Will Marketing Make Me a Used Car Salesman?

There’s a pervasive fear among growing IT companies that marketing will make you one of “those guys.”

The negative stereotype the term “marketer” evokes will depend on how old you are. For people over a certain age, the idea of marketing calls to mind tacky sales letters or advertisements in the back of Boy’s Life magazine. Younger folks are likelier to think of a slick YouTube personality, spouting half-truths, and hyperbole to sell some meaningless course or training.

Thankfully, none of that is true.

Marketing a small or growing technology services firm doesn’t have to involve lying or bending the truth, nor does it mean boasting, bragging, or doing anything else that makes you feel bad.

In fact, you’ll be much better off if it doesn’t, and here’s why.

Modern Marketing is About Providing Value

Most B2B marketers have de-emphasized traditional “interrupt” marketing like cold calls or radio advertising; some have completely stopped doing it altogether.

Instead, today’s B2B marketers recognize that the best way to connect with prospects, and keep them engaged throughout the entire marketing funnel is to provide valuable information, insights, and in-depth consultation as they evaluate solutions.

Here are some guidelines that help marketers be successful:

• Stay on top of trends A lot happens in the IT field. Huge shifts, such as cloud computing, generative AI, and work from home, and countless less impactful new technologies emerge every year. It’s your job as a marketer to proactively open a dialog with prospects about each of those trends so they understand you’re the one that can keep them ahead of the curve.

• Be empathetic  Incorporate each aspect of your buyer persona deep into your marketing, including their perceived barriers (the things that prevent them from choosing you) and decision criteria, then translate each of those into those guys.

• Listen to them Today’s marketing is more than just pumping messages out, it’s about opening a two-way dialog with people to understand their needs, goals, and fears better. This means asking questions and taking polls in your marketing. Show that you’re taking their needs seriously and want to learn more about their problems.

• Share your expertise Informational content is the centerpiece of an effective content marketing effort. Educating your prospects is the easiest way to provide value; you already have the knowledge you just need to find the best way to share it. Start with long-form content, short form content, infographics, and video content.

To clarify: You the goal of modern B2B marketing is not to sell stuff; it’s to provide value and insights to your prospects as they navigate their buying journey, so that they naturally see you as a trustworthy and dependable expert in your field.

The majority (57%) of B2B buyers also prefer to analyze their initial needs and identify possible solutions online before involving a sales professional.

It’s Never Been About You, It’s Only About Them

You instinctively know that no one wants to hear about your products or services, nor do they want to hear you brag about how great your solutions are. If you want to really engage prospects, then you must answer the fundamental question, “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM).

That’s comforting, isn’t it?

It shifts your job as a business owner and a marketer to a trusted educator. Again, this means you don’t have to be the slick marketing guy. Instead, when you put your marketer’s hat on, you get to be the trusted, knowledgeable, and accurate engineer who only needs to share his or her expertise in the right way.

What does buyer-centric marketing look like? It means focusing on your prospects’ key problems.

What problems are you trying to solve with each service on your website. Think about why they visited a page, because they showed up for a specific reason. Once you’ve identified the problems you solve, now optimize the messaging for each page and make your solution as compelling as possible.

It’s a team effort. This buyer-centric marketing approach can also help free your salespeople (if you have them) from the labor of cold calling and bring lukewarm prospects up to speed. Because they’re educated on the basics, your sales staff can now focus on positioning themselves as a trusted guide that’s focused on genuine connections.

Keep the Personal Relationships Central in the Long B2B Sales Cycles

You know that there’s no quick sales in IT services. Your best clients stay with you not just because of the value you provide but also because of the strong relationship that you’ve built. That’s because B2B buyers are far more connected with the brands they choose to do business with than B2C companies.

Put yourself out there (literally)

Always put a face to your marketing. You and your team are the greatest assets your brand has, because study after study show that people respond more effectively to marketing that features real-world people. If there’s one action you take after reading this blog, please banish stock photography from your website and marketing right away and replace it with real pictures.

Don’t be afraid to get personal

The more trustworthy you feel to the prospect of this process, the more successful you will be in this process. B2B offerings, especially in the IT industry, are becoming increasingly commoditized. That means subjective, sometimes quite personal, concerns become key drivers of purchase decisions. Will partner with your firm enhance your buyer’s reputation, reduce anxiety, or help them achieve other goals in life.

There’s every reason to strategically touch on those in your marketing.