Breaking into the world of B2B marketing
This blog was developed by members of the CMA’s B2B Council, as part of a subgroup initiative on B2B marketing talent.
Are you a marketer looking to make the jump from B2C to B2B? Read on to learn about how best to navigate this shift.
Making the jump from B2C to B2B marketing
Are you hesitant to apply for a B2B role with only B2C experience? Don’t feel boxed in. Just make sure you can answer the four questions below.
If you’re a business-to-consumer (B2C) marketer looking for work, you may have considered transitioning to business-to-business (B2B). But how big of a leap is it? Do you need specific B2B experience to apply and succeed?
The short answer is no. There are plenty of transferable skills between the two disciplines, and not many B2B hiring managers are purely focused on whether you’re B2C or B2B.
If you’re debating sending in that application, we have a few key questions for you to keep in mind:
- Are you a curious person?
- Are you a good marketer?
- Are you a great collaborator?
- Do you have the technical skills?
Where to begin
First, consider the differences.
B2C is usually focused on selling products or services directly to consumers, while B2B sells to businesses or organizations. B2B tends to have longer buying cycles, higher price points, and more niche applications with narrower target audiences.
If connecting businesses with other businesses sounds unsexy, keep in mind that there are people fuelling every step of that journey. B2B is about connecting people. Our industry needs marketers who can find creative and innovative ways to bridge the gap between the human and the technical side of B2B.
That leads us to our first question.
1. Are you a curious person?
There’s no formula for being a strong candidate for a B2B marketing position. To tick this box, you’ll need to demonstrate your approach to learning and improving.
One of the highlights of B2B is learning about how things are made. Because you’re speaking to businesses, you need to build an understanding of how each client’s product or service fits into a larger process, whether it’s manufacturing building components, processing food ingredients, or developing software to help services run more efficiently.
Each time you work with a new client, you have a whole new industry to learn about. From that perspective, a strong candidate is deeply curious and driven to learn new concepts. Likewise, B2B marketing is perfectly trainable if you have a strong growth mindset and the ability to analyze problems with a critical eye.
Interview preparation: Describe your approach to learning a new concept. Discuss a challenge you faced in a previous role and how you overcame it.
2. Are you a good marketer?
In B2B, the key to being a good marketer is having a data-driven approach. You don’t need to know each specific KPI — these are teachable — but do you understand the importance of measurement, its impact on marketing, and how that can be leveraged to offer a real solution to someone’s problems?
It’s not just about knowing the right tools and methodology to collect data — it’s about knowing what to do with it. A good marketer can extrapolate data to provide an analysis and develop a set of takeaways that can be applied to the next campaign.
Interview preparation: Provide an example of a campaign where you successfully improved results by applying your analysis of the data. What were your findings and how did it affect the final results?
3. Are you a great collaborator?
In B2B, the key to a good marketing team is understanding stakeholder management and where and how the sales team plays a role in the customer experience. As marketers, we can lead the customer to our solutions, but it takes the accounts team to finalize the sale. Ensure you build in time and material to educate sales on the messages you are creating. Truly take the time to hear their feedback on how a customer will interpret the messaging and be prepared to pivot with feedback. The best B2B marketers know how and when to incorporate sales insights and ultimately increase revenue generation.
Interview preparation: Provide an example of a cross-functional project you participated in or led with a lot of stakeholders. Be clear on your role – project manager, subject matter expert or participant, etc. – and consider what the experience was like for you.
4. Do you have the technical skills?
You don’t have to be an expert in a specific tool or software, because new tools are always coming out and you can learn whatever is needed. That said, you should be able to demonstrate how the technical skills you have can make a difference in your area of specialization.
Beyond that, this point is self-explanatory. Applicants for web development roles should have design or programming skills, analytics applicants should be familiar with data and measurement, and copywriting applicants should demonstrate proficiency in writing.
Those with the most relevant skills and experience on paper are more likely to be shortlisted for the role. To actually land the job, you’ll need to consider this question in relation to the first two. How does your unique approach to marketing inform the way you apply your technical skills?
Interview preparation: What is your approach or mindset when it comes to developing new skills? If the job application mentions a specific tool you’ve never worked with, give thought to whether you can demonstrate familiarity with a similar or equivalent tool.
Final thoughts
Are you ready to take the first step? If your answer to all of these questions is “yes,” then you’re well on your way to a career in B2B marketing. B2B comes with a unique set of challenges and rewards for marketers. As long as you’re always setting goals and working to improve, there are plenty of opportunities to be found.
Authors:
Stacey Cummings, Purolator Inc.
Jill Knaggs, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters
Steve Lendt, Motum B2B
Ashmita Tailor, Microsoft
