5 Innovative Online Strategies for Today’s Businesses

The business-to-business marketing space is highly dynamic. Brands are constantly innovating and adapting to maintain relevance in their customers’ lives and digital marketing is no different.

Get expert advice on becoming a successful business owner with BusinessHAB Business category! Our step-by-step articles can help you navigate the ins and outs of the business world, from forming a public limited company (PLC) to measuring company growth of an existing company. Learn how to avoid unionization of a company, identify industry trends, implement efficiency strategies, and more! You can request publication of your article for publication by sending it to us via our Email below.

Savvy marketers understand that the age bracket for decision-makers is lowering by the day and younger executives are attracted to innovative B2B selling strategies as well.

So, if you want to pull in these decision-makers, you’ve got to speak their language. You’ve got to share information entertainingly and progressively.

To that end, we’ll delve into five innovative online strategies businesses can employ today.

1. Interactive Content

Content marketing is central to digital marketing and you’ll certainly see plenty of it online. 

Not only are industries saturated with content, but most of it also feels similar, which makes standing out that much harder.

Rather than go down that road and slide into oblivion, why not incorporate interactive content?

Research shows that 93 percent of marketers consider interactive content a highly effective means of educating prospective customers. It allows audiences to visualize different outcomes or experience your products/services before buying. More than that, experienced writers at cheappaperwriting.com claim, that creating a sense of engagement is also essential for developing long-term relationships with customers. 

Here are interactive content formats you can use:

• Interactive videos. Videos are already immersive, but interactive videos allow you to hold your viewer’s attention better. They are perfect for educating viewers, providing side-by-side comparisons, and facilitating sales.
• Polls and surveys. They are enticing, fun to complete, and offer a great platform to gather consumer feedback, purchasing preferences, and insights into your audiences. 
• Interactive calculators. From calculating ROI and savings to measuring impact, interactive calculators solve users’ problems by providing immediate answers. They allow consumers who are weighing their options to make informed decisions.
• Data visualizations. If you want to share vast chunks of data, creating data visualizations makes the information more appealing and easier to digest.

1. Make Cold Calls

Imagine this…

You are looking up solutions to a specific problem, shortlist two or three companies that seem legit. 

Then you receive a call from an unknown number with the person describing the problem you’re trying to solve and ways they can help.

Is that innovative or what?

Cold calling has evolved from the “nagging salesperson” tactic into a strategy that targets specific consumers with specific solutions for their specific needs. 

Best practices include:

Know the industry you’re targeting. Be a student—learn their vocabulary, problems they experience, conversations that attract them, and the solutions they respond to. So when you make that call, you’ll resonate with the prospect and have a meaningful conversation.

Research the contact person as well. Are they on LinkedIn? What articles have they shared or written? What are their interests? Jot down interesting facts you can mention to warm up the conversation.

Practice your craft. Listen to top performers as they make calls, conduct mock cold calls with varying responses, and work on areas where listeners shut you down.

Measure performance. Set metrics that measure your cold calling efforts. What is your connect rate? What number of prospects convert to sales-qualified leads? How many close opportunities originated from cold calling?

1. Build an Online Community

Launching an online community has plenty of benefits for your business. 

As customers, prospects, and experts participate in discussions, people feel naturally drawn to your business to find answers to pressing problems. 

You’ll not only build engagement, but have at your disposal new contacts and leads to nurture and convert.

Most forum software is fitted with analytical tools you can use to track user behavior to understand consumer pain points, knowledge, and preferences. This information may help you package your solutions befittingly. 

Here are guidelines to help you build and maintain engagement with your community:

• Think about your community’s value proposition. How do members stand to benefit from your community? Answering this question will provide a foundation for the campaigns, topics, and branding choices you make to attract audiences.
• Choose a platform. From Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit to more sophisticated platforms like Higher Logic Online Community and Hivebrite there are many hosting forums to choose from. Compare the features, support options, and prices before settling on a provider.
• Test topics. Overly broad topics can make your community too vague, while narrowing down too tightly can sideline potential customers. Ask your customers what topics interest them most and brainstorm interesting conversations about these topics.
• Maintain an active presence. It builds credibility and allows you and your members to form personal relationships. Actively start conversations and reply to members’ posts to encourage engagement.

1. Use Infographics

B2B marketers struggle to get away from the “dry and boring” label that makes their presentations. In their defense, they do present logical facts, figures, and trends which can’t really be told in overly fancy ways, can they?

Luckily, infographics can help make your message more appealing, digestible, and shareable. 

Boost your infographics’ effectiveness by: 

• Use vertical designs for optimal display. Especially for mobile users. Horizontal designs may require viewers to scroll sideways, downwards, and sideways again.
• Use your brand colors. It’s tempting to explore different color schemes to create catchy infographics, but sticking to brand colors helps audiences tie the infographic to your organization.
• Share snackable data. Sharing all your findings from a study, research, or survey may overwhelm your audience. Choose the biggest takeaways along with data sets that combine well to tell one story.

1. Host Virtual Events

In digital communications, virtual events are a powerhouse, allowing businesses to create close relationships with wide but relevant audiences.

With companies now open to staff working remotely, virtual events accommodate these decentralized audiences without the hassle of gathering everyone in one spot.

Plus, depending on the software you use, you can receive in-depth metrics on attendance, popularity, and engagement, etc. 

Consider the following:

• Get the content right. Convincing audiences to register, show up, and stay engaged the entire time is no mean feat. Find meaningful content by getting your customer-facing teams to brainstorm the needs, questions, and clarifications buyers seek at every stage of the purchase process.
• Decide on the format you’ll use. With alluring topics already determined, think about the best way to present this information. Will you go solo, have dual presenters, host an experts panel, Q&A sessions, or interviews? 
• Consider the user experience. Will the audience need to install certain software to maximize their experience? Bandwidth considerations? Easy-to-use platforms are preferable, but if there are considerations required, let your audience well in advance.
• Keep audiences from logging off. Make attendees part of the presentation by running surveys and polls and encouraging attendees to chat or ask questions. It will help keep them from disconnecting prematurely.