Have you noticed a change in how your prospects are responding (or not responding) to your marketing efforts? Are traditional sales tactics no longer as effective as they once were? That’s because the marketplace has been steadily shifting over recent years, mostly due to changes in digital media.
Marketing to B2B buyers today is looking much more like B2C marketing strategy. Traditionally, businesses needed to actively pitch to B2B buyers and explain how they would benefit from purchasing a product or service. Since 2015, however, the ratio of B2B buyers who prefer to research independently online has jumped from 53% to 68%.
How do you adjust? Here are four ways to increase the success of your B2B marketing and selling tactics in today’s digital world.
1. Focus on Information, Not Sales
Rather than trying to sell your product with a traditional pitch, simply give your customer information about how the solution will solve the pains and issues they may be experiencing in their current system. Allow your clients to research and decide for themselves by offering content with depth.
2. Go Digital
Focus on your digital marketing. Buyers are now doing all their research online rather than in print. The internet has changed almost everything about the buyer experience, including what information they seek out and how they choose to respond to what they discover.
3. Put Customers at the Center
What are your buyers looking for, and what questions are they asking? Where are they seeking out products? These may seem like basic questions, but you’ve got to invest time in researching your buyers to figure out the best method for catching and keeping their attention.
If you want to keep your B2B buyers engaged, you need to understand them. You have to engage the customer before their buying wall goes up via unsubscribes and blocks, or you’ll miss your chance.
4. Entertain and Educate
In order to be customer-centric, you need to focus on their experience with the content you’re offering them. Remember that the information they find on the web will shape their feelings about your company. Luckily, a few simple guidelines can elevate your internet presence and help you gain the trust of buyers:
- Tell the truth
- Make it entertaining
- Be informative
- Be easily found
By telling the truth, you gain trustworthiness and likeability with your consumers. In addition to being ethical and honest, you should deliver good information in an entertaining fashion. A study by professor Chip Heath of Stanford University discovered that when students listened to speeches, only 5% remembered a single statistic afterwards, but 63% remembered stories.
As you tell stories, you also have to make sure your content provides the consumer with the basic information they need to choose your product over competitors. Keep it simple and relevant to avoid overwhelming your buyer with too much information.
Market to the Modern Buyer
Set yourself apart for your B2B clients by creating a customer-centric attitude for your company and focusing your marketing methods on digital content. By remaining truthful, entertaining, and informative, you’ll be able to market effectively to the evolved, educated B2B consumer.
About the Author
More Content by Amanda Sherry
