A More Human Approach to Business Marketing
Answering any question about what’s next in B2B marketing must involve the increasing attention on buyers as people vs. simply “business to business”. The human element of business marketing has attracted a lot of play in the B2B marketing conversation and rightly so.
While there are many changes and trends to consider to stay ahead in the B2B marketing game (paid, earned, owned and shared media for example) the thing that unites departments, tactics and technologies is common ground and common goals. By viewing B2B marketing from the buyer’s perspective, whether it’s an individual or committee, business marketers can start to break free of the mechanical and start creating more meaningful marketing experiences for buyers.
To drill down further on this topic, I’ve connected with 3 top B2B Marketers from ExactTarget, Xerox and The Conversion Scientist to capture their insights on a more customer focused view of B2B marketing.
CMO: Chief Officer of the User Journey
Joel Book @joelbook
Director of eMarketing Education at Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud
One of the biggest trends in B2B Marketing is the rapidly expanding technology budget for the CMO. Gartner predicts that, by 2017, the CMO will have a larger IT budget than the CIO.
“NextGen CRM” is all about personalizing and optimizing the B2B buyer’s product research, buying and usage journeys."
As Marketing, Sales and Customer Service functions converge, CMOs are being asked to shoulder responsibility for not only creating brand awareness and generating leads, but nurturing those leads by providing information that aids purchase, and delivering relevant and timely customer service communications.1
In short, “NextGen CRM” is all about personalizing and optimizing the B2B buyer’s product research, buying and usage journeys. And the CMO is rapidly becoming the company’s Chief Journey Officer!
B2B & B2C Will Be Replaced by B2i
Jeannine Rossignol @j9rossignol
Vice President of Marketing at Xerox Global Services
“In the future there’s no distinction between B2B & B2C. Everything is marketed to individuals”
In the future there is no distinction between types of marketing, B2B or B2C is irrelevant because everything is marketed to the individual, and everything is controlled by your smart devices.
When the alarm on your phone wakes you up, you hear a message about the latest traffic report and a reminder to leave early because your car is almost out of gas. As you listen to the news, through iHeartRadio on your phone, all the commercials are customized to you.
You might hear a promo for a new coffee flavor that works in the Keurig you just bought, or you might hear a promo on a new product/service based on the Google search you did last night.
Shocking! BP2BP Replaces B2B
Brian Massey @bmassey
The Conversion Scientist
In the coming year an in-depth study of corporations worldwide will reveal that businesses do not buy anything, but that human beings are actually the force behind decisions being made.
"The B2B industry will be re-crowned BP2BP, or business person-to-business person."
This revelation will send shockwaves through the communities that sell to businesses. The B2B industry will be re-crowned BP2BP, or business person-to-business person. Thinly-veiled disciplines will be adopted from consumer marketing such as strategytelling, corpywriting, and bLearning.
Copywriters will be liberated in their writing. Stock photo sites will see a sales plummet. It will be hard for some businesses to accept that business people come with the same hopes, fears and dreams that drive consumer decisions. At least one high-level marketing executive will be overheard saying, “People. Who’d have thought?”
Well said Joel, Jeannine and Brian. I hope you’ve already registered for the sold out MarketingProfs B2B Forum in Boston Oct 8-10 to see these 3 B2B marketing smarties in person. If not, you can sign up for on-demand access.
To get even more insights on the dynamics of B2B Marketing now and in the future, be sure to check out the full complement of B2B Marketing predictions in the Future of B2B Marketing eBook below. You’ll find a mix of predictions that range from the practical to those that are so far out there, they’re literally science fiction.
How are you incorporating a more “human” approach to your B2B marketing?
No comments:
Post a Comment