I am Dr. Alyx* and I am here to diagnose and resolve 8 of the most common B2B marketing mistakes.
Disclaimer: this is a safe place. A place for content marketers to be open and honest with themselves. A place for content marketers to recognize and face their mistakes. Mistakes happen, so let’s forgive ourselves, move on, and learn how to fix those mistakes.
The most common B2B marketing mistakes:
1. Talking to the wrong audience
Different businesses need different channels. As a B2B company, you need LinkedIn. With 83% of B2B marketers on LinkedIn, that is where your audience is. I also suggest getting on Facebook and Twitter; these channels are so popular that most people assume a company doesn’t exist if they are not on Facebook and Twitter. Check out our blog on picking the right channels to help guide you through selecting the social media channels that will benefit your company.
Also, take the time to build a brand strategy. You may be on all the right channels, but you may not have an identity consistent enough for people to relate to. A brand strategy will help you decide who your target audience is and how to best speak to them.
2. Avoiding change
If you don’t like change, you may be in the wrong field. A successful marketer needs to keep up with all the latest trends and changes in social media, PR, marketing, and technology. It is a lot, but it is a part of the job. If your marketing approach is outdated, people will assume your products and services are, as well. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools and tricks out there to keep you in the know, you just have to implement the change.
3. Ignoring feedback
Social media is meant to be a means of conversation – conversation meaning two-way. Just like during an in-person conversation you begin to talk, gauge your audience’s reaction based on their engagement, and change your manner, voice, tone, or content to reflect what your audience most enjoys. Ignoring what your audience wants is marketing suicide.
4. Choosing quantity over quality
Remember this: filler content sucks. Content is king, but that doesn’t mean any type of content can achieve royal status. People are bombarded with emails, social media posts, and news updates from the minute they wake up until they go to bed, so putting out content is not enough to succeed; you need to put out quality content. People would much rather you didn’t tweet for a day than have filler content clog their feeds.
We can only handle so much honesty and fixing in a day, so let’s take a break. Check back next week for four more common B2B marketing mistakes and how to resolve them.
*Self-appointed doctor of marketing and overall awesomeness
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