In the marketing world, the focus tends to be on B2C strategies. However, the B2B marketing sector is booming and is one of the best-performing in the wider industry.
For B2B companies, implementing a comprehensive and effective marketing strategy is one of the most effective ways to generate new business. There are various tools available for B2B firms to do so, while the use of a social media management platform can help them streamline the whole process. However, what key performance indicators (KPIs) should be monitored to ensure the strategy is succeeding? Find out below.
Traffic
One of the primary objectives of your B2B marketing strategy is to bring more attention to your business and to your platform. If nobody is visiting your website or your social media channels, how are they going to find out about the amazing products and services you provide?
Traffic is one of the first and most important KPIs that you should look at and will give you an immediate sense of whether your marketing strategy is working or not. Traffic can be measured simply by reviewing the number of page visits you are seeing, and comparing figures from before and after you launched your marketing campaign.
Engagement
Modern marketing campaigns are conducted primarily over social media. These platforms are used by billions of people across the world and offer marketers new creative options for producing content and marketing material.
One key difference in today’s social media-focused marketing world is the opportunity for direct customer engagement. Rather than playing a passive role, consumers are now encouraged to interact directly with brands and businesses. This engagement serves as a crucial KPI, by measuring how much customers are engaging with the content you put out there, you can assess how effective it is at appealing to your target demographic.
Sales
As a business, it all comes down to your bottom line. If you are not selling your products and services, then something has gone seriously wrong somewhere.
Sales volume is one of the most critical KPIs to monitor when evaluating the success of your marketing strategy. If you’ve noticed that sales have increased since you launched your campaign, this is a sign that your strategy is working as intended.
However, you should never jump to conclusions and attribute this increase to your marketing strategy without being certain. There are other things that can influence sales, factors which you could overlook and wrongly attribute to marketing.
This is why customer tracking is so important. This can allow you to identify customers who have been directed to your business from your marketing campaign.
Cost Per Acquisition
If you have drawn a direct link between a sales increase and your marketing campaign, congratulations! This means your strategy is doing its job. However, you need to be sure you are not overspending on marketing, as this could offset any sales you do make.
This is where the cost per acquisition KPI comes in. This is calculated by dividing the amount you have spent on marketing by the number of new customers you have attracted. This will give you an insight into how cost-effective your campaign has been.