Tag: Marketing B2B

In these months of pandemics, companies have been forced to go digital. Today, many of the changes that have been implemented have already taken effect, although B2B companies are still looking to optimize their processes, tools and organization.

Teleworking and the limitation of ‘live’ social and business contacts have massively increased digital interactions as a means to maintain effective communication with influencers and customers.

The B2B marketing strategy is therefore facing new challenges. Here are the five most important points to consider, according to the late 2020 Salesforce report.

Capture customers’ attention in real-time

At a time when companies are looking to build connection and trust in these uncertain times, the user experience, whether it’s the end customer, reseller, installer or specifier, has become more important than ever. A previous Salesforce study from June 2019 already claimed that 84% of customers believe that the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services, up from 80% in 2018.

But mindset change and execution are two very different things, and many professionals struggle to align operations with aspirations. To achieve a positive and personalized digital experience, we need to provide answers in real-time, in a practical, simple and innovative way.

Innovate, innovate and innovate again

Innovation is essentially about anticipating new needs or meeting existing needs better than others. This is essential these days.

It is not only a matter of innovating products or services but also of adapting internal processes to be able to react adequately to market changes. It is time to implement new tools to work better in a radically different environment. They must also allow us to analyse the results in each area. The implementation and use of a CRM, more or less sophisticated, can make a big difference for the sales team. In marketing, taking the time to define clear and measurable objectives, properly implement evaluation criteria and follow up on the actions implemented allows for greater efficiency and performance. Communicate more and better, in all the sectors to which we have access and which are relevant to our targets. Measure results to optimize action plans.

Delivering consistent and creative customer experiences across channels and devices

Marketers recognize the challenges of achieving their goals. Customer data must be unified and operationalized to deliver consistent experiences tailored to customer needs in real-time.

Marketing transformation involves more than just enhanced collaboration and additional ways to connect.

In 2020, the focus has been on what needs to be done to drive audience segmentation and personalization.
Today, digital experiences focus on individual touchpoints. Personal concerns must be addressed and tailored experiences offered, independent of the overall process.

Unification of customer data sources

Emotional intelligence is a core competence. Now more than ever, it is essential to understand the entire customer journey. The key is to create consistent experiences, from the moment a potential customer discovers the brand to the moment a positive review is posted.

Share a unified view of customer data across business units

Multi-channel marketing is not new, but it has never been more relevant. Today’s customers are increasingly seeking new types of information about brands across more and more types of channels. They expect companies to engage with them in a dynamic and personalised way.

Inter-departmental interactions have become paramount. In the B2B environment, it is especially important that marketing and sales teams share a unified view of customer data, processes and goals. Tactics vary, but the strategy is common and shared.

The horizon: delivering meaningful digital experiences that drive valuable conversions

These are just a few of the challenges that industry professionals surveyed by Salesforce identified as steps to take to continually optimise and improve their B2B marketing strategies.

We must strive to connect with our customers and provide dynamic and meaningful experiences that result in valuable conversions for the brand.

Therefore, simple initiatives such as database optimization, establishing and optimizing recurring processes, and using analytics to understand where website traffic is coming from, among others, always have a great impact and add value.

ZEKLUU’s objective is to help design, draw and implement the strategy, actions, resources and marketing tools that best fit the level of development, size and resources of each company, in order to best enhance your brand.

For more information, contact us here.

2020 confirmed that social media networks and mobile devices are fundamental tools when it comes to not just digital marketing, but the entire B2B commercial process. Here is some key information about digital trends in Spain and France.

According to Hootsuite’s annual report, Digital 2021, internet penetration, globally, has grown to 4.66 billion users. Of these, 90% (4.20 billion) use social media, a year-on-year increase of 13%.

The Spanish and French markets: similarities and differences

In both France and Spain, 91% of the population uses the internet, and 80% of those who surf the web in Spain are active social media users (37.4 million people) versus 75% in France, with growth rates of 28% and 13%, respectively, throughout 2020.

IMPORTANT: 34.8% of Spanish internauts use social media for work vs. 25.4% in France.

In Spain, on average, each internet user from 16 to 64 years old has eight different social media accounts (in France, this number is less than seven).

Therefore, it is important that you carefully choose the social networks on which you want your brand to be present in order to optimize results and capitalize on your investment.

The most critical component of this is taking the time to define your objectives and targets in order to decide which networks to be on and which ones not to be on, as well as the criteria for assessing your results, something that we often forget about because of day-to-day pressures or scarce internal resources.

This way, you’ll be able to define the role that each social network should play in your brand strategy, aiming for more than simple visibility, but rather the ability to, for example, generate traffic to your website, collect leads, collect market information, increase downloads of a specific document, etc.

We are experts in B2B communication and international strategies. Contact us if you would like more information.

Why your website should be responsive

In some B2B markets, it’s still common to see websites, newsletters, etc. with designs that don’t adapt to mobile devices.

In fact, in Spain, 93% of users access the internet through a mobile device, versus 86% in France.

Even more, in Spain, 50% of 2020 website traffic through search engines occurred on mobile phones (a 3-point growth compared to the previous year) versus 45.9% on desktop or laptop computers, and only 3% on tablets.

In France, mobile phones also represent a significant and growing portion of search engine traffic, 45% (up 5 points from the year prior) versus the 50% that continues to come from desktop or laptop computers.

This data shows that making web content and websites responsive to mobile formats is critical if we want to remain connected to a large portion of the market.

The digital channel is the first source of information about brands

On the other hand, 2020 confirmed that the digital channel is the first source that users go to for information about a brand or to research new ones.

The following points stand out:

• Discovery of new brands: SEO is key

When it comes to discovering brands, there are multiple options available, but search engines are the source most frequently used by Spanish internauts: almost 40% of internet users find new brands through online search engines, 37.3% do so based on personal recommendations, 36.4% through TV ads, and only 25% through ads on other websites, with catalogs, product comparison sites, and comments on social media being less frequent.

In France, search engines stand out as a source of discovery for more than 42% of internet users, followed by personal recommendations and product samples for 29% and online stores for 26%. TV ads, which were on top not so long ago, are further behind at 23%.

Thus, it is crucial that your brand be well-positioned in search results, which requires working on your SEO. Contact us if you would like support in this area.

• Social media, much more than a display window

On the other hand, social networks come in at third place for ways Spanish internet users search for information about a brand, product, or service, with 41.7% of them using social media for this purpose, coming in behind search engines (61.9%) and almost on par with corporate websites (42%).

In France, search engines also dominate as the first channel for information about brands, products, or services, used by 62.2% of internauts for this purpose, followed by corporate websites (used by 33.7% of users), “consumer review” sites (32.2%), and, to a lesser extent, social media (28%), along with price comparison websites.

These numbers make it evident that, for users, social media is no longer a simple accessory, but rather, it has become an additional channel for information about brands, just like websites. Contact us if you are interested in running an assessment of your social networks.

LINKEDIN: the quintessential B2B network

Among the multitude of social media networks out there, LinkedIn continues to be known as the ideal network for professionals. Spain already has 14 million total users, whereas this number in France has reached 21 million. Although personal profiles are most common, business pages have a ton of untapped potential. According to The Lab Foundation Inc., despite the fact that only 0.59% of posts published on LinkedIn come from business pages, they generate 10% of all leads. This is a much better result than that obtained from personal profile posts.

Likewise, the same study signals that, in B2B business, 80% of leads generated through social media come from LinkedIn, versus 12% in Twitter and 7% in Facebook. This data, along with the evident growth in users throughout 2020, shows that it is a social network that offers outstanding results, while likely requiring less investment in content than other networks.

Conclusions

Mobile phones are key to users access to internet, and brand components and content must be developed to optimize this type of device.

Social media networks should be treated not as a display window, but rather as an integral part of a brand’s communications strategy, with clear and measurable conversion objectives.

Digitalization has gone from being an area of opportunity to an utmost priority in the B2B world, a fact that has become more concrete because of the pandemic. At Zekluu, we offer you our experience and knowledge in digital marketing and B2B communications, as well as our international perspective, to activate a communications strategy adapted to an ever-changing reality. If you are looking to enhance your digital strategy, contact us!

Due to the uncertainty caused by the present situation, companies must take actions that not only consider how to stop current blows, but which also focus on promoting future recovery. More than ever, those with a long-term vision and the ability to adapt will be able to withstand these circumstances, although the end of the lockdown will probably not lead to immediate acceleration.

Digital activity will continue growing: an online presence, which is already fundamental, has become critical for all sectors.

Staying in touch with customers and specifiers, adapting your message, and being present on all communication channels, thus ensuring brand visibility and direct contact with your markets, are fundamental. The same goes for continuing to convey trust, efficiency, and professionalism.

According to Eurostat 2019, only 32% of European Union companies in the construction sector are present on social media, as opposed to 44% of companies in the industrial field, and 58% of companies in the retail sector. This is far from 81% of companies in the tourist accommodation sector (hospitality and others). Their website tend also to be more limited and less interactive, despite it being key in B2B brands’ strategy nowadays.

Although these differences vary from country to country, the construction and architecture field clearly has room for improvement in the digital world.

Social media offers a multitude of applications in the B2B realm: from a direct line of communication with customers and prescribers, to a customer service platform, to a powerful tool for training. On the other hand, an efficient webpage is an essential and strategic tool, designed to achieve specific and relevant business objectives and allowing results tracking.

We offer you our experience and knowledge in digital marketing and B2B communications, as well as our international perspective, to activate a communications strategy adapted to an ever-changing reality.

We are here for you, Contact us!

To be effective, a B2B marketing strategy must:

• Identify all of the actors in the business process, especially the specifiers involved.
• Generate opportunities and qualified business contacts (leads), in addition to building brand awareness and image

Our clients’ business objectives are the starting point when we start building the most appropriate strategy for them, as well as the related action plan.

Below is a list of some of the improvement areas that we frequently identify, particularly in the architecture and building sector, but also with manufacturers in the lighting and energy efficiency industry. There might be many others:

• The brand’s website should be its first and main channel of communication: optimizing it is an absolute priority. A good SEO firm allows you to define the best web design and significantly increase qualified traffic to your site. Are you interested in analyzing your website’s SEO efficiency? Contact us if you would like more information

• The content on your website should be aimed at quickly addressing the needs and questions of the prospective customer, inviting them to leave their information with you. Investing in relevant content and data capture strategies is definitely worth it (landing pages, forms, newsletters, etc.). Would you like to optimize your website content or develop a data capture strategy? Contact us for more information

• Integrating direct marketing actions by using specialized industry media can be very helpful in terms of increasing awareness and entering new or export markets. Is your goal to develop a brand presence outside of the national market, whether in France or the rest of Europe? Are you searching for database segmentation? Contact us

At Zekluu, we are a team of experts in B2B marketing and communications. We support export businesses and those with an international presence, helping them to strengthen their visibility, define their message and develop their business.

We design and implement both targeted actions and medium to long-term plans for our clients, identifying and communicating with key actors in their markets, from Specifiers to Buyers. Don’t hesitate to contact us for any of your B2B marketing needs.