When we conduct your b2b marketing audit we look to establish a solid foundation for us to build out marketing activities.  We don’t want to push leads back to an outdated website or a website that doesn’t contain all of the services or solutions your offer.  Most often, we find some important gaps that need to be filled and can’t be skipped over.  We believe that building marketing campaigns without a strong foundation is like building a house without a foundation.  It just won’t work in the long run.  We understand the need to get to campaigns so we have techniques to build out the foundation as quickly as possible.

There are 4 main foundational elements we consider:

1. Website

Every business needs a website that is:

• recognized by Google
• follows SEO best practices including a keyword strategy
• up to date with current copy, quantified messaging and design
• frequently updated with new content

A website that meets this criteria builds credibility with prospective customers that are researching you.  It should also accurately share information how you solve their problems.  The website would be easy to find through Google searches and be easy for the prospective customer to navigate.

We find most companies do not meet these 4 criteria. Read our blog about what an outdated website says about your company.   Sometimes we can simply fill the gaps of the existing site but other times we need to start with a new design and build from there, depending on the age and condition of the existing website.

2. Sales tools

Prospective customers conduct their own extensive digital research before they would consider reaching out to speak with a sales person and your website has to have information to meet these needs.  It should have information for prospective customers that are in the initial stages of research as well as those that are further along and needing more specific information.  Sales tools such as PDF documents detailing both general information and information specific to your solutions, informational or explainer videos that explain your company and approach to the solution are important sales tools. 

3. Social media

Clients still debate the importance of social media.  The goals and amount of required effort is often unclear.   There are many good reasons to select a few channels for social media depending on where your prospective customers (aka personas) are engaged.  One other criteria for social media is how much content you reasonably have to share as some channels require more frequent updates to cut through the noise.  Of course you need to share curated content gleaned from other sources, but you need to share your own content and thought leadership as well.  We look at what assets already exist and which channels are best to share them as well as what we intend to share over the course of a year.  Combine with where the personas spend their time, and you have your channels.  Also consider what content you should be posting to be heard and ensure that you retain your brand personality and credibility with professional, creative and smart posts.

4. Brand Elements

The final piece in the b2b marketing foundational puzzle are the brand elements.  Is the logo current or does it feel out of date?  Are there enough or too many colours to meet the future design needs of the team?  Are the fonts representative of current thinking?  What is the policy for use of images?  A brand guidelines document will detail the use of brand elements and show that these details have been finalized.  Once we assess the suitability of the existing elements, we build out the brand guidelines so that the larger team can provide work that matches the brand.

Once these 4 foundational elements are finalized and current, you’re now ready for brand awareness and lead generating campaigns.  And this is what the majority of our clients look to us to help them with.  Except now we have a solid foundation to build the campaigns and drive prospective customers to you.  Contact us today to learn more about how our b2b marketing strategies can help you meet your marketing goals.