B2B marketplaces are the new wave of online marketing. To extract the full benefits of online B2B marketing, you need to make sure you know just the right tricks of the trade. However, just as much as you need to know what to do, you also need to know what "not-to-do" so that you can avoid making any wrong moves that might harm your online reputation and result in poor performance of your marketing campaign.

Here are some things that you need to avoid while you market your business on B2B platforms:

Have the Wrong Timing
Timing is critical for a marketing campaign. 'When' you market your products or services determine how receptive the audiences are towards are. If your timing is right, you can pass even with an average marketing campaign. But if your timing is wrong, then even a great list or fantastic offers can't get you the desired results. So, avoid starting your campaign when your consumers have least interest in buying something that you sell. For example, no one would even think about trying to sell Christmas decorations 'after' Christmas!

Going without a Headline
The headline of your B2B marketplace is the first thing that catches the attention of potential customers. Your marketing headline needs to be a catchy snippet that informs audiences about your message, your offer or the action that you want your customers to take. Therefore, it is very important to work on your headline and run several tests to evaluate the response those headlines generate. This way you will get to know which headline is the most effective.

Not getting a Customized List
Many businesses use list generation tools for their marketing campaigns. You can get highly segmented lists according to psychographics, buying behavior, and other such parameters. However, instead of spending your marketing budget on ready-made lists, try hiring the services of a market research company who would create a customized list for your business. This will highly increase the chances of you making sales.

Having Single Mode of Communication
Consumers receive hundreds of marketing messages everyday and if you want your marketing message to have the desired effect, you need to make sure they remember you. Therefore, make sure you are fresh in their memories. And relying on a single mode of communication will serve no purpose. So, make use of as many media channels as you can to propagate your marketing message across your audiences.

Not Having any Measurement Metrics
Marketing forms a critical part of your business. This is because it is indispensable to communicate to your audiences and inform them about your products and services. An important step to ensure successful marketing is to establish metrics to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaign and keep track of the results. You need to maintain a record of what works and what doesn't so that you can improve your results in the future.

Not Continuing the Dialogue
One of the major mistakes companies make is that they fail to continue communication with their customers on an ongoing basis. In fact, one of the most common customer complaints is that the only time they hear from sellers is when it's time to purchase again. Therefore, make sure you maintain a steady communication flow with your customers so as to maintain customer loyalty! Even monthly newsletters to your customers would serve this purpose.

Disclaimer : Sabra Easterday is the owner and founder of MatchB2B. Sabra is also a lawyer with a special interest in business issues and e-marketplaces. Notwithstanding that Sabra Easterday is a lawyer, nothing in this article and no services of MatchB2B or its website are legal services and no attorney-client relationship exists between any reader of this article or user, customer or potential customer of MatchB2B, and MatchB2B, its website or Sabra Easterday.