Buyer 3.0 – Decision making in a flat, always-on world
In today’s fast paced, connected, always-on world, Buyer 3.0 is the informed customer who is driven by rationality and isn’t hesitant to look for solutions he needs from any part of globe. He is willing to spend his time understanding exact business problem evaluating solutions that address his need. For B2B vendors to successfully attract and engage these buyers, new approaches, thinking and technology must be applied.
Experiences must be consistently valuable and timely. It may surprise you to know that the corporate website, once considered a resource of last resort, is now rated as a critical component of the decision-making process by your buyers.
B2B Marketers Only Get One Chance to Make the First Impression
Research has shown that B2B buyers self-educate during close to 70% of their buying experience, invalidating the process salespeople have relied on in the past to build relationships from the start. This empowered buyer, aka Buyer 3.0, is taking longer to decide to identify themselves to vendors, often waiting until after creating their shortlist for final purchase consideration. Many B2B marketers are finding themselves in new territory when tasked with the responsibility to ensure their company is on that shortlist. When first impressions are being made without the ability for marketers to know what’s working for whom versus what’s not, opportunities are lost.
This is where the depth of knowledge around buyer’s journey and power of technology can provide transformative capabilities. The Inbound marketing is now a commonly used phrase today. This signifies that tools such as website, webinars and white paper et al. are not only a means to gather a new set off enquiries, they exist due to a purpose of them being assets to help forward the customer on his buyer’s journey.
The 2011 survey by ITSMA, How Buyers Consume Information, learned that solution provider websites have moved to the top slot for buyers, dropping peers (number 1 since 2007) down to 9th place. And a yesteryear’s simple tool such as website is not only second to personal referrals to create leads.
Due to the new age buyer, Buyer 3.0, moving to take a deeper dive in identification of his business needs and identifies processes and solutions to address it, a B2B marketer also needs to bridge an ever increasing gap. SABERNI Software consultants have a deep understanding and experience of B2B marketing world and have helped organizations of all sizes focus, segment and conduct their marketing programs in a way that delivers results.
Additionally, with the increase in digital marketing displacing other traditional forms of offline marketing, the skills and tools needed to make this shift have not yet become the norm for marketers. This needs to change—and change quickly—if companies want to establish the credibility and trust needed to motivate the “hand raising” that increases pipeline velocity and inserts salespeople into valid conversations. Research from IDC found that 56% of time during the buying process is spent searching for or engaging with content. This is a huge opportunity, but if you don’t know who your buyers are—or at least what they’re interested in—it’s very hard to influence engagement levels and purchase intent.
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Sources:
Image taken from INC page on “Sales Capabilities That Help Close Deals”, To view the full page, click here.
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