B2B Marketing Checklist - Small Business Start-ups

If you’re a small business that’s just starting up, then firstly congratulations! It’s probably an extremely busy and exciting time. Most small businesses don’t yet have many (if any) staff, so you’ll find yourself putting on multiple different hats – Sales Manager, Operations Manager, Customer Service etc. When it comes to Marketing if you don’t have experience to fall back on, it can be hard to know where to start.

However, marketing is one of the key determining factors of the success of a business, so it’s not an area you want to just wing. You may have a great idea but if nobody knows about it, then how will it ever take off?

I really would recommend getting some help, at least in the set-up phase of your marketing activities, if not also some basic ongoing management. Please do consider our services for this, find out more here.

But whilst you’re making that decision here’s a Marketing checklist you can go through to see what elements you will need. Download the full B2B Marketing Checklist here> or continue reading to discover all the key elements.

1. Website

Almost all businesses should have a website, it is the hub of your business identity and the first point of call for future clients/customers. Your website should drive the majority of your business leads, providing qualified contacts, who are already searching for exactly what you offer. Thus, making it much, much easier for you to convert them into customers.

There are many Content Management Systems (CMSs) nowadays, that allow you to create beautiful websites, without having to know any code at all. One I have worked with many times and highly recommend is Squarespace.

2. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Almost as important, is the SEO of your website. The site should be created using various techniques, that will tell Google and other search engines, what your business does and who it can help. Metadata is one of the most fundamental elements of this, so ensure that you have easy access to your metadata via your CMS.

Blogs are such a great way to cover a wide range of relevant keywords and topics, that your audience might be interested in, therefore boasting SEO and driving leads.

For local B2B businesses, i.e. companies that provide a service to a specific area, then you will also want to optimise your website for that locality, via Structure data, metadata, a location page and other techniques.

The top section shows the SEM listings, which are paid for via GoogleAd campaigns. Below (navy section) shows the SEO listings, which are the organic search results that are free and entirely based on relevancy. You’ll see for the query ‘Twitter Ads’ Twitter is of course the top ‘organic result’, they also pay for an SEM listing for their own keyword, as do their competitors LinkedIn and Reddit.

3. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Until you have established SEO for your website, which will take some time (1 year realistically), I would wholeheartedly recommend using GoogleAds to sponsor the main keywords for your business. SEM is the paid search engine listings you see when you put a query into Google, SEO is the ‘organic’ or unpaid listings. If you can afford to, I would recommend running SEM campaigns, even after your site is ranking well on Google, just so you cover all of your bases. By refining the keywords, negative keywords and targeting over time, you should be able to run a very cost-effective campaign.

4. Google Business Profile

If you’re not exclusively an online business, then I'm sure you can benefit from a Google Business Profile. Showing up in Google Maps for the correct queries, showing your business profile when someone googles your business name, obtaining reviews etc, are all excellent ways to increase web traffic, leads and even lead conversions.

This shows an example of a Google Business Profile for a Greek restaurant in Guildford, Surrey. You’ll see that they utilise various features Google offers, such as reviews, events and a booking call to action. These are all completely free, so really for local business marketing it’s a no-brainer!

5. Other directories

Which other directories you list on will be dependent on your industry. If you’re a local business, then listing on Yellow Pages, Yelp, and those sorts of directories is a good idea. There may also be professional directories or associations that you want to feature on well. Directory listings provide another source of traffic and leads, and they also play into your website's SEO.

6. Social Media

Less obvious for B2B businesses but still very much worth doing. LinkedIn, Twitter, even Facebook and Instagram can be a great way to gain new leads and get the word out about your business. You also have the opportunity to advertise via these channels, which can be an excellent way to grow awareness and drive qualified traffic to your site. Facebook/Instagram can offer some really insightful targeting, that may be perfect for your business. It’s definitely worth looking into, before discounting them, as solely a B2C tool.

7. Product assets

Again, this will vary depending on your type of business, but it’s likely that you will need some kind of product assets, whether it be via a photoshoot of physical products, or graphics to communicate a non-physical product or service.

Videos can be excellent at communicating how things work, or the benefits of a product/service. Don’t worry, you don’t have to round up your friends or employ actors, some of the best videos are simple moving graphics, that help to visually describe a concept. With recent developments in video AI, you can even use Avatars (a digital character) to talk through your service in a video!

8. Downloadable assets

A classic B2B marketing tool is a downloadable asset, for example, a whitepaper, brochure or report. Something that your target audience wants and is willing to give you their contact details in return for. In my experience getting this right, can make your lead generation go from a trickle to an all-out flood!

9. Brand assets

Your branding fundamentals will include, your logo, brand colour palette and brand ethos/style/tone of voice. I’d recommend developing a suite of branded templates for day-to-day use, so you know that you’re on brand at every customer touch point. Templates may include, a proposal, presentation, quote, invoice, email, flyer, brochure etc.

Download the full B2B Marketing Checklist

Download our free B2B Marketing Checklist here>, especially designed for Small Businesses and Start-ups.

Feel a little overwhelmed?

Book a free consultation to find out how much it will cost to have us manage it for you. Our approach is flexible and highly cost-effective, which is what small businesses need. We can manage just the set-up and hand over the reins to you; or continue on an ongoing basis, with no retainers or lock-in contracts. Pause, cancel or increase activities at any time.