IoT, or the Internet of Things, has had a lasting impact across industries, and B2B marketing has also benefitted from its advent. Get this: in the last year alone, around 51%Opens a new window of marketing experts believed that IoT has the potential to transform what marketing looks like.
There are many things that B2B marketers can achieve by leveraging the potential of IoT — top-notch personalization, timed and targeted marketing, fostering meaningful client relationships, developing new products, staying on top of the buyer’s journey, and following the trends.
IoT brings various benefits to the table like increased revenue, improved business opportunities, top-notch customer experience, boosted productivity, and more.
Consequently, B2B businesses need to learn everything about IoT and what it can achieve in B2B marketing.
Even though the term ‘Internet of Things’ has been around since the late 1900sOpens a new window , this technology started creating ripples only a few years ago.
What makes things particularly fascinating is installing a microchip or a sensor to any object makes it possible to transform it into an IoT. Therefore, it is not very surprising to see why marketers are flocking to IoT in large numbers.
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6 Ways in Which B2B Marketers Can Leverage IoT
In this section, you will find the various ways to use IoT to make the most of your B2B marketing strategies.
1. Provide personalization of the highest order
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Nowadays, many clients are emphasizing the need for personalized services and marketing strategies. A study by Forbes found that nearly 94%Opens a new window of senior business executives echoed the same sentiment.
As mentioned earlier, IoT devices are programmed to share and analyze data. Subsequently, B2B marketers can use IoT to extract valuable insights from client data and responses.
Marketers can then utilize this data to develop personalized marketing strategies. For instance, the data can be used to generate personalized CTAs and content for marketing emails.
Further, B2B marketers can use the data to segregate their vast customer base and send out individual and customized product or service pitches in keeping with the target demographic’s needs.
In 2015, Diageo plcOpens a new window , a beverage company, collaborated with Thin Film Electronics ASA to create a smart bottle. Diageo sent their consumers highly personalized content through the smart bottle, informing them of the latest offers and recipes.
2. Perfect timing becomes a possibility
Timing is everything in marketing, especially in digital marketing. Nailing the perfect timing has its advantagesOpens a new window , with increased client engagement being the top one.
IoT makes it easier to determine the right time to send a marketing emailOpens a new window or post on social media. As a B2B marketer, you can tap into the real-time data that IoT provides you with to study trends in client reception.
You can then analyze the trends to zero in on the timing and frequency that would sit well with your clients.
Let’s say that you’re looking to market products aimed at two different demographics while clients belonging to demographic A are active on LinkedIn. In contrast, those belonging to demographic B are active on Facebook. You can post about your products simultaneously on both platforms and direct client traffic to the product pages on your website.
When you market to clients at the right time and on the right platform, they will be more receptive to your message, resulting in increased conversion rates.
Take a leaf from Burger King’s book. Back in 2018, Burger King launched their ‘Whopper for a Penny’Opens a new window program. Here’s the catch: this offer is only open to customers who have the Burger King app installed and are very close to a McDonald’s outlet!
Customers who checked both the boxes could get themselves a Whopper for just a penny. And, get this: the app was also programmed to direct the customers to the nearest Burger King outlet, where they could claim their order.
3. Establish strong client relationships
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The secret to building successful and meaningful relationships with clients lies in understanding their needs (or pain points) and addressing them. This is another area where IoT can step in.
Given the massive amount of data that IoT applications can collect, you are bound to find something useful for each of your clients. Study the data and try to think from your client’s perspective.
Understand how your product can help them and share the same with your clients. Here’s a case study. ZEISS found that its clients placed a great value on product performance data. To provide them with that, ZEISS used Cisco’s IoT, Kinetic.
Through Kinetic, ZEISS was able to provide its clients with continuous product data through secure pathways. In return, the company witnessed a surge in customer loyalty. A win-win deal for everyone involved.
4. Develop new products and services
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Marketing is not just about selling a service. It’s also about identifying the scope for new products. IoT can be leveraged in this aspect as well.
For example, you can use IoT applications specifically designed to collect and transmit data when your clients use the products. This data can include client feedback, product performance reports, product issues, defects, and more.
Upon analyzing this data, you can understand what works and what doesn’t and use it to develop new products and services.
Let’s take the example of the Great Lakes NeuroTechnologiesOpens a new window . They developed a range of IoT-endowed products that medical researchers and healthcare practitioners could use to provide immediate care to patients who have Parkinson’s Disease.
5. Stay on top of the buyer’s journey
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Every client passes through the different stages in a buyer’s journey — the awareness, consideration, and decision stages. And, at each step, you need to market to your clients differently.
In this regard, you can avail of IoT’s monitoring abilities to track the client reactions, expectations, and thought patterns as they pass through each stage. You can then alter your strategies accordingly.
For example, when your clients are in the awareness stage, you can send marketing executives to market to them in person. It is estimated that it takes nearly eight cold callsOpens a new window before a successful attempt. So, you need to send your best people out there.
Considering that around 67%Opens a new window of the buyer’s journey happens online, you can follow this up with strong email and social media marketing for the consideration and decision stages.
To put things in perspective, let’s consider what Microsoft did.
For a long time, the Microsoft Azure IoT SuiteOpens a new window has been a leading solutions provider. When Thyssenkrupp needed an end-to-end IoT solution for its operations, Microsoft stepped in pitched the services of the Azure Suite. Thyssenkrupp used the technology and was able to monitor various operational aspects efficiently.
6. Follow the trends
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The IoT market is all set to witness an exponential boom in the coming decade. Reports suggest that by 2030, there will be 24.1 billionOpens a new window IoT devices globally, raking in a whopping $1.5 trillion every year as revenue.
Therefore, B2B marketers need to stay abreast of the dynamic changes in this domain. For instance, edge computing is an IoT trend that you should keep a tab on this year.
Similarly, many industry-specific IoT trends are worth tracking, like IoT-enabled devices and cloud computing.
For instance, Ericsson leveraged the IoT trends to develop the Ericsson Maritime ICT Cloud PlatformOpens a new window . They tackled two big problems: the fragmentation of the supply chain and the isolation of maritime vessels.
Similarly, by capitalizing upon such trends, you can enhance your marketing strategies by several notches and stay ahead of the game.
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Final Thoughts
According to Tamara McCleary, Thulium. Co’s CEO, client relationships are at the center of every B2B enterprise.
And IoT’s ability to equip businesses with valuable customer data to further the relationship is one of the main reasons behind the technology’s widespread use in B2B marketing. IoT is a treasure trove of possibilities that every marketer will be looking to tap into in the coming years.
How are you leveraging advances in IoT in your B2B marketing strategy and campaigns? Let us know on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!