2020 was a challenging year for most businesses and marketers. But, where there are challenges, there are also opportunities.
Many traditional B2B tactics ceased to exist in the snap of a finger. With all live tradeshows, events, and presentations canceled, we were forced to think on the fly and adapt. We tried everything from virtual happy hours to podcasts.
As we start 2021, I wanted to share the top four strategies from 2020 that will stay and should be part of any B2B marketing strategy this year.
Podcasts
Creating and running a podcast used to take the right equipment and resources to produce. It is now easier than ever to create a podcast, plus the audience for podcasts only continues to grow. 37 percent of Americans, over 100 million, listen to podcasts. That number continues to rise, and nearly half of Americans ages 12-34 listen to at least one podcast per month.
Podcasts are great for any industry to provide thoughtful and engaging content to its listeners. We currently produce podcasts for clients in manufacturing and education to engage and educate their prospects and customers. We also produce one for ourselves. Cue the shameless plug: check out the B2B Growth Marketer podcast from Beacons Point on Spotify, Apple, and Google. We appreciate you.
Online Education & Training
The pandemic disrupted many industries. Many people lost their jobs and are still looking for career changes or ways to make money. They are turning to online education and training.
Our client in the restoration industry jumped on this opportunity. Together, we created an online certification course for using 3D scanning equipment to reduce contact in the restoration estimation process.
The course allowed them to reach a new audience while earning passive income.
Corporations continue to look to e-learning for their training and certification programs. 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies use e-learning regularly.
Webinars
Now, don’t roll your eyes — 54 percent of B2B professionals watch webinars weekly.
While webinars are a great alternative to hosting in-person events, that doesn’t mean that everyone should host them for the sake of producing webinar content. It’s an excellent medium for engaging, fresh, and relevant content. With their popularity growing in 2020, there’s simply no room for boring, uninformative webinars.
Successful webinars adapted and changed to the needs of the user. An example? Abandoning the traditional slide deck, Demio hosted monthly meditation and cookie decorating workshops while promoting their webinar platform.
Webinars can make an impact on your business in 2021, but it’s time to innovate.
Online Community
Another great thing to come out of 2020 is the rise of online communities and small group masterminds. If you are in the sales world, you have probably heard about Thursday Night Sales (TNS) or RevGenius. With all in-person events canceled, people still wanted a sense of community and groups to discuss challenges in their industry.
Individuals and companies have filled the need by creating online communities using Slack and Zoom to host roundtable discussions, Q&A with leaders, and Slack communities.
In 2020, I started a sales & marketing mastermind group. I wanted to create a space to allow the group to address the challenges we’re facing and discuss solutions. This has allowed me to connect with prospects and customers while providing value and building trust.
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Conclusion
Marketing that builds trust and provides value will bring a higher return on investment. When thinking of your 2021 sales and marketing, put your customer first, be valuable and trustworthy. This will set you apart from the competition and drive more revenue in 2021.
If you have questions about any of the above tactics and strategies, please feel free to schedule time with me.
If you are interested in our Campfire Mastermind for sales and marketing professionals, check out the registration page. We meet every other Tuesday at 2 p.m. PST.
