AIMultiple ResearchAIMultiple Research

How to Achieve B2B Growth in 2024?

A successful business strategy includes achieving a consistent business strategy and revenue growth, as well as caring and retaining existing customers. A Gartner survey shows that although the disruptions in supply chains during the pandemic attracted the attention of business leaders as one of the top priorities, most of them still mention “growth” as their number one priority in making business decisions.1

To increase enterprise value, business leaders should pay attention to growth marketing strategies. In this article, we explain B2B growth marketing and provide best practices for achieving it.

What is B2B growth?

B2B (business-to-business) growth refers to the expansion and development of a company that primarily provides products or services to other businesses, rather than individual consumers. B2B growth can involve:

  • Increasing sales
  • Expanding the customer base
  • Enhancing product or service offerings
  • Entering new markets
  • Improving overall efficiency and profitability

What is B2B growth marketing?

B2B growth marketing is a data-driven, strategic technique for growing a B2B company by focusing on acquiring, keeping, and expanding its customer base. It entails employing numerous marketing channels, methods, and resources to attract, engage, and convert potential customers while nurturing relationships with existing clients.

B2B growth marketing requires a deep understanding of the target audience, continuous experimentation, and adaptability to changing market conditions and customer preferences. For this, there are vital business lessons marketers can follow.

What are the key elements of B2B growth marketing?

1- Customer segmentation

Customer segmentation is the process of identifying and targeting specific market segments based on factors like:

  • Industry
  • Company size
  • Location
  • Job function 

to deliver personalized and relevant marketing messages.

2- Content marketing

Content marketing involves creating and distributing engaging content (e.g., blog posts, whitepapers, webinars, podcasts) that addresses the needs and pain points of the target audience, positions the company as a thought leader, and drives organic traffic and leads.

Check our article to learn about the challenges of content marketing and how to overcome them.

3- Lead generation and nurturing

Lead generation refers to implementing strategies to capture leads through various digital channels (e.g., website, social media, email) and nurturing them with targeted content until they are ready to convert into customers.

4- Email marketing

Using email campaigns to deliver personalized content and offers, build relationships, and maintain ongoing communication with leads and customers.

5- Social media marketing

Social media marketing involves leveraging social media platforms to increase brand visibility, engage with the target audience, and share valuable content that drives traffic and leads.

6- Search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising

Optimize website content and structure for organic search visibility by using a paid brilliant ad campaign to target specific keywords and demographics to drive traffic and conversions.

7- Conversion rate optimization (CRO)

Analyzing and optimizing the user experience on the website or landing pages to improve the conversion rate of leads to customers.

8- Analytics and data-driven decision-making

Tracking and analyzing performance metrics across marketing channels to gain insights, identify areas for improvement, and make data-informed decisions that drive growth.

9- Customer retention and advocacy

Focusing on nurturing existing customer relationships with real time customer service support, increasing customer lifetime value, and turning happy customers into brand advocates and sales reps in a sense.

10 B2B Growth Marketing Best Practices

Here are some key best practices to help drive growth in a B2B context:

1- Set clear goals and objectives.

Establish measurable goals and objectives for your growth marketing efforts, aligned with your overall business goals. This will help you focus your efforts and track progress.

Research and develop detailed buyer personas to understand the needs, preferences, pain points, and decision-making processes of your target audience. This will help you create targeted and relevant marketing campaigns.

2- Develop a strong value proposition.

Clearly communicate the unique benefits and value your products or services offer to your target audience, and ensure this message is consistent across all marketing channels.

3- Create high-quality, relevant content.

Develop and distribute content that addresses your audience’s needs and pain points, while demonstrating your expertise and thought leadership. This can include blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, webinars, videos, and podcasts.

For more on B2B content creation challenges and solutions, check our comprehensive article.

4- Go multichannel.

The number of channels used by B2B buyers along a decision making and buying process is increasing every year (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. B2B decision makers are using more channels than ever before to interact with suppliers

Source: McKinsey & Company

Those companies that can keep up with the buyer expectation for multichannel share a bigger market share than others (Figure 2). So, enable different channels that are unified accordingly for buyers as a part of your growth strategy.

Figure 2. Companies that sell through more channels are more likely to have gained market share in 2021

Source: McKinsey & Company

5- Personalize marketing efforts.

According to a survey, 97% of marketers reported an increase in business results due to the implementation of personalization strategies.2

Tailor your marketing messages and campaigns based on customer segmentation, buyer personas, and individual preferences to increase engagement and conversions.

6- Optimize your website and landing pages.

Ensure your website and landing pages are user-friendly, visually appealing, and optimized for search engines. This will help drive organic traffic and improve conversion rates.

7- Leverage marketing automation.

Utilize marketing automation tools to streamline and scale your marketing efforts, from lead nurturing and email campaigns to social media management and analytics. When marketers are asked what are the benefits of marketing automation, their first answer is that it increases customer experience, leading to brand awareness and business growth (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Leading benefits of using marketing automation according to marketers worldwide as of February 2022

Source: Statista

8- Test and optimize continuously.

Monitor your marketing efforts’ performance, and use data-driven insights to iterate, optimize, and improve your campaigns. A/B testing, multivariate testing, and conversion rate optimization are essential practices.

9- Leverage product led growth marketing strategy.

Product-led growth (PLG) marketing can be a part of B2B growth strategy, particularly for companies offering software-as-a-service (SaaS) or other technology-based solutions. PLG focuses on the product itself as the primary driver for customer acquisition, retention, and expansion. By delivering an exceptional product experience and allowing users to quickly realize its value, companies can drive organic growth through word-of-mouth and referrals.

10- Focus on customer retention and advocacy.

Prioritize nurturing existing customer relationships to increase customer lifetime value and encourage happy customers to become brand advocates through referrals, testimonials, and case studies.

If you have questions or need help in finding vendors, we can help:

Find the Right Vendors
Access Cem's 2 decades of B2B tech experience as a tech consultant, enterprise leader, startup entrepreneur & industry analyst. Leverage insights informing top Fortune 500 every month.
Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
Follow on

Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised businesses on their enterprise software, automation, cloud, AI / ML and other technology related decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

To stay up-to-date on B2B tech & accelerate your enterprise:

Follow on

Next to Read

Comments

Your email address will not be published. All fields are required.

0 Comments