"THE INDUSTRIOUS MARKETER" BLOG

Niche Marketing Strategy that Works Like Fly Paper

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If you're a B2B marketer anywhere in the English-speaking world and have searched the Web for best practices, there's a high probability that you've run across "Inbound Marketing" as advocated by HubSpot.

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The provocative set up.

Earlier today, I spied this LinkedIn question:  "What type of marketing campaigns work well to get attention of a target market for a B2B product? Would you use something like a cold call, letter, brochure, email, or other mailing?"

For me, posing such a question is akin to the toreador waving the red cape. I was compelled to answer; an edited version of which appears below. Hopefully, this fellow won't feel gored.  

The fly paper argument for B2B marketing.

Ok, let's say your B2B product involves....customized solutions....is niche focused...and your ideal customer can't easily justify internal resourcing to match your capability or capacity level. So you go to market with a full service client services approach, which adds critical value (by virtue of your niche market knowledge and attention to detail). This also differentiates your firm from the competition. And let's assume that you have ascertained that your target market believes that your offering is worth the cost and the effort, that you are prepared to communicate the value clearly and concisely, and that there are a sufficient number of targets to make it worth your while, too.

Are you with me so far? (i.e. you've nailed the initial strategy work on Product, Pricing, Market Size, Value Proposition, Positioning and Key Messages.)

Further, let's assume that by "get attention of a target market" you mean "generate qualified leads" that will fill your pipeline. In B2B, we tend to be focused on the terra firma of business development (sales and deal opportunities) rather than the abstract benefits of pure brand awareness.

Now, you can hunt for organizations that fit your ideal customer profile (or come close) by placing ads where your targets are likely to see them, exhibiting at trade shows they're likely to attend, and buying lists to send them info that will reach them directly (email, direct mail) or allow you to phone them, plus a number of other outbound marketing tactics. These efforts will connect you with some good prospects, but you'll also have wasted precious resources on finding the wrong sorts. Including some who've just completed purchase of an alternative or aren't really in the market for other reasons. Money down the drain, with a high opportunity cost.

Wouldn't it be better if you could attract the right sorts to your website in a manner that prompts them to contact you?  So that you can invest your finite resources on the highly qualified prospects?  Like fly paper. Makes sense, right?

Don't swat the air, entice and snare your targets. 

This is what Inbound Marketing is all about. It rejects outbound cold prospecting. Instead, it employs coordinated marketing tactics that expose, educate, engage, excite and enlist qualified prospects to reach out to you. Inbound Marketing leverages online techniques (e.g. web content, search engine optimization, social networking) and offline tactics (e.g. events, white papers, phone contact). While campaign designs vary widely, a key principle of Inbound Marketing is that it nurtures prospects based on their buying process stage. If Outbound Marketing interrupts with "I've got something to sell, wanna buy it?", Inbound Marketing joins the conversation with "Here's info you can use, wanna learn more?". It marries the best of marketing strategy (well designed Web sites, specific & relevant content on landing pages, keyword optimization, carefully crafted offers, etc.) with the best of consultative selling styles (industry knowledge, responsiveness to needs, attentiveness without stalking, relationship building, helpful information at the right time, etc.).

Generate demand and overcome objections.

In B2B we typically like to hook prospects early, before they've decided what the "best" solution is, so that we can mold their perception of value in a way that favors our offering. Inbound Marketing helps here, too. Moreover, it engages multiple people involved in the buying process, which helps overcome the dreaded "NO" gatekeeper problem.

Of course, certain campaign designs may work better in some circumstances than in others, or with one industry niche better than others. Industries develop dominant cultures/norms based on the inherent structure (scale, supply chain, regulatory constraints, location, etc.) and on prior experience of its people, since industries tend to hire leaders or experts with prior experience in similar businesses, who then perpetuate these norms. Here, too, Inbound Marketing tactics make it easier to refine and customize the prospect's interaction with you, making lead generation more efficient and effective.

Somewhat more effort, but exponentially greater yield.

Ah, you say, but isn't this a lot more work? Can't we just craft better copy that will increase response rates from print ads, PPC and search engine marketing?  And improve telemarketer/inside sales training? Well, you probably should do these things, too.  Making these improvements still leaves you groping and hoping that you'll see the fly and snatch it midair. With Inbound Marketing you set out the fly paper and watch 'em land and stick.