How to set B2B campaign objectives and how to measure them

Not all brands are made for consumers (customers) and not all brands are made for companies (business). There are companies that adopt B2C marketing and acquisition strategies, while others try to establish lasting relationships with B2B campaigns.

Defining B2C or B2B strategies poses a challenge, it represents an important crossroads, where the differences outweigh the commonalities. Just think about the target and the purchasing path that one has compared to the other.

However, what both paths have in common is the implementation phase following the analysis phase, which includes the definition of objectives (goals) of them measurement Via KPI (Key Performance Indicators).

Let’s be clear, B2B and B2C campaigns are different and should be treated that way

Let’s start with “spot the differences”. In B2C (Business to Consumer) campaigns, the target customer is the final consumer. In B2B (Business to Business) campaigns, the target customer is, however, another company.

B2B campaigns: crucial aspects

• AND Business will never decide in the wake of emotions, but the purchasing decision will be guided by real reasoning, an analysis of opportunities and weaknesses of the product offered in relation to its business processes;
• Building a lasting relationship is everything: in B2B campaigns it is essential to build a stable relationship with its customer. The focus will therefore be on values ​​and the development of a personal relationship with key people such as the purchasing manager or the production process manager. The product or service is at the center of the strategy;
• Those who speak to other brands must have authoritative language and know what he’s talking aboutmust be able to answer all the questions of the buyer’s team, demonstrating and convincing that their product is the most suitable for the company’s needs;
• ROI plays a central role and the purchasing process can have a long duration; the important thing is that throughout the journey the customer is guided in a 360 degree shopping experience.

B2C campaigns: crucial aspects

• He is the Consumer he is the one who chooses driven by emotions. In this case, the brand must be able to stand out in the crowd among as many brands capable of offering the same product or service. If in B2B the crowd of offers is limited, in B2C it is a real war.
• It’s more about falling in love: the final consumer takes actionmany times, on impulse and independently by looking at reviews and websites online. The brand must focus on message.
• If we talk to the final consumer, however, the application must focus everything onemotion and adapt to the interlocutor
• Fun fact: it is important that a brand, when speaking to the final consumer, uses entertainment marketing. Only in this way can he become Top Of Mind, and be remembered among all his competitors.

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Let’s start with the objectives: how to define them in a SMART way

The Goals are “where we want to go with our campaign”, but before defining the objectives here are the 5 things to address first to set up the plan:

1. Determine your own”brand positioning”i.e. how the brand is perceived and therefore also what its brand identity is;
2. Define your own targeti.e. those who are interested in our product or service. Statistically, the so-called buyer personas to be monitored for the progress and effectiveness of the campaign must be set;
3. Never forget the gods competitorsnot only product managers, but also those who apply a marketing and sales strategy similar to ours and with whom we could be confused;
4. On the way with the Multichannelit is important to differentiate the tools used in the strategy and not focus only on one channel;
5. More than 90% of B2B marketing gives weight to news bulletinboth as a tool to be included in the strategy and to collect useful information regarding a potential supplier. Writing an eye-catching subject and a dedicated CTA can significantly improve the open and click rate.

READ ALSO: How Instant Mobile Messaging is changing B2B communication

A self-respecting B2B strategy (and which does not want to lose credibility) must include a online positioning for the brand. First of all, a website where the public can find valuable and additional information, a contact point that can help them make a choice (such as calling, filling out a form, etc.).

Secondly, it is crucial that the site has a credible online profile to create the impression of a real existence.

AND I’m social Instead? I am consulted by approximately 80% of the publicbut they are definitely not the channel with the highest conversion. The content, the sharing of relevant topics and articles and the involvement of employees in the strategy are the decidedly key factors for success.

Now we are ready: the SMART technique for setting Goals

SMART is nothing more than the acronym for:

• Specific (specific), which means defining a precise and clear objective;
• Measurable (measurable);
• Achievable (achievable), define a realistic and coherent goal for the company and its life phase;
• Relevant (relevant) i.e. that “makes sense” for the company;
• Time limited (time-bound), with some sort of end date, a “by which” the goal must be achieved.

And after the goals? KPIs, i.e. measurement.

KPI, the measurement of results

Let’s immediately dispel a myth, the ROI (Return On Investment) is not a KPI, but is a measurement data which, once the campaign is underway or finished, tells us how much revenue from sales that particular campaign brought us. Measure the consequences of the strategy, not the strategy itself.

Now let’s move on to another clarification: le marketing campaign metrics they measure a specific goal of a specific campaign while it is underway. THE Marketing KPIsinstead, they give us a look at the entire campaign and help us define and modify the objectives of future campaigns.

Having made the premises, let’s see what they are KPIs most important:

1. Website traffic: Is the campaign I’m running increasing and diverting audiences to my site? This indicator is then divided into Organic or Paiddepending on how the customer discovers and visits the site. The first is natural traffic, created thanks to good SEO and good content; the second, however, concerns paid traffic, i.e. that generated through user clicks on sponsored adverts;
2. Cost per click: how much you are spending online to get a click on your site or landing page;
3. Click-through rate: the ratio between the number of visitors and how many actually click on the page. The higher this is, the more it indicates that our campaign and our calls to action are effective and interesting;
4. Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL) and Sales Qualified Opportunities (SQO): identify hot leads based on whether they demonstrate interest in our product, or whether the sales force considers them potential customers;
5. Conversion rate: o conversion rate, identifies the rate of customers who actually become customers or contact the company after visiting the online pages;
6. Cost per lead: represents how much it costs us to get a warm contact from a potential buyer. If too high our campaign is not performing at its best or the product we are focusing on is not the most effective of the range;
7. Sales Qualified Lead Conversion Rate (SQL).: Indicates how many warm leads actually turned into customers. If this number is too low we are probably not targeting the correct audience;
8. Customer acquisition cost: how much does it cost us to acquire a new customer, both in terms of effort and economics;
9. Average acquisition period: how much time passes, on average, from generating the lead to signing the sales contract;
10. Customer lifetime value: defines the total value that the customer brings to the company, a sort of customer life cycle in relation to the selling company.