7 tips to prospect clients in the B2B sector

7 tips to prospect clients in the B2B sector

Customer prospecting is of the utmost importance for any business. In the case of companies in the Business to Business (B2B) sector, the rationale is that their target audiences are more rational, specialized, and informed compared to those in the Business to Consumer (B2C) market, which requires a methodical, analytical, and a very orderly segmentation process. This comment is especially relevant after understanding that, according to HubSpot Research, more than 40% of company salespeople think that prospecting is the most difficult part of the sales process, followed by closing (36%) and qualification ( 22%).

We at Isource Marketing aim to provide you with tips on how to prospect successfully. Therefore, we’ve compiled a list of seven things to consider when segmenting clients in the B2B sector.

  1. Define the buyer persona and segment your prospects.

A buyer persona is a generalized depiction of your ideal customer. It is obtained through the use of qualitative and quantitative data derived from market research, competitor knowledge, and existing customer profiles. In terms of prospecting, varying factors, such as geographic and demographic, must be considered.

According to HubSpot Research, over 40% of company salespeople think prospecting is the hardest part of the sales process, followed by closing (36%) and qualifying (22%)

  1. Make use of customer journey maps

Observing your potential customers’ real web behavior will help you discover who they are and what they want. The customer journey map is the ideal tool for accomplishing this. It is a process that individuals go through from the minute they show interest in your product or service until they become actual customers.

  1. Create a value proposition for the product or service

The information that the marketing and sales teams will communicate in their work is critical, which is why the value proposition must be included in your prospecting plan; it includes market research with the goal of identifying client demands for the success of your product and services.

  1. Establish prospecting sources and methods

When developing a prospecting strategy, you must have a technologically advanced and powerful data platform that can provide analysis and intelligence services capable of finding new clients amid large volumes of data. Prospecting via social networks, such as LinkedIn, is essential in the B2B industry, in addition to internal databases and phone calls.

  1. Verify that your leads are qualified.

In the B2B sector, qualified leads are companies that are interested in your product and, in the best case, will become customers. To do this, you must ask the appropriate questions in order to determine whether or not they are qualified for the sales process. Click here to learn more about how to generate leads in the B2B sector on our blog.

To reach your target audience more effectively, you must develop a multi-channel communication plan.

  1. Create and use multi-channels

To effectively target your audience segments, you must establish a multi-channel communication plan based on your buyer persona. There are certain B2B companies that are more effective than others. LinkedIn, as previously mentioned, is among the most significant, as are email marketing, advertisements, content marketing, and paid advertising through Google AdWords.

  1. Define performance metrics

High-quality B2B sales and marketing areas continually assess the effectiveness of their efforts. They can achieve better performance and productivity on their goals by tracking and taking action to improve important metrics.

 

Are you ready to begin your prospecting strategy?

We understand the importance of sales management in your company, and we also recognize that a proper prospecting strategy is one of the first steps toward success. At Isource Marketing, we are happy to help you effectively segment your target audiences. We have a highly qualified team and more than 15 years of experience as a strategic partner. Contact us! https://isource.agency/#contact

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9 B2B marketing trends that will drive your business in 2022

9 B2B marketing trends that will drive your business in 2022

2020 and 2021 were challenging years for society and the global economy, but there is no denying the opportunities created by the digital revolution’s acceleration, particularly for enterprises in the Business to Business (B2B) sector and their sales and marketing areas. According to a McKinsey survey, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, more than three-quarters of vendors and buyers preferred digital access and remote human interaction over face-to-face interaction.

By 2022, digital sales will have surpassed physical sales, making it essential to prepare for online sales and invest in digital assets such as websites, content creation, social media marketing, etc. Based on this assertion, here are nine digital marketing trends based on the last 18 months of significant change, and challenges for the B2B industry. 

1. Lead Generation: Involves publishing value-added content and building loyal communities, optimizing resources based on audience preferences, and personalizing products and messages while keeping metric analysis in mind; all with the goal of guiding prospects through the suitable journey to obtain qualified leads, which is, at the end of the day, one of the primary responsibilities of marketing.  

2. Influencer Marketing: is a strategy that is growing and is already positioned in the B2B market with the goal of increasing brand awareness, recall, and positioning. From micro to macro-influencers, depending on the sector, budget, and objectives, a strategy of this magnitude may be quite beneficial. We invite you to read this article: Everything You Need to Know About Influencer Marketing

Corporate values and brand trustworthiness are becoming more and more relevant to audiences.

3. Short video content for social media: In the last two years, content has evolved to short video formats, which, in addition to generating more engagement than static content, communicates essential and appealing messages to the target audience while making the user feel more connected to the brand. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are the ideal social platforms for this.Social

4. Responsibility: Corporate values and brand trustworthiness are becoming more and more relevant to audiences, as awareness of the social and cultural decline in different areas of business grows every day. So investment and transparent communication in this area become more important when choosing a brand to do B2B business. An example of this is the Kaspersky Global Transparency Initiative, the world leader in cybersecurity solutions and services and one of our main clients.

5. Hyper-personalization of content: In the face of content saturation, the necessity to provide material to consumers based on their requirements in order to boost engagement and virality is becoming increasingly important.

6. Hybrid events: It is clear that the pandemic forced everyone to go digital, but as the capacity of physical spaces returns to 90% events will revert to being in person while still having a virtual component. QR codes, which allow individuals to go from a real location to a digital one, are one of the most widely used methods for creating these hybrid experiences.

It is clear that the pandemic forced everyone to go digital.

7. Mobile First: Consumers are increasingly using their cell phones to make informed decisions before making a purchase. According to a study by Smart Insights, 80% of B2B buyers use their cell phones at work and more than 60 percent believe they have played an important role in their most recent purchases.

8. Augmented Reality: This is an emerging technology that has gained more strength than virtual reality because it is more accessible to the audience and its reach and impact are greater. The use of AR in marketing strategies allows brands to generate innovative experiences that stand out from their competitors. Read: It’s time to enter the world of immersive technologies!

9. SEO: 2022 is the year for businesses who haven’t prioritized SEO as a primary search engine optimization strategy to do so, with the objective of finding a balance between paid and organic reach. Google’s newest improvements, which incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning, pose a significant threat that should not be overlooked.

We hope you found our review of Digital Marketing Trends for 2022 beneficial; at the end of the day, it is part of our expertise in being the strategic B2B partner you need in this challenging year. At Isource Marketing we specialize in developing customized marketing strategies according to the needs of your business and adapted to the market. You can contact us by clicking here.

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Digital Marketing Strategies for Tech Startups

Digital Marketing Strategies for Tech Startups

Startups are a leading business model that drives innovation and economic growth worldwide. Each year, new types of products and services are created by startups. They serve as a great example of entrepreneurial creativity and ambition, as well as the emergence of ground-breaking concepts. Unfortunately, marketing is not one of their strong suits. And it’s understandable: most of them got their start not by writing case studies and sending emails but by building cutting-edge technology. Not to mention that traditionally, digital marketing was only available to large corporations in the B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) sectors. 

However, there is some good news. According to First Site Guide, 7.1% of the startups in the world operate in the fintech industry. Followed by life sciences and healthcare with 6.8%, artificial intelligence with 5.0%, gaming 4.7%, adtech 3.3%, and edtech with 2.8%. Modern startups are drawn to the internet and digital technology, despite the lack of precise industry distribution data. As a result, a strong online marketing plan is essential for every business hoping to achieve success. 

When it comes to digital marketing, Tech firms should put a lot of effort investing into many different aspects. Most importantly, this powerful tool is here to stay, and it can quickly enhance your Tech startup’s success. Today, web advertising is more inclusive than ever before: it knows no boundaries. For example, if you have a software company and you want to target customers in several countries, online marketing will help you achieve that. In this article, we will guide you through some ways to develop an effective digital marketing strategy for your Tech startup.

 

1. Create a Buyer Persona

Developing a buyer persona is the most critical step in digital marketing and that’s the reason we put it at the forefront. This includes gathering important details about your audience, such as age, name, location, income, job, their demands and how they search for products and services on the internet. Once you have successfully gathered this information, you can focus on building the right marketing strategy. There is enough evidence to suggest that the buyer persona is essential for every modern business. Even more so when it comes to a Tech startup, because many IT experts have already joined the initiative to offer their services to customers all over the world.

2. Email marketing 

Did you know that email marketing continues to dominate the startup marketing world?  This tool allows you to connect with your target audience in ways that no other channel can. While it is a platform that has been around for many years, it is still one of the most effective startup channels, which is why marketing giants suggest relying on email newsletter solutions to harness the full potential of email marketing. 

Developing a buyer persona is the most critical step in digital marketing

3. Start a blog

​​Creating a blog is one of the most successful ways to begin increasing  traffic in the technology startup sector. Remember, you have great tech skills to capitalize on, so if writing isn’t your strong suit, hire a writer or content creator. It is one of the most effective methods to showcase your brand’s story and spread the word about your products and services. Blogging will help with SEO and increase your search rankings. Take advantage of all the ways you can benefit from your content efforts. A couple of ideas are to include relevant and reliable sources and links in your blog posts, link your website content to posts, and write guest blogs to improve brand awareness and get your name out there. Blogging also gives you a lot of versatility. You can decide the direction of your blog and the type of content you want to share. For example, you can write about anything from specialized technology topics to industry news.

4. Social media 

While social media is a powerful networking platform, it has also evolved into a savvy marketing tool that businesses in a number of sectors use to broaden their reach. And because it’s a huge platform, crafting your startup’s social media marketing strategy can be overwhelming. You could start by determining the platform that fits your brand. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Reddit, Pinterest and LinkedIn all have unique things to offer. All these platforms offer many ways to engage with audiences, from joining the discussion on a trending hashtag to publishing articles on LinkedIn and empowering employees to act on your company’s behalf. Participate in LinkedIn groups and answer questions on Quora. At the same time, seek out discussions that are relevant to the solution you offer and find a way to help out.

5. Use paid search advertising (SEM)

Paid search has become a very popular advertising channel for startups. It allows users to buy laser-targeted traffic on search engines such as Google and Bing, two of the leading paid search networks that offer the ability to target keywords on a cost-per-click (CPC) pricing model. Using either of these networks, you can create customized ads for your startup that appear in search results when someone searches for a keyword related to your business

SEO is the foundation of successful digital marketing

6. Influencer marketing

Prominent Tech leaders who have huge followings on social media have authority and influence within the IT industry and market. Influencer marketing can be very powerful in this sector when companies utilize these tech leaders. If they have the secret sauce, i.e. a large following in your industry, they likely have influence over your target market. Partnering with these content creators can help you drive brand awareness to your target audience. Once your target audience is aware of your startup, your goal is reached. 

7. Include SEO everywhere

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the foundation of promising digital marketing. Besides being the basis of organic marketing, it is a key determinant of long-term marketing success. In fact, most marketers and experts associate SEO with long-form content or as part of the best blogging practices. However, you can use relevant keywords in your social media posts, hashtags, product descriptions, etc.  We suggest you incorporate an SEO strategy into your blog posts, overall content curation and marketing strategy. In addition, including long-tail keywords in your topic selection and blog content is an effective way to attract traffic in the long term.   

8. Retargeting / Remarketing

Email marketing, social media advertising and display ads are great for retargeting strategies. Retargeting is basically a marketing campaign based on a user’s past behavior. For example, LinkedIn allows you to set ads for specific individuals based on what they have done on your website. Meaning, if someone visits your website, adds an item to a shopping cart but doesn’t complete the purchase, you can place an ad for that product on LinkedIn and/or send the user a personalized email reminding them to come back and complete their purchase.  While the terms “retargeting” and “remarketing” are sometimes used interchangeably, the main difference is that retargeting is primarily concerned with sending cookie-based ads to potential customers, whereas remarketing is typically email-based.

So, now you know. At Isource we have all the tools and resources you’ll need to make your startup marketing campaign go through the roof. From creating a buyer persona and social media strategy to developing a search and SEO campaign, you can count on us to provide the best support possible at https://isource.agency/#contact Contact us!

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Agile Marketing: An optimization strategy for your business

Agile Marketing: An optimization strategy for your business

Adapting to changes, working collaboratively and learning from failure are some of the principles of Agile Marketing, a philosophy that started almost a decade ago and has recently become a necessity for companies with the arrival of COVID-19.

In our experience, in the marketing industry we have seen how some clients manage multiple campaigns at the same time and in an automated way, meaning that by having an agile methodology that improves speed, predictability, transparency and adaptability should be a priority.

According to the Agile Sherpas survey, 58% of marketers choose Agile Marketing because it increases team productivity. Statistics even indicate that the growth of this philosophy grew by 32% in 2019 and 42% in 2020.

Next, we list 7 ideas to take into account when adopting an agile look at the Marketing area:

1. Create a marketing war-room team

It consists of bringing together a small group of talented people who work quickly and have cross-functional skills. For example, if it is an email marketing campaign project, the room should include a copywriter, a UX designer, a programmer and a Marketing strategist. Your responsibilities include collaboratively running A/B testing to find the best creative and narrative path for the success of your email marketing campaigns.

2. Choose tools that enhance communication and team effectiveness

It is vital to have effective tools and processes that help strengthen communication and synergy among stakeholders in the area. Some of those tools can be Asana, Monday, BaseCamp, to name a few.

3. Prioritize hypotheses over opinions and conventions

Marketing is a purely intellectual and creative area, which makes it inherently complex and non-linear, therefore its execution must be carried out through a process of feedback of tactics and strategies that contemplates the implementation, measurement and continuous learning.

4. Customer-focused collaboration

It is not a secret that marketing must focus on the needs of the client, so the decision-making must always be focused on them, in an integral way -not isolated- or never from a hierarchical position.

5. Develop adaptive campaigns more like “mega-campaigns”

Thinking of small strategies and executing them quickly under a non-linear and adaptive scheme is highly convenient. For example, A/B testing provides valuable information for a real knowledge of customers and allows you to adjust the planning according to what really works.

6. Discover the customer without static predictions

Taking into account the adaptive focus, it is possible to know clients dynamically through their interactions.

7. Plan flexibly and continuously

There is nothing wrong with planning, when thinking about change. For example, when a project includes a high load of creativity in complex and changing environments, strict plans are speculative, and do not reflect reality, therefore they do not add value.

 

 

But, how did Agile methodology come about?

Agile methodology as we know it, dates back to 2001, in response to cascading approaches to project management, which are typically organized as a series of linear sequences. Consequently, a group of software developers wrote the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, with a novel approach to software development that includes four fundamental characteristics:

  • People and interactions before processes and tools.
  • The software in operation, before the exhaustive documentation.
  • Collaboration with the client before contractual negotiation.
  • The response to change rather than adherence to a plan.

 

Case Study: Latin American Bank adopts the agile methodology

A company in the financial sector in Ecuador decided to start its process of adopting agility with Isource Marketing, to improve its position in the financial sector. The entity started with the incorporation of the methodologies in its innovation team, forming agile teams that generated new products and services to meet the needs of its customers more effectively. However, they encountered an internal bottleneck: response times and quality of Marketing deliverables -a key step for the project- were not as expected. For this reason, they decided to hire our services with the aim of understanding and strategizing the current situation of the team by creating the ideal path in the adoption of agile marketing, which consisted of five phases: Identification and advice, solution, training to the Marketing area, adoption and evaluation/optimization.

 

At Isource Marketing we firmly believe in agility and, therefore, we are specialists in helping our clients adopt agile methodologies. If you want to know more about it or meet us, click here.

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