(Don’t miss no. 3!)
Since the last few years, digitization has changed how B2B buyers purchase.
With a range of tools and data at their fingertips, their consideration time has increased significantly. Throughout this B2B purchase journey, buyers seek connections with businesses offering meaningful solutions.
A report by Gartner found that
- B2B buyers spend as much as 45% of their buying time researching potential suppliers and their offerings independently.
- In comparison, they spend just 17% on meeting potential suppliers.
As a B2B marketer, it becomes imperative to become a positive facilitator by sharing information, thus enhancing ease of purchase. That’s where you need the process of leading prospects right to you by providing them value, popularly called ‘Demand Generation’.
Here are 5 best practices to amp up your Demand Generation efforts:
1. Build value for customers
Customers who find helpful information from their suppliers are three times more likely to purchase a massive deal with less regret.
Focus on being reliable and resourceful. You can share customer reviews, generate thought leadership, attend industry conferences, and remain relevant and credible. Remember to emphasize “why” your brand is the perfect fit for B2B buyers.
2. Create enterprise-level personas
Instead of individuals, create Ideal Customer Personas (ICP) for buying groups. Identify their common goals, reasons influencing purchase decisions, and obstacles. Then, offer them relevant solutions.
To do this, rely on buyer intent data gathered from an individual’s online or offline activities in their purchase journey. It’s better to target a smaller but highly qualified audience for your business.
3. Follow a laser-focused content strategy
Once you’ve created enterprise-level personas, you can list down your buyers’ pain points at every stage of the marketing funnel. After identifying their needs, you’re in a better position to offer relevant solutions.
Content marketing plays a huge role here, with 64% of B2B marketers using it to nurture leads. For instance, in the awareness stage, ungated content like free eBooks gives a ton of information. Whereas in the decision stage, a free demo trial will encourage buyers to complete the sale.
Pro Tip: Ensure your content is empathetic and has emotional appeal to establish a better connection with buyers.
4. Up your lead generation game with integrated databases
Customers don’t follow a linear purchase journey. Therefore, have your marketing and sales teams collaborate on knowledge exchange. Leverage their combined insights to optimize processes for lead scoring and convert leads to buyers.
Lead scoring is a mutually agreed point-based model for understanding how interested a lead is in buying from you. For example, if the lead checks a blog post, they get 2 points, but if they download an eBook, they get 5 points since they’re more likely to buy.
5. Focus on the right metrics to measure success
While crafting well-thought strategies is essential, you won’t know their effectiveness unless you measure their performance.
Some metrics you need to watch out for include
- Cost per acquisition (CPA)
- Engagement rate
- Funnel conversion rate
- Marketing & Sales qualified leads
- Lifetime customer value (LTV).
The Bottom Line
With customers investing a big chunk of their buying time in research, B2B marketers need to craft an effective presence using targeted strategies.
With these five qualitative and focused Demand Generation tactics, you can not only attract prospects but also increase conversions and elevate retention rates. Implement these strategies and see your B2B business grow!
In case you need help setting up the Demand Generation engine for your business, MarketBoats Consulting has the necessary tools to create value driven demand for your business.
Contact us now on +1 914 407 3070 or sales@marketboats.com
