Last week, in my introductory Inbound Marketing Automation blog I promised to look at the seismic shifts taking place in B2B Marketing. Shifts that are leading us from Outbound Marketing to Inbound Marketing.
In this post let’s cover the fundamental shift in power from seller to buyer, and how you can take advantage of it.
Today’s B2B buyer is no longer depends on the seller for much of the information he or she needs to make the buying decision. Today, the information is simply “out there” 7/24: Industry trends, company and products, features and benefits, pricing, channels, testimonials. If it’s not available on “official” websites, then it is through web2.0 vehicles like blogs and online communities. The bottom line is that prospects and buyers are now empowered to make decisions without you, the seller.
What fuels this shift is an age-old desire on the part of the buyer to control the buying process. Think about it. People hate to be sold. But they love to buy. The explosion of freely available information on the Internet simply made this natural progression possible.
How will this affect you as B2B Marketer? Simple: You, the seller, can no longer “control” information flow. If you can’t handle this loss of control you might want to contemplate a career change. On the other hand, you can facilitate it, in the process actually regain some control, and win customers big-time.
And if you take this last course of action, and align yourself with this new trend, here are two big-picture suggestions:
- Set information free. Collect all the key knowledge that your company has accumulated, that would benefit your market at large, and make it available in whitepapers, videos, demos, and/or webinars. Doing so will demonstrate your industry leadership to your customers, your prospects, and all your stakeholders. Even better, SEO it, wrap an Inbound Marketing Automation solution around it, and watch your website become a prospect magnet.
- Think Buying, not selling. Empower the Buyer. Many best-of-breed companies regularly evaluate not only their prospect’s online experience, but the entire customer buying experience – from first contact, to training and after-sales support.
In B2B, your customers must buy. Unlike in B2C, where many purchases are discretionary, B2B customers need your products and services to keep their own businesses running. It’s not a want; it’s a need. And so what often determines where prospects buy is how easy you make the buying process.
In other words, make it easy for your customer to buy from you, and you’ll have a customer for life.
Until next time – Axel
Tags: Inbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing Fundamentals, Marketing 2.0
