Choosing between the different types of B2B marketing campaigns can be tricky. But you’re not alone! With so many options available to marketers, selecting the ones which will work effectively for your business is essential.

Contents

We’ve put together a handy guide outlining the key features of the main types of B2B marketing campaigns. In this blog, we’ll cover:

• How to Choose Marketing Methods Your Audience Can Relate to
• Finding Where Your Target Audience Hangs Out
• Types of B2B Marketing Campaigns to Consider and Their Benefits
• Prioritising Which Types of Marketing to Use on a Limited Budget
• Our Top Tips for Choosing Between Marketing Methods

Let’s dive in!

How to Choose Marketing Methods Your Audience Can Relate to

Once you’ve decided on your target audience, it’s imperative that you start researching the industries they work in. This will help you style your marketing to reach them in a way they can relate to.

Some factors to consider:

• Industry culture – is it professional, fun, informal or traditional?
• Majority demographics of employees – e.g. age bracket, gender, background
• The key challenges faced by that industry – e.g. efficiency, waste, downtime

Targeting prospects in a tailored way can make a massive difference to the success of your marketing strategy. We’re not talking about stereotyping. And, of course, there are always going to be exceptions. But it’s vital you’re aware of what really makes people tick in your chosen target audience.

Is TikTok a Suitable B2B Marketing Platform?

There’s a case for marketing with short-form videos on platforms like TikTok, even within the realms of B2B!

But there are industries, such as manufacturing and logistics, which typically tend to take a conservative approach to marketing. Trying to reach prospects in these industries using TikTok is probably going to be a wasted investment.

Other industries, on the other hand, will resonate with the platform’s predominantly younger demographic and its unique style of content.

Highly-regulated industries, such as pharma or finance for instance, often have strict regulations regarding communication. So it could be challenging to effectively engage with them on social media platforms.

Key takeaway: know your target audience!

Finding Where Your Target Audience Hangs Out

Before commencing on any marketing campaign, ask yourself the following:

Where does my target audience hang out?

Reach them where they can be found! It could be on LinkedIn, among the readerships of trade journals, at trade shows…the list goes on.

Using stats here will also help to inform your choice of marketing campaigns. Look at the readership numbers for trade magazines in your chosen sector/s, percentages of visitor profiles represented at trade shows and so on.

You should also research some details of the biggest trade shows across the UK and Europe, differentiated by your target sector. This will give you a good overview of the key industry shows you should attend to learn more about your target audience.

Key takeaway: data-driven decisions are more effective and financially sound long term, when choosing which types of B2B marketing campaigns to use.

Types of B2B Marketing Campaigns to Consider and Their Benefits

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing encompasses a range of tactics including aspects of social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and more.

Key benefits of a digital marketing campaign include:

• You can reach a large audience at low cost.
• Access to real-time analytics for tracking performance.
• It’s an opportunity to connect directly with decision-makers online.

Content Marketing

This form of marketing involves creating and sharing helpful content to engage a target audience. This might take the form of feature articles, blogs, case studies and other written articles.

Key benefits:

• Builds brand awareness and credibility.
• Increases the number of high-quality links in your backlink profile which drives website traffic and generates leads.

SEO

An SEO campaign aims to improve a website’s ranking in search engine results pages. It’s becoming essential in helping businesses stay competitive in the digital landscape.

Some key benefits include:

• Gives a clear competitive advantage in terms of visibility.
• Can increase organic traffic to your website.
• Boosts your brand’s awareness amongst your target audience.

Google Ads

Google Ads is an advertising platform where businesses can run ads to reach their target audience on Google Search, YouTube, and other partner websites.

Some of the key benefits of marketing on this platform include:

• It’s a cost-effective method to achieve measurable results.
• Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns using Google Ads usually improve website traffic quicker than SEO.
• Google Ads enables you to target specific demographics and locations.

Social Media Marketing

This form of marketing makes use of social platforms such as X, Facebook and LinkedIn to share business messaging, connect with audiences and encourage engagement.

Key benefits:

• Low cost, so is a good method to trial if you’re just getting started with marketing.
• Facilitates viral sharing of content.
• It’s easy to target specific groups or individuals.

Offline Marketing

This kind of marketing is not to be ruled out. Offline marketing tactics such as print, direct mail, television and radio still offer unique advantages to businesses.

Key benefits:

• Can help build brand recognition through mass exposure.
• Useful for targeting specific geographic areas.
• Can be used to complement other forms of marketing by strengthening existing awareness.

Prioritising Which Types of Marketing to Use on a Limited Budget

Choosing which types of marketing to use is of course, related to your funds. In developing a budget, you will need to prioritise how that money is to be divided.

You’ve researched your audience and decided which types of B2B marketing campaigns they’re likely to respond well to. Next, you need to start planning how this is going to work within the constraints of your budget.

If funds are limited, a mixed media approach including a blend of video, social, content and digital marketing is a must. Don’t be fooled into thinking that spending all your precious funds on the newest, most technical type of marketing will work.

Across the business spectrum, people absorb information in different ways. By using a mix of methods, you’re more likely to reach a larger number of people in a way they can relate to.

Using a mix of methods also helps improve awareness and brand building. Remember the seven touches rule of marketing? The idea is that it takes an average of seven interactions with your brand before prospects will make a purchase. By engaging customers using multiple methods, your visibility will be stronger than it would be with one single type of marketing.

Working out how best to divide your budget between different types of B2B marketing campaigns can be daunting.

Check out our handy guide exploring how to best allocate your marketing budget across multiple channels for a deep-dive into this topic.

Key takeaway: use a good variety of B2B marketing campaign types.

Our Top Tips for Choosing Between Marketing Methods

When choosing which marketing campaign will best help your business to reach its goals, make sure you:

• Know your target audience and tailor marketing to them.
• Use data as evidence to support your choice of marketing methods.
• Use a variety of methods as this is more effective, even when funds are limited.

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