Is Your B2B Marketing Focused On Value, Or What?

A lot of times marketers think that all marketing isn’t the same.

In some ways, we dump B2C in a different bucket than B2B marketing.

The thing about it is that no matter what you are selling or marketing, you can know for sure that there is one thing that is consistent: all marketing should evoke emotion.

To put it another way, every sale is made based on emotions.

Unfortunately, we see all too much of what passes as marketing, especially in B2B setting being about features, stuff.

That’s a lost opportunity.

Because you really only get one opportunity to make a first impression. And, if your first impression is based on a bunch of meaningless, not impact features, you are unlikely to get a second chance.

Or, if you do, it will be much more difficult to get.

So what’s a poor B2B marketer to do?

1. Focus on your value: How do you increase someone’s profitability? How do you save them money? How are you different?
2. Remind yourself that all sales are based on emotions: Just because you are a purchaser for a company, that doesn’t mean you aren’t making an emotional decision. In many cases, the decision may even be more emotional. Keep that in mind.
3. You want to build a strong brand: If you are just one of the crowd, you can’t expect that you will ever create a preference for your business.
4. Define value in a way that is most beneficial to you: In too many places, we let the client or prospect define us and define our solutions. That’s a bad idea. Because if we do that, we don’t always end up defining ourselves in the way that is most effective for us and we don’t do a good job of making ourselves trusted advisors.
5. Don’t make it all about price: Too often the default is price. We think we are charging too much, so we discount. People start balking, we drop the price. We go cheap. We go discount. We make everything about price. That’s a situation we are destined to lose because it shows that we just don’t believe in ourselves.

The key for your B2B marketing efforts is to never forget the simple basics of marketing:

1. Value
2. Know your customer
3. Reach them in the right places and ways

If you remember this and focus on value, emotions, and brand you can set yourself apart pretty easily.