As manufacturers, engineering and science-based companies grapple with the effects of the pandemic, Move Marketing’s Alex Cairns explains how using a strategic planning framework can help B2B-focused companies strike the right balance between self-preservation and pinpointing opportunities to attack competitor market share.

When it comes to industrial/B2B marketing, people aren’t so much buying for pleasure as they are buying to reduce pain (and with someone else’s money!), meaning that a completely different approach is required. Item values can be much higher, the typical sales cycle is much longer (in certain cases up to 18+ months) and there are more decision makers working through a far more complex buying process that demands more information and looped steps to reach a final purchasing decision.

Consequently, B2B marketing needs an almost ruthless approach in terms of focus, data, analysis and, most critically of all, strategy. This is critical in terms of balancing brand requirements with lead generation, as brand strength is directly proportionate to your ability to attract and convert leads. Strategy helps with this by quantifying the ultimate value of marketing to an organisation.

Applying a structured framework sets the baseline and foundation from which you can consequently bolt-on individual campaign plans that may be developed for a specific product group, geographic region or business unit. To use a sporting analogy, think of the overall strategy as the team’s overall playing style, philosophy and approach while creativity provides the thrust and the bolt-on campaigns are the more granular tactics employed on a game by game basis according to the specific opposition and state of play in the season.

Most marketing methodologies were never defined or developed with B2B brands in mind – as such they fall short when it comes to the critical implementation phase as they were never appropriately aligned with the specific complexities and challenges of the typical B2B marketplace.

Over the course of 20 years, I’ve developed an 8-step model to ensure success in B2B marketing planning and strategy execution. These methodologies have been rigorously developed over the course of more than 200 marketing audit and planning processes for SME manufacturers, industrial and science-based companies, typically with an annual turnover of £10 - 30 million.

My agency, Move, now uses this world class strategic planning framework to drive thought leadership positions and increase demand and profits for our B2B client base. Visit https://www.movemarketing.co.uk/b2bebook/ for more information.