Thanks to the modern digitalisation, the amount of data produced every day is simply incredible. A recent study revealed that, approximately 70.5 million new posts are produced each month equating to about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data a day! (Source: hostingtribunal.com)Many companies believe in sharing their brand message to a wider scope of people on the grounds that, the broader their reach, the more they will win new clients, but is that the right strategy? …probably not.

With the amount of information out there, if your company is not speaking to a specific audience, there is a high chance your message will end up drowning in that ocean of bountiful data. On the contrary, targeted marketing enables you to address your message to the right people most likely to do business with you. Defining your target audience correctly helps you to not only save on costs, but also earn more by only developing viable leads in your network.

 So how do you strategize to win in a B2B market?

Preparing to win starts long before you create that catchy hashtag for a social media campaign you would like to run. And while you maneuver through the definition process, the following questions should be your starters:

  1. What will your company bring on the table?
  2. Have you created your target customer personas?
  3. Have you done enough market research?

Core offering

Before diving into who your ideal customer is, you need to solidly understand what it is that you do best, what differentiates you from your competitors, why a potential customer would want to partner with you? What’s the number one reason your clients do business with you? What do they love most? What are their pain points? Answering these questions will help you to zoom in on your most suitable client.

Defining your core business will also lead you to tackle the question of who will benefit most from your offer, as well as what is your unique value proposition (UVP) that will set you apart from the rest. Having no UVP to distinguish you from your competition will lead you to compete only in terms of price. Identify what it is you do best in comparison to other players in the market.

Marketing personas

Creating in-depth marketing personas supports you to deliver content that is appropriate for your target audience. And because the purchasing decision in the B2B market segment is more complex, the analysis focuses on what the business needs most. Unlike in the B2C setting, one is tasked with the responsibility of identifying the unique needs of numerous decision makers in B2B.

Personalisation is your best friend when building B2B marketing personas. If you don’t dig deeper to discern your ideal customer profile, sooner rather than later, you will realise that trying to sell to everyone may lead you to actually selling to no one at all.  Answering questions such as, who is your best match? What is their buying process? How can you connect with them? will channel you to the right marketing persona.

Profound research

Before it’s all said and done, doing a thorough research about your prospective client will filter the funnel and leave you with only the right fit. From the tiny bits of information stored in your online platforms to the real conversations with your prospective clients. Tracking your site analytics and involving your colleagues who have customer data should be on board to share their perspective about the distinctive features of your customers. You can also use social media listening to find the right customers. Investing an ample time in digging up relevant information about your potential new client and the decision makers bring you one step closer to signing that big contract you have been working on!

What else should you look out for when defining your target market? Tell us below, we like to hear from you…