B2B marketplaces have seen a manifold rise in the post-pandemic world. COVID-19 taught the world to rely more on online purchases. This trend soon caught up with small and large business houses, which quickly launched their B2C and B2B e-commerce sites online. This helped in accessing a nationwide/global customer/wholesaler/retailer audience, scaling their businesses and profit margins. The preference for online shopping as well as the closure of many businesses have significantly impacted the popularity of B2B marketplaces.
The advantages of B2B marketplaces are many since they include analytics, adaptable payment methods, and streamlined business operations. Many business owners have been able to provide excellent customer experiences thanks to advances in technology, like cloud-based solutions and B2B platforms.
This article will examine how you can use B2B marketplaces to grow your business in 2023.
What is a B2B E-Commerce Market?
Selling products and services from one business to another over the internet is known as business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. It differs from B2C, which is a relationship between businesses and end consumers. Business-to-business (B2B) transactions take place between two organizations, such as a manufacturer and wholesaler or a wholesaler and retailer.
Global Insights and Statistics
As they bring together big wholesale businesses, Alibaba and Amazon currently dominate a significant portion of the global B2B market. The user experiences on newer B2B marketplaces, however, are superior to those on more traditional platforms. The market for B2B e-commerce was $8,523.3 billion in the US in 2021, and it is expected to grow to $18,771.4 billion in the US by 2027. 1 A 12.36% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) was predicted for the global B2B market between 2022 and 2027.
One such upcoming and blossoming marketplace in India is Rolloverstock. With a wide array of products available for B2B and B2C, this marketplace is coming up as the preferred destination for online shopping. A McKinsey & Company report estimates that by 2022, 65% of B2B companies will conduct their business online, with a higher percentage to follow in 2023. With a projected value of US $1,511.13 billion in 2021, the home and kitchen segment will hold the largest share of the B2B e-commerce market.
Marketplace Strategies for Business Success
Content and Inbound Marketing
Content marketing is a fantastic way to produce interesting and practical content that enthralls your target audiences and helps you establish yourself as an authority in your field. Additionally, it gives you a chance to interact with potential clients and have a conversation with them, giving you the chance to tell engaging tales about your goods or services that pique the interest of a target market.
The right people’s visibility and appeal can be increased with the aid of blog posts, videos, and other inbound marketing techniques like SEO, social media, and PPC advertising. Increasing web visibility and directing potential customers to your website is an excellent way to improve organic leads.
Email/SMS Marketing
One of the most direct and economical ways to connect with potential customers is through email and SMS marketing. When pursuing business success, email marketing is a B2B marketplace strategy that is incredibly effective. Similar to this, SMS marketing enables one to begin direct relationships with their customers. Businesses can segment, track, and analyze all of their B2B efforts in one location with email and SMS campaigns, maximizing the business impact and allowing them to find leads or retarget previous clients.
Businesses can automate messages across various channels and personalize them with email and SMS marketing, ensuring that each customer receives helpful and tailored messages that can increase conversions. Thus, email marketing enables companies to communicate effectively and cost-efficiently.
Social Media Marketing
The importance of social media marketing in today’s world cannot be ignored. If you want to boost the popularity of your B2B e-commerce business, it is important to set up your social media handles on popular social media networks like Instagram, Facebook, etc.
Nowadays, business meetings and decisions are made online, and social media can be a great platform for networking and increasing brand recognition. 89% of B2B content marketers use social media as their primary platform for content distribution, according to a study. More than 60% of consumers conduct social media research on service providers, according to another study.
Brand Building
By engaging in B2B brand building, you can make your business compelling to your target audience. You can do this by accomplishing the following:
- Offering superior goods and services that will help you stand out from competing businesses.
- Investigate your target market’s preferences.
- Making distinctive business elements, such as logos, brand colors, and websites
- Constructing a distinctive brand message, using things like a value proposition, brand story, mission, and vision
- Creating a community with your intended audience.
Nurturing Leads
Lead generation in B2B should also include nurturing the leads and guiding them through the sales process. The goal of lead nurturing is to develop a relationship with your leads and provide them with value to sway their decision to make a purchase from you.
No matter where they are in the sales funnel, the best way to accomplish this is by demonstrating your concern for them and continuing to build a relationship with them. Your leads should include all of your clients, past, present, and potential. Take care of the following points while managing and nurturing your leads:
- Make a lead list and identify high value & qualified leads.
- Study your leads as thoroughly as you can, taking into account their buyer personas, their interactions with your content, and any potential rivals they might favor.
- Always send individualized messages as a follow-up.
- Depending on where your customers are in your sales funnel, send them relevant and engaging content.
- To improve customer-buyer relationships, choose a multichannel strategy.
Share Testimonials
There is no doubt that case studies, testimonials, and reviews are crucial to building consumer trust, regardless of whether your business is B2B or B2C. Reviews provide a level of endorsement that can affect your target audience’s decision to purchase.
As a result, make an effort to collect as many testimonials from your previous clients as you can and post them on various websites, B2B marketplaces of your choosing, social media platforms, and review websites.
These are some amazing strategies to stay at the top of your game. So, if you are a budding wholesaler or a retailer who wants to scale their growth on a national level at first, then Rolloverstock should be your first option.
