It’s time to stop fiddling around and apply them where they matter
The French have a wonderful phrase “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”. It’s an elegant way to say that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
That’s certainly the case when you consider the complex B2B buying process. Since our last update in 2006, this process remains the same. It’s still dictated by task forces and committees who must wade through 17 steps to get to the finish line. Participants are still purchase influencers, rather than the decision makers companies crave. Websites still influence only 5 steps in the buying process.
But that doesn’t mean that everything remains the same.
What has changed are the tools in a Website’s arsenal. How social media, communities, and Web 2.0 tools and behaviors have changed how content is delivered, shared, and used by task forces who make the final recommendation.
But here’s the big “aha”. New media and tools are rifles, not shotguns. Each plays a different role at different points in the B2B buying process. Here’s brief playbook to consider.
- An active presence on social networks, mentions in heavily trafficked “expert” blogs, high ‘news’ visibility on popular search engines, and traction on the growing number of news aggregation sites are the tools companies need to move out of the shadows and make it onto the “long list.”
- Making the “short list” requires an additional set of tools that educate buyers, including video data sheets and customer testimonials, short podcasts and on demand Webinars, and a variety of company-operated communities.
- Once a company makes it into the finalist circle, the big guns come out. Interactive demonstrations and product tours (usually video). Live Webinars that allow task force members to pose questions. Try and buy options and short-term SAS subscriptions. Sales chat and other call to action behaviors that encourage task force members to engage with the company’s sales force.
If you look at Websites today, it’s pretty clear that most companies fall into one of two buckets. Those that are ignoring these innovations because they can’t figure out how to use them — and companies that are throwing them out willy nilly under the assumption that something is sure to stick.
I vote for the few and the brave in the third bucket. Those that understand the real power of these cool new tools, have mapped them to the B2B buying process — and end up getting the deal.
Related Research: How They Buy. Creating B2B Websites that outsell the competition and reduce the cost of sales. (Report excerpts & podcast.)
Tags: B2B buying, B2b selling, Communities, eSelling, Marketing, podcast, Social Media, social networks, Strategy, video, Web 2.0, webinar
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