Business to business services need tailored marketing

If your business sells services to other businesses, your marketing challenges are different from those of a retailer.

You don't sell goods made by other people.

You don't sell something which your market can see and touch.

And you don't sell to individuals.

That's why strategies which work for a retailer won't work for you.

Business-to-business services marketing is a different game from fast-moving-consumer-goods, and even the business of selling products to a business market.

A simplistic "sales will follow brand awareness" approach can work in the individual consumer market, and for selling goods to other businesses. But the marketing of services is different.

Marketing strategies for those in the business services sector need to take into account the unique needs of each situation. What works for one will not necessarily work for another.

So how can you "pick and mix" the most effective marketing strategies for your business?

Here's some of the key issues you need to consider:

Target market – is your market small business, medium-sized private companies, listed companies, multi-national corporations, government departments or agencies, or not-for-profit organisations?

Which part of the organisation does your service benefit? General management, HR, IT, sales, operations?

Who are the decision makers? Is it just one person, one person with input from two or three subordinates, one person with approval from a superior, or will it be a committee decision?

What is the market's knowledge – Do they know exactly what the problem is? Do they know you can solve it? Or is it possible they don't even realise there is a problem? Will you have to educate the market about the problem before you can sell a solution?

What are the market's value perceptions? What are they based on?
What objections and questions are commonly raised about the type of service you provide?

How easy is it for potential customers to make a decision? Does a decision usually take a day or two, several weeks, several months, or a year or more?

The answers to these questions not only define the marketing challenges unique to your business. They give some important clues to strategies which will work for you.

For example, if you provide high-value services to large organisations, more than one person will be involved and it is likely a decision will take some months.

In these circumstances you need "Pull Marketing" strategies to generate inquiries based on the target audience's interest in the problems that you solve, plus "outreach marketing" which targets key organisations you wish to do business with.

You also need a communication strategy to keep in touch with prospects who respond to your pull marketing and those who you actively target, while they move towards a final decision.

Once you find what your marketing needs to do, you can develop strategies which meet those requirements.