If your business targets the B2B sector, how can you acquire new clients? Of course, you’ve already used all the classic marketing methods, attended networking events, and called everyone you know to tell them about your business.
What’s next? What else can you do, especially if marketing budgets are low or even non-existent?
Of course, “cold calling” is always an option, but does it still apply in the digital age? Here are a few methods you can use effectively to attract new clients for your B2B business.
1. Content marketing
Content marketing is a term you have almost certainly encountered many times, especially lately. It’s a buzzword that sounds good, so it’s used frequently.
However, even if it risks becoming overused, it is a term that defines the most important thing you can do as a marketer or business owner. It is also one of the most budget-friendly marketing tools.
Content marketing refers to what you publish through your online channels to bring value to your customers. Whether it’s text, video, or images, people will appreciate that you provide useful information they want to know.
Warning! Don’t even think about copying! Just like school teachers, Google will give you a low grade if it catches you plagiarizing. Google’s new search algorithms emphasize new, valuable content, considering that users today search primarily for complex phrases, not the old keywords…
Creating quality content involves significant time investments, as you will spend at least a few hours a week looking for new topics, researching, creating images or infographics, etc.
From a financial perspective, you won’t spend much (aside from the salaries or commissions of capable people to handle this task). You don’t need to invest tons of money in Google Adwords because—as I mentioned—Google will “rank” you higher in searches as you become more relevant to a specific topic.
Quality content marketing will bring you real financial benefits, provided it is consistent. You can’t write a case study today and then publish nothing for three months, because you’ll be wasting your time. It won’t be enough to climb in search rankings, yet it will involve enough work that you’ll regret “wasting time.” To see results, you must build consistently.
Another term directly related to content marketing is “inbound marketing,” a technique that refers to attracting customers by sharing knowledge that showcases you as an expert in your field. In other words, you let them come to you by convincing them that you are worth it.
2. Ask for referrals
Ask your existing clients to introduce you to new ones who could benefit from your services. If your clients hesitate or refuse to do this, then something is fundamentally wrong. Your clients should be happy to promote you to others if you have truly helped them.
Additionally, as you know, “word-of-mouth” marketing is the most valuable kind you can get. Clients who reach you this way are almost convinced they want to work with you, so it’s just a matter of detail to close the deal with them.
Of course, this means you need to have as many satisfied customers as possible.
3. Use the power of automation
Marketing is moving heavily towards the era of automation, given the multitude of social platforms you need to monitor daily. You’ve probably already heard of Marketo, which integrates your statistics and calculates costs for any activity, or Buffer, which helps you schedule posts on social networks.
However, these are not enough when you want to get new B2B clients (leads). In this regard, we recommend Nimble, a platform that will integrate your existing contacts on LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, etc., helping you stay in touch with them, track their online activity, but especially find people you could talk to based on declared common interests. For 15 days, you can play with the free version of the platform, after which it costs 15 dollars per month.
4. Show that you are a professional in your field
B2B buyers, just like B2C ones, do their homework before buying. The most accessible is the online environment, where it is good for them to find you as a professional in your field.
Quora is a good place to be active, where people ask questions and you can answer those that benefit you. Here you can even create new business relationships with those who are directly interested in a topic – your topic. It is also a good place to create valuable links to your site.
LinkedIN is a social networking platform for business people, as you well know. The platform now offers the possibility to become a publisher, practically creating a professional environment where you can publish, with your own network as the audience.
Meetup is another useful platform that you can use to set up your own networking meetings with your potential clients. Of course, to attract participants, you will give the meetup an attractive theme, and you or someone from your team can be speakers.
Colabo or About Our Work can be other places where you can find new leads for your business.
About us
MKOR Consulting is the consultant you can rely on when you need marketing consultancy for your business.
The founder of MKOR Marketing Consulting is Corina Buzatu, a marketing specialist with over 8 years of experience. She is an MBA student at Cotrugli Business School and a graduate of the Public Relations master’s program at Babeș Balyai University Cluj. She has worked with large and small companies, but she likes start-ups the most, having two of her own: MKOR Marketing Consulting and Top Panouri Solare (the only lead-generation site in the solar industry in Romania).
To contact us, please use the Contact page.
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