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Contents

What is B2B Marketing? .......................................................................................................... 3


Difference between B2B and B2C Marketing ........................................................................... 3
Why go Mobile? ...................................................................................................................... 4
How can the Convergence help? ............................................................................................. 6
How can Mobile Strategy help in your environment? .............................................................. 7
Statistics of Mobile Usage in B2B Marketing .......................................................................... 11
How to kick-start your mobile strategy in B2B Marketing? .................................................... 12
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 13
References ............................................................................................................................ 14

Y
Mobile Strategy for B2B Marketing

m 
 
 c 
is the practice of individuals, or organizations, including commercial businesses,
governments and institutions, facilitating the sale of their products or services to other
companies or organizations that in turn resell them, use them as components in products or
services they offer, or use them to support their operations. (Also referred as Business
Marketing/Industrial Marketing)

ë     


 
Although B2B and B2C marketing seem similar on the surface, there are subtle differences
which play vital role in effective market strategy. B2B Marketing generally contains of shorter
and more direct channels of distribution.

While B2C Marketing is aimed at a large group, the process between the buyer and the seller is
more personal in B2B Marketing. B2B Marketing invests only a small part in promotional
budgeting to advertise, while B2C heavily relies on it. Although the advertising in B2B is limited,
it often helps indirectly in converting sales and building a brand reputation.

B2B Marketing is focused on making profit as opposed to B2C Marketing which is a focused on
an individual.

With the differences there are also a set of commonalities a marketer has to consider in both
B2C and B2B marketing arenas:

›Y successfully match the product or service strengths with the needs of a definable target
market;
›Y position and price to align the product or service with its market, often an intricate
balance; and
›Y communicate and sell it in the fashion that demonstrates its value effectively to the
target market


m   
Ghe mobile market currently stands at 3.3 Billion Handsets worldwide. On the other hand only 1
Billion PC͛s with Internet access. Ghis statistic gives a good picture of the potential in the mobile
market with a 300% larger base.

Ghe SMS messages typically have a higher response rate at a very impressive 15-20% when
compared to standard banner ad response rates. Ghe reasons could be many, but the most
obvious reason is that a message on the mobile device is more personal and is typically not
avoided by the recipient.

Ghe Mobile technology is always improving at a rapid speed creating more and more
possibilities to present content. With the increase in mobile usage, fall in usage prices, increase
in reliability and the advent of high speed networks as 3G and so on, the marketer has more
and more options to be unrestrictedly creative.

With these advantages in the mobile industry, the mobile market has to be wielded with a most
appropriate strategy to make most of the opportunity.
Y



      
Ghe convergence is referred to the synergistic application of Mobile Strategy in B2B Marketing
or Communication of the Firm. While the penetration of smart phones in the general
population is lingering around 20 percent, the Forbes survey found that Executives were way
above that curve with 82% responding they used a smart phone. As well, a majority of those
executives under 50 years of age considered it to be their primary business communication
device.

With the promise from Forrester research and comfort in proven numbers, let us see how the
Convergence can help your B2B Marketing strategy.

›Y Are you struggling to get new customers, or to get more business from existing
customers, in today͛s difficult economic environment
›Y Would you like to be able to notify customers about new inventory of the 'hot' products
everyone is looking for?
›Y Would you like to be able to send appointment confirmations or reminders to your
customers?
›Y How about 'preferred customer' offers or special sale days to drive repeat customers
visits?
›Y Would you like to be able to send weekly offers to existing customers at no extra cost?
›Y Ever wonder what your customers think about your company, product or service? Now
you can ask them with a quick, easy-to-use mobile survey!
›Y Do you often think you can͛t afford to advertise to get more customers? Would like to
find a way to get your message opened by 97% of the people that receive it?
›Y Does your corporate staff have a difficult time getting field staff to read important
emails or updates on the company Intranet?



           

With the advent of new technologies in bandwidths and software, the potential of mobile
market is ever increasing. Ghe arrival of 3G phones will increase the bandwidth speeds to next
level (almost as much as the computer broadband speeds). Software improvements from a
basic operating system to much faster and much efficient operating systems like the androids
and the new symbians. Ghe new operating systems open avenues to applications which can be
extremely useful. Ghe Android smart phone has the capability to run more than 300,000
applications.
Areas where mobiles can help in your environment:

D   Important and time-sensitive customer updates can be sent directly to your
opted-in clients using SMS (text) messaging. Further, people like being ahead of the crowd and
being among ͞the first͟ to know something; send your customers updates about product
launches, product updates or upcoming events. Consider a news text like a micro-newsletter
with bite-size updates.

i
YD  SMS (text) messaging is a great way to notify your employees or
customers during an emergency. Send critical updates during natural disasters, last-minute
event location changes or just before your company͛s important meetings.

p Y
   Communicate with your distributors or franchises via SMS with the details
about special promotions they can offer to customers.

i  Y  Dispatch employees to their next customer location via text messaging;
provide them with location info (and a link to a map), provide customer details, and work-order
information.


   Communicate with your audience during in-person or webinar presentations,
conduct polling. Send out a question and ask for responses from attendees who have pre-
registered their phones. Or, used another way, ask the question verbally and have them
respond via text messaging to a specific short-code.

2 
Yp
 Many companies offer customer support and problem resolution via text.
Customers are also able to check order status, confirm appointments or reservations, change
reservations, track packages and receive back-order notification alerts.

i  Implement a text messaging marketing strategy to promote weekly meet-ups or


networking events for members, or remind employees about upcoming meetings. Send out key
logistic information like changes of venue or detailed parking instructions. You can even take
event registration information via text!

2 
Y  Use mobile technology to allow your field-service reps to take customer
payments via mobile; get immediate payment, protect customers͛ credit card information, and
manage payments risk-free!

å Y
 Offer something of value in exchange for signing up to your ͚opt-in͛ list;
provide potential customers a link to a white-paper, a special discount, a video, or other
standard B2B strategic tools in exchange for adding themselves to your prospect list via Mobile
opt-in. Use Mobile to gather additional info about them as part of the ͚opt-in͛ process so you
can effectively target customers during future Mobile campaigns. 

G
 Yp Use Mobile at trade shows to exchange information with prospects; allow them
to enter contests, request and receive company information, or see a video about your product
or service. Send text alerts to attendees about your next presentation so they͛ll have time to
get there before it starts!

   
 
SMS is typically read by 97% of subscribers within an average of 15 minutes after receipt, and
responded to within 60 minutes.

While 65% of e-mail is spam, less than 10% of SMS (texting) is spam.

Mobile has a 97% open rate, as opposed to email which typically maxes out at 20%.

Studies indicate that 84% of mobile subscribers are never more than 10 feet from their mobile
device

A Nielsen study indicates more than half of mobile data subscribers (51%) who saw a mobile ad
responded to it by sending a text-message, clicking on it, or calling a specific number.

88% of all mobile subscribers have a text enabled phone. 51% have received SMS marketing
messages, and 25% have opted in to marketing messaging from a brand.

200+ million Americans carry mobile phones - over half of the country's population

Business-to-business mobile marketing spending will quadruple over the next five years, rising
from $26 million in 2009 to $106 million in 2014, according to Forrester Research.





      
 
B2B firms can get started with a monthly service subscription for as little as $25 per month**
for SMS messaging; No contract required

Easy-to-use SMS system, no technical knowledge required!

Service includes training to build your 'opt-in' list, consulting to help you develop the most
effective mobile messaging campaigns, and technical assistance as needed - at no additional
charge.

Use Mobile Marketing services to communicate with your customers at your convenience

Mobile websites also available at cost-effective rates; let your customers communicate directly
with you at their convenience

Many other mobile marketing options also available to increase your firm's direct interaction
with clients / potential clients

Encourage B2B customers to send their sales reps photos of their unique
environment/circumstance/prickly problem so that the reps can better understand the
situation and propose an insightful solution.

Videos can be gathered of customer best-practice tips to illustrate how our products perform in
the real-world and how they are being used to solve real problems in an efficient manner.

Enable prospects to easily connect with the people and information they need to make a
decision to buy providing tools to connect the prospect with other similar past customer
references, testimonials, case studies or a knowledgeable sales associate.

Mobile codes can be utilized to promote offers for handling more and more businesses in the
network.


  
Ghe growth of internet, mobile technology, mobile internet and the simultaneous increase in
the consumer base, provides avenue for communication channel. Ghis channel has to be
utilized. Ghe content along with the presentation and functionality has to be leveraged to get
the most out of the mobile environment.

Ghere are more than 10 billion applications which are currently running on different mobile
platforms. Ghe technology capability has to be leveraged for a customized or generic solution
most appropriate across the industry. In just 2 years, there are already 4.5 billion mobile app
downloads across all phone platforms. Many industry insiders are watching the development of
Android͛s more open platform with 50,000 apps available vs Apple͛s platform of 200,000 apps
available. Ghe iPad, released on April 3, 2010 was the fastest device to reach 1 Million units sold
(28 days) excluding only the Nintendo Wii and DS which were released during the holiday
period.

Ghe evolution of device functionality has shifted from content creation (inputs) to
communication (outputs) to sharing (community). With global village and the boundaries
between countries reducing, the travelling marketer has to be up to date with the information.
Because we all know in Marketing all the time, ͞½    ͟!
   
1.Y Marketing Management - Phlip Kotler
2.Y Forrester Analytics - Forrester
3.Y http://b2bmarketingconfidential.blogspot.com/2009/01/mobile-codes-and-b2b.html
4.Y http://marketingwithnewtechnology.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/examples-of-mobile-
marketing-by-major-brands/
5.Y http://www.strategicgrowthconcepts.com/marketing/mobile-marketing/mobile-
marketing-for-b2b-firms.html
6.Y http://marketingwithnewtechnology.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/top-10-b2b-uses-for-
mobile-marketing/
7.Y http://blog.selligent.com/blogs/yes/en-mobile-finds-its-way-cross-channel-b2b-
marketing-mix
8.Y http://www.socialcustomer.com/2009/07/convergence-in-b2b-and-b2c-mobile-
marketing.html
9.Y http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/5589.html
10.Yhttp://www.slideshare.net/ckEpiphany/b2b-mobile-marketing-10step-starter-guide-
2882873
11.Yhttp://www.b2bmarketinginsider.com/mobile/10-reasons-why-mobile-is-hot
12.Yhttp://lyrishq.lyris.com/index.php/Email-Marketing/B2B-Mobile-Marketing-Yes-You-
Can.html
13.Yhttp://ask.enquiro.com/2009/b2b-marketing-and-the-mobile-internet/
14.Yhttp://www.komarketingassociates.com/industry-news/new-opportunities-arise-for-
mobile-b2b-marketing$660.htm
15.Yhttp://jontusmedia.com/online-content-marketing-b2b-mobile-users/
16.Yhttp://socialmediatoday.com/pauldunay/250079/11-b2b-marketing-predictions-2011

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