Are you looking for a growth marketing approach that’s been proven to be the most successful at generating leads and boosting revenue? This post is intended to help you discover the ideal marketing solutions for any company scenario, whether B2B or B2C!

Here are two ways to go: one for B2B companies and another for B2C enterprises. Click or scroll down to learn about the tactics that fit your company’s situation and discover how to put them into action. The Top 10 B2B Marketing Strategies.

Want to know what business professionals think about various marketing techniques? We looked at recent survey results and reports that compiled data on the subject, as well as a list of ten B2B marketing methods commonly regarded as successful, regardless of industry. Here’s what we discovered, in no particular order:

CONTENT MARKETING

Rather than pushing products or services, education-based marketing aims to influence consumer buying decisions by providing information. This strategic marketing technique focuses on developing and delivering material that is relevant to prospects’ requirements in order to attract those most interested in — and most likely to buy — your product or service. Content will be updated as you learn more about leads, and it may take a variety of forms such as infographics, websites, podcasts, films, blogs, white papers, webinars and eBooks. It’s crucial to remember that content marketing isn’t the same thing as inbound marketing (more below). Content marketing is an important element of an overall inbound growth strategy, but it does not integrate other marketing methods to maximize content value.

Content marketing is effective because it:

• Draws prospects through the sales funnel
• Grows brand visibility, credibility, and desirability
• Aligns target markets with relevant information

Fast Fact: 9 out of 10 B2B buyers say online content has a moderate to major effect on their purchase decisions

INBOUND MARKETING

Inbound is undoubtedly the most effective B2B marketing approach, combining the benefits of all of the other nine tactics to entice, engage, and delight customers. Inbound marketing methods, including the others on this list, capture the attention of clients and lead them to a company’s website by producing and delivering valuable information. Inbound marketing invites consumers in rather than annoying them with intrusive traditional advertising because messages are relevant and appear at the right time.

Inbound marketing is effective because it:

• Works for businesses of any size or type
• Creates more knowledgeable prospects
• Can be easily integrated and managed using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and a content management system (CMS), like HubSpot

Fast Fact: Fast Fact: 80% of corporate decision-makers favor getting brand information through an article or blog series more than ads

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social media marketing entails developing a strategy for distributing useful and desired content to people’s social media connections, resulting in increased web visibility and traffic. The amount of social media shares of your content, videos, and photos will have an impact on your SEO efforts since they are frequently more relevant in search results on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, and Instagram as well as search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Social media marketing is effective because it:

• Reduces marketing spend while increasing lead generation
• Provides metrics that give companies additional marketplace insight
• “Humanizes” brands and encourages conversions

Fast Fact: 83% of all B2B marketers use at least one of the “Big Four” social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube) to distribute content.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

SEO, also known as search engine optimization, is the practice of increasing awareness of — and traffic to — a website by ensuring it appears among the top unpaid (or “natural”) results on search engines like Google, Bing! , and Yahoo. SEO is misunderstood as a standalone marketing technique, but it’s made up of several strategies that operate together and is essential to an effective inbound marketing plan.

SEO visibility is critical because search engines are the most common way people explore the internet. Search engine optimization (SEO) automatically widens your audience in a relevant, targeted manner — they identify as someone who is interested in your product or service.

Search engine optimization is effective because it:

• Continues to evolve to keep pace with mobile and local search engine use
• Simplifies searches for customers interested in your product or service
• Is a cost-effective way to keep your brand competitive with similarly situated companies

Fast Fact: SEO tops B2B lead sources at 14%, followed closely by email marketing (13%), and social media (12%).

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING/PPC

Search engine marketing, also known as SEM, is a paid online advertising strategy that businesses use to increase their website traffic. Pay-per-click (PPC) links are one of the most common SEM strategies. When keywords connected to their goods or service are searched, a business purchases or “sponsors” a link that appears as an ad in search engine results. The business pays a tiny fee to the search engine (or other third-party host site) every time the ad is clicked.

Search engine marketing is effective because of its:

• Breadth in online tools and reach
• Cost-effectiveness in generating high visibility
• Adaptability to multiple markets and audiences

Fast Fact: PPC users are 50% more likely to make a purchase than organic site visitors.

ACCOUNT BASED MARKETING AND RETARGETING

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a B2B approach that focuses on a limited number of accounts with extremely customized advertising. It gives marketers and salespeople several benefits, including a quicker sales process, cost efficiency, and superior use of marketing resources. With all of the features that ABM has, it’s vital to remember that it isn’t the same as targeted outbound marketing. It’s far more strategic; for example, retargeting is used to customize marketing efforts online.

Retargeting employs browser cookie technology to identify individuals who have visited your website but haven’t completed a transaction or conversion. The cookie allows targeted advertisements to appear in users’ subsequent web searches and interactions, even if they aren’t connected to your website specifically. Retargeting is a fantastic conversion mechanism since it gets your brand in front of people who have shown an interest in your product or service before.

Retargeting is effective because it:

• Recaptures the attention and purchase power of “window shoppers”
• Generates high click-through rates
• Lends itself to visitor segmentation and tailored messaging

Fast Fact: The average click-through rate for retargeted ads is 0.7% (compared to 0.07% for display ads).

EARNED MEDIA AND PR

Earned media (also known as “free media”) is free publicity generated by activities other than paid advertising. It may take many forms, but one thing is certain: earned media is unsolicited and can only be acquired organically. It cannot be purchased or owned like traditional advertising.

Earned media and PR are effective because they:

• Are generally “free” advertising channels
• Are unsolicited and, therefore, have instant perceived credibility
• Increase awareness of valuable, educational, and trustworthy content

Fast Fact: Earned media accounts for 25-40% of all traffic and lead generation.

REFERRAL PROGRAMS

A referral program is a strategy used by businesses to encourage people to inform others about their goods or services. Within a marketing plan structure, implementing special affiliate programs, customer referral programs, and partner programs is designed to provide the instant credibility of existing customers in order to develop a customer base. “Referral marketing” and “referral programs” are frequently used interchangeably.

Referral programs are effective because they:

• Leverage the recommendations of happy customers
• Authentically recognize customers’ brand loyalty and reinforce it
• Are perennially popular with customers

Fast Fact: The lifetime value for new referral customers is 16% higher than non-referrals.

INDUSTRY EVENTS

In-person and internet tradeshows are still a major B2B networking instrument (especially when inbound methods support event events), as they bring companies from different sectors together to connect and show their newest goods and services. Trade shows are generally only open to invited professionals, but they provide businesses a great opportunity to establish or strengthen contacts with important industry partners, clients, and prospects; discover market trends and opportunities; and learn what their competitors are offering in the market.

Networking has faced some barriers in the face of the new normal driven by pandemics. Technology, on the other hand, is a distinct advantage, since virtual events that provide comparable advantages have been successfully transformed to in-person gatherings.

• Meaningful interactions and relationship-building
• Good attendance, creating a target-rich environment for lead generation
• Opportunities for businesses of every size to access the same audience and information

Fast Fact: Events like trade shows generate the most B2B leads, while case studies are the catalysts behind lead conversion and acceleration.

CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING

Conversational marketing is a conversation. Real-time interaction via a chatbot or live chat delivers the right information to prospects and customers at the proper time, as well as allowing for immediate follow-up inquiries. Real-time, tailored engagement significantly improves the user experience and increases the likelihood of receiving referrals from pleased clients. Conversational marketing techniques, on average, speed up buyer conversion by reducing the number of times they must enter a sales funnel. Because connections are established sooner, conversions occur more quickly.

Conversational marketing is effective because it:

• Removes layers of corporate lead capture and provides a genuine, personal consumer experience.
• Fosters clear communication, as buyers may clearly express their requirements and businesses can more readily comprehend and assist due to the right context around the request.
• Strengthens relationships by enabling bots to provide further information to complement buyer education.

Fast Fact: Messaging is the preferred method of customer communication with businesses — 90% of customers want a chat option.

The majority of the methods we listed, when taken individually, have little marketing power. Inbound marketing ties together the heavy-hitters – SEO, SEM, content marketing, social media, and earned media – to create a well-rounded cost-effective marketing approach that generates qualified leads, nurtures customer relationships, and successfully establishes brands.

Top 10 Business-to-Consumer Marketing Strategies

What are the pros and cons of each form of marketing strategy used to reach customers? We reviewed recent poll results and reports that gathered information on the subject, then came up with a list of 10 B2C marketing approach examples that are commonly considered successful regardless of industry. Here’s what we discovered, in no particular order:

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND VIRAL MARKETING

Social media marketing focuses on providing users with content they find valuable and want to share across their social networks, resulting in increased visibility and traffic. Social media shares of content, videos, and images also influence Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts in that they often increase relevancy in search results within social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram and search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Fast Fact: 61% of companies use social to increase conversions, and 50% use it to gain customer or market insights.

PAID MEDIA ADVERTISING

Paid advertising is a form of marketing that businesses use to boost their website traffic through paid promotion. Pay-per-click (PPC) links are one of the most popular tools for doing so. A firm obtains or “sponsors” a link that looks like an ad when keywords relating to their product or service are searched (this practice is commonly known as search engine marketing, or SEM). The ad is displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs) and, as a result, the company pays a fee to the search engine (or other third-party host site) for each person who visits their website.

Fast Fact: As customers approach their purchase decision, 65% will click on a paid ad.

INTERNET MARKETING

E-commerce sales may be boosted with internet marketing, which combines web and email to market and drive e-commerce purchases. To expand brand recognition and promote items and services, social media platforms may also be utilized. These efforts are usually implemented in conjunction with traditional advertising channels such as radio, television, and print.

There’s also a lot to be said about internet comments and reviews. Word-of-mouth advertising is free, organic, and extremely effective since individuals who have nice things to say about your product or service generally have nothing to gain from it other than telling others about it. A recommendation from a friend, colleague, or family member has built-in credibility and can spur dozens of leads who anticipate positive experiences with your brand.

Fast Fact: Global e-commerce is anticipated to reach $3,056.3 billion at a CAGR of 14% through 2023, with the spike largely attributed to contactless buying behaviors resulting from the global pandemic (COVID-19)

EMAIL MARKETING

Email marketing is a powerful tool for nurturing and converting leads. However, whether or not your message gets scrubbed from spam filters is not a game of chance. Instead, email marketing is an automated system that targets certain prospects and clients with the aim of influencing their purchasing decisions. Open rates and click-through rates are used to evaluate email marketing effectiveness, therefore plan comes into play when it’s integrated into a larger internet marketing strategy.

Fast Fact: The average expected email marketing ROI is $42 for every $1 spent.

DIRECT SELLING

Direct selling, as the name implies, involves marketing and selling items directly to consumers. Sales representatives establish face-to-face connections with individuals by demonstrating and selling products away from retail environments, usually at home (e.g., Amway, Avon, Herbalife, and Mary Kay).

Fast Fact: The direct selling market is currently valued at $63 billion dollars.

POINT-OF-PURCHASE MARKETING (POP)

Point-of-Purchase marketing, often known as POP marketing, targets a captive audience: in-store customers who are ready to buy. Product displays, on-package coupons, shelf talkers that advertise product advantages, and other attention grabbers can frequently influence purchasing decisions at the shelf by making an offer seem too great — and therefore visible — to pass up.

Fast Fact: In the U.S., annual impulse purchases total $17.78 billion, while Canadians dole out about half that much — $8.8 billion per year.

COBRANDING, AFFINITY, AND CAUSE MARKETING

Co-branding is a marketing technique in which two or more companies collaborate to market and sell a single product or service. The brands’ combined credibility is used to raise the perceived value of the product or service, making consumers more likely to buy and pay more at retail. Co-branding, on the other hand, may prevent private label manufacturers from imitating the product or service. Affinity marketing is a collaboration between a business (supplier) and an organization that caters to people with similar interests – for example, a coffee shop in which local bakery items are sold.

There are a lot of co-branding partnerships, but several more recent examples illustrate particularly strong natural brand alignment, such as the daring GoPro and Red Bull, opulent BMW and Louis Vuitton, and fashionable Alexander Wang and H&M.

Cause marketing, too, enhances a company’s reputation. Cause marketing is a collaboration between a profit and non-profit organization to mutually promote and profit from social and other charitable causes. Cause marketing is not the same as corporate giving, which is determined by an organization’s tax-deductible donations. Cause marketing partnerships are “feel good” and guarantee your consumers that you share their passion to make the world a better place.

Fast Fact: Customers interpret co-branding as a value endorsement from a brand they already trust, creating a potentially lucrative halo effect.

CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING

Conversational marketing is a dialogue. Conversational marketing allows prospects and consumers to self-service and receive answers immediately by allowing real-time interaction with a chatbot or live chat. Conversational marketing improves the user experience by providing personalized, relevant engagement. Conversational marketing is especially successful for B2C companies because it expands customer support and usually shortens sales funnel stay times. Conversions are quicker since connections are formed faster.

Conversational marketing is effective because it:

• Removes layers of impersonal lead capture from your marketing and gives your consumers a genuine, personal customer experience.
• Fosters clear communication, allowing buyers to plainly state their requirements and companies to more readily recognize and assist customers since the request is within the correct context.
• STeams can integrate AI into their content distribution strategy and use it to improve buyer connections by providing additional information or items of interest based on their previous actions.

Fast Fact: Messaging is the preferred method of customer communication with businesses — 90% of customers want a chat option.

EARNED MEDIA/PR

Free media (or “earned media”) is publicity generated through non-paid promotion efforts. It might take a variety of shapes, including a social media testimonial, word-of-mouth, a television or radio mention, or even an article in the newspaper. What is constant: earned media is unsponsored and can only be gained organically.

Fast Fact: 92% of customers say they trust earned media.

STORYTELLING

Storytelling engages consumers at an emotional level through a familiar communication style. Rather of just regurgitating data and statistics, story telling allows you to create a memorable tale about who your organization is, what it does, how it solves problems, what it values, and how it contributes to its community as well as the public in general.

Fast Fact: In a recent survey, 91% of respondents reported having a positive emotional connection with at least one brand.