Most marketing agencies focus on helping companies reach individual consumers.
But what we’re talking about is helping your company sell to other companies.
At Bill Rice Strategy Group, we excel in B2B marketing, specifically for fintech companies looking to sell their Software as a Service (SaaS) to other businesses.
Forget the usual hangout spots where consumers spend their time online. We’re talking about reaching key decision makers—those business people who are online right now searching for solutions to their problems that your business can solve.
In this article, we’ll discuss our proven B2B marketing strategies that include SEO, content marketing, optimized websites, PPC ads, direct sales emails, and more.
With an extensive history of working in mortgage, lending, and fintech spaces, Bill Rice Strategy Group is here to share insights on B2B marketing strategies that will connect you with the businesses that need your software solutions.
Wanna chat? Schedule a Discovery Session to get started.
What exactly is B2B marketing?
B2B marketing is all about one business selling to another.
Unlike B2C, which targets individual consumers, B2B is about convincing entire companies why your product or platform can solve their operational headaches, or offer other benefits like enhanced workflow, reduced costs, or elevated market positions.
Spotting the difference: B2B vs B2C
In marketing, you’ve gotta understand which audience you’re selling to, and the approaches for B2B and B2C are fundamentally different:
B2C example: Bill Rice Strategy Group also builds websites for mortgage brokers and money lenders to attract individual borrowers directly. Our “direct to consumer” websites are designed to convert visitors quickly, often through progressive forms that lead to immediate follow-ups.
B2B example: We also help financial software and lending companies attract other businesses to use their software or services. This involves thoughtful marketing campaigns that target business managers, IT leaders, marketing directors, and other key decision-makers looking for solutions to their problems.
A step-by-step look at our proven B2B lead generation system
At Bill Rice Strategy Group, we specialize in comprehensive B2B marketing strategies for fintech companies selling their solutions to other companies.
Here’s specifically what we do. For more information, read our Capabilities Brief:
- Build a strategy: We start with a Discovery Session to uncover your business goals and objectives.
- Have a quarterly plan: Every quarter, we outline and document detailed, specific plans for lead generation to keep your strategy effective and up-to-date.
- Conversion optimization: We’ll craft clear and concise position statements, include “Schedule a Demo” CTAs, highlight benefits, and common use cases, and integrate a high-converting lead magnet CTA.
- SEO & blog content: We’ll write 4-6 blog posts per month to boost organic traffic and establish thought leadership.
- Email list building: We’ll develop lead magnets to grow your email lead and nurtruging leads through targeted content.
- PPC strategy: We’ll focus on 2-3 strategic product concepts or keywords to capture existing or adjacent search demand.
- B2B email marketing: Use Mailchimp for RSS-to-email newsletters and leverage Quickmail.io for efficient cold email campaigns.
- Analysis: Collaborate to optimize and grow your competitive position online.
- Reporting: Use a proven set of KPIs to measure and guide performance and maximize growth.
- Prospective tools: Use Sales Navigator and Zoominfo/RocketReach for precise prospecting and building targeted outreach lists.
- Appointment setting: Implement strategies to effectively set appointments with potential leads.
- CRM workflow and design: Customize and optimize your CRM to streamline lead management and nurture workflows.
Generating leads: the 4 essential elements of a proven B2B marketing strategy
You’ve gotta meet your audience where they’re at. And that’s online.
Your audience of business professionals is actively searching Google for reliable answers, reading industry blogs for insights, browsing LinkedIn for connections, checking their emails, and engaging in ways that are totally different than typical consumer behavior.
Since you’re not targeting individual consumers but rather key decision-makers and higher-ups in businesses, your marketing approach will be different.
Here are some B2B strategies to effectively connect with these unique behaviors so you can target the key decision makers:
1. A high-conversion website: “If you build it, they will come”
An optimized high-conversion website must be visually appealing as much as it is functional—it needs to generate leads and close sales.
At Bill Rice Strategy Group, we focus on key elements that transform your website into a conversion machine:
- Responsive design for an accessible, attractive website that works on desktops and mobile browsers
- An easy, intuitive user experience (UX) that allows people to effortlessly navigate and take action
- Clear messaging and call-to-actions (CTAs) that use your audience’s love language to get them to fill out a form
- The usual SEO stuff—fast-loading pages, SEO-friendly URLs, and SSL security
2. Blogs. Blogs. Blogs: how SEO, B2B content marketing, and thought leadership attract the right people
Websites that blog get substantially more traffic than websites that don’t blog. It’s really that simple.
Search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing (blogging), and thought leadership (acting like you know what you’re talking about) can go a long way in demand generation and generating leads from Googlers clicking on your website’s blog posts.
By the way, content marketing isn’t limited to just blogs, it can also include:
- Industry updates
- Email newsletter
- Podcasts
- Infographics
- YouTube videos
Here’s how we make sure your content strategy hits the mark:
Targeted keyword research to find your audience’s lingo (SEO)
First, we’ll do some poking around online to find keywords that your ideal clients are searching for, like “loan origination software.”
Then we’ll find related search terms, and do a bit of snooping on your competitors to see which keywords they’re ranking for.
Through the keyword and competitor analysis, we’ll start to see a pattern of which search terms get enough traffic without having a crazy amount of competition, and then decide on the set of keywords we want to start ranking for.
Writing quality blogs to offer free help (and attract Google searchers)
Now that the keywords have been decided upon, it’s time to write some blogs.
Usually around 1,000-2,000 words long, these blogs are articles that provide real value and solve problems or answer frequently asked questions in your industry.
For example, let’s say our client offers loan origination software. We can start by writing blogs such as “5 Ways Loan Origination Software Speeds Up the Lending Process” or “How Loan Origination Software Reduces Costs and Increases Profitability for Lenders.”
Consistently publishing blogs to play nice with Google and improve SEO
Regularly updating your website with new blogs each week keeps your site fresh, gives Google more keywords to add to your site, and keeps new visitors coming continually.
Also, the more often you update your website, the more Google will like and trust it, and over time will recommend your website over more static, or outdated websites that don’t blog.
Sharing your blogs on other channels (emails and social media)
Once your blogs are published on your website, what’s stopping you from publishing these on your Facebook or LinkedIn page? Or how about putting your top-ranking articles in email newsletters to maximize reach?
This is a no-brainer, especially since you’re targeting business people on LinkedIn and email.
Blogging best practices
- Use internal linking (linking to other blogs on your website) to keep readers on your site longer
- Include CTAs in every post and basically every page to convert readers into leads
- Optimize your blog posts by using your targeted keywords and related keywords enough times to have Google notice them (but not too much to be spammy or keyword-stuffy)
Using “lead magnets” to collect more email addresses on your website
Want a secret tip to collect more email addresses on your website? Have a “lead magnet” that can attract email addresses.
Think of free eBooks or exclusive downloads that are only accessible once the visitor submits their email address.
For example, a marketing director might not instinctively fill out a contact form on your website after reading a blog.
However, they might enter their email address to download an eBook titled “10 Proven Strategies to Boost Your Digital Marketing ROI in 2024: With Examples.”
That should do the trick. Now with their email address, you can continue to sales outreach and marketing emails until they’re ready to work with you.
3. Create PPC ads and landing pages to generate traffic and leads much quicker
Want to get on the first page of Google’s search results quickly? Then you’ll need to purchase pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
Compared to blogs, which can take months to start ranking well, a PPC ad can get you noticed on day one.
Just remember this though: a blog lasts forever and can bring in visitors to your website for months or years to come, but PPC ads stop showing the moment the budget runs out.
However, PPC ads will get you results—fast. At a price.
Just keep in mind you’ll need to build an entirely new landing page for PPC ads—this is the page that the visitor is directed to after clicking on the ad. Usually, these are custom-built for each ad and always have a contact form to generate new leads.
4. Sales outreach B2B email marketing: or how to reach the unreachable people
How do you reach the unreachable person? The person who doesn’t spend a whole lot of time searching Google or visiting LinkedIn or social media?
Through email. Everybody uses email.
But here’s the catch, to get their email, they need to visit your website first and submit their email. This is where blogs, content marketing, and lead magnets come into play.
With the email addresses in your pipeline, here’s examples of how to craft and schedule your sales outreach emails for maximize lead conversion:
- The weekly industry insights newsletter: Keep your key decision-makers informed on their industry’s latest trends, news, and updates.
- The monthly product updates and case studies email: Does your software solution have new updates? Use this as an opportunity to demonstrate the value of your product through real-world applications and case studies.
- Event invitations and webinars: Engage your audience by inviting them to industry events, webinars, or live demos.
Book your no-cost Discovery Session today. Choose the time that works best for you!
A note on compliance: how to practice a legally safe B2B marketing strategy
Ensuring compliance in B2B marketing isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s more like “you must follow these FCC rules to avoid being punished or fined.”
So let’s cover compliance across all the B2B marketing strategies we’ve discussed:
Opt-in consent for emails
Make sure all email recipients have explicitly opted in to receive communications from you when filling out the contact form on your website.
You must include a clear and easy way for people to unsubscribe or opt out of future emails.
Accurate and non-misleading communication
Always include accurate info about who you are and what you offer. Include a valid physical address in your emails and honest subject lines that reflect the content.
Privacy and data protection
Collect only necessary data from your prospects and ensure it’s stored securely.
Comply with regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and other relevant laws and implement measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, breaches, and security risks.
Content and advertising compliance
Make sure all content, such as blogs, eBooks, and ads is truthful and not misleading. Provide clear disclaimers if legally required.
Social media and online presence
Regularly monitor your online reputation and online presence to ensure all interactions on social media are professional and respectful (and to remove harmful spam posts if/when they happen on your pages).
B2B marketing trends in 2024 you need to know about
Keep your competitive edge by learning these B2B marketing trends. Stay informed about these trends by signing up for My Executive Brief, our premium newsletter that features weekly curated strategic notes, daily tactical briefs, and biweekly special reports.
2024 B2B marketing trends:
- Short-form videos: Use platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts to engage and inform quickly. Short-form video content is the biggest trend in 2024.
- Video testimonials and case studies: Showcase real-world success stories to build trust.
- AI and automation: Leverage AI and marketing automation tools for content creation, personalized marketing, and chatbots for customer interaction.
- Interactive content: Incorporate quizzes, polls, and interactive infographics to engage users.
- Influencer partnerships: Collaborate with industry influencers to build credibility and reach.
- Virtual events and webinars: Host webinars to engage with prospects and demonstrate expertise.
- Account-based marketing (ABM): Focus on personalized marketing efforts targeting specific high-value accounts.
- Privacy and data protection: Prioritize user privacy and comply with data protection regulations.
Schedule a Discovery Session to revamp your B2B marketing strategy
Bill Rice Strategy Group specializes in helping fintech companies build lead generation programs that fuel their sales teams and drive revenue growth.
We’ll work with your team to create a tailored lead generation and B2B marketing strategy to sell your SaaS to the companies that need it the most.
Ready to generate more leads and sell more products and services? We’d love to learn more about your business and explore how we can transform your B2B marketing approach to boost your results.
Schedule a Discovery Session with us today.
