B2B leads are usually much more expensive and difficult to generate than B2C ones. With an average price varying from $50 to $250, every potential B2B customer that shows interest in your products or services is precious. That’s why, for successful B2B marketing planning, you need to carefully think over your strategy and use the right combination of channels.

With the shift towards digital marketing, most business owners focus on online marketing efforts. They pour money into email newsletters, content marketing, search engine optimization, and totally discount offline B2B marketing channels. Nobody blames them. A marketing budget is usually very limited. Under such circumstances, online B2B advertising techniques seem the simplest way to establish connections with other businesses and generate leads.

The truth is digital marketing yields decent results. Another truth is that with offline B2B marketing, you can additionally enhance them and attract the target audience segment which ignores your online calls-to-action. The combination of digital channels and offline means, such as trade shows, direct mail automation, and loyalty programs, allows businesses to build a complex cross-channel marketing tactic.

Want to learn more about B2B advertising techniques? In today’s article, we are going to talk about:

• The main characteristics of B2B business marketing
• 7 examples of offline B2B advertising techniques
• Direct mail automation for offline B2B marketing

What Differentiates B2B Marketing from Other Approaches? The Main Characteristics of B2B Advertising Techniques

Before diving into the use cases of offline B2B marketing, let’s clarify what makes this type of brand promotion so special. B2B techniques are usually opposed to B2C marketing since these two approaches are meant for absolutely different target audiences. When preparing to engage potential B2B customers with offline channels, note that:

• In B2B, the decision-making unit usually comprises several people. The more expensive and complex the purchase, the harder it may be to convince buyers. 77% of B2B customers call their latest purchase ‘very difficult’.
• B2B deals take more time than B2C purchases, with 54% of B2B buyers acknowledging this. As a result, you may need to impact the target audience through several marketing channels to constantly keep in touch with them.
• The B2B buying process is often highly formalized. Buyers are interested in written purchase orders, detailed product specifications, and warranties. A fair name is essential for successful B2B campaigns.
• In B2B marketing, business owners focus on long-term connections. Although customer loyalty is essential in any business relationship, the thing is that large buyers and sellers are tied together. A B2B customer usually works with one or several suppliers and doesn’t want to risk changing them.

Remember about these pillars of B2B marketing, while developing and implementing your promotional strategies. B2B is more complex and slower than B2C business and requires some serious marketing moves, including offline B2B advertising techniques.

7 Examples of Offline B2B Marketing Strategies

Traditional marketing means are still highly effective to build bridges with potential customers and show that you invest in your business reputation. Of course, the final choice of the channels depends on your budget, industry, and target audience. Nevertheless, you should definitely consider the following offline B2B advertising techniques as tried-and-tested advertising methods.

#1. Trade Shows for Offline B2B Marketing

Old-school trade shows are still one of the primary B2B lead generation sources. 77% of marketers state trade events bring them a generous amount of leads, and 82% – claim that these leads are high quality. The secret of such success is simple. Trade shows gather buyers that are interested in finding a reliable partner and perfectly know their needs.

#2. Direct Mail B2B Advertising Techniques

In terms of response rates, direct mail outperforms email marketing, paid search, and social media. Postcards, letters, and other mail pieces can both help to establish initial contact and maintain existing customer relationships. Use direct mail automation to include mailing in your marketing workflow and launch highly personalized and targeted B2B mail marketing campaigns. For example, you can send customized catalogs with your new arrivals or congratulate a business partner on the occasion of their birthday. More details about direct mail automation in the next section of this article.

#3. Branded Products

The visual representation of your brand is equally important in online and offline B2B marketing. It increases brand awareness as well as the chances that the next time potential customers need to find a vendor, they will recall your company. You can use such branded products as t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, or any other relevant and useful items. Make sure to add your business card, a nice postcard, a letter, or any related memento with your contact information.

#4. Sponsorship & B2B Advertising Techniques

You can contribute to the organization of a charitable or industry-related event to make your brand name stand out from the crowd. Depending on the type of sponsorship, your company will get some marketing benefits. For example, the organizers will mention your brand in the speech or print your logo on their posters. As an option, you can also provide your premises to co-host an event to additionally boost your offline B2B marketing.

#5. Contests for Offline B2B Marketing

People adore offline contests dedicated to holidays, weekends, or special offers. It’s an excellent chance to get a gift or award and have some fun. Whereas you don’t need plenty of money to organize a contest, it grasps the attention of potential customers and builds positive associations with your brand.

#6. Referral Program

Give happy customers a way to show their loyalty and recommend your brand to the rest of the world. People are 4X more likely to purchase something when they are referred by a friend. This approach works both for small B2C purchases and high-value B2B deals. Think about an incentive that would encourage existing customers to recommend your brand to someone else. Such leads are usually very high-quality and easily convertible.

#7. Billboards for Offline B2B Marketing

The more creative you are with your billboards, the better. Conventional messages don’t attract a lot of attention. Located all over the city, billboards are seen by millions of people every day. These may be ordinary customers, CEOs, or stakeholders that comprise your target offline B2B marketing group.

Direct Mail Automation for Offline B2B Marketing

Mail is used by almost all B2B companies as one of the leading offline B2B marketing tools. It makes business owners leave their mobile devices for a moment and enjoy the pleasant feeling of paper in their hands while reading your offer.

To increase the response rates and ROI of mail marketing, we recommend powering it with Inkit’s direct mail automation. It speeds up mail production and allows sending personal messages in every mail piece thanks to variable data printing. Once you finish designing mail in the custom postcard builder and launch mailing, Inkit will automatically arrange printing and delivery.

With direct mail automation, you can also align offline B2B marketing mail with your online marketing efforts for a strong omni-channel marketing strategy. Inkit’s direct mail automation tool supports hundreds of integrations, so you can easily connect it to any CRM or marketing platform.

What to launch offline B2B marketing mail within a few minutes? Start using Inkit right now.