When B2B marketers don’t have a map, any direction can be the right one.
In your industrial marketing pursuits, research is important. Research will tell us where you are and where you’ve been. However, research does not answer the $64,000 question – where do you want to go?
I’ve worked with a lot of clients who have terrific products and offer great services, but muddle along, adrift in the sea of marketing, bobbing with no direction, no apparent plan.
Lacking a plan is not good, and according to our latest international marketing survey, nearly 25% of respondents reported having no formal marketing plan.
My colleague, Bob Parina, recently wrote an excellent piece on the 5 pillars of industrial marketing, noting that the first and most important pillar is having a solid plan in place.
Although this is the most important pillar, a b2b marketing plan is the piece I find missing most often. Taking the time to determine the ideal customer for your business drives subsequent questions and answers through the entire program. Analyzing your competitors will provide a mirror for your own business – identifying what makes you unique in turn provides messaging for use in your outbound marketing. An industrial marketing plan creates a historical record, allowing you to track meaningful statistics.
Time invested in a marketing plan is time well spent.
Time invested here is indeed well spent.
Establishing goals creates a destination which focuses and coordinates our collective marketing efforts.
For us at CoreElement, we work with our clients to identify opportunities and design a marketing strategy which addresses specific problems and solutions. By identifying segments within your overall market, it becomes possible to deliver strategic messages which are tailored to each individual.
The “who” helps to answer the “what.” Knowing your target market (the who) answers what information they will need to make their purchasing decision (the what). Initial website visitors aren’t in a position to make a capital investment, but are seeking information to solve a problem or to grow their business.
Delivering specific, targeted information to prospects at each stage of the buying process helps to identify and nurture qualified prospects. This allows your sales force to reach out at the right time.
When looking for industrial marketing success, being in the right place at the right time isn’t a matter of luck. It is a matter of planning.
