Category: b2b-marketing

In 1898, businessman and psychologist E. St. Elmo had an idea: what if customers moved toward a purchase decision in a funnel rather than a straight line? 

This is where the concept of the marketing funnel was born — a foundation marketers would follow for more than 100 years. 

But the marketing funnel isn’t so cut and dry for B2B businesses. Since decision makers and internal experts are the ultimate targets of B2B marketing, treating all visitors like the same type of user could negatively impact your brand.

To make matters worse, most B2B companies completely overlook the importance of the marketing funnel. Nearly three in four businesses (or 68%) have never tried to identify one or implement the stages into their marketing processes.

The good news is, repositioning your marketing funnel doesn’t have to be complicated. By equipping your B2B with a few general guidelines, you can easily scale your marketing efforts to address top, middle, and bottom funnel customers.

Understanding The B2C Marketing Funnel

The concept of a marketing funnel is simple at first glance – it’s about putting labels on customer relationships and understanding how they change.

Just think about how real-life funnels work – in weather, cooking, or mathematics. These tubes are wider at the top and smaller at the bottom to direct a large amount of something into a smaller place.

Funnels also root out qualified B2B leads and encourage them to move through each stage of awareness. The closer they get to the bottom of the funnel, the closer they get to making a purchase.

When used correctly:

• The average marketing funnel has a conversion rate of 3.1% to 5% (depending on industry and marketing efforts).
• You can retain 36% more customers by nurturing leads through the proper stage(s).
• Effective B2B funnels close deals six times faster than companies that aren’t using a funnel.

So what does the B2C funnel look like?

There are typically four funnel stages:

1. Awareness
2. Interest
3. Desire
4. Action

Most visitors begin at the Awareness stage — they’re just beginning their relationship with your brand. This is followed by prospects or visitors who are genuinely interested in the products you provide (the Interest stage). If they engage with your brand on social media platforms, they may be at the Desire stage. This could be followed by a purchase decision in the Action stage (so long as everything goes well).

Keep in mind this is a B2C model — the B2B model is much more complicated than this.

With this foundation now in place, let’s take a closer look.

The Typical B2B Marketing Funnel

B2B marketing funnels must adapt the B2C approach to technical decision makers and C-suite executives. They usually operate under specific use cases and take much longer to close a deal (up to 84 days on average).

There are typically six B2B funnel stages:

1. Interest
2. Consideration
3. Intent
4. Evaluation
5. Purchase
6. Ambassadors

Quick side note: there are many (many) opinions about what to call each stage of the B2B sales funnel. For the purposes of this guide, we’re focusing on their purpose, not their jargon.

Now, let’s break down each stage of the B2B funnel:

Interest

B2B clients are typically aware of their pain points well before discovering your company. During the Interest stage, they may investigate your brand and its offerings from a bird’s eye view.

They’re usually interested in content related to your product, what it does, and how it can solve problems.

Consideration

Users who believe your brand may be a good fit for them have entered the Consideration stage. They may take more time to pursue your middle funnel content, including case studies, technical tutorials, and blogs and articles. More on this later.

Intent

In the Intent stage, the user is expressly considering you as a future business partner. This is where your bottom funnel content becomes even more relevant, including use cases, product comparisons, and video courses.

Evaluation

The evaluation stage is the final step before the purchase decision. Depending on the size or scope of your business, it may also be the longest as well. 

Here, customers discuss your brand with their internal stakeholders, teams, and leadership groups. They may request additional information or demos from your team.

Purchase

Exactly as it sounds, the Purchase stage is where customers buy into your product. This is also the stage where onboarding becomes important, especially if you’re a SaaS or service-oriented brand.

Ambassadors

Customers who are happy and satisfied with your products may enter the Ambassador stage. Not only are they more likely to purchase additional products in the future, but their outspoken loyalty makes your brand more attractive to new B2B leads.

Keep in mind the Ambassador stage holds the fewest of all customers. However, this small-but-mighty group is instrumental in creating a renewable sales cycle. 

Great customers become great referrers, which builds your reputation both on and offline. This turns the marketing funnel into a self-sufficient flywheel using ambassador momentum to reach new clients, customers, and leads.

The Biggest Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing Funnels

There are three major differences between B2B and B2C funnels. 

First, B2C funnels are typically much wider than B2Bs. There are more people in the world interested in buying coffee makers than SaaS platforms, for example. 

Second, B2B funnels require extremely accurate targeting. The B2B marketer must know their target audience inside and out, while the B2C marketer can get away with non-specificity.

Finally, B2B funnels are much slower to complete. The B2C customer can make a purchase decision in minutes, but B2B clients with a wide chain of command can take weeks, months, or sometimes years to move forward.

What About the B2B Content Marketing Funnel?

B2B marketing funnels and B2B content marketing funnels are similar, but not the same.

Marketing funnels focus on active leads who may be interested in purchasing your product or service. Content marketing funnels may capture audience members who don’t even know what your product is. 

The latter is necessary to create awareness, growth, and impact around your goods and services. But cutting through the advertising clutter isn’t easy. In order to remain competitive, you need to pivot your content and messaging into an organized marketing strategy.

There are three major stages in the B2B content marketing funnel:

1. ToFU (Top of Funnel)

ToFU content includes any topics or subjects designed for the widest reaches of your audience. They may or may not be familiar with your company, but they’re probably familiar with (or at least exploring) the solutions you’re offering.

As a B2B company, this may include:

• Ultimate guides on specific topics
• Short introductory videos on a broad topic
• Social media posts revealing industry information

Remember: this is content for audience members who know little if anything about your brand. The goal is to guide them through the pain points you solve and provide a general overview of your overall market.

2. MoFU (Middle of Funnel)

This is for audiences who are familiar with your market and know at least a little about your brand. They’re not necessarily ready to buy your product, but they’re much more comfortable with the jargon or technicalities of your industry.

A few examples of MoFU content include:

• Technical videos and tutorials
• eBooks and lead magnets
• Webinars

Anything encompassing your offer (and convincing customers why it’s the best one) can draw your leads to the final stage of conversion.

3. BoFU (Bottom of Funnel)

Conversion content, otherwise known as BoFU content, is strictly for audiences that are ready to buy. Users may be willing to purchase a product or switch from one solution to the other.

Common BoFU content types include:

• Blog content discussing comparisons and alternatives
• Customized demos and walkthroughs
• Case studies

Some B2Bs combine their BoFU content with RoFU content, which is retention-focused content marketing for customers who have converted. However, RoFU content is much more effective when separated from BoFU. Try writing guides, publishing product updates, or discussing industry news.

As you can see, B2B content marketing funnels are a sustainable mechanism of value able to cut through the chaos of online marketing clutter. Building enough content for every stage of the funnel creates a sustainable system that runs while you sleep.

Practical Applications Of The B2B Marketing Funnel

Using the marketing funnel correctly within your B2B is more than just a nebulous ‘good practice.’ Instead, properly constructing marketing content that reflects different marketing stages can dramatically boost customer traffic, product interest, and of course, your profit margin.

Let’s look at some practical applications:

• Streamlined budgets: A good use of the marketing funnel allows you to make the most of your marketing budget. Today, most B2Bs spend around 10% of their budgets on marketing efforts. A more efficient funnel allocates money more effectively and protects against wasted ROI. 
• Improved processes: B2B marketing funnels help to identify critical points of improvement, as well as any content that isn’t working as well. For example, 55% of companies find blog posts work better than anything else at moving customers through the funnel. You should cut back on less efficient content and spend your dollars on demonstrated value.
• Nurtured leads: Properly implemented B2B funnels help companies avoid becoming top-heavy with their marketing. Too much content at any level of awareness can unbalance the funnel and limit inbound B2B customers. Be sure to do your homework and identify best-performing content so you can identify gaps and spot opportunities for improvement.

P.S., working with a marketing agency can help you achieve all these benefits at once.

Refining Your B2B Marketing Funnel

The B2B marketing funnel can impact all areas of your business. With it, content teams create more efficient value, head marketers nurture more targeted campaigns, and B2B customers at all levels of engagement are encouraged to interact with your brand. 

But understanding the B2B buyer’s journey is just the first step in refining your marketing process. If you’re an early-stage startup or scaling business, starting off on the right foot is paramount to your success.

Curious to learn more about other elements of B2B marketing? Check out our most recent marketing resources here.

Any business can be based on a great idea, but only a few are ever based on a great strategy. The numbers don’t lie: more than 90% of startups will fail on the open market. Almost 10% close their doors within the first year. And while there are countless reasons why a business might crumble, not one of them should be due to your go-to market strategy.

A go-to-market (GTM) strategy exists as a vehicle of success for your company. It guides your actions, measures your outcomes, and ultimately gives your business purpose and direction. The primary objective of the GTM is to present yourself to audiences in the best ways possible – and with as few roadblocks as necessary. The success or failure of each strategy depends on a number of factors, including your KPIs and overall growth metrics.

There are (quite literally) hundreds of different kinds of GTM strategies available to choose from. But for B2B businesses with more complicated growth cycles, it’s critical to pick just one. After all, the more you narrow your strategy to meet specific needs, the more successful you’ll be. B2B market research is your best friend!

Even experienced marketing professionals need a GTM strategy, especially while preparing for their first launch in a new company. Let’s explore five of the most successful B2B go-to-market strategies currently in use, as well as their pros, cons, and secondary considerations.

Strategy 1: Content

SEO-driven content strategies are excellent for any growing startup, and used by nearly 90% of all B2B marketers. Inbound methodology works by creating valuable content – blogs, ebooks, social media, etc. – that channel leads gently through the B2B marketing funnel. As these leads discover new pain points and search for solutions, your keyword-driven content may be one of the first things they see (and eventually lead to a sale).

Pros

Long-Term Value: Content continuously generates value. Older posts can be regularly updated to provide additional reach and relevance.

Low Cost: Content is one of the most affordable types of marketing material to create, especially written blogs or articles.

Cons

Slow To Start: It may be difficult to delegate writing tasks to pre-existing members of your team, especially if you’re currently working on scaling a business. It may take several months to create a calendar along with ready-to-post content.

Requires Depth: Good content writing requires specialized knowledge and writers. You may need to hire a freelancer or agency such as Draft.dev to create material at scale.

Strategy 2: Paid Ads

If you’re interested in reaching a target audience by using adaptable advertisements, an ads strategy might make the most sense for your business. Use advanced targeting to reach audiences across devices and platforms, and personalize your content in a way that makes sense. Loop in happy customers with retargeting ads, or use display ads linked with landing pages to direct traffic toward individual products or services.

Pros

Visible: You can start seeing the results of your paid ads almost immediately, sometimes within two weeks or less. This is very different from content, which may take time to show measurable returns.

Easily Measurable: It’s much easier to track the KPIs of a PPC campaign than a content campaign. If you want growth that’s simple to keep tabs on, this might be the right GTM strategy for you.

Cons

Expensive: Paid ads might get pricey after a time. Expect to pay up to $10,000 in monthly revenue just for PPC.

Short-Term: Your ads are only relevant for a certain amount of time. Unlike content, they will eventually grow stale and age out of the marketplace.

Strategy 3: Sales And Cold Outreach

If your B2B focuses heavily on slower growth, scaling with cold outreach could be a complementary tactic. Sales teams and marketing departments may locate viable leads on platforms like LinkedIn, then make cold outreach calls and emails that address pain points with personalized scripts.

This strategy is a tried and true with plenty of real-world success stories. For example, B2B software company Ambition increased their cold email response rate by 333% to find new leads and prospective customers.

Pros

Great Networking: Even if your email isn’t a good fit for one person, it may be worth forwarding to another person in the recipient’s network. This boosts reach and awareness among a niche group, and presents your product to the largest possible audience.

Stronger Personalization: Cold calls and emails are great candidates for personalization. Write specifically to individual pain points, professions, industry type, and more. Remember: the more personalized emails are, the most likely they will be opened.

Cons

Additional Training: In order to keep your sales teams on the same page, additional training may be necessary. Create guidepost documentation and host regular meetings to keep everyone coordinated and in sync.

Smaller Growth: While still relevant, the success rate of cold outreach is far less viable than other strategies. Less than 24% of cold emails are ever opened, with an average response rate of 1% to 5%.

Strategy 4: Referrals

Interested in highly qualified leads? Referrals from existing customers could be a great option. Create incentives for referrals (money, freebies, or other giveaways) that builds up social proof in a target market. Since 65% of all business stems from referrals in the first place, leaning into referrals as a GTM strategy could help to underpin your growth.

Pros

Higher Retention: Referred customers are more likely to stick with your B2B over time. Their retention rate is 37% higher than non-referred customers, while their churn is reduced by 18% on average.

Cost-Effective: Unlike PPC clients that require active prospecting, referred clients come to you on their own accord. Their presence increases your overall profits by 25% – no small feat.

Cons

Less Control: There’s really no way to control the growth of your business under a referral strategy. Even if your work speaks for itself, traffic may ebb and flow according to whim and chance.

Limits Change: It might be difficult to change certain elements of your business model (prices, plans, or tiers) while leveraging WOM. You’ll need to broadcast these changes well in advance – or risk losing your hard-won referrals.

Strategy 5: Partnerships

Turn your third-party relationships into a flywheel of marketing success by formalizing your partner and vendor relationships. Easily help your prospects choose between multiple vendors by positioning yourself as a leader with more to offer. More than 57% of companies say they use strategic partnerships to get more customers, which can be a boon for your growing GTM strategy.

Pros

Credible: B2B businesses with more partners are seen as more credible by potential clients. Use this to your advantage and seal with deal with more prospects as a result.

Well-Rounded: Clients love working with businesses that appear to be equipped to address what they need – including the many facets of their personal pain points.

Cons

Cluttered UVP: Throughout your partnership journey, don’t forget what your universal value proposition is. Clients may have difficulty seeing through your partnerships and understanding exactly what makes you different.

Volatile Market: Partnerships can’t last forever. The relationships you build may need to end suddenly according to changing needs, which might effect your GTM strategy. Today, 70% of business partnerships fail in the marketplace.

Picking The Right Go-To-Market Strategy

It goes without saying that the go-to marketing strategy you choose can make your break your business success. The importance of knowing your company, product, and target market well shouldn’t be underestimated, and deserves a thoughtful conversation (or three) before being implemented.

When the time comes to pick a B2B strategy, ask yourself:

• How much growth can you actually handle? Does the GTM strategy you have in mind have a contingency plan for this?
• Is the growth strategy actually scalable for your industry? When the time comes to grow, will you have everything you need to get going?
• What kind of resources will you need to kick start your growth strategy? Is there anything in particular you need to establish beforehand?

The road to choosing a go-to-market strategy can be a long one, and deserves a lot more time and energy than just reading a single article. Definitely dig into other relevant resources, and have a good chat with the other members of your team.

But if you’re still considering a content-oriented go-to-market strategy, Draft.dev may be able to help.

Draft develops technical marketing content for software startups all over the world, bringing company voices to life with technical tutorials, value-drive blogs, and relevant content. We’ve helped 150+ companies launch and maintain their startup GTM strategy with subject-matter experts, facilitating quality content that’s built to impress.

Think we might be fit? We’d love to chat. Schedule a Discovery Call to discuss your GTM content strategy. Go ahead – it’s free.

B2B SaaS marketing has its own rules and requirements for success. This article will help you understand key B2B SaaS marketing tactics, including positioning, inbound marketing, content, sponsorships, and event marketing.

Marketing a B2B business is one thing. Marketing a SaaS is quite another. Putting them together creates a complicated minefield of false synergies and mismatched tech stacks.

B2B SaaS has one of the lowest overheads in the business world. It’s also considered the most complicated business to advertise. If you’re stuck in the same failing patterns, it’s time to look for marketing tactics that really move the needle.

B2B marketing is an enormous field, which is why we’re going to cover the initiatives, movements, and formats that actually make a difference. This guide will look at:

• What is B2B SaaS marketing?
• The types of B2B Saas marketing
• Why content is an effective B2B SaaS marketing tactic
• Bringing it all together

What Is B2B SaaS Marketing?

Unlike brick and mortar shops, SaaS businesses have no physical presence. They are constantly changing to meet the needs of their customers and users. As new technology becomes accessible, companies must quickly pivot to adapt to new solutions. This could be a line of code, a new UX, or a combination of both. In any case, B2B SaaS businesses must be prepared for change and the adaptation process that comes with it.

The average B2B SaaS requires extreme customization, as well as agile pricing, flexibility, and innovation. Sliding scale subscription offers and changing software needs have the ability to significantly affect your bottom line.

Unlike traditional customers, B2Bs often market toward high-level decision-makers in SMEs and enterprises, usually with technical knowledge in the field. This unique positioning could take a while for traditional marketers to learn.

Most B2B companies deal with high customer values and package complexity, but this is not always the rule. Because of this enterprise angle and pricing structure, they can handle fewer customers with access to more personalization options. Personalization includes highly customizable price plans, interfaces, and tech add-ons. Larger enterprise clients sometimes prefer to customize their software rather than purchase a standardized plan, and this is a huge differentiating feature from other SaaS or B2B models, including B2C.

B2B SaaS is a fundamental shift from B2C SaaS, which relies on simple pricing structures with fewer customization features. A few examples of B2C SaaS are Netflix, Duolingo, and Canva. These software-as-a-service platforms offer programs for customers rather than businesses and have tiered price programs that are not customizable.

B2B SaaS conversion paths are increasingly complicated and cluttered due to the way consumers view the marketplace. Dealing with industry professionals with a deep knowledge of your industry requires high accuracy within all your technical content, and your marketing will require a thorough understanding of your audience, great positioning, and quality content.

Your average B2B SaaS service will be niche, hard to market, and often technical in nature. Getting the word out about your service and your USP will not be easy. Consider Mailchimp as an example. When the business rolled out, nobody knew what the company did or what it even meant. It took 17 years to grow into an email marketing giant, and that was after years of explaining their USP. The good news is even if your company is very technical and niche, there are ways to bring it into public view.

The B2B SaaS model is not new. It has the power to disrupt industries all over the world and create new niches and opportunities. Now that this business model is firmly established, new arrivals have the luxury of standing on those who came before. This includes mapping out an effective marketing guide for your industry.

The Types Of B2B SaaS Marketing

B2B SaaS marketing has space to be experimental. A/B testing is necessary for optimizing your communication for your audience, and what works for one model won’t always work for another so you need the patience to discover what works for your audience.

There are five primary marketing strategies for B2B SaaS companies:

• positioning
• inbound marketing
• content syndication
• sponsorships
• event marketing

Positioning

Marketing a B2B SaaS starts with positioning. This is your company’s space in the market, and how people think about you and your services.

Positioning includes a few different factors, namely market size, growth rate, company culture, and perception. Consider Apple and Dell. Apple offers more than a product; it’s a lifestyle tech company rooted in innovation and creativity. On the other hand, Dell is considered to be a competitively-priced business with a user-centric USP. It’s important to understand how clients think about your brand and, in some instances, what using your services says about them.

Understanding positioning comes from outside research, internal audits, or persona profile creation. All this to say: you need to understand where you’re at before you choose where to go.

Most B2B SaaS businesses fall into one of three categories:

1. Pure B2B SaaS businesses have no physical presence, a fully online product, and a low friction signup process. Productivity app Trello is an example of this.
2. Enterprise or tech B2B SaaS businesses have longer, more involved conversion and signup processes due to their enterprise customer types. Salesforce is an example of this.
3. Hybrid B2B SaaS businesses serve an SME audience. They are referred to as ‘hybrids’ due to their SaaS software combined with on-premise applications. Using a mainly online platform, they rely on bigger enterprise customers to succeed. This includes large brands like Shopify.

Inbound Marketing

Although B2B is synonymous with long waits and slow turnarounds, SaaS platforms still need steady growth to survive. Inbound marketing is the perfect way to bridge the gap.

Inbound marketing is an umbrella term invented by marketing giant and B2B SaaS HubSpot. Under this form of marketing, customers will find their own way to your product rather than the other way around. B2B businesses can use inbound marketing to create genuinely valuable information about their service. Next, they promote this content to solve the problems of leads and close out sales with customers who really need their services.

Unlike advertisements, inbound marketing can be more cost-effective, reach consumers in more places, and create lead lists for remarketing campaigns. While both are important, inbound marketing offers an edge with organic searches and online content. The key is to create high value and high quality work for audiences to enjoy. Ultimately, you could combine your inbound marketing with a well-driven ad campaign.

Inbound marketing involves three elements: value, curation, and SEO. Value means providing real information to readers. Curation refers to sharing content that someone else wrote. SEO involves research to include search terms and topic clusters that will help your content rank well in search results. Today, inbound marketing is considered to be the most popular B2B SaaS marketing tactic. Note that inbound marketing is not the same as content, which we’ll cover next.

Content Syndication

The biggest difference between inbound marketing and content is intent. Inbound marketing deals with the setup and delivery of material, while content deals with the creation of said material.

Before we talk about content syndication, let’s quickly define content.

Content involves many different formats. Blogging is an obvious choice, but there are others you might choose from:

• Email
• Audio/video
• Memes/humor
• Animation
• Ebooks
• Downloadables

Content syndication is the process of republishing an exact copy of your content onto a third party website. This primarily consists of research articles, blog posts, and other valuable written material. Syndication has a number of benefits, from email traffic and referral links to brand awareness.

The most important factor of content syndication is that it goes to credible locations. Few people will see content that is posted on a smaller website. The more credible the location is, the more impactful the results will be.

To start, identify the types of content that your B2B SaaS could use to reach clients in your niche. Pick a few relevant content types to start and, as your business grows, you can add new categories. Seek out relevant third party publications in your niche, and look for hosting opportunities for your best pieces of content. Syndicate publishers are widely available online and can be paid or unpaid depending on their business model. Take time to choose a source that fits your content well.

There are three main options for creating content to syndicate: in-house staff, hiring a freelancer, or working with an agency. Unless you have a dedicated resource, relying on existing in-house staff could stretch teams a little thin. Freelancers can keep the costs down, but may not always have the capacity to meet your deadlines. Agency-based content creation typically costs more than freelancers but allows you to manage content and content syndication very effectively.

Sponsorships

Sponsorships can have a huge effect on your company’s visibility in the market. Previously confined to physical events only, there is a much wider variety of choices and formats today.

Sponsorships can be one of the most effective forms of marketing for a B2B SaaS, but also a legally challenging one. Be sure to craft a message that grants the right kind of exposure and be very explicit about what you want to gain from the sponsorship. Brand awareness, outreach, and lead generation are just a few of the goals marketers have for sponsored programs.

Physical events, online seminars, training webinars, emails, and other forms of content are all acceptable forms of B2B SaaS sponsorship. Not only are they beneficial for your company, but they should help you to develop a meaningful partnership with another business. If you have the money to spare, sponsorships could be an excellent later-stage marketing tactic for raising awareness. As an additional note, event sponsors could use their position to offer exclusive coupon codes to select participants. Not only does it generate good PR, but it takes advantage of marketplace positioning.

Event Marketing

Similar to sponsorships, event marketing is a great way to boost brand awareness, leads, and demo requests. In this format, you are not sponsoring someone else’s event; you are creating your own.

The effect of events on customer acquisition can be staggering. At least 95% of marketers believe that event marketing provides attendees with valuable connections and insights for a digital world.

Below are just a couple of suggestions for events you could consider for your business:

• Virtual Q&As
• Training Modules
• Visiting Conferences
• Joining Trade Shows
• Webinars

Online events make the most sense for a B2B SaaS because of its nonphysical business environment. If you have a multi-national team, or if you’re unable to meet in person due to various regulations (such as COVID-19), virtual webinars may be your best initial option.

Ultimately, it’s important not to stretch your marketing team too thin. Choose just one or two events to start, then slowly branch into new fields according to attendance and conversion results.

Why Content Is An Effective B2B SaaS Marketing Tactic

Content syndication is an effective and highly popular form of B2B SaaS marketing. Ten years ago, content creation and curation was only occasionally leveraged by businesses. Today, it is an absolutely critical part of the marketing schema and can benefit all industries and company types. More than 78% of companies have between one and three content specialists.

There are many reasons why content is an effective B2B SaaS marketing tactic, and the first and most obvious of these is ROI:

• Marketers that create blog content make 13-times the ROI of businesses that don’t blog.
• The average ROI of email content marketing is a whopping 4,200%.
• According to one study, content could generate up to $984,000 of ROI for B2B SaaS businesses.

With statistics like these, it’s easy to see why hundreds of B2B SaaS businesses choose to implement some form of content syndication into the marketing process. Since content marketing can be easily scaled, businesses have the option to grow or shrink output to match evolving needs. Even better, they can shift to new forms of content and hop on new trends whenever they become available.

B2B companies love content generation for their organic reach. Written work, social media posts, and infographics are easily shared by an audience and spread through new audiences even while you sleep. What’s more, content is highly measurable. While you may not always be able to gauge the success of sponsorships or events, you can directly track metrics associated with email opens, blog engagement, and bounce rates.

Another reason why content marketing is favored by B2Bs is that it is evergreen. Advertisements and events come and go, and sponsorships only last so long, but creating and disseminating content online lasts forever. If you’re willing to go the extra mile by updating and improving older content, you could net even greater results.

Creating value-driven content for your B2B SaaS marketing strategy may be easier than you think. Once you have KPIs in place, you can write, film, post, and otherwise create really interesting freebies for an audience to enjoy. Below are some examples of some great B2B SaaS marketing content used by real businesses:

• HubSpot’s posts are designed to capture an enormous amount of traffic with pillar pages. They funnel millions of monthly searches through a maze of value, which includes downloadable content, certification courses, and keyword-driven blog posts.
• Privy’s Ecommerce Marketing Show uses podcasts to interview leading figures in the B2B SaaS fields. This allows them to market their services while simultaneously tapping into new or very receptive audiences.
• HootSuite’s ebooks about marketing statistics create a one-stop shop for researchers. These ebooks provide a meaningful link between customer search intent and future needs.

Bringing It All Together

B2B SaaS marketing takes a special person to implement. It is a field that is ever-changing in terms of tools and technique, yet is static in both terminology and form. At the end of the day, it can be used as a powerful tool to drive business exposure, leads, and retention. However, it’s important to play your cards right if you want to see any lasting results from your efforts.

Understand your business model correctly by identifying its marketplace positioning. Use inbound marketing to generate leads that matter. Pay attention to content syndication, which will improve retention and customer satisfaction. Finally, create a system of sponsorships and events that capture the attention of niche markets, guiding them towards your service with valuable material.

The right place to start for your B2B SaaS marketing could land in any one of the strategies in this article. If your business is just getting off the ground, you may want to begin with positioning and inbound marketing. If your startup has an established, mature foundation, branching into sponsorships and event marketing could provide a substantial boost to awareness programs. And no matter how long your business has been around, you will need solid, valuable content to improve your SEO and drive leads.

It takes time to establish solid content marketing programs, and scaling up internally might not be feasible for your company. If you’re looking to create content that reaches a technical audience, book a call with Draft.dev to see if we can help.

Inbound marketing is a desirable strategy because it brings interested prospects directly to you. Unlike traditional marketing, demand generation creates a niche in the market that only your company can fill. This article will provide a list of inbound tactics for B2B companies and offer expert tips for each one.

In 2005, visionary Brian Halliagan had a revolutionary idea. What if marketing messages were two dimensional? His coining of the phrase ‘inbound marketing’ started small, eventually integrating itself into major marketing vernacular. It was the start of an inbound marketing mindset that would revolutionize the B2B marketing industry. In Halligan’s words, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”

Inbound marketing, sometimes referred to as demand generation, is the process of bringing leads to your company rather than forcing yourself on an audience. Demand generation is long-term, powerful, and sustainable in execution, easily one of the leading marketing strategies for B2B industries.

This article will cover the major elements of demand generation, along with some of the best ways to implement the tactics. It will include:

• Why inbound marketing is important
• Types of B2B demand generation
• Where to start with B2B demand generation

Why Inbound Marketing is Important

Inbound marketing is a relatively young strategy with extremely long-term implications. While traditional marketing spoke to customers using a one-way chain of communication, inbound marketing creates dual channels to reach audiences right where they’re at.

Since B2B companies are noted for their slower growth patterns (i.e. longer decision cycles and large LTVs), offering a steady stream of content should help decision-makers flow through your buyer’s funnel with ease.

Interestingly, inbound marketing also helps generate a hotter list of leads. While traditional marketing creates content for a large audience, demand generation curates content that speaks to an ideal customer. Rather than commissioning a billboard of your B2B’s benefits, you could answer customer pain points in a blog, podcast, or video.

Still not enough for you? Inbound marketing is essential for lots of other reasons:

• Increases brand loyalty
• Boosts social media engagement
• May increase search engine rankings
• Lowers costs (when compared with traditional marketing)

It’s important to note that demand generation is perfectly integrable with traditional marketing tactics. B2B companies looking to generate demand should rely on both to gain the greatest amount of attention in the marketplace.

Types of B2B Demand Generation

There are eight major demand generation options for B2B companies interested in inbound marketing. Although there may be subsections or niche opportunities within each section, they still fall under one of the umbrella categories. Your best option is to find a combination or set of combinations that reach your audience at a point of need.

Blogs

Blog posts are a mainstay of demand generation that has been around since 1994. The basic premise of blog writing is creating transparency around your business, niche, or industry. By writing articles that answer, inform, and entertain your leads, you build trust that may eventually result in a sale.

Just ‘writing’ a blog doesn’t take much effort, but creating an interesting, actionable, well-researched piece certainly does. Dave Larson, the founder of @tweetsmarter, believes this is one of the most critical elements of blog demand generation. In his words, it’s essential to “create blog posts that answer the most interesting questions from people you engage with on social media.” Start by using Google search suggestions or a tool like Answer The Public to target and answer keywords in your industry. You might be surprised how quickly this improves site traffic.

Videos

How-tos, tutorials, and product demos are a few vital video genres for B2B and beyond. According to recent statistics, online videos are 600% more effective than print and direct ads combined.

Although your videos shouldn’t be longer than two minutes tops, it’s vital to incorporate all SEO, CTA, and storytelling tactics. If possible, generate videos at all stages of the lead funnel, including top, middle, and lower segments.

Social Media Campaigns

Regardless of the B2C stigma, even B2B companies should leverage social media for demand generation. LinkedIn is perhaps the most popular platform, although Facebook and Instagram are also excellent for raising brand awareness.

Consider how your B2B could integrate with other, more niche platforms. Tech companies and software devs could find a space on Reddit or Quora, while more product-heavy businesses may use Pinterest.

Downloadable Resources

Downloadable resources are compelling elements of the B2B content cycle. The vast majority of these include ebooks and guide sheets, although many others exist in the marketplace. These include:

• Infographics
• Checklists
• Templates
• Reports

It should be noted that downloadable resources are some of the more expensive demand generation formats. While they may take longer to produce and more time to research, downloadables generally offer strong lead generation.

Experts suggest filling your downloadable resource with valuable information, particularly knowledge that your leads can’t find anywhere else. Position yourself to be an authority in your industry, and you’ll start capturing emails while you sleep.

Newsletters

Newsletter content is a powerful method of engaging warm leads across multiple campaigns. Unlike targeted emails, which usually end with a stronger CTA, newsletters inform, entertain, and engage your audience. The founder and CEO of Copyblogger, Brian Clark, refers to this audience as ‘your tribe.’

Because newsletters are so much more than email, it may be a good idea to consider unique formats. Consider short, simple videos to boost engagement. Try sending thank you notes or special offers to frequent readers. Finally, consider embedding a contributor list to employ an element of user-generated content.

Pillar Pages

Pillar pages are one of the most robust demand generation methods for B2B organizations. Although they can be built in many ways, it’s best to think of them like large blog posts with multiple topic clusters and links. SaaS corporations like HubSpot, Typeform, and Cloud Elements offer various types of pillar pages to engage and inform their audience.

Write pillar pages between 2,000 and 5,000 words, and incorporate long-tail keywords that capture searchers under many subtopics. Adding a table of contents may improve shareability and customer UX.

Press Releases

Press releases for B2B expand your visibility far beyond your current market. Online sources such as PR Newswire allow for widespread reach and access to journalists who may be interested in your story.

Like any other form of demand generation, B2B PR releases must offer some element of value.  Create a newsworthy story that speaks to the audience at hand, and look for potential media outlets that may be interested in picking up your piece. Try to avoid braggadocious lingo or advertorial speech. Instead, focus on telling a story to your readers.

Podcasts and Webinars

According to industry leads, audio or video-based content marketing has the potential to become the biggest driver of ROI in demand generation. Jake Jorgovan, the creator of Content Allies, found that over 68% of his revenue resulted from podcast guests.

The best strategy for executing podcasts and webinar leads is consistency. Offering a regular podcast series provides on-the-go value to busy decision-makers, while webinars nurture highly qualified leads with actionable information.

Where To Start With B2B Demand Generation

Once you have identified areas of content growth for your B2B, it will be important to track down the writers and subject matter experts that bring it to life. You have three options: in-house, freelance, or agency work.

The most significant benefit to using in-house experts is that they have lots of hands-on experience with your USP. However, they may not have enough time or energy to create the copy you need. They might not be familiar with writing, digital media, or other marketing skills, which could reduce its overall effectiveness.

Freelance inbound marketers have more time to create the materials you need. Bear in mind, however, that they aren’t the same as employees. Freelancers take on multiple projects simultaneously and may not have the industry depth you’d prefer within your subject matter. Finally, freelancers may be unavailable during critical deadlines for your company, like PR events or recording sessions.

Inbound marketing agencies employ industry experts worldwide and develop a strategy that incorporates quality demand generation with ranking SEO results. If you have the space in your budget, agencies could be a great starting place for growth.

At Draft.dev, we focus on technical content that addresses software devs and tech-minded decision-makers. If you’re running a B2B that could benefit, let’s chat. Book a call whenever’s convenient.

When searching for a content marketing agency to jumpstart your business, choosing a service that offers the right blend of experience, technique, and competence will be important. This article will provide a list of agencies in different verticals to help narrow down the search.

According to recent statistics, there are over 5,523 digital marketing agencies in the United States. With a growth rate of 12.2% a year, marketing is a massive industry that covers various niches and fields. Agencies use a wide variety of tactics to help their clients succeed, and one of the most universally popular is content marketing.

Content marketing is an important core strategy for B2B enterprises of all sizes. It allows organizations to scale their web presence, attract qualified leads, and engage with their audience in an authentic manner.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make content marketing work for you. However, it can take a good deal of time, money, and effort, particularly when done in-house. That’s why more than 62% of companies choose to outsource their content marketing to an expert in their industry.

There are two main outsourcing options to choose from: freelancers and content marketing agencies. While freelancers can be more cost-effective, they aren’t always available when you need them and may not have the industry expertise to do everything you want. For this reason, finding an agency with experience in your industry takes the guesswork out of content marketing and will go a long way to ensuring a beneficial campaign.

Choosing the right content marketing agency can take a long time. Focusing on agencies in your industry will help to make the process smoother.

Let’s look at:

• The benefits of hiring an agency with vertical experience
• Signs of a stellar agency
• Top agencies by vertical
• Making the final decision

The Benefits of Hiring an Agency with Vertical Experience

It’s always possible to hire a ‘generalized’ content marketing agency. These businesses serve a wide variety of clientele and use similar industry tactics across each specialization.

While generalized content marketing still offers value, umbrella services may not always be enough to move the needle. The companies we work with at Draft.dev require very in-depth technical content, which only experts can write. With the right budget, businesses can offload content marketing responsibilities on a team of experts offering customized strategies.

Agencies with in-depth vertical experience can:

• Focus solely on your niche
• Push campaigns with proven results
• Repair weaknesses in your campaign

Signs of a Stellar Agency

Before dedicating budget to a content marketing agency, you’ll want to make sure that you’re choosing a partner for long-term results. You need to watch out for marketing agency dealbreakers. Just because an agency works within your niche doesn’t mean they’ll be the best fit for the job.

Here are a couple of tell-tale signs that the agency in your niche has what it takes to make a difference:

• Good reviews
• Solid case studies
• Self-application of strategies
• Measurable results and metrics

Has more than one agency caught your eye? Some investigative journalism could help to eliminate tie-breakers. After all, the most significant difference between good agencies and great agencies begins with testimonials. What are people saying about their experiences? Would they recommend the agency to others? If possible, chat with a prior client directly.

Top Agencies by Vertical

Some of the most popular and fastest-growing industries today include technology, finance or fintech, travel, sustainability, marketing, and telecommunications. According to their niche and vertical, we’ve included some of the best B2B content marketing agencies.

Technology

The technology industry can include just about anything, from fintech and martech to software development. Content marketing agencies must demonstrate specific knowledge of the field, as well as offer case studies that prove their relevance.

A few experienced contenders include:

• Draft.dev: Technical content marketing for software developers and startups. Uses blog posts and additional add-on services to scale marketing endeavors.
• Walker Sands: Full service marketing for a host of technical industries, ranging from GrubHub to G2 Crowd to RaspberryPi.
• SkyRocket Group: B2B tech marketing for specific niches, focusing on email, social media, and content marketing.

Financial Services

From credit unions to SaaS platforms, content marketing agencies specializing in financial services should be fully equipped to drive inbound marketing campaigns.

Some of the more well-known agencies in this niche include:

• The Realization Group: Full-service agency offering fintech and banking establishments solutions. They are primarily known for their SEO, inbound marketing, and PR services.
• CSTMR: Focusing on B2B and B2C organizations, CSTMR provides steady growth with customized content marketing strategies. Their most prominent clients include Credit Karma, Lending Tree, and TRUSTe.
• Banktastic: Banktastic has served financial brands for many years with internal and external content marketing options.

Travel

Travel is an umbrella category for thousands of niche businesses. From transportation and tourism to overnight lodgings, it describes one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

These content marketing agencies are dedicated to helping businesses in this field thrive:

• Volume Nine: Specializing in travel and tourism, Volume Nine has worked alongside brands such as Visit Aurora, Big Sky Montana, and Inside Japan.
• AMP Agency: AMP uses focused data to create actionable campaigns. Its inbound marketing strategy for the travel industry includes content engagement, brand sentiments, and search rankings.
• Thrive: With a moniker of ‘supercharging success,’ Thrive focuses on helping travel businesses with video production, content marketing, and Nextdoor advertising.

Sustainability

The sustainability industry includes B2B companies such as green energy, conservation, and renewables.

Since this is a highly specific market, content marketing agencies should have plenty of experience in the niche:

• Communications Strategy Group (CSG): Known for working alongside some of the biggest names in the industry, CSG specializes in content marketing, internal communications, and crisis communication management.
• ADIN: This company is branded as the ‘healthy lifestyle agency,’ working within for-profit and nonprofit sustainability niches. 
• Witty Kitty: With a focus on sustainable brands and green real estate, Witty Kitty has helped SMBs and small businesses reach warm and hot audiences with content marketing efforts.

Marketing

Even marketing companies can need a little help getting started, or additional resources from a trusted partner.

Here are a few agencies to check first:

• Siege Media: With decades of combined industry experience, Siege Media claims to create up to $7,238,000 a month in client traffic value.
• Altitude Marketing: Altitude specializes in B2B content marketing in a full-service capacity, ranging from lead generation to blog writing.
• Kworq: This creative production agency uses all forms of content to revolutionize your marketing brand, from videos and blogs to social media.

Telecommunications

With the arrival of streaming and IoT, the telecommunications industry is more significant than ever. Capturing and maintaining an audience in this field starts with having an excellent content strategy and high-quality writing.

Below are three of the best agencies for telecoms:

• Brafton: Brafton is considered one of the best content marketing agencies in the business, focusing primarily on B2B enterprises within the telecom industry.
• Straight North: With solid case studies and excellent testimonials, Straight North provides both strategy and finesse to telecom content marketing.
• Iron Paper: Iron Paper has generated thousands of leads for B2B telecom companies, offering content marketing services that follow a specialized process.

Making The Final Decision

The importance of hiring an agency in your industry cannot be overstated. Not only should they have a proven track record of experience in your vertical, but they should have the tools, experts, and writing style you need to make an impact for the long term.

When the time comes to hire a content marketing agency, be sure to take your time. Evaluate agencies by their proven work, customer satisfaction, and price point. Be sure to ask any questions you may have, and carefully consider the pros and cons of each. If experience teaches us anything, it’s that meticulous decisions often lead to optimized results.

There are many more content marketing agencies than those listed above, many of them with years of successful experience in your industry niche. That’s why research is the most critical part of making a final decision, particularly for B2B leaders. Chat with current customers, read case studies, and discuss desired deliverables with your team before signing on the dotted line.

If you want to reach software developers, data engineers, or devops professionals, schedule a call to see if we’re a good fit.

An SEO agency that specializes in B2B can be a big asset for increasing organic traffic. This article will explain how to find an agency that knows your industry and customers to get the best results.

A strong digital marketing presence is a powerful way for B2B companies to reach new customers. SEO in particular is an effective method of building this presence, capturing customers by leveraging your use of keywords, targeting, and content creation. As you might imagine, setting up an internal team can be expensive and take a long time. Using a B2B SEO agency reduces time sink, increases potential leads, and creates a solid foundation for social media initiatives, ads, and more.

Finding the right B2B agency can take time, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. In this article, we’re covering the important points of finding a B2B agency for your company, including:

• What is B2B SEO?
• The benefits of an agency
• How to find a great agency
• How long should you work with an agency?
• Sourcing an agency for your niche

What is B2B SEO?

B2B SEO (search engine optimization) focuses on helping B2B companies have a prominent position in search results, such as on Google. Leveraging SEO is a powerful way to connect the right people at the right time, which is critical to success in the world of B2B.

While B2C companies focus on consumer-based keywords, B2B SEO focuses on the phrases searched by decision-makers at work. Keywords are researched, refined, and reframed to find the best possible match for your company.

B2B SEO has many long-term benefits. Unlike advertising, which only yields results while the adverts are running, SEO-driven content can last a long time in the digital marketplace. Maintaining a good position in search rankings does take effort, but your outcome will be well worth the output. With some digital upkeep and a bit of research, you can continue to benefit from your SEO efforts for years to come.

The importance of SEO for B2B industries cannot be overstated. It has the potential to:

• Boost brand awareness
• Increase conversion rates
• Jumpstart inbound marketing
• Facilitate growth in the marketplace

From startups to established businesses, building an SEO plan can be difficult without prior experience. Trying to implement it on your own can waste precious time and revenue. That’s why hiring an SEO agency is so vital for B2B companies.

The Benefits of an Agency

B2B SEO agencies are an essential aspect of your digital marketing strategy. Not only are they handy for growing businesses, but they help to supplement smaller or newly-established in-house teams.

Agencies provide several benefits that in-house teams simply cannot. For one thing, agencies only work on your SEO and its ranking, and do not require full-time salaries. They can also diagnose and improve your ranking from an objective standpoint (free from bias).

Unlike hiring an in-house SEO team, agencies source experts in many fields. Professionals perform SEO work all day every day, meaning they know exactly what works and what doesn’t. They keep a finger on the pulse of any trends and quickly pivot to new strategies when necessary. As such, you only pay for professional writers, SEO pros, and experts on individual projects. You avoid expensive overheads like training, benefits, and salaries, and instead pay a monthly cost that covers services directly.

How to Find a Great Agency

The difference between a good agency and a great agency is vast. Not just any business is equipped to handle SEO for B2B enterprises, and inexperience could cost you in a big way. When the time comes to source an agency of your own, you’ll need to find one that specializes in your niche and business type.

There are at least six significant characteristics to look for in a great B2B SEO agency:

Latest Trends

B2B SEO agencies should be on top of the latest trends. If they aren’t continuously adapting to change and looking for ways to improve, they aren’t going to make a long-term difference in your SEO, either.

Understanding the differences between B2C and B2B marketing is also essential. Your agency should not be wasting time looking for trending keywords. Instead, they should be researching exactly what enterprise decision-makers are searching for at work.

Industry Knowledge

B2B SEO agencies need to have an excellent command of your industry, including any topic clusters and keyword research that may apply. For technical software companies or SaaS enterprises, this agency characteristic is essential. Agencies that don’t understand your service or marketplace position will probably fail to make any significant impact.

Generic agencies can move the needle a little, but they aren’t going to make the same impact as one that is knowledgeable in your niche. Agencies familiar with your product, audience, and software have a better chance of making a difference in your SEO strategy. Deeper understandings create less generic, more authoritative content that resonates with your audience.

History of Results

You wouldn’t be treated by a doctor with a history of harming patients. In the same vein, you shouldn’t hire an SEO agency with a history of failing its clients.

Stay away from agencies with mediocre or middling reviews. If an agency consistently fails to impact their clients’ SEO, it’s likely to be a waste of your time, money, and effort.

There are a few ways to check an agency for a history of results:

• Google My Business reviews can be an excellent preliminary stop. Bear in mind that not all agencies have a GMB page, and prefer to collect reviews via other methods, so don’t worry if you don’t see one for every agency.
• Ask previous clients about their experience with the agency, as well as their results. Did they feel it was worth the investment? Why or why not?
• Check the agency’s social media channels for comments, tags, and news that points to success. Radio silence is not always a warning sign, but it could be worrisome if paired with lukewarm reviews.
• Ask for case studies that prove the company’s skill with SEO. Few, misleading, or poorly composed studies should be a strong red flag.

Past results should point toward future accomplishments. Stay away from SEO agencies without a history of success.

Know Thyself

Before hiring an SEO agency, understand your goals as a company. Are you trying to rank higher on a particular search engine? Capitalize on recent keywords? Source new leads?

Sit down with your leadership team to discuss desired results. Narrow it down to two or three SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely). The bottom line: Know what you want from a campaign before sitting down with an agency rep.

Know thyself, and partner with an SEO agency that shares your values. Not only does this narrow down your potential options, but it saves time and money throughout your search.

Agency Ranking

How well does the agency’s SEO measure up? If you’re going to be paying for extensive marketing services, you want to verify that the agency knows what they’re talking about – and uses the techniques on their own business as well.

When you search for the agency, what shows up? Where on the page does the agency rank, and what kind of content makes it to the top? You want to be sure that a prospective agency can show you real examples of their work. After all, why would you pay expert fees for non-expert deliverables?

Customer Testimonials

Testimonials are powerful indications of a company’s quality. Reviews and endorsements can be sourced from a wide variety of channels, from Google Reviews to social media tips. Word of mouth is also an excellent source of information.

If you can’t locate credible customer testimonials, or if there are no available case studies, consider reaching out to listed clients about their experiences.

How Long Should You Work With An Agency?

B2B enterprises have a unique marketing format, and require some time to ramp into full gear. In other words, prepare to wait a while.

It takes time to see meaningful SEO results, even while working with an agency. Depending on the niche and how difficult it is, you can expect to wait six to nine months to see rankings improve. Once the contractual period is up, your company has two options: stay with the agency, or establish an in-house team.

Some companies choose to use SEO agencies on a longer-term basis. SEO campaigns are continuously refined to improve ranking, while other initiatives such as content marketing can be augmented to meet company goals.

Other companies prefer to build out an internal team to tackle SEO without agencies. However, consider that in-house teams can be much more expensive and take a long time to develop.

In either case, SEO work will take time to deliver meaningful results. You should expect to work with an SEO agency for about a year to see quality results.

As a side note, it’s essential to understand that SEO is an ongoing process. If an agency gets excellent results within the first year, don’t end the relationship because you think the work is done. SEO is a process that’s never fully completed, and evolves and changes as updates are made. Be prepared to stick with your agency for the long term if you want lasting results.

Sourcing An Agency For Your Niche

There are many different places to look for a B2B SEO agency for your industry. A simple Google search could yield millions of results, hundreds of which are relevant to your business, location, and campaign needs.

Word-of-mouth recommendations could also connect you with an agency in your niche. Personal referrers are more familiar with your product and industry, and offer suggestions tailored to your marketplace position.

Finally, you can seek out agencies based on their ability to follow trends, industry knowledge, and customer testimonials. These organizations should match up with your goals, knowledge base, and campaign needs, and help to increase your company’s rankings through SEO.

If you’re looking for a technical content agency, we work with our clients to create high-quality content that drives awareness and leads.

Think there’s a fit? Set up a discovery call to walk through the process. Talk soon!