Who should your B2B business be marketing to?

Who I target and why

When I set up Labrakita Marketing, having a target market was essential. It meant I was able to create a brand, keep my messaging (and resources) focussed, maintain my Google position, tailor my services, price my services appropriately and of course, find clients.
I can (and do) work with all sorts of different types of national clients, but the majority are:

• Technical and industrial B2B businesses
• Located within the Central Belt of Scotland
• SMEs or sole traders

I picked technical and industrial companies because for 15 years before setting up Labrakita, I worked in marketing for these types of companies (construction, engineering and B2B tech). It also takes a skill to take something complex (and sometimes a bit dry) and communicate it in a simple and engaging way.

A lot of clients like to meet face to face, and as I started out on my own, I can only stretch myself so far. Therefore it made sense to concentrate on the Central Belt of Scotland where I am based (West Lothian).

Most larger organisations have in-house marketing teams and are less likely to need my services, so I concentrated on SMEs.

Segmentation

The first thing to think about is how you want to segment the market. There are 100s of ways to segment markets, but for B2B SMEs, it will usually be based on industries, geography, business size and job roles/seniority – or a combination of all four. 

Targeting

You then need to decide which market/markets you wish to target. What segments you pick will depend on various factors, but here are a few things to consider:

• Does your experience in an industry give you a competitive advantage in that market?
• Who are the decision-makers? You may need to include a list of roles and seniority levels depending on who is involved in the decision-making process.
• Size of business to target. Do larger businesses have the service you offer in-house? Do smaller businesses really need your product, and can they afford it? You can base size on revenue, the number of employees or a combination of the two.
• How much of the globe, or the country can you realistically cover? If you offer a service that you can deliver remotely, it might be possible to work internationally. If you need to be there in person or have a product that is expensive to transport, it may be better to be national or regional. This can change as you grow.
• Competition – are the segments you are targeting already saturated. Do you have a value proposition that stands out in that market?
• Existing network – if you are just starting out, who you target may be influenced by who you already know.

Positioning 

Once you know who you want to target, you can position yourself to that segment or segments. 

Marketing is often confused with advertising, social media PR, etc., which are obviously part of marketing, but there are 4P’s of marketing and Promotion (or communications) is only one. McCarthy’s 4Ps of Marketing are Product, Price, Place and Promotion. There is more detail below on what you need to consider for each of the “4ps”.

Product (includes services)

Chances are you already had products or services before looking at segmenting the market, but over time you may develop your products or services for new markets. 

You may also find that you need to make some changes to products or tailor your services somewhat once you have defined your market.

For example, you may sell building products to developers but discover that architects are the key decision-makers, with a different set of criteria. Or you may offer IT services to large organisations but find that there is more opportunity within the SME market and have to adapt the services you offer.

Price 

Different markets have different budgets and different importance placed on various aspects of their business. There will also be different standard payment terms within different segments. This will have an impact on how you price your products and services (it may also mean that you have to re-look at your product if you need to reduce prices, so profit is not impacted).

You may even need a different pricing structure for different types of customers. For example, you may sell to SMEs who typically sign up to 30-day payment terms, but also have large multinational customers who have 90-day terms. You may decide to charge those large multinational companies more and charge a deposit before work is carried out to reflect the impact on your cash flow.

Place (sales channels)

Where customers (or end-users) of your products and services prefer to buy will decide where and how you sell.

If you sell products, your target audience may want to go to a one-stop-shop where they can buy products from other manufacturers, and you may have to sell via a distribution channel. They may prefer to buy directly online, and you need an e-commerce website. They may want to set up an account with you directly and deal with you by phone and email. It may be a combination of the three.

It is the same with services, does there need to be an intermediary, do you need to set up your website so that time can be booked and paid for, do you need to set up individual accounts?

Whatever works best for that segment is where you should be to maximise your chance of a sale.

Promotion

Once you know who your target market is you can get your messaging right, you can make sure that you are focussing on what the benefit of working with you is to them. Whether their main focus is increasing revenue, health and safety, cost savings, mean time between failures or reducing man-hours, you can make your message relevant to them. It also means that you can speak their language, use their industry terminology, use simple English etc. This will also help with your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). 

It also means that you can get your message in front of the right people by using the communication channels that they will see. You can make sure that you are using the right social media channels, industry magazines, paid search etc. If you identify specific potential customers, you can also look at direct marketing such as phone calls and mail.

Other audiences

As well as potential customers, you need to consider other people you need to communicate with. This could be employees, job applicants, board members, investors, member of the press etc. Depending on what impact you have, you may also need to consider local communities and government bodies.

These will all have different needs and wants, and you will have to adapt your communication accordingly.

If you need any help deciding who your target audience should be, or any help positioning your business in line with them, call me on 07791 521439 or email me at samantha@labrakita.co.uk

Author: Samantha Tonge, Marketing Consultant, Labrakita Marketing