Today, nearly all businesses across the globe have shifted their operations online. They are buying, selling, and engaging with customers and prospects daily, digitally.

Exciting as it is, not every business grows its customer base or makes money in this space.

Why?

Because having an online footprint is one thing and leveraging its power, another.

Today, we’ll explore five highly effective digital marketing strategies your business can use to boost your goals.

1. Get a Professional Website

An effective website works 24/7 year in, year out.

It engages customers, generates leads, and even sells products/services while you’re away. Doesn’t it make sense then, to optimize this online tool?

When potential customers visit your site, they aren’t there to pass time. They are considering your offerings and making judgments about your business.

So the first thing you want to do is engage a professional web designer to set up your website.

It’s probably fun and cheaper to do it on your own, lots of people do it.

But if you want to appear professional, credible, and offer your visitors a seamless experience, look for a professional. Here are important considerations you should make when designing your business website:

  • Less is more. Keep your homepage simple; avoid cluttering it with information.
  • Use landing pages for promotions and to explain your offerings’ value proposition.
  • Embed high-quality and visually appealing images and videos to capture your visitors’ interest.
  • Offer free downloads for ebooks, reports, checklists, white papers, or free trials for email addresses.
  • You can then use the information to contact the lead, depending on what they downloaded.
  • Build automated email marketing software into your site. When a visitor shares their email contact on your site, they will receive an immediate email from you.
  • Testimonials, reviews, and case studies are great for social proof. Incorporate them on your site.
  • Add live chat to ensure prompt responses to questions fielded by site visitors.
  • People google information on the go. Optimize your website for mobile screens.
  • Add fresh content regularly.

2. Make Cold Calls

World over, cold calling is the one strategy salespeople don’t like hearing about or using.

Yet this age-old strategy is a proven method for generating leads that can be converted to customers.

A survey showed that 69% of people accepted cold calls from new salespeople. People will listen to you if you package your message effectively.

Prepare before making that call. Research your lead’s name, designation, they work in, company (size, location, and values), and the challenges they face. This will ensure that the call is an effective use of your time.

To hook your listener, research a common interest or an achievement they’ve had in the recent past and mention it in your conversation.

For example, you could say something like, “Before I get to the purpose of this call, please allow me to congratulate you for …” It gives your lead the impression of existing knowledge and can go a long way in breaking the “coldness” of the call and building rapport.

Should you script your call?

With the research you’ve done, you know a couple of things about the company, its pain points, and how your solutions tie in. You can write a script to guide the call but take time to listen to your lead and ask questions based on what they say.

3. Use Influencer Marketing

Most of us associate influencer marketing with B2Cs, but this type of marketing works even better for B2Bs.

Consumers trust other consumer’s words over any message you may put out there. According to a LinkedIn report, B2B buyers consider expert opinions a persuasive factor while making purchases.

The impact of word of mouth and referrals is critical to your success. Consider the following when choosing an influencer

  • Use Existing Advocates: Many companies may be eager to use outsiders, but the most outstanding advocates are those who are already associated with your business. They know how your solutions work and will share honest experiences. Evaluate who among your business partners, employees, or existing customers may be a good fit.
  • Check Their Level of Influence: With influencer marketing, you want someone whom your customers and prospects are already listening to. This will help increase the possibility of prospects resonating with them as a B2B influencer.
  • Educate Your Influencers: When you educate the influencer on your company, values, offerings, customers, and competitors, you’re engaging them with your business. The education they receive allows them to be more effective when telling your story in their own words.

4. Create Content to Suit Your Buyer’s Journey

Today’s B2B buyer favors self-guided digital journeys as they consider products or services.

They prefer comparing different providers and engaging remotely with salespeople if they have questions or are interested in pursuing the conversation.

How do you get these discerning B2B buyers to buy from you? By creating valuable content that addresses their questions at every stage of the buyer journey.

  • Awareness Stage: Potential buyers at this stage are aware they have a problem. They are looking for research studies, blog posts, eBooks and eGuides, and any other educational content that offers solutions to these problems.
  • Consideration Stage: having recognized that their problems have solutions, the prospect is considering all viable options. The best content includes expert guides, case studies, podcasts, and videos.
  • Decision Stage: the B2B prospect has narrowed down their options but wants proof that your unique value proposition is the best there is. They are looking for reviews, testimonials, and case studies.
  • Loyalty Stage: having purchased from you, they now want to maximize ROI. Share how-to videos, user guides, product literature, product updates, and loyalty programs.

As you create content, include keywords related to your offerings. Social networks like Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn are great sources of keywords. Listen to how consumers describe your offerings and use those words in your content.

5. Data Analysis

Many businesses shy away from data, considering it too complex and best left to mega-companies.

However, analyzing data is not as complicated as you think and can be a game-changer in your marketing efforts. Data can be collected from in-house sources like your social platforms and your website or a reputable vendor.

Benefits of analyzing data include:

  • Helping you predict customer and prospects buying behavior. Knowing what interests your prospects allows you to focus your efforts on it and nurture them into paying customers.
  • Allowing you to identify strong and weak offerings. Analyzing which solutions sell better than others lets you decide whether to tweak the weaker offerings, bundle them to improve sales, or abandon them entirely.
  • Enabling you to spot slipping customers. Customers slip through the cracks because they don’t need your services or are buying from your competitor. You can then call them up to know what’s going on.

Further, data capture information about website visitors.

Armed with information about what they downloaded or comments they made, you’ll be able to nurture them.