B2B marketing strategy: Planning for 2025

With the new year upon us, marking the halfway point for the financial year, now is the perfect time to revisit your marketing strategy.  Remember, as business landscapes shift, so should your plan. So, use this time to regroup as a team, evaluate your progress, assess KPI performance and make any necessary adjustments. 

The 4 levels of B2B marketing: 

There are four levels that marketers must consider when creating and reviewing their B2B strategy.

1. Business strategy

2. Marketing strategy

3. Marketing tactics

4. Marketing execution 

While it's a simple and effective framework, many marketers seem to overlook, rearrange, or omit steps, which can lead to suboptimal results. 

Start with your company's business strategy:

The first and most important step is reviewing the business strategy and gaining input from key stakeholders. 

Your marketing efforts must align with your company's overall business objectives and revenue targets. This alignment is non-negotiable. Once your business objectives are clear, you can define your 'game plan' to achieve them, combining strategic decisions (positioning, messaging) with planning (roadmap, budget).

After that, you can revisit your B2B marketing strategy for FY25.

Key steps - marketing strategy review:

Start with a comprehensive review

Conduct a thorough marketing review of your work delivered 

• Analyse existing marketing channels and their performance

• Evaluate target audience and buyer personas

• Assess competitive landscape

• Review marketing goals and KPIs from the last 6 months

Align with business objectives 

Ensure your marketing strategy supports overall business goals

• Identify key business objectives for the remainder of FY25

• Determine how marketing can support these objectives - engage with executives and sales team immediately

• Set specific, measurable marketing goals tied to business outcomes

Develop a data-driven approach

Use data to inform your strategy

• Analyse past performance data to identify trends and opportunities

• Leverage customer insights to refine targeting and messaging

• Implement analytics tools for tracking and measurement

87% of marketers see data as the most underutilised asset in their company.

Create a flexible budget

When reviewing your budget for the remainder FY25

• Balance allocation between brand-building and performance marketing

• Allocate resources to high-growth opportunities

• Build in flexibility to adapt to market changes

Focus on integrated marketing

Develop an integrated marketing approach

• Ensure consistency across all marketing channels

• Create a cohesive customer journey

• Leverage technology to streamline marketing efforts

Incorporate AI and automation

Enhance your marketing efforts with AI

• Explore AI tools for content creation and optimisation

• Use AI for better customer segmentation and targeting

• Implement marketing automation to improve efficiency

AI has helped 55% of marketers boost their bottom line.

Plan for continuous evaluation and adjustment

Build mechanisms for ongoing review and optimisation

• Set regular meetings for strategy review

• Be prepared to pivot based on performance data and market changes

• Continuously test and refine marketing tactics

As Seth Godin wisely said, "Marketing is a contest for people's attention." Keep this front and centre as you refine your B2B marketing strategy. Focus on creating strategic campaigns that not only grab attention but also resonate with your audience, driving your business forward.

Need help with writing or reviewing your B2B marketing strategy - book a call.