11 No-no’s of B2B Marketing
Repost: Original article by:position2

Every form of marketing has its fair share of ‘oops’ moments. But the real litmus test for you is, do you learn from those moments and ‘right’ yourself? To err may be human, but when those errors amount to loss in leads and failed campaigns, you feel the dragon breathing fire down your neck!

In this blog post, we have rounded up some common and avoidable errors that are usually made in B2B marketing:

1. Not doing your homework: It’s as simple as black and white. You need to do your market research and testing to determine any campaign’s performance. This helps avoid guessing your potential customer’s needs. Also, make sure that you have tested your products/services, offers and packages.
   
   
2. Ignoring brand focus and positioning: Have proper focus and positioning for your brand. Your marketing approach should demand an immediate response from the recipient.
   
   
3. Lacking in focus on customer needs: Do you know your customers’ needs? You really need to know them well. If you don’t, how will you fulfill those needs better than others?
   
   
4. Targeting everyone: Though every company would love to be everything to everyone, it is not possible. You need to understand that by narrowing down your target audience, you increase the prospects of your brand. So it’s better to target only those groups you can deliver quality products to without making mistakes or over stretching your company.
   
   
5. Counting on rational thinking: Marketing campaigns are planned rationally. Consumers rely less on rationale and more on instinct when it comes to product purchase. So logically planned, rational marketing campaigns may not always smack the customer in the gut. Research has suggested that emotions play a major in role in purchase decisions and also sidelines reasoning along the way. So, play down the rationale and connect with your prospective customers at an emotional level.
   
   
6. Dependency on market research: Setting store too much by market research can be risky. Data generated by market research is not always accurate. Some researches can be misleading even. Consumers are not always sure or tell the truth about what they feel. So depending too much on market research can boomerang. Research is a boon for marketers. But it is to be used judiciously if you want to avoid backfiring campaigns.
   
   
7. Getting attracted to new tools: With the number of media marketing tools available today, it is prudent to not get carried away by the fancy, enticing promotions of those tools. It is always best to look at them with a critical eye and review before snapping one up for use. Stick by what you know works instead of grabbing a new tool just because its promotions were convincing.
   
   
8. Inadequate capitalization on USP: Your USP is an intrinsic aspect of your marketing plan. It is the point that sets you apart from your competitor businesses. One of the biggest mistakes is not focusing enough on your USP. Your USP is what will help you stand out and be heard over all the digital babble of companies. So, your USP should be the highlight of all your marketing campaigns; the star attraction that you build on. Marketers who have hit the bull’s eye in their marketing efforts have always focused on their USP. For example, when FedEx was introducing a new concept in shipping, it adopted the taglines: “When it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight” and “Relax it’s FedEx”. It is evident in the first tagline that FedEx is focusing on its USP, the new shipping concept. It has gone ahead and simply highlighted its USP in a no-nonsense approach. In the second tagline, the company is highlighting its brand value. FedEx is a trusted name in the shipping and courier business. Playing on its brand name reinforces this trust in the brand.
   
   
9. Collateral overspend: Just fancy graphics and brochures without solid insightful content will hardly impress people about your business. Customers will not appreciate your business if it looks like the rest in the industry. They are always on the hunt for a business that seems different from others. So, a simple but information-rich blog from your company on how they can use your products to get more business from their customers is what will work. This kind of an informative approach to customers is more beneficial in terms of leads than regular marketing material.
   
   
10. Neglecting branding and exposure: Consumer engagement is at the top of most business priorities these days. Including B2B businesses. However, along with engagement, branding and exposure are also very important in marketing. A solid, high value brand presence and increased exposure make sure that your business is on consumers’ minds. This results in increased leads and inquiries. So make sure that your marketing channels are keeping you ahead in the race for exposure to your target audience.
    
    
11. Wanting immediate ROI: The time a customer takes to purchase a product is directly related to various factors such as the cost of the product, time to market, where they are in the product lifecycle, decision makers involved etc. The time taken for a deal to close in B2B marketing is a result of the influence of a combination of these and many other factors. Expectation of ROI should reasonably depend on an estimate of the time that will be taken by the influence of the various influential factors.
    
    

Keep these important B2B marketing no-no’s in mind when you are peddling your wares to businesses!

Do you know any other B2B marketing mistakes? Tell us in the comments section!

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