B2B Digital Marketing

The only 100% B2B-focused guide to high-profit, low-cost digital marketing! Finally, there's a comprehensive guide to digital marketing specifically for B2B companies. In B2B Digital Marketing, Michael Miller thoroughly explains how to use each leading digital marketing vehicle to successfully market any product or service to your target companies. You'll start with planning, discovering how to choose your best platforms and strategies for customer acquisition, sales conversion, and retention. Next, master crucial execution skills for web, search, social, and mobile marketing, online advertising, email, blogs, YouTube, online PR, and more. Finally, discover exactly how to measure your effectiveness, refocus based on what you learn, and prepare for the newest developments in B2B digital marketing. Whether you're a B2B marketer, product manager, sales professional, PR specialist, manager, or entrepreneur, this book will help you use new low-cost techniques to build stronger relationships, close more sales, and earn higher profits-starting today! You'll Learn How To: * Define realistic, measurable goals for your B2B digital marketing initiative * Segment your audience and identify the best digital platforms and vehicles for connecting with them * Systematically address the entire B2B buying continuum: reach, acquisition, conversion, retention, and loyalty * Create a flexible, actionable B2B digital marketing plan * Design a website that helps B2B buyers quickly find exactly what they need * Optimize your site for today's search engines and today's customers * Use tailored, targeted email to reach more customers and prospects at lower cost * Craft online advertising to reinforce organic search, support promotions, and attract web seminar participants * Drive real value from Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter * Effectively utilize blogs, podcasts, and streaming media MICHAEL MILLER has written more than 100 nonfiction books, including The Ultimate Web Marketing Guide; Using Google(R) AdWords and AdSense; Using Google(R) Search; The Complete Idiot's Guide to Search Engine Optimization; Sams Teach Yourself Google Analytics in 10 Minutes; and Facebook for Grown-Ups. Miller's books have sold more than one million copies worldwide. He has established a reputation for clearly explaining technical subjects to non-technical readers, and offering exceptionally useful real-world advice on complex topics. More information can be found at his website, www.molehillgroup.com.Introduction 1 I PLANNING 1 Understanding Digital Marketing 5 What Is Digital Marketing? ...6 Why Digital Marketing Matters for B2B ...6 Digital Marketing Keeps You Competitive ...7 Digital Marketing Is Becoming More Prevalent...8 Digital Marketing Improves Customer Relationships ...9 Digital Marketing: A 21st Century Imperative ...9 Getting to Know the Components of Digital Marketing ...10 Website Marketing ...10 Search Engine Marketing ...11 Online Advertising ...12 Email Marketing ...13 Blog Marketing ...14 Social Media Marketing ...15 Audio, Video, and Interactive Marketing...16 Public Relations...17 Mobile Marketing ...18 Migrating from Traditional Channels to Digital Channels ...19 Migrating from Cold Calling to Search Engine Marketing ...19 Migrating from Literature to Websites ...20 Migrating from Trade Advertising to Web Advertising ...20 Migrating from Direct Mail to Email ...20 Migrating from Newsletters and Phone Calls to Social Media ...21 Migrating from Trade Magazine PR to Blog PR ...21 Migrating from Live Events to Webinars ...21 How B2B Companies Can Use Digital Marketing ...22 Precision, Scale, and Marketability ...22 Understanding the Digital Marketing Process Flow ...22 Choosing the Right Digital Marketing Tools ...23 2 Segmenting Your Audience 27 Why Audience Segmentation Is Important ...28 How to Segment Your Audience ...30 Breakdown and Build-Up Segmentation ...30 A Priori and Post Hoc Segmentation ...31 Common B2B Market Segments ...32 Hierarchy of Characteristics ...32 Organizational Characteristics ...33 Purchasing Characteristics ...34 How Different Segments Use Digital Media ...35 Digital Media by Organizational Characteristics ...35 Digital Media by Purchasing Characteristics ...36 3 Planning for Reach 39 Understanding the B2B Buying Continuum ...40 Reaching Out to New Customers ...41 How Do You Reach New Customers? ...41 Marketing for Reach ...43 Using Digital Media to Reach New Customers ...43 Search Engine Marketing ...44 PPC Advertising ...45 Display Advertising ...46 Blog Marketing ...46 Online PR...47 Mobile Marketing ...47 Which Digital Media Are Less Suited for Reach? ...48 Email Marketing ...48 Multimedia Marketing...49 Social Media Marketing ...50 Website Marketing ...51 4 Planning for Customer Acquisition 53 Understanding the Customer Acquisition Process ...54 Traditional Marketing for Customer Acquisition ...55 Using Digital Media to Acquire New Customers ...55 Website Marketing ...56 Blog Marketing ...59 Multimedia Marketing...59 Email Marketing ...60 Mobile Marketing ...61 Which Digital Media Are Less Suited for Acquisition? ...61 Search Engine Marketing ...62 PPC and Display Advertising ...62 Online PR...62 Social Media Marketing ...62 5 Planning for Sales Conversion 63 Understanding Conversion ...64 Converting Customers, the Traditional Way ...66 Using Digital Media to Convert Customers ...66 Converting from Your Website ...67 Converting via Email ...69 Which Digital Media Are Less Suited for Conversion? ...70 6 Planning for Customer Retention 73 Understanding Customer Retention ...74 Retaining Customers, the Old-Fashioned Way ...75 Using Digital Media to Retain Your Customers ...76 Providing Ongoing Customer Service and Support ...76 Encouraging Repeat Orders ...77 Announcing New Products and Services ...77 Reinforcing the Customer Relationship ...78 Choosing the Right Digital Media for Customer Retention ...79 Website Marketing ...80 Blog Marketing ...81 Email Marketing ...81 Multimedia Marketing...82 Social Media Marketing ...82 Mobile Marketing ...83 Which Digital Media Are Less Likely for Customer Retention? ...83 7 Planning for Customer Loyalty 85 Understanding Customer Loyalty...86 Encouraging Customer Loyalty, the Old School Way ...87 Using Digital Media to Encourage Customer Loyalty ...87 Social Media Marketing ...88 Email Marketing ...89 What Digital Media Are Less Likely for Loyalty Referrals? ...90 8 Creating a B2B Digital Marketing Plan 91 Why You Need a Digital Marketing Plan ...92 Understanding the Elements of a Digital Marketing Plan ...93 Executive Summary ...93 Mission ...94 Situational Analysis ...94 Opportunities and Issues ...95 Goals and Objectives ...95 Marketing Strategy ...96 Action Plan ...97 Budget ...98 Writing Your Marketing Plan ...98 Putting the Plan into Practice ...99 II EXECUTION 9 B2B Website Marketing 101 Why Your Website Is Important ... 102 Designing Your Website for B2B ... 103 Keeping It Simple... 103 Minimizing Technology-and Design ... 104 Providing the Right Content ... 105 Keeping the Content Simple-and Accessible ... 106 Putting Content on the Page ... 106 Providing Content for Search Engines ... 107 Providing Easy Navigation ... 108 Considering the Look and Feel of Your Site ... 110 Creating Unique Landing Pages ... 111 Choosing the Right Content and Features ... 112 Designing Your Website for Acquisition ... 113 Organization and Navigation ... 113 Content and Collateral ... 114 Access for Everyone? ... 116 Asking for More ... 117 Designing Your Website for Conversion ... 117 Is Online Conversion for You? ... 118 Designing for E-Commerce ... 118 Providing Customer Service ... 119 Designing Your Website for Retention ... 119 Providing Support ... 120 Providing Additional Information ... 121 Providing Community ... 121 10 B2B Search Engine Marketing 123 Why Search Engine Marketing Is Important ... 124 Understanding Search Engine Optimization ... 125 Understanding Web Search ... 126 How a Typical Search Works ... 126 How a Search Site Builds Its Database-And Assembles Its Index ... 127 Examining the Major Search Engines ... 128 What Search Engines Look For ... 130 Keywords ... 131 HTML Tags ... 132 Inbound Links ... 133 Optimizing Your Site's Content ... 133 What Is Quality Content? ... 133 Why Does Quality Content Matter? ... 134 Writing Engaging Copy ... 134 Crafting SEO-Friendly Content ... 135 Optimizing Your Site's Keywords ... 136 Performing Keyword Research ... 136 Fine-Tuning Keywords for B2B ... 137 Determining the Right Keyword Density ... 138 Writing Keyword-Oriented Copy ... 138 Optimizing Your Site's HTML Tags ... 140