No one said it was easy

Selling to businesses has long been considered less creative and more complex compared to B2C marketing. But knowledge is power. And being aware of and addressing challenges head-on can help businesses to focus their B2B marketing strategy in areas which might otherwise be overlooked.

Listed below are the top 10 challenges facing B2B marketers and our recommendations on how to tackle them.

1. Strategic direction

We’ve had a lot thrown at us over the last few years and the unknown landscape B2B marketers found themselves in heavily impacted their strategy and planning.

From lower budgets to lack of comparative data and revised KPI’s,
now things are getting back to normal, many businesses feel like they are starting from scratch when understanding what their audience actually wants; what success even looks like and how much budget to assign B2B marketing campaigns.

2. Lack of resource

Recruitment has long been an issue for marketers and the need for ‘soft’ creative skill sets and hard technological knowledge are proving a problematic mix for employers.

Finding that one person who is an amazing designer, copywriter and project manager, who also has working experience of marketing automation and can serve all your campaigns across multiple channels is tricky. Oh, and don’t forget they also need to be a master statistician to provide learnings and insights into everything you do … well needless to say they are hard to come by!!

Not to worry though as that’s where we fit in. We have a core team of experienced account managers, designers and developers who can help with all your B2B (and B2C) marketing needs. Just touch base and let us know the skill sets you need us to help fill and we’ll be in touch.

3. Choosing the right agency

An obvious resolution to a lack of resource is outsourcing to agencies.

But with so many B2B marketing agencies available, how do you choose the right one?

Begin with identifying the particular channel that you need support in so that you can choose an agency that specialises in this area. These agencies will boast the in-depth knowledge, skills, and technology to get you the best possible results.

Secondly, look for an agency that you can grow with and learn from, long term. It is important for agencies to be communicative and offer insight alongside numbers so that your business can understand activity and results, and implement learnings along the way.

At 1973 we pride ourselves on building trusted and long term partnerships. Our first client is still a customer almost 20 years on! If you’re looking for a partnership that works give us a call. We don’t lock you into any fixed contracts and there’s no obligation.

4. Sales and marketing alignment

Sales and marketing alignment has long been a controversial topic between both departments despite the common goal of increasing revenue.

Often there is a lack of understanding of one another’s approaches to business. Both departments are focusing on different stages within the buying journey, resulting in separate strategies, goals, and priorities.

This is further exacerbated if internal processes and technologies are misaligned. Sometimes there’s a danger of the left hand losing sight of what the right hand is up to and if contact data is entered and pulled from disparate systems, it can lead to inaccuracies and a lack of insight for both departments.

It’s critical to consider the entire sales funnel when pulling together your marketing plan and its underlying strategy; and this will then inform which software is most appropriate for your business and how best to segment your audiences.

If you need guidance with choosing which systems to use and how to get the best from them, together with automating common user journeys to streamline workflows for both sales and marketing teams, just give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to help.

5. Technology overload

With the vast array of exciting, innovative, and increasingly essential technology available to B2B marketers, technology overload can quickly become a challenge.

For many B2B businesses, their technology stack is failing to link together. Meaning their CRM, CMS, SEO, email, social, and automation aren’t integrated, which results in a lack of connectivity when it comes to sending out communications.

Integrations aside, this influx in technology also results in an increased need for training, implementation, support, and short-term budget. And the more overcomplicated the technology, the more challenges can arise.

Again, we’re here to help. We’ve got experience in all the most popular ESPs and have worked with all the leading CRMs so chances are we can figure it out – just ask!

6. Data management

We live in the era of big data however many B2B businesses are still struggling with data collation, management and usage. In fact, 40% of B2B businesses report that their data management strategy is only somewhat successful to unsuccessful.

Not having the correct systems or skills in place to make the most of data can have a significant effect on marketing activity. It will negatively impact automation, segmentation and personalisation capabilities leaving B2B businesses and their marketing campaigns and communications lacking insight.

Not every marketer is a professional statistician and some insights require significant data crunching best left to the professionals. If you’re finding that you don’t have as detailed an insight into our target audience and are still using email open rates as a measure of interest, then do give us a call as we’re here to help.

7. Audience understanding

Creating buyer personas and ideal customer profiles are powerful strategies within marketing. They help to inform messaging, targeting, and campaign planning.

However, in B2B marketing, understanding your audience in this depth is challenging.

With businesses marketing to businesses, it is difficult to pinpoint the attributes required to fully understand them. After all, there are often multiple employees involved in the purchasing decision. All with their own challenges, goals, buyer journeys, and personalities.

8. Complex buying journey

The B2B buying journey is ever-evolving. Gone are the days of a simple, linear process. Instead, the B2B buying journey is becoming increasingly complex.

To begin with, the initial research stages alone can be intensive. And to make this even more challenging for B2B marketers, 70% of the B2B buying process is completed before customers even reach out to a business.

Once a customer does reach a business the amount of information required, and stakeholders involved, further increases the complexity. B2B marketers require readily available information in various formats, delivered at the right time, via the right channels.

9. Lead generation

Lead generation is one of the most significant differences when it comes to B2C and B2B marketing.

B2B purchases are not only complex, they can often be costly and resource-intensive. Particularly when it comes to making large hardware, software, and system purchases.

The chances of customers impulse buying B2B purchases are slim. Meaning that extra effort is required in the marketing and sales process to educate, convince, and convert these customers.

Add to this advances in data privacy, identity, and cookies. And many B2B marketers are having to rethink their traditional data and lead generation strategies.

10. Demonstrable ROI

Marketers report proving ROI as their second biggest challenge.

Attribution is a key contribution to the ROI challenge. B2B marketers may be able to cite the percentage of conversions from website traffic, and where this traffic came from, but understanding how that traffic initially heard about the brand becomes problematic.

And post-conversion attribution becomes even more of a challenge. For instance, how significant a part did nurturing activity play compared to sales activity?

The complicated nature of making a B2B purchase requires different departments and tactics to engage throughout this process. And without clear attribution, absolute ROI becomes almost impossible.

Are you experiencing any of these B2B marketing challenges?

If these challenges sound familiar, or you’re feeling overwhelmed by your B2B marketing activity, then we can help.

We’d love to hear what you’re up to, and tell you a little more about how we could offer support. So why not get in touch with our friendly team for a chat?