5 Creative Digital Marketing Solutions for B2B Companies
The B in B2B does not need to stand for BORING.
Numerous times in my B2B marketing career, I've heard the same old story that content and digital marketing is tedious and boring. Content should be serious and professional and B2B marketers need to use the "boring" social media outlets such as LinkedIn.
It's time to throw that logic out the window.
In the digital age, our target markets in the B2B world are becoming more and more tech-savvy and they are spending more time on social media networks. What might attract their attention even more than a content marketing article piece? Here are 5 creative ideas for conducting B2B digital marketing.
Warning: Use with caution and continue to apply B2B marketing best practices.
- Webinars & YouTube Channel
Does your company sell something completely boring? Make it interesting by putting faces to that product or service. Conducting webinars is a great way to get your audience engaged and to get an expert in front of the target market (figuratively of course). Take the webinar one step further and set up a YouTube channel where your target audience can access articles or perhaps interviews with your management and operations team about industry trends and/or new products and services.
Think about it: would you rather download a PDF (which is probably protected by a landing page that prompts you to enter personal info) or watch a public video?
- Slideshare Presentations
Slideshare is increasingly becoming a powerful and recognized tool in B2B marketing. In B2B where customers are potentially researching topics and trends in the industry, Slideshare allows you to lead them to your presentations. Make these presentations interesting with creative content and creative graphics. However, be sure not to give away too much information upfront. The point is that you want your audience to contact you for more information. Keep presentations to 20-30 slides max and keep the slides aesthetically pleasing!
- Infographics
Infographics is content marketing for the digital generation. We are too busy and too distracted to focus on lengthy articles. Infographics are a creative way to present information and statistics using fun graphics that people will actually read. People love reading facts and statistics and an infographic allows you to present this information in a creative image that you can share on your social media sites. Try pairing your Infographic with a teaser like: "This infographic will explain everything you need to know about the XXX industry". It gets your point across in less words.
- Multiple Twitter Accounts
Consider having employees create Twitter accounts in order to create faces for the company. The company Twitter account will most likely stay professional and be the source of your content marketing and company updates and announcements. Create a profile for the marketing person and/or salespeople and have them tweet more "light-hearted" info such as industry trends and statistics as well as company events. It allows your B2B company to have a more "human" touch.
- Contests
Sometimes our customers just want a break from the seriousness of marketing and sales. Creating contests at trade shows where you announce the winner via social media is a great way to get people to connect with you online. You can also create contests online by rewarding people for taking a marketing survey. Companies can also create contests using hashtags by asking people to hashtag a certain topic and get people talking about a trend. One simple contest I actually saw a competitor do (hey - have to give credit where credit is due) was post Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pictures of customers who photographed a marketing gadget of the company in various creative locations.