Today's business-to-business buyers may have completed 90% of the buying process by the time they see a company's marketing message! So a lot of B2B lead gen is probably missing the mark with mistimed or irrelevant messaging, which is why marketers who want to improve their B2B aim should check out a recent b2bmarketing.net post's four-step plan. Step 1: Realize that one-size-fits-all automated communications aren't enough in today's competitive landscape. Create data-driven "buyer personas" to personalize and guide relevant messaging along the sales cycle. For B2B buyers, a persona would include names of the person and company as well as key characteristics such as job responsibilities, sources of information, role in the purchase process, business goals, pain points, preferred content medium, objections anticipated, etc. Step 2: Win over leads by matching messaging to the B2B buying journey so you deliver desired content at each stage. Note that a recent B2B buyer survey found 61% of buyers choose vendors who deliver a better mix of content. Step 3: Accept that today's average sales cycle is 22% longer than it was five years ago, so invest in nurturing leads for the extended sales journey. Research shows nurturing produces a 20% increase in sales leads on average. Use intelligence across multi-channel touch points to keep buyers moving toward sale. Step 4: Create brand advocates to cheer on those leads as they travel toward purchase. Research shows that 67% of B2B buyers say they had heard of the chosen supplier before they ever purchased. So make it easy for customers and partners to become brand advocates by rewarding and recognizing referrals, reviews, content sharing, and content generation. For a free B2B marketing guide, including how to build buyer personas, along with links to relevant articles, see http://www.b2bmarketing.net/blog/posts/2015/04/21/marketing-modern-b2b-buyer
David Kanter, President and CEO of AccuList, is a list brokerage and direct marketing expert. For more than 30 years, he has helped companies and nonprofit organizations achieve their marketing goals. With David's Direct Marketing Forum, he shares, and invites others to share, helpful direct-marketing industry news, trends, analyses, resources, and tips for success. Please read our Comment Policy.
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