According to analyst Sheryl Pattek of Forrester Research, by the time Business-to-Business (B2B) buyers engage with you online, they are 60% or more done with their buying process. It’s critical to have a strong presence online to attract buyers and then to engage with impact as they make their decision.
To do this, Pattek states that you need a strong brand and you need to have a brand presence where your buyers spend time online. She also comments that just as in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) marketing, B2B buyers’ business transactions are merging into their personal lives as they review information and emails from their mobile devices and home computers at night and on weekends.
What does this mean for B2B Marketers?
1. We need to know our customers and how they access information, both business and personal.
2. We need to create a brand that attracts the kind of buyers we want.
3. We need to carry our brand image and messaging across many platforms in an integrated fashion.
4. We need to add value and engage with customers.
5. We need to track engagement and conversion rates and improve our marketing to increase both.
How do you get there? If you do not have a strong presence online, begin by updating your website, add a blog, and focus on a couple of key social media platforms that have the most traction, like LinkedIn and Facebook or Twitter. Email marketing is an excellent way to stay in front of buyers once they find you. No matter what you do, you must be strategic and have a plan to build and maintain a strong brand online.
If you need help integrating better online marketing with your traditional marketing campaigns, contact New Incite today. We provide consulting and implementation services to get you up and running with your online marketing, as well as results reporting to track progress.
