As the marketing and communications space continues to evolve, so do the methods companies implement to reach and retain their target audiences. Our years of experience in marketing and audience engagement reveals one undeniable truth: to gain and sustain competitive advantage, B2B companies must adapt their marketing strategies to become industry-based. Industry-based marketing is a specific approach in which you segment and market to your prospects based on their industry.
When multiple companies join forces to market a product or solution to a variety of verticals, industry-based marketing can be a bit of a dance. There can be a complex set of moves between the two companies with Business A selling a product, needing to anticipate the requirements of Business B, and adapting accordingly without stepping on their toes. If this B2B two-step concerns, say, a complicated technological innovation that could benefit multiple commercial enterprises, then fleet feet are crucial in adapting how it is marketed such that it lands with the buyers.
Putting the sentiment above into action, we recently collaborated with a global leader in artificial intelligence looking to spread the word about its new cross-industry offering, developed in partnership with a major cloud computing company. Harnessing countless AI applications, the AI solution offers an end-to-end platform with a suite of data science tools and frameworks for industries as diverse as finance, telecommunications, and retail. With the solution, for example, teams located miles apart could work simultaneously on the same virtual model, call center workers could better engage with customers via AI-powered transcription, or shoppers could experiment with virtual try-ons of a brand’s apparel. The two companies who developed the solution were faced with one question: how can we facilitate the immediate, practical adoption of this emerging technology for diverse companies across industries?
After putting out feelers for a consultancy group to tackle the job, both companies were interested in Spur Reply’s wealth of experience handling industry-specific marketing writing. Our team knew the technical demands and potential benefits of adapting AI for their target industries. In addition, Spur would be able to deftly balance the project management needed by involving stakeholders from both companies.
We kicked off the project with the initial task of marketing the solution to one specific industry. However, our team’s work right out of the gates impressed the two companies enough to expand the scope of their collaboration across multiple industry markets.
Our clients were fired up to begin pitching their AI solution to C-suite leaders and IT architects across any number of enterprises. Both companies had plenty of technical documentation on the AI solution, but they needed a way to explain the solution’s benefits to a variety of industry-based audiences in a way that was easy to understand. We responded by building messaging on the solution’s value that could be repurposed in multiple formats for different uses while still creating maximum impact for each audience.
On top of delivering first-class writing, the visual component of the materials also had to be of premium quality to reach potential clients across multiple industries. To that end, we not only created assets for each specific vertical, but we developed a visual identity that was leveraged across the series of assets and tailored to each vertical.
Of all the components that were carefully integrated into this project, one of the most important was providing a steady hand to coordinate data collection syncs and content reviews with a dozen or so time-strapped subject matter experts (SMEs) between both organizations. Spur’s consultants worked to keep stakeholders aligned by leading regular meetings, building a robust workback schedule, and ensuring all project tasks were completed by their respective deadlines.
“One of the strengths that we brought to the engagement,” said Joey Kern, a client delivery director with Spur Reply, “is a comfort facilitating engagements with stakeholders across both organizations.”
While acting as a bridge between the two companies to facilitate project management made for a smooth progression, Spur also brought unique expertise in technical writing and industry messaging. The consultants’ unique set of skills positioned Spur to act as a prism. Further, we collected source material and conducted SME interviews on the AI solution, then combined our knowledge of the product with a deep understanding of each particular industry’s needs and business priorities.
Our domain expertise in channel go-to-market (GTM) in the B2B sphere was a built-in added value that gave the clients confidence in Spur Reply’s clear understanding of the different behaviors at play when adopting a new technology.
In order for both companies to effectively market the AI solution, they needed to work to unify their brand presence. In an effort to unite the two brands into a unique, shared identity, we began production of a web article and e-book that targeted the financial services industry--a priority by both companies. The documents were largely symmetrical in content. The article went into more depth about the solution and the e-book acted as a visual asset. The two deliverables referenced each other and could be leveraged during presentations with prospects and in marketing campaigns.
Spur was given carte blanche on graphics, and the company’s design team had to thread the needle of combining the companies’ visual identities while creating a highly polished document that could be presented to top financial service industry (FSI) companies worldwide.
The resulting products were a resounding success. The two companies wasted little time in engaging Spur to replicate their work for two additional industries: healthcare and telecommunications. Our familiarity and history with both industries, together with an already established visual template, meant the biggest lift would again be tailoring the messaging around the AI solution for new audiences.
The telecommunications project, however, introduced an additional wrinkle. Instead of the partnership of the two companies marketing the AI solution to telecom customers, the aim of this article and e-book would be to convince telecoms to act as managed service providers for the solution—effectively becoming new partners to sell the AI solution to their own clients. This was a wholly different approach than the first two iterations, but the keys to tweaking the narrative were 1) our firm’s understanding of how communications service providers already offered connectivity services and B2B technologies to their customers, and 2) the company’s experience working with technology companies to shape their channel and go-to-market strategies.
Spur Reply’s expertise in industry-specific marketing writing, graphic design, go-to-market channels, and project management made us an ideal partner to tailor the messaging of this AI solution to the needs and understanding of multiple industries.
Our initial success with marketing to the financial services industry quickly built trust in our capabilities, and we dove headlong into added projects with increased complexity.
To find out more about how Spur Reply can assist with your marketing needs across industries, check out our content development offerings at https://spur-reply.com/content-development and audience engagement offerings at https://spur-reply.com/audience-engagement.