Creating sustainable growth is one of the most important things for building your business. However, business-to-business companies tend to have a bit of a harder time when it comes to growth hacking. When we hear about companies that seem to take off overnight, they’re almost always in a business-to-consumer industry.
That may happen for some reasons. First, B2B purchases tend to involve more money and more decision makers, which means it can be much more difficult to convince a potential customer to make a purchase. Unlike a B2C purchase, a B2B customer needs to jump through several hoops before they get approval to buy.
However, just because it is more challenging to growth-hack your B2B business, it doesn’t mean it is impossible. When you develop the right mindset and approach your marketing with the right strategies, you can create a plan that helps your B2B business proliferate.
Let’s take a look at a few steps you should take to growth-hack your way to a successful B2B marketing strategy.
1. Focus on creating shareable, high-quality content
The content you create is the foundation of everything you do online. Whether you’re trying to generate new leads, convert the prospects in your funnel to customers, or keep past customers coming back for more, you need to have content with which your audience will want to engage. This means creating shareable, high-quality content should be your main priority.
When developing a content strategy, you need to take the time to truly get to know your target audience. While you may think a certain topic is important, if your target audience does not feel the same way, it is going to get ignored. Your potential customers will turn to you for insights, help, and ideas, but if you’re not providing them with topics they truly care about, they won’t care about your opinions.
If you already have an arsenal of content displayed on your website, take a moment to analyze which pieces are the most popular with your target audience. Look for trends that they may follow, including particular topics they seem to care about genuinely. Also, look for any issues that may be less popular with your clients and customers. If there is a specific topic area that is frequently ignored or doesn’t get a lot of positive attention, it may be time to focus on other ideas.
If you’re new to content creation, start by creating small, low-commitment pieces. Blog posts and social media content can be a great way to dip your feet into the content world and get to know what your target audience may be seeking. You can also identify which topics they may be interested in by looking at your competition. Take a look at where your competitors are successful and which pieces your audience frequently engages with.
As you begin to develop content, focus on the connections you’re making with your audience members. Be sure to track and monitor your results and make a note of the changing needs of your ideal customer. As you continue to learn more about the audience you’re trying to target, you can refine your content strategy to suit their unique preferences better.
2. Create a free opt-in tool
There is no denying it: customers love free stuff. When you’re trying to attract new leads or grow your audience, one of the best ways to do so is through offering a free opt-in. By giving away a piece of content for free, you’re not only able to attract more attention, but you can also capture their contact information so that you can keep in touch.
When offering a free tool, you’re able to gather more attention. However, you need to get smart about what you’re giving away. While hosting a free giveaway of an item unrelated to your business may help you reach a high volume of people, they may not be members of your target audience. If they’re not going to become customers, you’re only wasting your time and money trying to gain their attention.
Rather than offering a freebie that anyone may want, you should narrow down your focus to appeal only to individuals who may become customers. By targeting your freebie to reach only those who may want to buy from you eventually, you’re keeping your contact list clean, ensuring you’re making strong connections.
When developing your opt-in tool, consider what value it can bring to your target audience. However, it should also be easy enough for you to give away that it isn’t going to hurt your bottom line. A downloadable worksheet, a short webinar, or an ebook are all great ideas for opt-ins. Keep the topic general enough that you can attract customers early in the decision-making phase, but detailed enough that it effectively pushes the individual to make a purchase.
Use your opt-in tool as a lead generation tactic by asking for email addresses and names during the sign-up. By encouraging customers to share their contact information, you’re able to stay in touch and continue to send them marketing materials about your brand and business. Once they’re in your sales funnel, you can nurture those leads to move closer and closer to becoming customers.
3. Make your user experience a priority
When it comes to building an online presence, you need to consider the experience your user has when engaging with your website or content. With the mass amounts of information, websites, and content available on the web, your customers have likely developed their own set of expectations and standards for what they enjoy. If you’re falling short of what they’re anticipating, it could push them away from your business.
To grow your B2B business significantly, you need to put your user’s experience at the forefront of everything you do. When it is easy for your audience to connect with, engage, and use your products or services, it will be easier for you to convince them to buy. By making their experience a priority, you can better understand their needs and improve your relationship.
You need to consider your user’s experience during every stage of the sales process. From the moment you attract a new lead to when they become a customer, you need to ensure it is easy for your audience member to move from one phase to the next. That means cutting unnecessary features, additions, or steps that only add weight and complications to your sales process.
Understanding your user’s expectations comes from knowing their needs and preferences. Just as when you create content for your target audience, designing a user experience that they will enjoy comes from knowing what they’re looking for exactly. When you take the time to get to know your target audience and what they like to engage with online, you can craft an experience with which they will enjoy interacting.
When creating your products or services, always focus on simplicity. If what you’re adding doesn’t bring direct value to your customer or client, eliminate it. To continue improving your experience, get feedback from your users. Listen to it carefully and make adjustments to help improve your content, marketing, and the products or services you’re offering.
If you want to use growth-hacking techniques to improve your B2B marketing, you need to become familiar with your target audience. When you know what they’re looking for, you can create better content that will help you make long-lasting, stable relationships. Once you do this, you can lower barriers to entry and start attracting high-quality leads.
Use these three growth-hacking tips to improve your B2B marketing and start attracting new leads!
