%), SEO (61%), and content marketing (60%).
According to Google, 46% of B2B researchers are millennials — or between the ages of 18-34 — in 2023. Millennials are more likely to use mobile devices, video platforms, and social media to conduct B2B research than older generations.
According to Blue Corona, most B2B buyers are already 57% of the way through the buying process before the first meeting with a representative in 2023. Moreover, 90% of B2B buyers now twist and turn through the sales funnel, looping back and repeating at least one or more task in the buyer’s journey.
According to FinancesOnline, B2B items make for 12.1% of all online sales made by American businesses in 2023, while B2B services account for 11.5%. The global B2B e-commerce market is expected to reach $20.9 trillion by 2027.

The statistics above show that B2B digital strategy is a vital component of B2B marketing in 2023. B2B marketers need to leverage digital platforms and technologies to reach and influence their target audience, who are increasingly savvy, mobile, and demanding.

However, B2B digital strategy also poses some challenges for B2B marketers, such as creating relevant and engaging content, optimizing the website for conversions, measuring and attributing ROI, and aligning with sales teams.

To overcome these challenges and succeed in B2B digital strategy, B2B marketers need to adopt a customer-centric approach, use data and analytics to inform decisions, test and optimize campaigns, and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q1: What is the difference between B2B and B2C digital strategy?
A: B2B stands for business-to-business, while B2C stands for business-to-consumer. B2B digital strategy targets other businesses as customers, while B2C digital strategy targets individual consumers as customers. B2B digital strategy tends to be more complex, longer-term, relationship-based, rational-driven, niche-focused, and high-value than B2C digital strategy.

Q2: What are the benefits of B2B digital strategy?
A: B2B digital strategy can help you generate more leads and sales, increase brand awareness and reputation, build trust and loyalty with your customers, gain a competitive edge in your industry, and improve your return on investment (ROI).

Q3: What are the challenges of B2B digital strategy?
A: B2B digital strategy can be challenging because of the following factors: longer and more complicated sales cycles, multiple decision-makers and influencers, higher price points and risk levels, lower online visibility and engagement, more regulations and compliance issues, and more diverse and dynamic markets and industries.

Q4: What are the best practices for B2B digital strategy?
A: Some of the best practices for B2B digital strategy are: define your goals and objectives, know your audience, develop your value proposition, choose your channels and tactics, optimize your user experience, track and measure your results, and learn and improve.

Q5: What are the trends for B2B digital strategy?
A: Some of the trends for B2B digital strategy are: personalization, automation, artificial intelligence, video marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, influencer marketing, account-based marketing, omnichannel marketing, and mobile marketing.

References:

https://www.infosys.com/about/knowledge-institute/insights/Documents/future-customer-engagement.pdf

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/11/24/the-evolution-of-b2b-digital-commerce-from-simple-to-sophisticated-selling/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/b2b-marketing
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-strategies/b2b/the-changing-face-of-b2b-marketing/
https://www.bluecorona.com/blog/b2b-marketing-statistics/
https://financesonline.com/digital-transformation-statistics/

https://www.smartinsights.com/b2b-digital-marketing/b2b-strategy/b2b-digital-marketing-strategy/

https://www.hubspot.com/b2b-marketing

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/03/15/how-to-create-a-b2b-digital-marketing-strategy-that-works/

https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/b2b-digital-marketing-strategy/