This webinar will look at the breakdown in engagement between the changing B2B buyer and the marketers who are moving too slowly to respond to their changing behaviors. The presentation will feature side by side analysis of two recent studies which looked at the shifting influences and patterns of B2B buyers and a follow up study to gauge how marketers are changing their strategies and tactics to better-engage with the new behavior.
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3. Panelists Andrew Gaffney Publisher DemandGen Report Matt West Director of Marketing Programs Genius.com
4. Areas of Misalignment Engaging Through Cold Calls, Reliance on Sales to Drive Early Stage Engagement Gaps in Content Mapping Lack of Formal Social Strategy Inability to Measure Emerging Channel
5. 2 Views of Engagement The Buyer’s View Marketer’s Reality 35% were attributed to cold call from sales was the initial engagement in recent customer wins 50% responded to marketing campaign or website visit Only 10% of recent buyers said they were contacted cold by the solution provider they chose
6. First point of contact/initial engagement made with recent customers Sales team contacted prospect via cold call Prospect responded to a marketing campaign Prospect contacted our team after visiting our web site. Prospect contacted us directly following research Connected via social media Our rep chatted with them via live chat
7. Shifts In Influences The Buyer’s View Marketer’s Perception Top 3 Influences Ranked by Marketers Direct Contact from a Sales Rep Vendor Website Conferences/Tradeshows Top 3 Influences Ranked by Buyers: Search Vendor Website White papers/Ebooks
8. Missing The Mark On Content The Buyer’s View The Marketer’s Reality 93% of recent buyers said the solution provider they chose supplied ample content to navigate through each phase of the buying process Only half (50%) of Marketers said they are currently mapping content offers to buying needs at different phases of the funnel
9. Mapping Content Who They Are How they digest content Content Behavior Where they are in the buying Process
10. Social Signals The Buyer’s View Marketer’s Reality 62% of marketers DO NOT have budget for social media initiatives 66% of marketers said social media is a formal part of their marketing strategy 65% of buyers indicated they used social media in their research and vendor selection process
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12. 37% posted questions on social networking sites looking for suggestions/feedback
16. The New Image of Engagement Drive to Website Convert via form Nurture Alert Rep of Buying Behavior
17. Increased Power of Peers Nearly 4 in 10 of buyers indicated they determined “the potential impact through other adopters and built a business case for immediate adoption,” then received approval although the project was unbudgeted.
18. Increased Power of Peers 59% engaged with peerswho addressed the challenge they were researching 48% followed industry conversations on topic
19. The New Peer Influence Marketer’s Perception The Buyer’s View 53% sharing experiences via 1:1 discussions Believe 75% are serving as case study references 58% of buyers shared their post purchase experiences and findings with other peers 68% shared experiences via 1:1 discussions Only 30% served as case study references
20. Reaching the 2.0 Buyer 66% of respondents indicated the “consistent and relevant communication provided by both the sales and marketing organizations” was a key influence in choosing that company as their solution provider.
27. Tune In For Part 2! Marketing Misalignment: Part 2 A Deep Dive Into Program Performance Improvement Date: Wed., August 4th Time: 1pm EST/10am PST https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/139748762
Editor's Notes
Welcome Remarks: Andrew Gaffney (background on DemandGen Report)Back in April we partnered with Genius.com on a new survey on the Transformation of the B2B Buyer and got tremendous feedback and interest around the insights on the shifting behaviors and influences in the B2B space. As a next step, we wanted to look further at how B2B marketers were responding to this changing behavior and so over the past six weeks we surveyed over 70 marketers on their current go-to-market strategy. What we found were some pretty dramatic disconnects around engagement from the marketing strategies to the way buyers now want to interact. In today’s session we’ll highlight some of the top opportunities for marketers to better align with the new buyer behavior.
Andrew to do intro, provide background on the 2 studiesMatt West has gained over a dozen years of experience in B2B, SaaS and technology marketing. West is an expert in demand generation and E-marketing strategies and has managed the marketing programs at a number of agencies and large companies, including Adobe, Macromedia, Dell and Cisco with annual budgets in excess of $70MM. Presently West serves as the director of marketing program and Genius.com.
Add Key Takeaways Slide:Give buyer more credit, more savvy, yet more reachable, more approachable, accessible.Don’t rely on old world thinking—expecting sales to generate engagement—conversation marketingMarketing’s role in the sales process—marketing is now involved further down, sales further down
Andrew to set the stage on the variation in how buyers want to engage and the way marketer’s perceive the engagement process is happening. Over-reliance on sales to bring prospects into the conversation.
Matt to talk to best of breed vs. average for % of deals contributed to by marketing; to share insights from Genius and their customers into how engagement is taking place with the new buyer.
Andrew: Marketers still believe the physical face-to-face is driving engagement, where buyers are becoming much more reliant on electronic channels.Matt: Common ground here is the website. Any strategies, best practices marketers can or should take away from this? Critical role or content for nurturingSurprising, align relatively well on the use of social media.
Andrew to present deeper dive into the importance of content. Matt to address importance of lead nurturing. How early in the process do they engage in sales—search/WPs, how many engaged with company on content level DOES THIS NEED AN ADDITIONAL SLIDE????
Here are the three variables that determine the appropriate
While social is being talked about and toyed with, marketers really haven’t built into it into their engagment strategy.
Only 11% of marketers answering questionsOnly 13% following threads/discussions around related topics24% engaging with thought leadersOnly using LinkedIn to find contacts. Not using it as a listening device and reinforcing leadership.
Majority generating very little revenue opportunities out of social. Is that because they aren’t measuring the impact or putting too little time to the initiative
Andrew to introduce data points; talk about the gap in inability to measure.Matt to dive deeper into social measurement, potentially add a slide or two. Surprisingly, about ½ of marketers using social media measure the impact of their efforts (78% of 65%)But as we scratch the surface, we find that while about 78% track clicks, [Build]Less than half track beyond that and only about ¼ track all the way to ROI.
MATT TO PRESENT:Notice, above the funnel, there are all sorts of activities happening– this is where the high-level content comes into play. Providing the right kind of content for your prospects at every step in the process. To the left of the funnel, you’ll notice these elements are relevant throughout the entire process– including post-sale. On the right, are all of the necessary components to convert a prospect from an anonymous visitor, through to a sale. In order to achieve this, a few things need to happen. Providing great content is not enough– you need to have a mechanisms in place, like web forms to capture personal information, once a prospect is read and willing to take the next step. You need to have a mechanism in place to help carry the buyer through the process. A marketing automation system is ideal for helping to nurture buyers through the process. It is crucial to be able to identify qualified prospects and get them into the hands of the appropriate sales rep in a timely manner. Let’s see this in action. – next slide
Andrew will also reference a few SiriusDecision data points which further validate critical role of peers in all phases of buying process
Add numbers on post purchase influence.
Add Key Takeaways Slide:Give buyer more credit, more savvy, yet more reachable, more approachable, accessible.Don’t rely on old world thinking—expecting sales to generate engagement—conversation marketingMarketing’s role in the sales process—marketing is now involved further down, sales further down
Add Key Takeaways Slide:Give buyer more credit, more savvy, yet more reachable, more approachable, accessible.Don’t rely on old world thinking—expecting sales to generate engagement—conversation marketingMarketing’s role in the sales process—marketing is now involved further down, sales further downMATT: Implement a social strategy, which includes a path to sale. Your prospects are out there and more accessible than ever before. BUT… they are also armed with more information about you, your products, your customers and your competition than ever before. How do you do this?Extend Your Reach: Be there when they begin to search for a solutionBecome a resource to your buyerProvide relevant, valuable and useful contentFor every step in the buying process In a variety of formats – because every buyer consumes information differently2) Elicit Response:The most interesting part is what happens after you reach the prospect and they respond. The days of all content being locked behind forms are gone. Track responses on an anonymous levelProvide high-value content for eventual conversion 3) Develop Relationships:by delivering timely & personalized messages based on prospect profile and behaviorBecome a destination and continue to deliver valuable content over time4) Drive Revenue:Ultimately lead nurturing must feed sales. If it doesn’t then its hasn’t fulfilled its promise.The nuances of “pull marketing” or “Content Marketing”, is to always progress the relationship toward a desired goal– Conversion to saleFinally, have a system in place to determine when a prospect demonstrates potential buying behavior and the ability to follow up