4 hacks to smash specialist business marketing

Creating marketing content that drives customer engagement and conversions is challenging for specialist operators. You can let your imagination run riot if you’re promoting a popular beer or burger brand, but a more niche offering can sometimes stifle creativity.

Striking the balance between breathing life into a technical brand and teetering on the edge of triviality is tricky work for specialist business marketing professionals.

But fear not — there are ways to make specialist business marketing pop for even the most serious service providers.

Here are four hacks to smash specialist business marketing.

Creativity

Financial investment firms aren’t typically renowned as hotbeds of transcendent creativity.

But State Street Global Advisors recently broke the mould with their award winning Fearless Girl campaign.

They created an instantly iconic statue of a young girl and installed it in the heart of Wall Street facing off against the famous bull.

The feminist figurine highlighted State Street’s SHE fund, which invests in businesses fronted by female executives.

Its installation struck a blow for female empowerment in the heartland of a male-dominated sector.

It’s proof that using art effectively can promote your organisational values. When consumers know what you stand for, they’ll be more likely to buy what you sell.

Sometimes a subtle approach creates a marketing echo that’s heard beyond the boundaries of your own sector — simultaneously enhancing your reputation and authority.

Storytelling

The product you sell might not be terrifically thrilling — but what it’s used for might be.

So if you sell catenary wire you might want to describe its dimensions and manufacture process.

But you can also explain how it’s used in some of the world’s most spectacular cable cars and tram systems — bringing the product’s unique application alive through videos and photos of it in action.

And if your product solved problems on a famous engineering project, this provides the perfect high-profile case study.

Storytelling that shows your technical product in action in accessible scenarios allows customers to understand why you’re so passionate about your business.

Online reviews

Positive customer feedback provides some of the best marketing material possible for B2B businesses.

Fellow business owners need to know quickly that the products and services you provide are high-quality, meet their needs precisely and are perfectly fit for purpose.

They’re more likely to part with their hard-earned cash if you curate and collate glowing feedback from similar companies who have already taken the plunge.

Consumer-generated content is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to establish trust with potential customers — the perfect remedy to convert world-wise entrepreneurs into customer advocates.

You can even deal proactively with customer complaints on social media should they arise — this is the type of transparent professionalism that enhances your reputation no end.

Humanise

Your ‘about us’ is another way to create a human connection with customers.

But more ‘business-like’ organisations sometimes miss the mark.

Companies in creative industries may feel confident about uploading zany staff pictures outlining the wild and wacky extracurricular activities of their staff — in some industries this is entirely appropriate.

But injecting a touch of personality is possible even in the most serious of professions.

For instance, if you’re looking for solicitors in Leeds you’re probably more likely to engage with an ‘about us’ page featuring smiling staff that look approachable than that of a competitor filled with morose employees that appear mummified.

Customers dealing with specialist professions for the first time can naturally feel intimidated.

So it’s crucial that the professionals they work with appear as approachable and reassuring as possible.

With a little imagination you can promote your niche business with creativity and verve — these four hacks to smash specialist business marketing will set you on the right path.