B2B NewsPet industry newsCan Marketing Content Trigger a B2B Buying Process?

Can Marketing Content Trigger a B2B Buying Process?

-

- Advertisment -spot_img


Most B2B marketers recognize that their toughest competitor isn’t usually a company offering an alternative product or service, but rather what their potential buyers are already using or doing. No sale can be made unless potential buyers first become willing to seriously consider alternatives for their existing methods and practices.

Over the past several years, marketing pundits have promoted a variety of tactics marketers can use to “break the grip of the status quo.” I’ve discussed these techniques in previous posts (here, for example), but I’ve often wondered if they are consistently effective.

For decades, the Holy Grail of marketing has been to provide every potential buyer “the right message at the right time.” The belief underlying this goal is that the right message delivered at the right time will cause a potential buyer to be more likely to make a purchase.

There’s no doubt that marketing content can influence business buyers at several stages of their buying journey. But can marketing content alone cause a business decision-maker to begin a buying process? In other words, is marketing content sufficient, in itself, to break the grip of the status quo?

The answer to this question has implications that are often underappreciated by marketers. It affects the shape of marketing strategy and the allocation of marketing budgets. But it has a particularly significant impact on the substance and form of marketing messages and content.

The Trigger Imperative

Astute marketers have long recognized that some kind of “trigger” is usually required to ignite a B2B buying process. A trigger is an event that causes a business person to feel a need or desire to fix a problem or seize an opportunity.

A myriad of events can provoke a buying process, but there’s been little recent research about what specific kinds of events most frequently create buying process triggers. A 2021 survey by WSJ Intelligence and B2B International directly addressed this issue.

The “Trust Your Decisions” study was a survey of 1,601 business decision-makers who had recently led or participated in the selection of a new vendor for their company. All survey respondents were affiliated with companies having at least $250 million in annual revenue. Survey respondents were drawn from the United States (50%), Europe (25%), and Asia (25%). The study evaluated four purchase categories – technology, finance, professional services, and marketing services.

The researchers asked survey participants what kinds of events triggered their decision to search for a new vendor/service provider. The following table shows the percentage of respondents who selected each of twelve trigger events.

These survey results illustrate that a wide variety of events can trigger a B2B buying process. More importantly for marketers, the table shows that trigger events primarily involving the consumption of marketing/sales/news content (shown in red in the table) were near the bottom of the list, which indicates that marketing content alone won’t be sufficient to trigger a buying process in most cases.

Implications for B2B Marketers

So, what does this mean for B2B marketers? The key lesson here is that you need to use different kinds of marketing content with potential buyers who haven’t experienced a triggering event.

If you were using marketing content to trigger a buying process, marketing messages should focus on the “pain” created by an issue or challenge and emphasize the need for change. The objective of the content would be to cause potential buyers to feel the pain of their status quo sufficiently to provoke a willingness to consider change.

But since marketing content alone isn’t sufficient to trigger a buying process in most cases, the better strategy with out-of-market buyers is to use marketing content that emphasizes how an issue or challenge can be successfully addressed and describes the benefits such a change will produce.

You also want to use thought leadership content that showcases your company’s expertise on those issues that are most likely to be buying process triggers for your potential buyers.

These types of content probably won’t trigger the start of a buying process, but they will make it more likely that buyers will remember your company when they experience a triggering event.

Top image source:  ccPixs.com via Flickr (CC).



Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest news

“研学热”:一场“旅游+教育”的神奇化学反应

东南网8月26日报道(本网记者郑琦/文)日前,福建省文化和旅游厅评选出福建中青国际旅行社有限公司、福建智行研学教育科技有限公司等23家“优秀研学旅游服务机构”。省文旅厅将通过发挥优秀机构的典型示范效应 Source link

18个项目260亿!绍兴城市推介会走进港澳

“由衷期待双方以此次推介会为契机,持续深化经济、科技、教育、文化、体育等各领域沟通交流,努力打造更多标志性合作成果。”12日-14日,2024“港澳·绍兴周”在香港启幕,绍兴市委书记温暖率市代表团赴香 Source link

这种“教育”竟能做出撩动人心的美食?

30岁裸辞去蓝带学厨艺,毕业后仅仅用了2年的时间就一举成为百万粉丝的美食博主。这一次我们邀请到了美食博主徐人宇Vincent,以及蓝带国际大中华区董事总经理、澳大利亚蓝带学员商凌燕女士、蓝带巴黎学员侯 Source link

撒网预热进行时,小轮车推广进校园

伴随着奥运会资格系列赛·上海的临近,城市体育节撒网预热期的推广活动日益火热。4月以来,不同主题的运动项目进入商圈、学校,让更多人体验到这些城市运动项目的乐趣。近日,“极限宝贝bmx初体验骑进校园”系列活动亮相上海市黄浦区 Source link
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

撒网预热进行时,小轮车推广进校园

伴随着奥运会资格系列赛·上海的临近,城市体育节撒网预热期的推广活动日益火热。4月以来,不同主题的运动项目进入商圈、学校,让更多人体验到这些城市运动项目的乐趣。4月30日上午,“极限宝贝bmx初体验骑进校园”系列活动亮相上 Source link

话说杨浦丨“赛艇女孩”,你在哪里?

上海海洋大学的历史可上溯至1912年成立的江苏省立水产学校。2006年,位于杨浦区军工路的上海海洋大学前身——上海水产大学,积极响应上海市教委号召,成功组织了“阳光体育大联赛”。宣传、动员过程中,学校 Source link

Must read

Lady Gaga and Cardi B Meet at the Grammys

What was expected of her was the same thing...

Jennifer Aniston’s Ex Justin Theroux Wishes Her Happy Birthday on Instagram

What was expected of her was the same thing...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you