B2B Myth of the Week: B2B Holiday Marketing Packs Zero Punch
by Emily Swet
The Myth: B2B Holiday Marketing Packs Zero Punch
The Truth: The Holidays Are the Perfect Time for One Last Knock Out
It seems like the moment the Jack-O-Lantern is blown out, the world becomes one big B2C holiday marketing free-for-all. But believe it or not, there is a good opportunity to get your B2B brand in front of your customers a few more times before Q4 ends. Consider this:
- Buyers often have use-it-or-loose it budgets at the end of the year. Give them a chance to spend it up.
- The holidays throw a wrench into everyone’s schedules. You may have an opportunity to get directly in front of a decision-maker that wouldn’t ordinarily happen.
- The general spirit of merriment during the holidays make customers more likely to engage, and more receptive to acts of goodwill.
Considering we’re just a few days shy of Thanksgiving, there isn’t a whole lot of time to create a campaign from scratch. Instead, let’s focus on what’s possible. Here are a few scalable to-dos between now and Dec. 31.
Re-gift Your Content
Create a relevant article, end-of-year checklist, or white paper for your consumers. If you don’t have time to create fresh content, take a look at your top performers from the year, then reuse and repurpose them. Turn the info from a blog post into an infographic. Take a high-performing newsletter and turn it into a blog post. You get the idea.
Show Gratitude
Build a stronger relationship and a positive image with the simple act of saying thanks. Extend a thank you to your customers, to your staff, and anyone else that might contribute to the success of your brand. Saying thank you to your staff via social media gives your brand life behind your logo. And sending a tailored holiday-themed “thank you” to your customers will keep you top of mind in the year to come.
Offer A Discount
A well-timed offer or incentive can help you stand out from the competition at year end. Furthermore, customers are groomed for year-end deals. Leverage that behavior: use seasonal language (think: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, A Holiday Gift From Us, etc). Discounts can be positioned as urgent, one-time deals or as a personal gift from your company to your client.
Don’t leave the season to the B2C marketers alone. Done right, your B2B holiday marketing plan can have you off to the start of a great New Year.
Continue ReadingB2B Monday Myth: The Lowest Price Always Wins
by MGB2B
The Myth: The Lowest Price Always Wins
The Truth: Business Wins Based on Price Alone Might Devalue Your Brand Over Time
When you give a prospect a proposal, it’s easy to try to win using price. And in many cases, that may just work. But if price is the only thing that differentiates your brand, that’s a problem. Let’s take a closer look at what’s more important than pricing, and how you can deal with those customers who are only looking for a bargain.
The Biggest Problem with Competing on Price
Yes, prospects love low prices. And if you are able to compete on price without sacrificing the quality of your product or service, that’s great. But guess what? Your competitors can drop their prices at any time, too. Then what do you have? Are you the highest quality brand? Do you have the best service? What differentiates you from your competitors besides price? If the answer is “nothing,” it’s time to have another look at your brand’s positioning statement. The best part? Defining who you are as a brand will help you beyond just pricing. It will inform your marketing campaigns and drive everyone in your organization toward the same goals.
Offer Tiered Pricing
Sometimes the best B2B pricing strategy is a tiered one. Potential buyers like to feel empowered, and giving them a limited menu of options is a great way to do that. It also doesn’t detract from the value of your products or services. It says, “this is what we are worth at these different levels.” The buyer can then choose which level is right for their budget. And you don’t have to devalue the brand that you’ve worked so hard to build.
It’s Okay to Lose Some Customers (Really, It’s Okay)
There are prospects out there who genuinely appreciate what you have to offer them at the prices you request. And there are those that will suck your company dry. They are not interested in the quality. Or the service. Or the cost savings over time. They don’t appreciate those things. They will try to get you to bring your price down as low as you’ll possibly go. And then, when you give in, it doesn’t stop. They’ve seen you cave, and when the next project arises, they’ll expect you to cave again. These are not people you want to do business with if you can avoid it. Of course, when times are tight, you sometimes have to make sacrifices. But this should be the exception and not the rule.
When it comes to B2B pricing strategy, the stakes are high. It’s not just about winning another customer by lowering prices. It’s about what you have the potential to lose by doing so – the value and the integrity of your brand.
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B2B Monday Myth: Content Needs No Gatekeeper
by MGB2B
The Myth: Content Needs No Gatekeeper
The Truth: If No One Is Monitoring Your Content, That’s a Recipe for Trouble
An interesting thing happened the other day. I was reading a blog post from one of my most trusted resources for insightful content. I recognized instantly that the advice they were giving was bad advice. And to make matters worse, it appeared to be a guest writer trying to sell a product. But it wasn’t labeled as “sponsored content.” All it took was one article, and I began to question the credibility of the organization posting it. This is a company that I have been turning to for insights for several years now.
Now I had assumed they had someone – perhaps even a team of people – monitoring their content. But this made me wonder: do they have a Gatekeeper?
To be fair, all of us have lapses in judgment here and there. So it may just be a Gatekeeper who made a mistake. The lesson out of it is this: all content needs a Gatekeeper – and a good one.
Here Is What You Should Look for in Your Content Gatekeeper:
- They Can Proofread. While typos seem to happen more and more these days, it’s still important to make sure your content is not riddled with typos and grammatical errors.
- They Can Fact-Check. Proofreading for grammar is one thing. Proofreading for accuracy is another. This is particularly important for content like blog posts, which are often contributed by multiple people from different departments within your company. Or even outside sources, whether freelance writers or experts in your industry.
- They Can Filter. A Content Gatekeeper shouldn’t only be good at editing copy. They should also be able to determine whether the content that’s been created is right for the brand. In the example above, the guest writer contributed copy that put the credibility of the brand in jeopardy. The Gatekeeper needs to be able to filter out this type of content. They should also be able to guide contributors to alter their content so that it resonates with the audience (and is truly helpful to readers).
- They Know a Little about SEO. If your B2B content is going to live online, it needs to be optimized for search so that prospects can find it. This either means your Gatekeeper knows how to do SEO, or you have an internal SEO person on staff who can look at all content before it goes live and is distributed to your customers and prospects.
Appointing a Gatekeeper is no easy task. But it may be one of the most important – and often overlooked – content marketing tips you should heed. When the credibility of your brand is at stake, it should be a no-brainer.
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