The “cloud” is more than just a buzzword, it is one of the most useful concepts that has been developed, and it continues to shape the digital future.
There is a lot of competition in the B2B cloud market, and sometimes it can get daunting.
However, there are plenty of things that organizations can do to differentiate their cloud solutions and make sure that they get a good slice of the pie.
Understand Techies Aren’t Just Your Customer Base
Remember that technical buyers are usually your first adopters when it comes to new technology, so this means that a good chunk of your customer base isn’t always going to be techies. This opens up your marketing efforts to a lot of other potential prospects.
You need to be able to craft content that can be easily assimilated by people who are not too technical.
Also, understand that even if you are dealing with a technical team, the decision-making unit (DMU) who will be deciding on the purchase won’t be purely technical people. At times you need to be able to help the professional team sell your solutions to non-technical people on the DMU.
Utilize Influencers and Thought Leaders
Your potential prospects are all watching what thought leaders and influencers are doing, so it pays to make sure that you have a couple of industry leaders backing your solution or providing your offering with some social proof.
It is also said that the role of B2B influencers will continue to rise as time goes by, paving the way for more collaborative partnerships when it comes to product or service promotions.
Related: The 2019 Callbox Influencer Awards: Meet This Year’s Winners
Work on Buyer Consensus
In the B2B world, it helps to be able to go with the buyer consensus, because they dictate the direction of the market at every turn. However, it is also essential that marketing teams be able to bring different sides of the conversation together to create solutions based on those needs.
Even connecting different types of buyers with each other will be able to set your product apart from the rest because it creates cooperation in a world competition.
Attempt to Solve Problems
Anyone can sell a product, but not a lot of people can sell solutions to real problems. People don’t need new products with all the latest features – although that’s great and all – what they need is to have specific issues dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Your selling process must be focused on the individual needs of the organization that you are selling, too. It makes no sense to position a product against a competitor’s because it does not help anyone move forward.
By being able to strategically place one’s product as a solution to a problem that is occurring, one can effectively market the cloud solution.
Related: Consulting vs. Selling: Crafting a Winning Business Pitch
Focus on Showing Proof
There is a reason why whitepapers and case studies are still predominantly being created in the field of B2B sales.
It just works.
It provides proof an organization knows what they are doing in whatever field they are in. In a sense, it serves as a reminder to potential customers that if a company has already solved this problem in the past, they will be able to address other issues related to it.
Cross Promotional Campaigns
Posting your content on other blogs, promoting key industry partners, and being invited to maximize your material on other platforms will increase your exposure and allow you to extend your visibility.
The more people allow you to put your content on their site; the more vetted your company appears to be. Aim to post quality content instead of paying for advertorials; this will boost the quality of your marketing campaign.
A Killer Content Strategy
A majority of the information dissemination campaign can be done through the use of a killer content strategy, and there are many ways to create content that converts. It’s not just written content that one should be focused on, but there should also be a focus on engagement.
Methodologies such as harnessing the power of video and using other forms of interactive content can drive your content to the next level. When content is being pushed to these levels, one can expect that exposure levels will also increase.
However, the main point of a good content strategy is to allow people to be able to interact with the company’s posts and develop goodwill with the brand.
Related: 4 Solid B2B Email Campaign Ideas to Market Cloud Solutions
Account-based Lead Generation
The concept of account-based marketing (ABM) was created to address the marketing needs of tech companies and it’s a no-brainer that this strategic approach is highly effective for cloud providers, especially those selling to the enterprise.
With ABM, you can accelerate slow sales cycles by focusing your sales and marketing efforts on your best-fit customers, engaging them with hyper-personalized messaging, and develop these prospects into win-ready opportunities.
Conclusion
These solutions to selling in a competitive market can be used individually or combined dynamically to create a multilayered approach to penetrating markets.
By being able to position a product in a competitive marketplace strategically, any organization can create better flow in their sales pipelines and prepare for any opportunities that may come their way. For competitive markets, it pays to make sure that every approach is being utilized in proper systems.
