B2B Brand
Marketing Guide
Growing market share
Now that we understand how B2B prospects make their decisions, let’s explore how to solidify your brand within the consumer’s consideration set, protect profit margins and grow a stable market share.
Expanding your customer base
Acquiring new customers is expensive. Many B2B marketers believe increasing loyalty is the most profitable way to grow their business. Others focus on acquisition strategies, targeting new key accounts they want to penetrate.
Research commissioned by LinkedIn and the B2B Institute shows that campaigns that speak to both new and existing customers – also known as reach strategies – are the most effective.
“…campaigns that speak to both new and existing customers –also known as reach strategies – are the most effective…”
In fact, the report’s data reveals that those relying on a loyalty strategy alone showed a 0% success rate. Loyalty tends to be a side-effect of market share, and brands with a high penetration tend to have better loyalty rates.
Time to get famous
When presented with choices, or asked a question, we usually prefer to select the answer which comes to mind easiest. You may have experienced this yourself when put on the spot. Psychologists call this ‘mental availability’. In business, it’s often called the consideration set – the buying options that immediately come to mind.
For brands, ‘mental availability’ has two levels:
The first level is awareness. Your brand will have lodged in your customers’ memories, and they’ll recognise your name. However, awareness will only get you so far, and the most you can expect is to be shortlisted from the long list of potential choices. To reach the top of your customer’s mental availability, your brand will need to level up.
The second level is fame. Take IBM, for example. Everyone knows their name, and I probably don’t need to remind you of their famous line: Nobody got fired for hiring IBM. This single creative line was repeated over and over again, forming an emotional connection that made it easy to make the choice. Long after they campaigned it, we still remember it, talk about it, share it.
Nobody got fired for hiring IBM
And the winner is?
Success in B2B marketing isn’t a contest between lead generation and brand. The most successful companies apply both in their marketing mix.
But if your sales director still isn’t convinced by the data, perhaps this story will help.
You’ve successfully launched your lead generation campaign. In fact, it’s been so successful that your sales team have followed up with an excellent meeting with Key Prospect Co. Your salespeople do a great job of pitching the benefits of what you offer, and your brand makes it to the company’s shortlisting stage.
But now, your salespeople have left, and things go quiet. Key Prospect Co’s decision goes to committee, and you’re not in the room to influence the conversation.
It’s been a while since your presentation, and human memory is short. This isn’t the final stage, but you know it’s more than likely they’ll use the easiest route to jump to their conclusions. This is where brand awareness will likely drive their mental availability and get you on the shortlist. Great news!
“…brand awareness will likely drive their mental availability and get you on the shortlist…”
Now it’s a three-horse race. You’re each invited to pitch to a panel of C-suite decision-makers and the influencers who got you this far.
There may be an upstart challenger brand in the running for comparison, but the other two will be recognised brand names.
Nobody doubts your abilities to work the room as a great salesperson. But it’s a fair bet that the famous brand among the pack will already have influenced the C-suite. In fact, they’ve probably already jumped to a conclusion before you enter the room.
So, what position would you rather be in?
“Ah yes,” your sales director says, “but our ABM campaigns have made sure that everyone in the room knows who we are and what we stand for.”
True. ABM is by far the most effective B2B sales activation tool in your armoury, and a good campaign will have got you this far. But it won’t have made you famous.
Fame takes time to grow. The famous brand will have been imprinted in the minds of those executives consistently over and over again. Talked about with colleagues. Acknowledged as leaders in their sector. Collectively famous for what makes them great.
It will have made them the first name that springs to mind.
Go big or go home
Your sales director still doesn’t buy it? OK, here’s a final question for them. Why is it that when successful sales people move jobs, they’re usually tempted to work for bigger brands to advance their career?
Key takeaways from this chapter
- A strong brand keeps you top of mind when sales aren’t in the room.
- Campaigns which talk to both new and existing customers – also known as reach strategies– are the most effective.
- When presented with choices, or asked a question, we usually prefer to select the answer which comes to mind easiest. Strong brands stay top of mind with the buying audience.
- Success isn’t a contest between lead generation and brand in B2B marketing. Winning B2B companies apply both in their marketing mix.