Perhaps one of the most undervalued but powerful tools for B2B marketing and sales is personalisation. Once a marketing trend and now a marketing force, personalisation makes your potential client feel valued, wanted, and seen. The first step in the process is to take the time to understand who your customers are in as much depth as you can. Creating content, landing pages, and sales calls catered to a niche audience need rather than your wide potential target. Emulating that one-to-one sales process for the customer, building interest, trust and ultimately driving them towards conversion. But how do you achieve a successful B2B buyer journey, that creates that feeling of really being looked after? We've got you covered. This article will take you through every step, from awareness to loyalty.
What is the personalisation of the buyer journey?
The buyer's journey (AKA B2B marketing funnel) is essentially split into 4 key stages.
1) Awareness: your customer has not been in contact with your brand yet and comes across it. They know they have a problem that needs solving but may not be sure what sort of solution they're after. This is the ultimate first impression.
2) Consideration: they have played the field, have a clearer understanding of the potential solutions on offer but need to do some more research. This stage is where trust comes into play.
3) Decision: your customer has narrowed their options down to a couple of options. They're looking for something to tip the balance, whether that be price, reputation, reviews etc. This step is all about being front of mind at the point of decision.
4) Loyalty: hooray! Your customer has decided to go with your B2B service or product, but how do you keep them coming back for more?
How can you incorporate it into your B2B marketing activities?
To make the magic happen you need a solid B2B marketing strategy in place. This starts with dialing down on a specific subset of your audience which has specific needs. The more niche you can go, the better you can cut through the noise and answer their pain points. From here, pick apart every touchpoint in each of the four stages. Think about the format, channel, and action you want them to take next. Apply personalisation to your strategy along with our other top tips. Sounds a bit overwhelming? No worries, we'll take you through each stage and how to add a level of personalisation.
Awareness
- Start with testing your client base. Start with your first-degree LinkedIn connections to see if any of your messages land. Calls are also a great way to get a more personal insight into their pain points.
- From here you can start to create awareness content. It should speak to common issues your subgroup is feeling to capture their email or contact details.
- Whether it's an e-book, whitepaper or infographic create a piece of high-value content that speaks to the pain point you found in your initial calls and messages.
Consideration
- By this point, they already know who you are and are starting to build some level of rapport with them.
- The next step is broadening their knowledge of your business, the services and products you offer and the additional value you can bring to their business. Drip feed this content over several days - emailing them content pertinent to the challenges they might be facing and how you can help to overcome them.
- You might also consider ads personalised ads around this stage, staying front of mind when they are trying to narrow down their potential options.
Decision
- Tapping into the mindset of your B2B buyer is essential here - they're looking for reasons to commit to you.
- Hitting them with relevant testimonials can be the tipping point they need to choose you over someone else.
- You also might want to introduce an offer here, nudging towards making a decision.
Loyalty
- By now you know your customer and their needs well. To continue that level of personalised loyalty, email is your key channel.
- Use email to send them relevant offers or content which is either related to their purchasing behaviour or continues to build on the pain points they experience.
- The aim here is to continue to build on engagement, keeping them aware of your products and services.
What benefits can personalisation have on B2B sales and marketing?
- Cuts through saturated markets with mass B2B marketing.
- Allows you to better understand your customer, what products or services apply to them and where to focus your business attention.
- Continues to evolve and optimise. Personalisation isn't a one-hit-wonder but an ongoing process of learning and optimisation. This keeps your marketing feeling fresh and right on the money with your customer's needs.
The future of B2B buyer personalisation
As we look ahead personalisation is not just a 'nice to have' aspect of your B2B marketing strategy but one which will be essential. It truly has the power to take your broad but non-converting marketing efforts into high-conversion and mostly automated processes. And the best part? It's of course revered by customers too, it truly is a win-win.
Feel inspired to get your B2B marketing in shape?
Check out some more B2B articles on the Curated Insight blog. Or, if you just want to chat about it in person, get in touch with one of our consultants to begin crafting more personalised customer experiences.
