2 Critical B2B Marketing Insights from the MarketingProfs B2B Forum

Last week, I had the benefit if attending the MarketingProfs B2B Forum here in Boston. In addition to the great networking that took place, the 2 day event was jam-packed with great insights from B2B thought leaders on topics such as lead generation, sales and marketing alignment and social media. As I spend time looking through my notes and action items, there are a few key themes that I am taking away. I am going to focus on 2 of these high level themes here and will follow up with some more tactical pieces in the coming weeks.

Engage based upon behavior, not just demographic and firmographic information. In her presentation, "Tapping Into Human Behavior to Increase Open, Read and Response Rates," Nancy Harhut pointed out some things that we tend to forget: people respect authority, they are naturally curious, they like to touch things and they like certain words. They also make decisions based upon rational and emotional decisions. When we develop our communications and think about how to message to our prospects and customers, B2B marketers have a tendancy to get caught up in features and functionality. But what we really need to think about is how our products/services/solutions solve problems. We need to paint that picture that will appeal (hopefully) to both the rational and emotional side of our prospects as they make their decisions. How will their lives - professionally and often personally - be better as a result of what we offer?

Be where your buyers are: social, email, direct mail, mobile. These channels were all discussed and I gained some great practical advice on how to penetrate these mediums in a more meaningful way. Attendees discussed topics such as direct mail - is it going away? Mobile - how do I ensure that my content will be viewed on my prospect's device of choice? But at the end of the day, it really boils down to one thing - you must be where your buyers are. For some of us, that continues to be email. And for others, it is still direct mail. It always comes back to basics - know your buyer, understand the persona. Develop the "buyer journey" that appeals to the buyer on their terms.

This got me thinking further. If I ask you to tell me about your buyer, you will no doubt tell me about the appropriate titles, job responsibilities, company size and revenue, industries, etc. As diligent marketers, we have spent time thinking about these things and may even have regular conversations with our sales folks to further refine this picture. But what about behaviors? Do you know what social media sites your target customers visit with regularity? Do they read industry related magazines? Do they care about local news? Do they use Blackberries, iPhones or Androids? These are the questions you need to think about to really market to them effectively. Start with a customer survey; get engaged with new clients early in the onboarding process and ask these questions. Add a short 2 question survey to your newsletter and find out. Create posters in-house that display these personas - give them names, talk about them as though they are extensions of your team. In other words, live with them! Once you take steps to understand your buyers and their behaviors, you will be more effective in your marketing efforts and be able to engage on THEIR terms.

Cheers,

Renay