Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Follow these proven B2SMB strategies and tactics to make your brand more likeable.
Do SMBs like your brand? You don’t have to look your company up on the Alignable Index, because you probably already know. Jack Daly, one of the top sales trainers in the world, says that people buy from people they like. The same goes for buying from brands.
To that end, here are 5 ways to endear your brand to SMBs.
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Get your marketing and inside salespeople face-to-face with SMBs.
It is critical for anyone involved in marketing or selling to SMBs to go beyond data and “personas” and get to know real SMBs face-to-face. For SMBs, business is personal—it’s their Understanding the motivations that drive SMB owners is important not only for your creative team, but also for those responsible for your B2SMB strategies and execution. This understanding only comes from first-hand knowledge of business owners as people.
Achieving this understanding will make the following suggestions much easier and more effective.
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Make it your mission to help them achieve their goals.
Sure, you understand how your product or service can help SMBs with their businesses. But do they? Before SMBs begin looking for any particular product or service, they look for solutions to business challenges or specific business results. Go beyond the information you give them about your products with information and inspiration that shows them how to achieve their goals.
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Produce content that teaches them something they don’t know.
This builds off of #2. SMBs are facing an unprecedented amount of disruption and they often don’t know what they don’t know. They may not know where to turn with questions or for solutions to their challenges. If you provide the answers they’re looking for, you can become a trusted resource they’ll return to time and again. If you don’t do this and simply try to sell them stuff, you are just another vendor.
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Feature your customers.
SMBs like to know what others like them are doing, and they like to see peer accomplishments celebrated. Share success stories in your ads and other content that show customers overcoming challenges and achieving positive outcomes with your product or service. Show real customers instead of stock photos on your website. Customer-based content is “peer-to-peer.” It’s both more credible and relatable than copy from the marketing department.
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Create events for SMBs.
Whether they are national destination events, local “mini-tradeshows,” or small SMB roundtables, events are a great way to get SMBs together with your representatives in an atmosphere that promotes dialog and builds personal relationships. Make sure your marketing team attends, as well as your salespeople. Yes, these are resource intensive, but they are also a great way to accomplish everything mentioned above with one initiative.
Bonus: Make your procurement SMB friendly.
Doing business with big companies can be unnecessarily expensive and time-consuming for SMBs. As a business owner who has been working with large companies for 15 years, I have plenty of first-hand experience. Encourage procurement and legal to develop processes that treat SMB vendors as if they were your brand’s customers.
SMBs, like other people, buy from brands they trust. Let them know that you understand them, value their business, and share the goal of their success. If you do, they will reward you with their business, their loyalty, and the priceless gift of telling others how much they love your brand.
Looking for time-tested B2SMB expertise to drive strong results? Let’s chat.
