Great article by Gartner about the merger of B2B and B2C marketing.
While I would agree B2B marketing does not need to drive you to a website to buy from a shopping cart, though some freemium software products may disagree. There is also no retail outlet for you to visit on a Saturday. That said the are many similarities.
1. B2B marketing just to realise that the purchaser isn't a company, it's people like you and me. We all have wants, hopes and dreams, just like consumers. While I would agree it has always been like this, B2B Marketing has never treated us as people.
2. B2B Marketing has to cut all the ridiculous jargon, what does ERP mean anyway? It's accounting software.
3. Buyers won't be pushed down a sales funnel, we don't like being sold to and GDPR won't let you do this anyway.
4. You may have paid the best agency in the world to create the best copy, with the best images but if you call me Tom I will just delete it and block you. If you send me an unsolicited email or call, 9 times out of ten I will block you anyway. So how do B2B companies talk to your customers? BTW: Nobody takes any notice of adverts in case you think that is the answer.
5. Standing on the top of your building with a loud hailer shouting how great you are, is just the same as everybody else, it's just noise. Your brand, your website, your corporate brochures, your new logo, mean nothing and we don't care about them. So how on earth are you going to market?
6. Web views are now too late in the process, by the time they have come to your website, they will know the problem, know the solution and have drawn up a short list. Web site visits now are usually to qualify somebody out not in. You must be into Intent data.
If you are in B2B and don't get any of this, you are a long way behind.
B2B marketers can no longer use industry jargon and corporate ‘selfies’ to drive engagement. The voice of the customer must be relatable to the buyer — requiring a compelling customer experience mapped across the buyer journey. Every successful B2C marketer knows that to reach their prospects, you need to address the problems you’re solving rather than the specific features of your product or service, no matter how impressive or sophisticated they are. Ultimately, the people who you want to sign a purchase order will only do so in return for solutions to their own business problems. They aren’t interested in “market leading”, “state of the art,” “best in class” — they’re looking for ways to be more effective at their jobs, save time, and avoid pressure from their management team.
https://blogs.gartner.com/marc-brown/no-distinction-b2b-b2c-marketing/
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