Prospect-acular: how can your B2B marketing foster lasting engagement?

Engaging audiences is at the heart of all marketing. Though you might be able to capture people for a moment, the key however is to make that engagement part of a lasting relationship.

Put simply, B2B stands for ‘business to business’. Whereas B2C businesses sell products directly to the consumer, B2B businesses provide their products and services to other businesses. In these scenarios, the customers are other businesses, which means that sales and marketing tactics work a little differently.

So, how can B2B marketing foster lasting engagement? Let’s take a look at a few key areas.

Website

If a business is looking for a certain product or service, chances are they will search for it on the web, and take a look at the first few results. With this in mind, it is important to rank high for popular keywords and phrases on search engine results pages (SERPs). This is what is known as a search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy.

Once you attract people to your landing page, you’ll need to keep them there. When optimising B2B landing pages, you’ll want to keep the audience engaged, and persuade them to follow your call to action (CTA). You can do so with a combination of high quality relevant content, SEO techniques, and frequent tailored CTAs throughout the copy.

Remember, it's okay if it doesn’t work on the first try or you don’t see immediate results. Keep trying, testing, and reviewing analytics to see what is most effective, and track your progress and conversions.

Social Media

Though landing pages are essential for providing key information about the brand, product, and services, and for fostering engagement when it comes to conversions, in order to build a long-term relationship with clients you’ll need to get a bit more personal.

More and more, people are wanting to see the ‘human’ side of the brand. Those that show their humanity are more likely to be seen as reliable and trustworthy, boosting brand loyalty, as clients have someone that they can forge a real emotional connection with. 

One of the best ways you can interact with clients in this way is through social media.  In fact, 75% of B2B buyers say they take to social media to help make purchasing decisions.

Think about where your audience might spend their time online, and where they are the most receptive for B2B messages. Of course, Facebook and Twitter work well - especially for B2C marketing - but for B2B marketing you’ll likely find LinkedIn as the most lucrative platform.

Reach Out

Why wait for businesses to come to you? Reaching out to prospective clients or bringing the product to them can save them a lot of time - and, after all, in business, time is money!

Invest in an experienced support team that can help build and grow relationships. When businesses need a little helping hand, they will know exactly who to come to.

You might also consider hosting or attending events where business owners can network with their peers. By forging real, in-person connections, you can foster lasting engagement with other entrepreneurs in your area.