VFC Lightning Protection: Striking the Right Notes in B2B

When you think of businesses, the brands, and products that line your local grocery store probably come to mind. Or maybe you think about the car or insurance commercials that continually pop up when you are watching your favorite TV show. We identify these types of businesses because we often are very familiar with them. Most of us have probably owned a car at one point in our lives, and we often make a trip to our local store at least once a week. B2C businesses definitely have a large place in our lives, however, B2B businesses shouldn’t be overlooked either. 

Although there are many B2B businesses out there, we sometimes forget about them because they aren’t as visible as B2C businesses and are often much more targeted. For instance, we’re probably all pretty familiar with Amazon, but unless you work in data management or customer relations, the company SAP may seem less recognizable to you. Based on this, it may surprise you that SAP is worth around $145 billion dollars as of August 2019.

Seeing these differences, it should come as no shock that the challenges and opportunities B2B businesses face also differ significantly from those of B2C businesses. So, when we partnered with leading B2B lighting protection company VFC, we had to tackle these challenges head-on, helping VFC to keep their place at the top of the lightning leaderboard. 

The Challenges of B2B

VFC is a company that focuses primarily on B2B sales, providing lighting protection and grounding solutions for businesses across the globe. They have worked in several industries and sectors including healthcare, data centers, industrial, government, and more. One of the challenges VFC faces, like many other B2B companies, is the long and complex sales cycle.

In B2B purchasing decisions, there are many more decision-makers than a typical B2C transaction. For instance, 64% of C-level executives must have final signoff on purchasing decisions, but 81% of non-C-suitors also have a say in the decision. This means B2B companies have to work even harder to prove their value to multiple people. 

Also, many B2B buyers conduct more extensive and detailed research before deciding on which company or product to go with. This can include detailed ROI and competitor analyses. In fact, B2B researchers perform 12 searches on average before they even engage on a specific brand’s site. The presence of this in-depth research means B2B companies must have complete and accurate info across their site, giving researchers everything they need to understand what the company has to offer compared to its competitors. 

Partnering with VFC

So, when we partnered with VFC, we understood the challenges that we had to overcome working in the B2B space. 

Focusing on Search Intent

The reliance on research in the B2B industry meant we had to focus on pulling in potential leads through online searches. To do this, we focused heavily on search intent and high-opportunity keywords. We did extensive keyword research to determine what potential buyers were looking for and implemented these terms in strategic locations throughout the site, such as in headers, URLs, meta tags, and more. 

To further our reach using keywords, we also began adding specific industry pages that could utilize more niche keywords. These narrowly focused pages meant that if someone searched for “data center lightning protection,” VFC has a better chance of showing up in the top results. 

Improving SEO

Adding keywords throughout the site was definitely one element of our SEO strategy, but we wanted to focus on other areas that would help improve the site’s ranking as well. 59% of B2B marketers say SEO has the biggest impact on their lead generation goals, and we had to make sure VFC’s site was up to par.

Before we began providing marketing services for VFC, they had recently acquired another company called Lyncole. As a result of this acquisition, our web designers built a brand new site that combined the separate Lyncole and VFC sites. The new website is modern, beautifully designed, and includes many helpful features, but much of the SEO value of the previous sites were lost. 

So, practically starting from ground zero, we began efforts to improve VFC’s SEO and digital presence. One key element of our overall SEO strategy was implementing effective CTA’s across the site. Nearly 44% of B2B marketers say the main reason customers abandon websites is because of a lack of visible contact info, and 69% of buyers indicated that “excessive form field requirements” would deter them from completing a contact form. This meant our CTAs had to be conveniently placed so that potential buyers could easily see them, but that they shouldn’t request too much or unnecessary information.

Providing Detailed Information

Another area of focus in our strategy for VFC was the content. All of the content across the site had to be detailed and convey all of the information a potential buyer would want. In addition to giving us the opportunity to place keywords, the industry-specific pages allowed us to add specialized information, giving buyers more context and details. 

On top of that, the site is designed in English, French, and Spanish, catering to VFC’s global customers. Finally, one of our favorite features of the site is the built-in live chat feature. This feature allows buyers to easily and quickly ask any specific questions they have and receive the information and answers they are looking for in return. 

In The End

We love working with VFC. We continue to provide marketing services to them, striving to improve their competitive position and provide more leads. If you are a B2B business that is in need of help with your marketing, contact us today. Our SEO and paid advertising experts understand the B2B industry and can help create the perfect strategy specific to your business.