B2B, B2B2C or B2B2D2C?

Firstly, I apologise if you’re a Star Wars fan. The title of this blog isn’t about the replacements for CP30 or R2D2 in the next Lucas Films epic. We are of course referring to the marketing terminology: Business-to-Business, Business-to-Business-to-Consumer and Business-to-Business-to-Digital to Consumer.

In an agency far far away (actually not that far away, we’re based in Harpenden, Hertfordshire), we asked our expert team of B2B marketers to look at the 2021 trends for marketers, as well as some key strategic pointers (or Smart Thinking as we call it) for the year ahead.

At LAW Creative we live in the now and effectiveness is everything to us, for B2B brands one key strategic ‘north star’ is clear. Improving marketing effectiveness online through increased digital relevance and personalised content in B2B marketing strategies will be key this year.

Why is personalisation in B2B marketing becoming more important?

• A personalised web experience can increase B2B sales by 19%. (MarTechAdvisor)

• 45% of B2B buyers are looking for personalised content portals. 46% will leave a website because of a lack of message (it’s not clear what the company does) and 37% will leave because of poor design or navigation. (MarketingProfs)

• 62% of B2B buyers buy purely on digital content. A single bad digital experience means B2B buyers are 88% less likely to visit again. (Accenture)

• Even in industrial and manufacturing industries, 67% of purchases are influenced by digital. (Google)

• 22% (11 out of 50) of the fastest-growing B2B companies have a live chat widget on their website. (Drift)

• B2B companies that blogged 11+ times per month had almost three times more traffic than those blogging 0-1 times per month. (HubSpot)

• 43% of B2B marketers say blogging is their most important type of content. (Social Marketing Industry Report)

• Personalised landing pages are used by 68% of B2B businesses to acquire leads. (Marketo)

• 69% of successful B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy. (Content Marketing Institute)

• The most successful content marketers have access to 40% of the total marketing budget and the least successful have just 14% of the marketing budget. (Content Marketing Institute)

• Marketers see an average of 760% increase in revenue from personalised, segmented CRM/digital campaigns. (CampaignMonitor)

Personalised, relevant B2B digital experiences can uplift conversion-to-lead by an average of 10%

We can all relate to the personalised digital journeys offered by B2C brands. LVMH, Ebay, Netflix and Amazon all tailor the digital experiences they serve to us through the use of powerful data analytics and AI. Ensuring our digital experience, content and journeys optimise their conversion effectiveness through the strategic personalisation of content.

B2B is getting personal:

• A recent Accenture study found that 73% of B2B buyers expect a personalised, B2C-like digital experience
• Monetate and Econsultancy found that marketers see an average increase of 20% in sales through personalised experiences

To increase the effectiveness of your B2B brand through your digital channels – personalisation will be key to guaranteeing more than your fair share of revenue in 2021.

Four key reasons to embrace a personalised approach.

1. Relevance

75% of B2B brands improve their engagement through content marketing, according to research by the CMI. To optimise ROI, the content you create and distribute needs to be relevant to each recipient.

Develop core brand content pillars and then create specific category or business personalised content plans targeted to key industries, locations and specific businesses (account based digital marketing).

2. Uplift in revenue

74% of consumers are frustrated by impersonal website experiences. Generic paid search may increase web traffic, but how much of it converts? By creating a personalised and relevant digital journey you improve the quality of enquiries, which in turn improves your conversion rate – optimising your revenue return.

A personalised digital journey will increase dwell time, delivering a brand experience that builds a stronger connection, again improving short-term conversion but also building your brand delivering further up sell and cross selling revenue opportunities in the longer-term. Delivering longer-term revenue growth and increased lifetime value.

3. Improve your ROI

The more relevant your content, website and the online experience your brand provides, the higher your ROI will be.

As a consumer, what do you find more engaging? Is it the generic email blast, irrelevant product recommendations and inconsistent buyer journey? Or, is it the bespoke content that’s been tailored to your interests, highly accurate recommendations, and exceptional digital journey and experience?

The lines between B2B and B2C are merging. Creating B2B2C expectations. Applying smart thinking to your B2B digital content and marketing through a strategic personalised approach WILL enhance your results across all key metrics in the short and long term:

• Acquisition/conversion
• Engagement
• Enhanced customer loyalty
• Increase up selling and cross-selling opportunities

 4. Streamline your entire customer journey

The B2B, B2B2C and B2B2D2C conversion journey is evolving rapidly and it’s getting harder. And, as more of them take place entirely online, they’ll only grow more complicated.

Driving preference through a personalised digital journey gives your business the advantage. Delivering a relevant customer experience from the first time they touch your brand and the first contact or interaction with your content right through to making a purchase.

The best customer journeys are seamless. Digital experiences must be end-to-end to deliver the best results. If a prospect visits your website after receiving tailored or personalised content, your website architecture and design system must be ready to receive them in the same way, with the relevant bespoke landing pages tailored to their specific sector or business – don’t them make them search for it, make it seamless. Remember 62% of B2B buyers buy purely on digital content and a personalised web experience can increase B2B sales by 19%.

Want to make it personal?

LAW Creative is an award-winning B2B marketing specialist, creating personalised digital experiences, websites, content and social media campaigns that will inspire and connect with your audience.

This Could Be One Of The Best Ideas You’ll Ever Have

For Smart Thinking that delivers exceptional commercial results, delivering strong ROI for your business, talk to LAW Creative.

May the force be with you.

Please contact Brettsammels@lawcreative.co.uk.

Part of the Selbey Anderson Group