B2B Marketers in technology wear many different hats.
They help to develop new product ideas based on their industry experience, market knowledge and relationships with prospects and clients. They manage or assist engineers with new product development. They translate product features into client benefits. They coordinate the communications in all departments, from engineering to sales. They own what the company website says and how it says it. They produce the technical content — blog posts, newsletters, webinars, etc. — that the company releases to prospects and clients each month.
They are the gatekeepers of how the company is perceived in the market place.
Being a B2B marketer is by no means an easy job.
In technology, B2B marketers have 5 key functions:
Product Development:
Prior to developing a new product or feature, the engineering team needs to identify which problems potentiel users want to solve, and what requirements does the market have. Market research, therefore, is conducted by B2B marketers who probe for potential users and competitors.
Go-to-Market Strategies:
Once the product or the feature is developed, its positioning in the market place must be defined. This is another task for B2B marketers, whose role is to translate the product features into client benefits and to identify the targeted customers.
Content Creation:
The new product or feature is ready to be launched. The current and potential customers must be informed about it. They will want to know how it can solve a problem they might have. They show an interest, but still want more information to be truly convinced of its benefits. B2B marketers, therefore, must provide all potential customers with technical documentation and marketing content related to the product or feature. This may include white papers, webinars, blog posts, website pages, email campaigns, and more. B2B marketers are responsible for the creation of such technical content.
Design:
The technical content marketing must be presented in different formats. The website must be designed to attract visitors. The newsletters must contain images and infographics that clearly show the plus value of the new product or feature. Furthermore, the sales presentation must illustrate the anticipated results. Design is another function that must be supervised by B2B marketers.
Analytics:
Finally, B2B marketers have no choice but to know about new tools that might help them to analyze which web pages —or emails or posts— are read the most, and by whom. This enables them to detail the sales funnel and qualify those who may be prospects for the company. B2B marketers must know how to calculate these metrics, as well as how to optimize the ROI.
None of these functions are easy to do by a single person. A B2B marketer, therefore, is a difficult position to fill in technology. Still, the job plays an important role, one of the most important for the success of your company and your new products.
Learn more about B2B Technology Content
To your success!
Stephanie Labrecque, Eng. MBA
stephanie@in-spira.ca
581-999-0724