Marketing is an integral part of business growth, but it can be hard to stay abreast of what trends are defining the industry. The field of B2B marketing is particularly interesting because it offers a combination of innovative and cutting-edge trends and tried-and-true philosophies. Because of this, it can be challenging to determine where to embrace the modern and when to lean into the conventional wisdom of marketing.
At this intersection of the cutting edge of the marketing industry and tested prowess is Sam Littlefield, the president and CEO of the Littlefield Agency, a leading B2B marketing firm based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Unlike many marketing firms that just focus on broad strategies, Littlefield emphasizes marketing strategies that directly impact sales growth. After all, the goal of marketing should always be to drive the business forward and create revenue. Littlefield gives business leaders in the B2B sector some key tips on how to ensure that their marketing efforts contribute to business growth.
Tips for how to help your B2B marketing support revenue growth
Firstly, any marketing activities should have objectives that align with the business’s goals.
“We talk to so many prospective clients who work with agencies that make things pretty or cool, but are these ultimately driving more leads and impacting a client’s business?” Littlefield asks. “Our whole program is about delivering more qualified leads for our clients so they grow in the years to come. If you’re doing $200mm in revenue annually, how do we get you to $250mm in the next three years? That’s what gets us up and out of bed every morning.”
As a key collaborator in a fundamental part of a business’s operations, a marketing agency should also have a seat at that business’s strategy table.
“The worst word in the history of language is ‘vendor,’” Littlefield asserts. “We want to be a partner — not just a marketing partner, but your business partner. When making huge business decisions or figuring out what’s next in your fiscal year, an agency should be part of these conversations. We love it when our clients bring us their top 3-5 focus areas for the next year. That helps us drive business impact through great marketing with our client’s team.”
Littlefield also suggests that businesses do not allow themselves to be limited by the restraints of their office.
“My best thinking happens when I’m on a run; some of my brightest ideas hit me on a golf course over the weekend,” he says. “Clients pay agencies money to generate unique and different ideas that ultimately drive business results. While I love being at the agency, my best thinking happens outside the office. You know what’s even better? When you’re outside of the office with a client. That’s where you can get down to the brass tacks of how their business is doing and how you can help better serve them as an agency.”
Mistakes to avoid in B2B marketing
However, even though there is no one key to success in B2B marketing, there are several mistakes one can make that could undermine a business’s success and render any attempts at marketing futile, as they will cause the potential customer to grow disillusioned with the business. The first major mistake that B2B businesses can make in their marketing is dismissing their target audience as a business.
“Behind every business is a human just like you or me,” asserts Littlefield. “We used to have a saying — the worst thing a B2B brand can do is act like one — and it’s still true to this day. Your job as a B2B marketer is to emotionally connect with the human at that business and drive them down the sales funnel to eventual purchase. It’s easier said than done, but we see so many B2B brands not capitalizing on the emotional hook. Those who do that ultimately win the day (from a marketing and sales standpoint!).”
Littlefield points out that another common problem he sees is the lack of alignment between a business’s marketing, IT, and sales teams. It’s important to remember that sales cycles are much longer in the B2B world.
According to Littlefield, “The role of marketing and IT teams is to soften the beaches for sales teams to come in for the quick (or eventual) close.” To achieve this synergy, businesses must have all of their teams aligned under the same strategic initiatives.
Littlefield goes on to explain how, in an industry like marketing, where fresh trends can dominate a business’s content strategy, it can be easy to get swept up in those trends and produce content solely for the sake of producing content.
“We live in a content-centric world, and it can be overwhelming and exhausting to keep up,” explains Littlefield. “I talk to many prospective B2B clients who have zero content strategy, so their team ‘wings it,’ but that simply won’t win the content day in the long run. From the top of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel, what is your approach to content, and how are you hooking people down that funnel to become your future brand loyalists?”
However, by avoiding these mistakes and embracing Littlefield’s advice, businesses can use their B2B marketing efforts to help drive sales and increase revenue for their business. Finding the right PR firm to be your partner in B2B marketing is what you need to do to make the most of your marketing funnel.