The Internet has forever changed the way the world does business. And to be honest, a few of us here at Smart Foundations definitely show our age by mentioning that we remember a time when businesses started, grew and succeeded all without the aid of the Internet.
Believe it or not, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there were no e-mail newsletters to promote your business (and no CASL to worry about), no SEO, no company websites (and, so no need to worry about whether they were updated frequently) and most definitely no social media.
Old school marketing gets results
Instead, there were just good old-fashioned marketing techniques — old school methods that drove growth and got results. We’re not talking about standout business cards and giant highway billboards here — although both have their time and place. No, we’re talking about creating well thought out and well executed B2B growth strategies that, even today, drive business, increase revenues and grow businesses. Because all the bells and whistles of online marketing are only useful when coupled with a solid foundation.
These tactics should be the foundation of your business-to-business marketing strategy. Regardless of whether you’re going online or offline, investing time and effort into developing these three strategies are a must for every successful business.
3 effective growth strategies
Write case studies. What’s the first thing a potential customer does these days before buying a product or service? Research it. Case studies offer the proof needed that a product or service is worth investing in. They’re especially valuable when they are industry specific because a client’s number one question in choosing a supplier is “do they specialize in my industry?” A well-written case study shows prospects how your business successfully developed a solution for another business within a similar industry.
Go ahead and put your case studies online so that Google can find them but don’t neglect their offline uses. For example, equipping your sales team with case studies will give presentation packages a boost.
Create service packages. Businesses that sell services sell something that is intangible. The buyer can’t see it, can’t touch it and can’t take it out of the box to see how it works. By turning services into packages, that same business can now detail every activity involved in the service at a set price. You’re not re-inventing the wheel by productizing your services, you’re simply making it more attractive for your customers to purchase (and easier for you to manage).
Market your new ‘product’ well and you can stimulate stagnate sales and create a new revenue stream.
Develop multi-level messaging. Messaging is not a one-size-fits-all concept. Different marketing messages need to be developed to speak to different audiences. How you market to a CEO is different from how you market to the mid-level manager responsible for business levers. Understand your audiences and target your messaging accordingly.
Once you have different messages for different markets you can take them online (or use them offline) in targeted campaigns.
Want to know more about writing killer case studies? Stay tuned; our next blog post will be about just that!
