To be profitable in the ever-changing B2B environment, not only do businesses need to keep up with new strategies and technologies, but they need to master them in record time.
The founder and president of Macro, Dan Radu, shared his insights on what it takes to succeed in today’s market in the Channel Marketing Mastery: Crafting Winning Programs episode of The SaaS Fuel™ Podcast, hosted by Jeff Mains.
First, Forge Strong Partnerships
The value of partnerships through channel marketing cannot be overstated. Business leaders should focus on seeking alliances that bring mutual benefits and align with their business objectives, to ensure long-term growth and expansion.
It may sound too simplistic, but even just thinking of your clients as “partners” first, rather than “clients” first, can do wonders for your business’s growth mindset.
Pinpoint Your Audience
The targeting strategy is paramount in all marketing activities, so partnering with businesses that are actively researching one’s products or services will certainly increase the chances for better engagement and improved conversion rates.
Personalize with ABM
When planned and performed right, account-based marketing (ABM) is one of the most powerful strategies out there. To illustrate, try tailoring your marketing efforts to cater to high-value accounts with a more personalized touch.
You’ll find that this is not only a recipe for higher conversion rates, but also one of the main advantages that smaller companies have against bigger enterprises:
- Larger companies tend to use generic messaging, while ABM allows smaller businesses to target specific, high-value accounts with limited resources.
- Smaller teams can react and adapt faster based on real-time insights, compared to enterprises whose workflows are more complex.
- ABM fosters deeper relationships with key decision-makers within target accounts, enabling them to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the target account's industry and specific challenges.
Smart MarTech Adoption
While marketing technology, or MarTech, has been indispensable for many years, it’s crucial to avoid clutter. Opt for an integrated tech stack that addresses your needs without complexity, so you can serve specific functions without getting bogged down in features you don’t need..
Dan’s top picks include:
- Intent Data: 6sense
- Marketing Automation: Marketo or HubSpot
- CRM: Salesforce
Beware of Shiny Objects
The focus on MarTech tools that solve real problems and integrate well with your existing systems saves a lot of business resources. Surprisingly (or perhaps not), many companies become enamoured with the latest trends, only to discover that what’s hotly discussed may not always address genuine challenges.
You want your MarTech stack equipped with tools that mesh seamlessly with your existing systems and support your business objectives. Before getting a new tool, make sure you’re taking the time to evaluate how it would integrate into your existing process. You can also get the services of an expert agency, well familiar with the ideal MarTech tools, to do this evaluative work for you!
Content is (Still) the Undisputed King
Quality content has always been the cornerstone of user engagement, so focus on creating high-quality assets that are valuable to your target audience. Investing in content that educates and adds value to your audience’s experience is one of the wisest long-term strategies for all modern businesses.
Are you finding it difficult to create quality content at the desired production rate? There can be many roadblocks to getting a good rate of great content, but one way to remove these roadblocks is to obtain the services of content experts. Such a team will quickly understand your business needs, hit the ground running, and accelerate your content velocity.
Set Realistic Expectations
The B2B road to success is not paved or straight. One of the many complex aspects is setting up realistic expectations and timelines, both regarding the sales cycles and in terms of marketing operations. One strategy to ensure expectations can be met is to get your marketing and sales teams to work as one. Having these teams sync together and work as a homogeneous system would be a massive plus.
Global Teams, Local Expertise
Once your sales and marketing operations are on solid ground, then you can think about growth beyond any borders! Companies that expand internationally can ensure long-term profitability, by tapping into worldwide talent and cloud-based platforms to assemble robust marketing teams.
However, clear communication and a shared company vision are of the essence, besides different time zones, regional holidays, and other cultural specifics.
The Next Step
Are you looking for a forward-looking marketing agency? Aim not only for professionals with a deep technical specialization in marketing automation and CRM, as most vendors are, but for a partner that resonates best with your audience, your company culture and your business goals. That’s Macro in a nutshell—talk to us today and we’ll help you craft your next winning program!