Most B2B marketing campaigns are doomed before they even get off the ground. From lack of research and understanding of the customer to uncoordinated marketing, most B2B marketing efforts fail to meet expectations, resulting in wasted resources, lost revenue, and decreased overall faith in marketing on the whole.

Within our agency, we’ve seen it time and time again – B2B companies put together a marketing strategy on the fly, without properly thinking things through. Ultimately, this leads to CEOs losing faith in marketing, putting even more pressure on already struggling campaigns and marketing agencies who are being paid to perform the impossible task of marketing a company with no clear positioning strategy, product-market fit, irresistible offer, or understanding of their ideal customer.

This article is not intended to be a rant about the state of B2B marketing, but rather an exploration into why most B2B marketing efforts don’t work and what you, as the CEO, CMO, VP, or Marketing Director can do in order to make sure your B2B marketing campaigns deliver results (and don’t suck).

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Why should you listen to us?

Here at Revved Digital, we’ve worked with dozens of B2Bs in industries ranging from manufacturing to crypto to healthcare, and we have seen first-hand what works (and what doesn’t) in the world of B2B marketing. Over the years, we have spent countless hours learning, testing, and refining our approach to effective B2B marketing – and we’ve done this through actually working with B2Bs and delivering results, not from behind a desk dreaming up the perfect marketing strategy that might work in theory (like so many other “consultants” do!).

We believe that effective B2B marketing requires a blend of market research, positioning strategy, product-market fit, and tactics such as content marketing, SEO optimization, email automation, and more.

So, while we in no way consider ourselves to be the absolute authority on the topic of B2B marketing strategies, we do believe that we have the experience and knowledge to give you a 360 degree overview of what good (and bad) B2B marketing looks like.

Additionally, keep in mind that we’re not here to give you a one-size fits all solution, but instead we will provide some helpful insight into what good B2B marketing looks like.

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Why does most B2B marketing fail?

The majority of B2B marketers, while they mean well, fail to understand that marketing is so much more than just running a few ads and posting on social media. They fail to understand the importance of positioning, research, testing & measurement, and product-market fit. Each of these concepts are complex in their own right, and in order to “win” at marketing, you have to understand each of them and be able to execute on all fronts.

So, why do most B2B marketing campaigns fail before they gain any real traction?

It boils down to the following reasons:

1. Uncoordinated Marketing. Marketing that’s uncoordinated, unclear, or fragmented will never work. B2B marketers have to understand the bigger picture of their marketing efforts and make sure that all of their tactics are working together in harmony in order to achieve success.
2. Lack Of Positioning. Positioning is tough. For B2B, it’s even tougher. While it’s easy to assume how you think your brand should approach positioning within your market, the only way to truly understand positioning is to conduct deep market research. This takes time, and as such, most B2B marketers fail to do it – or worse, they think they can guess the answers without doing any real research.
3. Unclear (Or Unrealistic) Goals. Having goals that are unclear or unrealistic is a surefire way to fail at B2B marketing. You have to be able to set realistic goals that are measurable and achievable – otherwise, you won’t know where you’re going (or if you’ve achieved success).
4. Lack Of Research. Researching your competitors, ideal customers, and market trends is a must for any successful B2B marketing campaign. Without doing the research, you won’t be able to understand where you stand in relation to your competition and what you need to do in order to succeed.
5. No Testing & Measurement. Testing and measurement should go hand-in-hand with your B2B marketing efforts (in fact, they should go in hand with any and all marketing efforts, not just B2B). B2C companies have effectively mastered the art of testing and measurement, but unfortunately, B2B marketers tend to lag behind.
6. Product-Market Fit. While this is not necessarily a marketing item, product-market fit is critical to the success of any B2B. Without a product-market fit, you can have all the marketing in the world and it won’t matter – you will still fail to gain the traction you need.
7. Skipping Important Steps. It’s easy to get excited and want to throw money into your ads, or your SEO, or on a shiny new website. But if you do this without paying close attention to what comes next, before, or after, you will be quickly disappointed with the lack of results.
8. Not Understanding The B2B Buyer Journey. As marketers, we’re all familiar with the concept of a customer journey. In B2C marketing, the customer journey is (usually) simple. In B2B, however, it’s a bit different. And, while here at Revved Digital, we love the idea of ethically stealing ideas from B2C marketing campaigns, simply copying + pasting a strategy that was developed for a completely different type of customer is a sure-fire way to fail at B2B marketing.

While we can’t speak for every B2B marketer, we can confidently say that these eight points are often the root cause of why many B2B marketing campaigns fail. Now, we’re going to take a closer look at each point and provide a solution.

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Uncoordinated marketing, and how to avoid it.

Uncoordinated, fragmented marketing is by far the worst culprit when it comes to B2B marketing failure. So, what exactly is uncoordinated marketing? Before we can explain what uncoordinated marketing is, let’s first take a look at what the average B2B marketing team looks like…

Scenario 1: Fully in-house marketing department.

While relatively uncommon, there are many B2B companies out there who have adopted a full-time, in-house marketing department approach. This is great as it allows the B2B company to have access to all of their marketing team members at any given time, however, this can also lead to something that plagues many B2B companies. On their team, they might have any combination of…

1. Marketing directors…
2. Graphic designers…
3. Copywriters…
4. Social media marketers…
5. PPC/Content Strategists…
6. Analysts…

All led by a CMO, Marketing Director, or VP of Marketing.

All of these people, while knowledgeable in their respective fields, are not always working together in a cohesive manner. As such, they may be creating campaigns that do not align with the overall goals and vision of the company as a whole.

Scenario 2: Hybrid marketing department.

In our experience, this is the more common approach B2B companies take to marketing their companies, especially in the middle-market range. A hybrid marketing department consists of one or a very small number of marketing employees, namely…

1. A marketing director…
2. A marketing “generalist”…
3. A marketing manager…

And this person answers directly to either the CEO (or, commonly, the VP of Sales).

On top of having this one person (or very small team), the company is also supported by an agency or several agency vendors who collectively handle…

1. Social media management…
2. Advertising…
3. Video…
4. SEO…
5. Content marketing…

And so on.

The issue that arises with this approach is that, despite having a “marketing team” in place, the various pieces of the puzzle are not necessarily connected – meaning campaigns or strategies may be running at cross-purposes to one another.

Both of these scenarios lead to the same exact outcome:

Uncoordinated, fragmented marketing.

With all of these cogs inside of your marketing “machine” spinning independently of one-another, it’s very possible – and even likely – that they will eventually begin to operate out of sync, leading to an uncoordinated, fragmented marketing campaign. Please keep in mind that this does NOT mean that the team is not capable. Each individual member of the team is probably an expert in their respective field, however, without a cohesive strategy and direction – all of that knowledge is wasted and the expert is left to their own devices, spinning in circles and getting nowhere.

The solution? Having a unified strategy, with each team member working together to create a single vision for the overall marketing campaign. This means that everyone is on the same page and knows what their role is in the larger goal of the company’s success.

Instead of looking at individual “marketing campaigns”, take a look at your overall marketing strategy and then determine where each campaign fits into that strategy.

What do we mean by this? Put simply, take each individual campaign (e.g. social media marketing, content creation, advertising etc…) and then think about how it fits into your goals as a company. Keep in mind that those goals should not be to “show up higher on Google” or “get better ROAS”. The goals should be more focused on making meaningful progress towards the company’s larger vision, and showing up higher on Google is just a way of doing that.

By shifting your view of marketing campaigns from individual tasks to part of a larger, unified strategy, you can avoid the common pitfalls of “B2B marketing sucks” and instead create campaigns that will drive real results for your company.

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Positioning your B2B brand as an essential supporting character in their story.

If you think about the B2B customer – or any consumer, for that matter – they all have one thing in common: they are the main characters of their own stories. They are the protagonist, and your product or service is simply a supporting character. As such, it’s important to position your B2B brand as an essential part of their story – something that adds value and helps them reach their goals.

This is where many B2B brands get positioning wrong.

Instead of positioning themselves as essential to their customer’s story, they position themselves as the main character – leading with features and touting product specs. This is a surefire way to drive your customers away, as it fails to recognize them as the protagonist of their own stories and ignores what really matters: how your product or service helps THEM in THEIR unique journey.

Why positioning matters in marketing.

Positioning is one of the most important aspects of any successful marketing campaign. It is what sets your brand apart from the competition and makes you stand out in a crowded market. By positioning yourself as an essential character in your customer’s story, you can build relationships with them that will last long into the future – rather than just seeing you as another vendor who is trying to sell them something.

By putting the customer first in your positioning – and taking the time to get to know their needs, goals, and motivations – you can create a marketing campaign that resonates with them on a deeper level. This will lead to more meaningful connections and better long-term results for your company.

The B2B that fails to position correctly will inevitably fail. By taking the time to understand your customer and their needs, goals, and motivations – you can create a marketing campaign that resonates with them on a deeper level and leads to more meaningful connections. Better positioning will also lead to better long-term results for your company as well.

How to approach positioning.

Let’s go back to looking at your customers as the main characters of their own stories for a moment. In order to get your positioning right, you need to ask yourself:

1. What is the challenge that my customer is facing?
2. How can my product or service help them achieve their goals?
3. What are the benefits of working with me over another vendor?

The answers to these questions will give you a better understanding of how to position your B2B brand in their story, and ensure that you are speaking directly to their needs.

Once you understand the challenges they face and how your product can help them solve those challenges – you can start creating content and campaigns that focus on these points.

Let’s say that you are a manufacturer of solar panels. Your customer is a roofing contractor who needs to find the best solution for their clients’ homes. In order to position your product or service as the essential supporting character in this story, you can create content and campaigns that focus NOT on how your solar panels benefit your customer’s customer, but how they benefit the roofing contractor. By focusing on the contractor’s needs, you can show them how working with your company will make their job easier and more profitable, and how THEIR customers will benefit too.

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Unclear (or unrealistic) goals will kill you, every time.

Having a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with your B2B marketing campaigns is essential. Without a goal, you won’t be able to measure success. Some common goals for B2B campaigns include increasing brand awareness, generating leads, improving customer loyalty and retention, or driving sales.

All of these are valid goals – but they must be realistic and achievable.

Let’s say that you are a SaaS company with a software that benefits family-owned dentists keep better track of their patient records. If you are currently sitting at $10M ARR, and your overall goal is to get to $20M ARR by Q4 2023, what are a few smaller goals you can set in order to reach that larger goal?

Here are some examples:

1. Increase website traffic by 200% by Q3 2023…
2. Generate 100 qualified demos each month…
3. Increase customer loyalty scores by 15% across all channels…

By setting smaller, achievable goals along the way, you can measure your progress and make adjustments to ensure that you remain

We have all heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals, but what do you know about OKRs?

S.M.A.R.T. goals are the classic method of goal-setting, but OKRs are quickly becoming an increasingly popular way to set and measure goals. OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results, and it is a system that allows you to set specific objectives (goals) and measurable key results in order to track progress towards those goals. They can be used to measure success on all levels – from individual performance to company-wide objectives.

OKRs are not necessarily better than S.M.A.R.T. goals, but they can be a useful tool in helping your team stay focused and motivated while tracking progress towards larger goals. By setting specific and measurable OKRs, you and your team will be able to pinpoint and identify any areas where you are falling short, and make the necessary changes to get back on track.

How do OKRs work?

Understanding how OKRs work is the first step to implementing them in your B2B marketing strategy. The basic structure of OKRs consists of an objective, which is a measurable goal that you want to achieve; and several key results, which are milestones or deliverables that must be achieved in order to reach the overall objective.

1. Objective: This is the overarching goal that you are trying to achieve. It should be ambitious, but achievable.
2. Key Results: These are measurable goals that need to be achieved in order to reach the objective. They should be specific and challenging.

Let’s go back to the B2B SaaS example from above.

Our overarching goal is to increase ARR from $10M to $20M within 12 months. While difficult, this is certainly not impossible. Especially when you apply the OKR model to your B2B marketing strategy.

In order to achieve that overall goal, one objective would be to increase your website traffic by 200% before Q3 2023. We have seen this done within our own client work, so this is absolutely an attainable objective. But, what would some key results be to measure our progress towards that objective?

In order to accomplish a 200% increase in website traffic within 12 months, based on our experience, here are some specific key results you should aim for:

1. Publish 10-20 keyword-optimized blog posts every month for 12 months…
2. Improve the technical on-page SEO of your website…
3. Think about your off-page SEO strategy…
4. Invest in PR for your company…

By focusing on each of these key results every month, you can measure your progress and make adjustments where needed to ensure that you reach the ultimate objective.

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Lack of research leads to failure

While not always the most exciting task, research is an essential part of any successful B2B marketing strategy. It’s important to know your target audience, understand their needs and wants, and create content that speaks to them. If you don’t take the time to do this research upfront, you may find that your campaigns will fail to resonate with your target market.

But, what, specifically, should B2B marketers research?

Your competitors…

Researching your competition helps you understand what’s working and not working for your competitors, as well as gain insight into how you can differentiate yourself. By constantly keeping an eye on what your competition is doing, you can stay one step ahead. Keep an eye on…

1. Their advertising on Google, social media, and other platforms
2. The content they’re publishing
3. Their website
4. Their SEO
5. Their PR strategy
6. Their social media strategy

What you want to look out for is any areas where you can differentiate yourself and make your B2B marketing campaigns stand out. Maybe there is something they are doing that seems to be working, but you see an opportunity to do it even better. Or, perhaps, they’re not doing something that you could capitalize on.

These are things that you would simply not know if you were not researching.

Your customers…

Researching your customers is another important step in developing a successful B2B marketing strategy. Knowing your ideal customers is key to creating content and campaigns that will resonate with them.

Some of the areas you should look into include…

1. What are their pain points?
2. What do they value most?
3. How do they prefer to consume information?
4. Where do they spend the most time online?
5. What do they need to make their job easier?
6. What other companies and brands do they buy from?

By gaining insight into these questions, you can create content and campaigns that speak directly to your customers’ needs and create an offer that is positioned in a way that resonates.

Other industries/verticals…

This might sound unorthodox, but researching other industries and verticals that are unrelated to your own can be beneficial. The idea is to look for ideas and strategies that you could implement in your B2B marketing campaigns.

For example, if you’re targeting a specific industry like healthcare or finance then researching how other industries outside of your own are using digital marketing techniques can help inform your strategy. Take a look at your customer profile, and decide what other brands and companies they are exposed to in their day-to-day lives. Research how those brands are using digital marketing and look for ideas that could be implemented in your own B2B strategy.

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Measurement and testing can make or break your success

Measuring the success of your B2B marketing campaigns is critical. It’s the only way to know if you’re on the right track and making progress towards your goals. Without measuring, it’s impossible to know what works and what doesn’t – therefore, rendering any effort in vain.

Tools like Google Analytics are great for tracking the performance of your campaigns. By setting up tracking codes and goals, you can track activity on your website and make informed decisions about how to adjust your strategy moving forward.

Here at Revved Digital, we give all of our marketing clients access to a live reporting dashboard, alongside weekly or monthly reports. This ensures that we can make timely adjustments to campaigns based on data and performance, as well as keep our clients up-to-date with progress.

The danger of failing to measure.

Too many times have we seen companies pour money into marketing campaigns with no understanding of the return they’re getting. Without measuring and testing, it can be difficult to know what works and what doesn’t – and if your campaigns are succeeding or failing. If you are running ads to your landing page with the goal of getting leads to download a PDF, and then, ultimately, schedule a demo with one of your sales reps, you need to be tracking your ad spend, CTR, conversions, booked calls, appointments set, close rate, etc.

Measuring each of these steps will help you to identify bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement. You can then adjust your campaigns accordingly, and generate more leads, appointments, and sales with the same budget or even less.

Testing based on measurement results.

Running A/B split tests on landing pages, emails and other elements of your campaigns is another great way to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your efforts. By testing different versions of these elements against each other, you can learn what works best for your customers and make adjustments accordingly.

What most B2B marketers fail to recognize, however, is that split testing for the sake of split testing is not all that useful. In order to effectively split test, you need to know why you are split testing that element, what changes you are making, and what result or outcome you’re expecting from the test.

By taking a data-driven approach to your split tests, you can ensure that the results of your campaigns will be as effective as possible.

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Without product-market fit, you’re dead in the water.

Product-market fit is critical for any business, but it’s especially important in the B2B space. If you don’t have a product or solution that solves a problem in the market, then no amount of marketing and sales efforts will help – it won’t matter how hard you try.

What is product-market fit?

Product-market fit (PMF) is a term used in business to describe a situation in which a product or service has been successfully designed to meet the needs of a particular market. In order to achieve PMF, a company must achieve significant market penetration and produce profits by gaining market share from rivals.

Achieving PMF is often considered the most important milestone for a startup, as it indicates that the company has found a successful niche in the market and can begin scaling its operations. Achieving PMF also allows a company to focus on long-term profitability rather than short-term gains. Without PMF, no amount of marketing will help – your product or service simply won’t be successful. To maximize the success of any B2B marketing campaign, it is essential to first achieve a solid product-market fit.

What if your company is already profitable, but you don’t have PMF?

Achieving PMF is not always a matter of having the right product or service. Even if you have a profitable business, there may be opportunities to increase revenues and profits by making adjustments to your products or services in order to better meet customer needs.

Or, if you can’t make adjustments to your products or services (without a great amount of effort), at the very least, shift your approach. Target a new market or use a new sales strategy to increase your chances of success.

Most B2B companies made their first sale before the even knew whether they had PMF.

It’s easy to look back with hindsight and say that you should have been focusing on achieving PMF earlier – but the truth is, many B2B companies make their first sale before they know whether they have a true product-market fit. The key is to keep an eye out for signals in customer feedback and market trends that indicate whether you have achieved PMF or not.

If it turns out that you haven’t, don’t be discouraged – just make the necessary adjustments to your product, service, or approach, and continue improving until you achieve PMF. It may take some time and effort, but achieving a solid product-market fit is the key to success with B2B marketing.

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Most B2B marketers are guilty of skipping important steps.

Skipping important steps in the B2B marketing process is a common mistake that many marketers make. From focusing on the wrong customer segment to skipping split tests and not giving enough thought to product-market fit, there are plenty of steps that can be overlooked in B2B marketing campaigns. Here are some of the more common important steps that many B2B marketers tend to overlook…

Running ads to a website, instead of a landing page.

When running ads, it is easy to forget that you need to direct customers to a specific page on your website that’s built for the particular campaign you are running. Having a dedicated landing page that is tailored to the campaign will help ensure customers are being directed to the right information and increase your chances of conversion.

By skipping this step, and running ads to a generic website or page on your website, you could be losing out on potential customers.

Improving your SEO without improving your CRO.

If your goal is to book more demos for your SaaS company, then a simple way to do this might be to increase the amount of organic traffic to your website. SEO can help you achieve this goal, but if you don’t pair it with good CRO (conversion rate optimization), then you are missing out on potential conversions.

Think about it like this: what good is 4,000+ extra visitors per month to your website if only 0.02% of them are converting into demos? You need to ensure that your website is optimized for conversions – not just traffic.

Not marketing with your customers’ needs in mind.

Failure to understand who you are marketing to before launching a campaign can often lead to poor results. Before setting off, it is essential that you understand your target audience and their needs – what do they want from the product or service? How can you best reach them? What would make them decide to buy from you?

Not running split tests to see what works best.

We’ve already covered the importance of split testing, but it’s worth repeating: split testing is essential when it comes to optimizing your B2B marketing campaigns. By running tests with different variations, you can quickly and easily determine which approach works best, helping you save time and money in the long run.

Failing to track metrics and measure ROI.

Measuring the success of your B2B marketing campaigns is essential if you want to understand what works and what doesn’t. Tracking metrics such as leads, sales, cost per lead, and ROI can help you determine the effectiveness of your campaigns and identify areas for improvement.

Focusing on the wrong customer segment or market.

This ties back into achieving PMF – if you are targeting the wrong market or customer segment, then regardless of how well-thought-out your B2B marketing campaign is, it’s unlikely to be successful. Make sure you do your research and identify the right target audience for your product or service.

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Not understanding the B2B buyer journey can lead to poor results.

The B2B buyer journey is very different from the consumer buyer journey, and if you don’t understand it, then your marketing efforts could be doomed to fail. Understanding where buyers are in their buying cycle and what they need at each stage can help you create more effective content and campaigns that will resonate better with customers, leading to higher conversion rates.

At Revved Digital, we are 100% in favor of stealing ideas from B2C brands and then implementing those ideas into B2B marketing campaigns. But failure to recognize the difference between a B2B and a B2C customer can be disastrous. Take into account the subtle differences between the two when crafting your next B2B marketing campaign to ensure success:

Understand the B2C consumer mindset…

A B2C consumer is someone who is not in the market for a business purchase. They are looking for a product or service to solve a personal problem or meet a personal need. B2C consumers are usually price-sensitive and may be swayed by promotions and discounts. They are also more likely to respond to emotional appeals rather than rational appeals, and because the price point for B2C products/services is typically much lower than the price point for B2B products/services, B2C consumers are likely to make purchases on impulse.

Understand the B2B customer mindset…

A B2B customer is looking for a business purchase to meet a need in their organization or industry. They are more likely to be swayed by rational appeals and are less concerned with price rather than ROI. B2B customers are also more likely to base their purchasing decisions on long-term considerations, such as customer service and quality of the product/service.

What do they have in common?

Both B2B and B2C customers want to purchase something that meets their needs and provides value. They also want to receive quality customer service and be treated with respect. They are both swayed by testimonials (in B2B, these can come in the form of case studies, while in B2C, it’s typically in the form of user-generated-content). Additionally, both customer segments expect their sellers to be knowledgeable and up-to-date on the latest trends.

What should you avoid when marketing to the B2B customer?

When marketing to the B2B customer, you should avoid one-size-fits-all campaigns, or campaigns that don’t take into account the unique needs of each buyer. You should also avoid offering discounts and promotions that are too aggressive, as this can lead to lower quality leads. Additionally, you should avoid using overly salesy language and should focus instead on how you can solve their business problems.

Finally, it’s important to remember that B2B customers may not respond quickly to your marketing efforts. They require more research and consideration before they make a purchase decision, so be patient and don’t give up if you don’t see results right away. In our experience, the average B2B customer journey can take anywhere from 30 days to 8+ months. In some cases, it can take years before the customer makes a purchase.

Failure to understand the core differences – and similarities – between B2B and B2C customers can have devastating consequences when it comes to your marketing efforts.

By taking the time to understand the unique needs of each type of customer and crafting campaigns that are tailored to those needs, you’ll be able to create more effective campaigns that will resonate better with customers, ultimately leading to better results and happier customers.

At Revved Digital, we understand that the majority of B2B marketing campaigns fail because they simply don’t take the time to understand their customers. It takes more than a one-size-fits-all approach to craft a successful B2B marketing campaign — it requires a deep understanding of marketing, B2B customer psychology, experience, and more.

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Final thoughts…

The solution to bad B2B marketing is a lot simpler than you might think. It starts with admitting that your company has been putting out content without understanding buyer needs or wants, and then making an organized effort for research-based tactics such as testing different approaches in order achieve product/market fit before starting any campaign development process. Instead of approaching B2B marketing in a fragmented, uncoordinated manner with no regard for measurement, the difference between B2B and B2C buyers, or marketing objectives, you should look to build a strong foundation by taking a step back to understand first and then build a comprehensive strategy accordingly.

By understanding the buyer’s needs, motivations and goals and crafting campaigns tailored to their unique needs, you can ensure that your B2B marketing campaigns will be successful. And when you do, you’ll find that most B2B marketing doesn’t have to suck — it can actually be pretty awesome and fun.

At Revved Digital, we help companies create effective B2B marketing campaigns that get results. Book a call with us to learn more about how we can help you create successful B2B campaigns!