Unit 2

Role of Marketing Communications in B2B Markets

Various marketing communications tools are used by B2B companies is to retain existing
customers, connect with new customers and focus on helping to turn prospective customers into
sales.

Therefore understanding the buying behaviour of your market, targeting the right prospects and
providing the right information/messages at the right time, through the right channels is of the
upmost importance. And as your B2B buyers are more likely than B2C buyers to research and
seek out information on the products they buy, it’s important that any communication your buyer
receives is targeted, highly relevant and easily accessible.

There are many ways you can reach out to your target market, both off line and online.
According to industry reports on where buyers go to gather information on products or services,
it seems that websites still remain the most popular destination with nearly half of people saying
they go straight to a company’s website if they are interested in finding out more (B2B
Marketing)

Although it’s also good to know that traditional methods remain important with many buyers still
relying on material such as sales brochures or downloading pdfs for their information gathering.
Additionally, tools such as Social media are a growing influencer and source of knowledge so
should also be considered an important part of your marketing mix.B2B marketing
communications tools Below, we’ve put together a check list of the B2B marketing
communications tools you should be using to connect with your customers and enhance your
sales

1. Website –.
2. Branding 
3. Social media –
4. Technology –
5. Lead Generation –
6. Email Marketing –
7. The Right Sales Team Support –
8. Traditional Marketing Techniques- 
Elements of the Communications Process

 The Message Initiator (the Source)

 The Sender
 The Receiver
 The Medium
 The Message
 The Target Audience (the Receivers)
 Feedback – the Receiver’s Response
 Medium can be:
 Impersonal (mass media)
 Interpersonal (with salesperson or a friend)

Brand expression
Branding has many functions that go beyond its most basic requirement of identification of a
product.  Branding, when done well, frames what consumers can expect from a product and can
become an important part of the proposition itself.  While creating a brand experience
independent of the product is not always the goal of marketing, creating distinctive brand
positioning is needed.

 Coke stands for Happiness

 Apple stands for Creativity
 Harley-Davidson stands for Freedom

How your brand expresses itself from its name, logo, corporate ID, packaging design and copy,
web design and copy all the annoying rules that fill its style guide is the most tangible
manifestation of your brand’s essence; intimations before purchase of the brand’s soul,
validation and reminder of its promise after trial.

No matter what industry, changing the culture is hard, lonesome, demanding work. But in our
experience, most higher education brands don’t need to change their culture as much as they
need to capture it and create a consistent “Brand Experience.”
  The marketing communication mix, sometimes referred to as the promotion mix, is a
set of five tools that businesses use to communicate with their customers, prospects and
stakeholders. It doesn’t matter how large or small your organization is, or what kind of
products or services you sell, utilizing an effective marketing communication mix can
help you increase your revenue.

 Customer acquisition is the process of acquiring new customers for business or

converting existing prospect into new customers. The importance of customer acquisition
varies according to the specific business situation of an organization. This process is
specifically concerned with issues like acquiring customers at less cost, acquiring as
many customers as possible, acquiring customers who are indigenous and business
oriented, acquiring customers who utilize newer business channels etc. The whole
process should concentrate on following considerations:

Identifying the Sales to Marketing Effort Relationship and its

Modeling
Sales and Marketing are both working towards the same goal: securing business and helping
their company grow.

A sale is a direct process in which the salesperson talks to the customer and steers them towards
making a purchase. This might be in person, over the phone, or using a digital communication
medium like email or even social media. The process might be very long, taking place over
multiple conversations in which the salesperson learns about the customer and their pain points,
and helps them understand how the product on offer can help solve them.

Developing Effective Communication

All marketing communications or advertising for your small business, whether delivered in
person, through promotions, or via traditional media, direct mail, or e-mail, need to accomplish
the same tasks:

 Impart information the prospect wants to know.

 Grab attention.
 Present offers that are sensitive to how and when the prospect wants to take action.
 Affirm why the prospect would want to take action.
 Offer a reason to take action.
 Launch a relationship, which increasingly means fostering interaction and two-way
communication between you and your customer.
Functions Performed by a Sales Person

(a) Line functions

i. Achieves volume of sales

ii. Responsible for enhancing market share

iii. Responsible for profitability of the organization

iv. Attends to customer service..

(b) Staff functions

i. Provides assistance for ware housing In charge

ii. Provides assistance for Transport Department

iii. Provides assistance to Production Department regarding Product knowledge and knowledge
about specific customers.

(c) Line and staff functions

i. Helps General Sales Manager with sales fore-cost, market information and information about
competitors

ii. Helps Corporate Management in respect of product development, Diversification and

information about market and competitors.

Relationship Communication
Marketing focuses mainly on Establishing, Developing, Maintaining successful exchanges with
customers. In marketing vertical every relationship is an exchange process where each one gives
something in return for a payoff perceived to be or of greater value.
Types of Relationships

 Value Added Exchanges

 Transactional Exchanges
 Collaborative Exchanges

Call preparation
Before you start making sales calls, it’s a good idea to prepare for them. A lack of preparation
means a much higher chance of things not going according to plan when you make the call. Of
course, preparing for a sales call can’t promise a favourable outcome, but it’ll increase the
chances of getting what you want from the call.

Before you pick up the phone or charge into someone’s office to try and sell something, do a
little preparation. The idea is to develop a comfortable framework where you have enough
knowledge to get started and to ensure that you’re prepared for certain eventualities on the call
itself.

Value Selling and Consequences

Value-based selling is a process of defining the real needs, measurable objectives, possible
impact on the potential customer’s bottom line, and pricing accordingly to the value our product
can deliver.

Value selling is a hot concept in the technology industry, and one that sales leaders are
researching and discussing frequently. Outcome selling is trending on a similar curve.
Unfortunately, too many leaders think these two motions are similar and interchangeable.

Cost savings and financial outcomes are only part of the story. In fact, anchoring around value
selling can be detrimental to your sales efforts when used at the wrong time and with the wrong
buyer.
Order fulfilment

The method by which a company processes a sales order to the customer’s specifications, that
understates its importance. Customers hold more power than ever, are more informed and have
higher expectations. Efficient order fulfillment is key to your brand’s reputation, your company’s
profits and your ability to retain clients.

Order fulfillment is a process consisting of receiving and processing goods for distribution to
customers.

Order fulfillment means fulfilling a sales order to the customer’s specifications. That is,
delivering goods as promised at the time of sale. There are three main steps in this process:
receiving, processing and shipping.

Companies make money by selling goods, products and services to businesses or direct to
consumers. No matter whether you’re B2B or D2C, the sale is not complete until the sold items
are received by that customer. Order fulfillment is how companies complete the sale and it’s at
the heart of every business.

Marketing Distribution: Distinctive nature

Industrial distribution is unique as there are several different methods of channeling the products
and services to industrial consumers. The type of product, the selling price of the product and
technical knowledge required to sell the product all play a considerable role in selecting the
proper sales or distribution channel. Unlike consumer organizations, the decisions taken by the
industrial organizations on distribution channels is of great significance as the decisions involved
are of long-term nature that cannot be changed frequently.  The industrial organizations carry on
certain important functions till the products reach the consumers like utilizing the services of
transportation companies for distribution, the services of warehouses for safe storage of goods,
inventory control, order processing and selection of marketing channels. This necessitate taking
important decisions like devising effective communication tools, planning promotional activities,
managing finances etc that help in serving the consumers better.

 Size: Unlike consumer markets, the industrial markets tend to have fewer channels of
distribution. Even the industrial channel is shorter in size as organizational buyers expect
immediate product availability, technical expertise and prompt after-sales service. This
indirectly demands investment in training and physical facilities for the industrial
organizations.
  Geographical Distribution: The industrial distributors are concentrated highly in the
industrial markets they serve and certain other places that have large number of industries
like large towns and cities.

 Mixed channels: A combination of direct and indirect channels is used by some

industrial marketers to cater to different market segments or when they have some
resource constraints. To cater to large-volume customers, industrial firms generally use
their own sales force, and to cover small scale organizations, they use independent
distributors. In case of large geographical territories, due to resource constraints they use
their agents called as ‘manufacturer’s representatives’.

 Intermediary characters: The intermediaries involved in industrial marketing are

technically qualified who maintain very close relationship with industrial organizations.
Industrial manufacturers tend to depend more heavily on each member of the channel and
may do more to support that channel member. Industrial distributors, brokers and agents
are some types of intermediaries used by industrial marketers to reach customers.

Channel Design Decisions, Selecting Channel Members

CHANNEL DESIGN DECISIONS

Designing a marketing channel system involves analyzing customer needs, establishing channel
objectives, identifying major channel alternatives, and evaluating major channel alternatives.

Marketing channels are set of mutually dependent organizations involved in the process of
making product or service available for utilization. It is established in academic studies that
Marketing channels are the means by which goods and services are made available for use by the
customers. All goods go through channels of distribution, and marketing will depend on the way
goods are distributed. The direction that the product takes on its way from production to the
consumer is imperative because a marketer must choose which channel is best for his particular
product. It can be said that channel is the link between manufactures and purchasers. Decisions
about the marketing channel system are decisive for management.
Business Marketing Channels: Direct and Indirect Distribution
Channels

Distribution channels in marketing are one of the classic “4 Ps” (product, promotion, price,
placement a.k.a. “distribution”). They’re a key element in your entire marketing strategy — they
help you expand your reach and grow revenue.

B2B and B2C companies can sell through a single distribution channel or through multiple
channels that may include:

 Wholesaler/Distributor
 Direct/Internet
 Direct/Catalog
 Direct/Sales Team
 Value-Added Reseller (VAR)
 Consultant
 Dealer
 Retail
 Sales Agent/Manufacturer’s Rep

What is supply chain management?

Supply chain management involves working across all the functions of a supply chain to ensure
the products are valuable and beneficial to consumers. It manages the overall flow of raw
materials and ensures consumers receive a high-quality finished product on time. Supply chain
managers make sure all aspects of the product from creation to transportation operate smoothly
to deliver a final product that exceeds the entire consumer’s requirement
What is logistics?
Logistics is the process of moving, storing and distributing goods from when they’re first
produced to their final delivery. This is a key part of the entire supply chain management
process. It focuses closely on developing strategies to streamline, coordinate and manage the
supply chain management process to ensure products are transported and delivered in a smooth,
cost-effective and efficient way.