B2B: Understanding the Customer Journey Funnel
Last year, Funnel Envy’s own Arun Sivashankaran give a B2B marketing webinar for the great folks over at Optimizely.
Enjoy!
4 Tips for an Effective B2B Social Media Campaign
B2B marketing is undergoing huge changes.
Thanks to the developments in marketing technology B2B strategies have had to adapt to evolving purchaser desires. The traditional approach to B2B marketing is, if we’re being honest, dry and dull. It’s always aimed at the professional, who apparently is a very boring person.
There seems to be an unwritten rule in traditional B2B that dictates the message to every person needs be delivered with professional courtesy that ultimately robs it of anything resembling personality.
But the times, they are a-changing. What you’ve got to remember is, while your primary B2B prospects are being approached in their professional capacity, they’re still a consumer. And thanks to the popularisation of channels including social media these B2B buyers expect a ‘consumer-like’ experience to the marketing materials they receive.
It’s something the B2B world is catching on to. If you take a look at the developing budgetary trends, you’ll see that while marketing campaign budgets are set to rise by 5% over the next year, those for digital marketing are projected to increase three times as fast.
That budget is largely going to be funneled into your content marketing strategy; the production of blog posts, white papers, eBooks, etc. However, the shift in buyer expectations has an increasing number of business recognizing the importance of social media content.
How to Tell the Difference Between a Marketing Qualified Lead and a Sales Qualified Lead
How well do you understand your prospect’s behavior and expectations?
Do you know and understand the difference in behavior between your top and bottom funnel prospects? Can you accurately describe how to align your marketing for those different stages of desire and when to shift from your marketing phase into your sales phase?
I ask because a lot of marketing managers can’t. They’re not fully aware of each stage within their funnel and how it affects behavior and expectations.
Too many marketing managers take an overly simplistic view of funnel progression and prospect expectations. They attract prospects with top funnel campaigns and shift immediately into pushing for the sale. This rarely works. (more…)
What is Account Based Marketing and is it Right for Your Business?
Is traditional advertising dead?
That’s the question I’ve been asking myself recently.
For years, marketers have been relying on the exposure approach. It was all about getting your message and product out there and in front of as many pairs of eyes as possible.
But, as with any business practice, things change.
There’s been a slow but deliberate shift away from traditional advertising. Results consistently show that this quantity over quality approach isn’t all that effective. (more…)
The New World of B2B Marketing: What It Means for You
It’s easy to see B2B and B2C marketing as completely different animals.
After all, that’s how their customers have behaved over the years.
The common thinking: it’s easier to sway B2C customers with media, ads, and special offers. They care about brands, but most of the time, switching between them is not a big deal if they’re not happy with their experience.
B2B customers, on the other hand, do extensive research. They care about the technical specs of your product. If they decide to buy, it’s often done through a formal procurement process. Once they become your customer, they tend to stick with you for a longer time because switching to a different provider can disrupt their workflow.
This explains why B2B has moved slower than B2C sales in responding to changing technologies, trends, and customer preferences…
However, continuing along that slower path today leads to some serious missed opportunities.
Traditional B2B strategies – from cold calling and direct mail to relying on word-of-mouth referrals – still have their place and can be effective. But you can supercharge your sales if you’re willing to integrate a few new concepts to help you adjust to today’s rapidly-changing B2B environment.
