The answer is simple: Leverage the customer buying cycle. What’s the buying cycle, you ask? Stages of the Customer Buying Cycle. Purchase : The action of ordering and buying from your ecommerce site. “compare flat screen tvs” – The desire to compare products indicates this customer is further along in the cycle, such as the Consideration or Preference stage. This is a critical stage to capture contact information. Please join us for a joint Volusion and HubSpot webinar on Thursday, July 7th at 4 PM ET! MORE >>

Home Marketing Matters About Contact B2B Marketing Store Company Website Shortening the Industrial Buy Cycle in 5 Simple Steps by Achinta Mitra on June 8, 2010 in B2B Lead Generation , Content Marketing , Industrial Marketing Strategies , Search Engine Optimization (SEO) , Website Design & Development The other day I read an interesting article titled “5 Steps To Shorten The B2B Buying Cycle” by Kerry Spellman , Client Relationship Manager at iProspect. She has focused on identifying the problem and providing a 5-step solution to shorten the buy cycle. MORE >>

The second chart shows that the length of the buying cycle is shorter. While the most common cycle is 1-3 months in both 2010 and 2011, the number increased in 2011. There were fewer in the ranges of 4-6 months and 7-12 months in 2011, and only cycles of more than a year held steady. One of things that we have learned about the buying cycle in the social media era is that prospects contact a sales rep after 60% of the cycle is complete. How have your B2B buying cycles changed and are you able to use social media to address these changes? MORE >>

While some swear by interacting with a prospect on a regular basis through useful information nuggets sent to him, some others recommend sending him as much or as little, based on his behavior. But to do all that, you need to have a good understanding of your prospect and where he currently is in the buying cycle. Tailoring your content to the buying cycle. So instead of bombarding him with information that might not be relevant, give him what he wants. Buying Cycle and Content Mapping. The ‘Buy’ Stage. email, video, webinar etc). MORE >>

Conveniently for us B2B marketers, video also conveys more information per minute than any other media platform. According to a Universal McCann study cited by Brightcove , people find product information and research most compelling when delivered in video format.  How video engages prospects throughout the buying cycle. Late Stage: Once you’ve built trust, offer detailed case studies and longer videos,  begin to capture vital customer information. Someone who is willing to watch a 10-minute product demo is more likely to provide his contact information.  MORE >>