This is the second post in my series What I talk about when I talk about B2B marketing. This post is focused on the first of the three key takeaways: B2B marketing is complex.
The first thing to understanding B2B marketing is why and what makes it different and complex. And why complexity doesn’t have to mean it’s difficult.
Here’s what you need to know:
- B2B ≠ B2C
- B2B buyers are a group of people
- The B2B buyer journey is not linear
- B2B technology marketers need to know where they are in the adoption cycle
B2B ≠ B2C
B2B marketing is different than B2C marketing. Since everyone has experienced B2C as a consumer, the misconception of B2B being similar is the biggest hurdle B2B marketers face when explaining their role in an organization.
Keep in mind that when I speak about B2B, I’m referring to B2B technology purchases (so not real estate or office supplies), and more often than not, B2B enterprise technology.
As noted in my post How to convert your website visitors, B2B purchases tend to be high involvement and rational. So, if there was a comparison for B2C purchases that are similar to B2B – you could think of big-ticket items. such as a car or home which may involve multiple family members participating in a purchase, and a lot of research before making a decision.
B2B buyers are a group of people
Being Business to Business should give you some indication that the “to Business” means that there may be many people involved in the buying process. You have to understand that you will have to “surround the sale” by identifying the multiple buyers involved.
An example of a marketing buying group:
- Persona – End-user (Marketing Operations Manager)
- Buying group – Marketing operations
- Buying center – The marketing team
- Account – The company the marketing team serves
- Market – This could be North America or APAC or even be a global enterprise business
Understanding who is involved and how those key players are organized in a business is important to how you market – from messages to the channels you use.
The B2B buyer journey is not linear
And finally, as mentioned in my post A B2B buyer journey is not linear, the pathway from lead to customer can be a maze – as evidenced in this well-known image from Gartner.
Understanding that just because you get prospects into the funnel or hand them over to sales, doesn’t mean that they can’t go back a step or two before progressing. So when you design your marketing campaign, don’t get frustrated if progression through the funnel doesn’t come as simply.
B2B technology marketers need to know where they are in the adoption cycle
Not to throw another complexity to the mix, but how you focus your marketing strategy changes depending on where you are in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle. Understanding where your business is will help you find your target audience, design the right message, and build your buyer journey and campaign.
Again, I repeat, B2B is complex but doesn’t have to be difficult.
If you understand what the complexities are, then finding the right strategies shouldn’t be difficult.
Stay tuned for the next post in the series!
Header Photo by John Barkiple on Unsplash