Digital marketing spending is expected to grow by 3.8 percent in 2019, with a total of $625 billion. The leading contributor to the growth remains to be the Asia Pacific, which supplies 42 percent of the global increase.

Brands are shoring up digital marketing spending because consumer attention has shifted to digital platforms, from listening on radio and watching TV to using mobile devices and desktop computers. People are communicating, learning — transacting online. And where buyers go, brands inevitably follow to raise awareness and improve reach. These buyers include businesses looking to hire other businesses.

With digital marketing strategies designed for B2B, you can generate more leads and close more deals than sticking to just the traditional marketing model. And you can get started on the right foot by diving into the shifting journey of B2B buyers.

A Closer Look at the Modern B2B Buyer Journey

The traditional B2B marketing funnel uses various marketing efforts, including purchasing lists, sending emails with content, and advertising, to acquire new leads. The prospect moves through different stages in the marketing funnel:

• Awareness
• Interest
• Consideration
• Purchase

This technique, however, may not be true today.
B2B buyers can now access information about a certain seller online. As a seller, you’ll have limited opportunities to influence the decision of your prospects. Buyers only spend 17 percent of their time meeting with potential sellers when they consider a purchase.

You should also consider the fact that 8 in 10 buyers want the same experience with business-to-customer transactions. Young business buyers are leaning toward this kind of buying experience. They are more likely, than other generations, to switch vendors to have this experience.

Satisfying millennial business buyers is vital because they comprise the largest group of buyers that research purchases. They’re not fond of cold calls, so focus on at least three factors:

• Why they should purchase from you
• Building an emotional connection
• Providing compelling experience

Digital Marketing Practices to Expand Your Reach

Since more B2B buyers go online to look for potential suppliers, it makes sense to improve your online presence. You can reach more buyers online through certain practices, including:

Comprehensive website

It may be the first point of contact your business will have with potential clients. So it should be engaging, informative, and trustworthy. It has to contain complete information about your brand and services or products. It should have content specific to your target market. And it should have calls-to-action that entice people to schedule a meeting or send an inquiry.

SEO and Content

A comprehensive website will be for nothing if it can’t be found online. Search engine optimization (SEO) helps increase your ranking on search engine result pages, which increases the traffic of your website. Strong content also contributes to retaining visitors in your website and converting them to sales.

Additionally, SEO strategies are one of the most cost-effective ways to boost brand recognition as they enable you to target B2B buyers who are actively searching for your products or services. Plus, having your website on the first pages of Google generates trust since companies on the top rankings are generally perceived to be the most trustworthy.

Social Media

Include social media in your digital marketing strategy to improve your engagement with your potential buyers. Figure out your goals and the metrics you’ll need to measure to determine the success of a campaign. But don’t just post on any platform; find out where your target market frequents. Is it LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter? Most B2B marketers have seen results on LinkedIn, which yields 80 percent of leads for most.

Social media marketing also allows your business to establish a loyal customer base. Social media isn’t limited to showcasing your brand’s products and promotional campaigns. It enables you to communicate directly with your customers and develop a bond with them. Customers appreciate it when they post comments on a company’s page and receive personalised responses rather than automated replies. This shows that the company cares for them and will also encourage their conversion from casual buyers to loyal patrons.

PPC Campaigns

Businesses demand results and they need them fast. Pay per click or PPC is perhaps the quickest way to run advertising campaigns and achieve instant results. If you have an existing website, you can create an AdWords account, set up your ads and run them on Google to start gaining traffic.

Another major benefit that PPC provides to businesses is greater exposure to their target audiences. Results are also tangible as you will be able to measure and monitor the results of your campaigns. From the moment you start a PPC campaign, you are aware of the amount of money you’re spending and whether you are generating profits or losses.

Creating a Customer Experience

Given the shift In B2B buyer journey, you should focus on providing great customer experience to B2B buyers. Otherwise, they would take their business to other sellers. But knowing your customer first is crucial before creating a quality customer experience. Understand their unique needs based on their industry, where they are in the buyer journey, and their geographic focus, among others.

Customer experience is rooted in the interactions a customer has with your company, from a web ad to a phone call. Your customers should feel valued every time they interact with your company so you can earn their trust.

Fortunately, you don’t have to work on all these on your own.

Work with digital marketing professionals to build a strong strategy. As a total solutions agency, WWHaT Digital can help you reach out to your target market and achieve the results you desire. With our comprehensive suite of digital marketing strategies, we’ll boost your online visibility, help you attract more customers and increase your ROI.

We also specialize in assisting international businesses market to the Chinese market.

Contact us today to learn more.