B2B Marketing During CoVID-19 And How To Thrive
When Covid-19 first became a worldwide crisis, businesses became reactionary. The focus was on keeping staff and current customers safe, so marketing and sales took a much-needed backseat. But it’s now clear that there won’t be a return to the old normal, and if B2B businesses can’t pivot their marketing strategies to adapt to the new normal, they risk going under.
In this post, you’ll learn all you need to know to navigate the new landscape of B2B marketing campaigns and how Covid-19 has brought about lasting changes.
How COVID-19 Impacted Industries Around the World
With over a year spent in a global pandemic, research is beginning to highlight the lasting impact on B2B businesses.
According to McKinsey & Company, over three-quarters of buyers now prefer digital self-service and online purchasing over in-person interactions. This was already a steadily growing trend but has now intensified due to Covid-19 worries.
When it comes to B2B businesses, Covid-19 has been somewhat of a double-edged sword. On one hand, customers are looking for more robust online tools for ordering and only 20% of B2B buyers report wanting to go back to in-person sales.
However, buyer behavior online has also changed for the better. B2B buyers are now more comfortable placing large orders online, with over 70% of buyers saying they are open to making new, remote purchases over $50,000. What’s more, around 27% would spend more than $500,000.
This opens up brand new opportunities for B2B businesses to grow their business during the pandemic and breach whole new markets.
How B2B Marketers Can Adapt During the Coronavirus Crisis
Move Your Audience Online
Even as we move into a global Covid vaccine rollout, it’s still unsafe for customers to visit brick-and-mortar stores. In fact, the current lockdown restrictions may be the final nail in the coffin of retail stores.
Now is the time for business leaders to future-proof their business strategy and move existing customers firmly online. This means optimizing your online store, creating accounts for current customers, and ensuring the process of ordering and reordering online is as smooth as in-person processes.
Offer Additional Services
Many businesses are struggling to stay above water because of Covid-19. So B2B business owners can offer value by giving the option of personal services.
This might be as simple as offering B2B customers in worst-affected areas a discount on their regular orders or a bonus benefit such as free delivery.
Automate Warm Lead Generation
Automate warm lead gen during Covid-19 with Connectionsphere.
Online lead generation can feel overwhelming, especially if you are new to online marketing strategies. But marketing automation tools take all the guesswork out of the process, allowing you to focus on nurturing customer relationships while dozens – even hundreds of – of warm leads come in every single month.
One of the best platforms to get started with as a B2B business is Connectionsphere. Our platform provides automated prospecting on LinkedIn through our own cloud accounts to bring in a qualified audience on autopilot.
Businesses that take advantage of automated lead generation software like Connectionsphere have a much better chance of surviving through this pandemic.
What the Future Holds
The million-dollar question all B2B businesses want to know is whether the current changes needed in the face of Covid-19 will be permanent. No company wants to invest in significant changes without knowing that they will be effective in the long-term.
Although it’s still not clear what the future holds for B2B marketing campaigns and sales, it’s safe to say that there will never be a full return to the “normal” of pre-pandemic.
Business strategy has changed irreversibly and the B2B companies that thrive through this evolution are those that are willing to invest in significant changes to keep up.
Digitizing your business is one way of gaining more competitive advantage than your competitors. If you’re not sure where to begin, take a look at Connectionsphere’s features and see how you can start bringing in warm leads instantly.
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