Thanks to platforms such as LinkedIn, a company's website and its own social media channels, more and more business-to-business (B2B) technology companies are turning to digital marketing to promote their services and solutions to potential customers.

When with a consultant, clients quickly realise the extent of the behind-the-scenes work that needs to happen before considering launching a campaign. One must understand the amount of time that it takes to get digital assets campaign-ready. Once the legwork is done, the campaign can run its course and all that is left is monitoring, adjustment and reporting. However, the key is getting the fundamentals right.

Those who assist customers on their cloud journey will be quick to warn that the planning usually takes longer than the actual migration. This analogy also applies to B2B digital marketing. Getting the fundamentals right can make or break a campaign.

What the fundamentals entail

The first step is to conduct an audit of all your digital assets — most importantly, your website. Your website is your online shopfront where you affirm with future customers who you are, what you do and why they need you. Your social media channels are next, as well as your other owned, earned and paid channels.

A website audit looks at aspects such as your content, tags and meta descriptions, forms, goals and analytics. Businesses often want to launch a campaign but are unaware that their website may have very little to no information on that specific service or product.

This happens when a business extends its services, establishes a new business unit or division or acquires a new competency. At the very least, its website will initially have a page dedicated to this new service, but the depth of information and spill over to its blog and other owned channels are often lacking.

Here is where putting yourself in your future customer's shoes is a crucial exercise to ensure that you tick all the boxes.

Put yourself in a future customer's shoes and ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Will I understand what this company is about? In other words, is your business value proposition clear?
  2. Will I find more information about the service or solution being marketed on its website?
  3. Will I find more information about the service on other channels, such as the blog, social media channels and articles in the media or third-party endorsements?
  4. Will I be able to find out more information, enquire about their service, obtain a quote or book a demo with a click of a button?

What the behind-the-scenes fundamentals entail

Digital marketing allows for rich analytics. But for a business to reap the benefits of these insights, it must ensure that the analytics and goals are set up correctly and well tested.

It can be an eye-opener to look underneath the bonnet, so to speak, when it comes to the backend of websites. Goals are often left forgotten. The analytics need to be updated or the forms do not pull through.

Interrogate everything under the bonnet. Prod and adjust until you're satisfied that the 'engine' works optimally. These are some crucial fundamentals to look at during the planning stages of a digital marketing campaign.

Other fundamentals to consider

Of course, there are other aspects to consider too. Apply your knowledge, but also your experience and best practice of delivering various campaigns over the years within the tech industry. Have a deep understanding of what works and what doesn’t work, and the activities you can drive in tandem to optimise your time and budget.

It is during the planning stages that a trusted partner who understands the B2B technology landscape, as well as digital marketing, can ensure that the fundamentals are in place. Such a partner will also make sure that the campaign is well-planned, optimally executed and thoroughly monitored and adjusted so that it delivers the agreed ROI.

For more information, visit www.duomarketing.co.za. You can also follow DUO Marketing + Communications on Facebook or on Twitter.