How is the B2B Industry Transforming?
Due to its consumer-facing nature, the B2C industry shines brighter in the spotlight than B2B. Given that they are both a “people” business, however, the two share a good bit in common.
We asked B2B marketing agency experts about the current status of the B2B industry, how it is changing and being influenced by the B2C industry, and how B2B is adapting to the current demand of the pandemic.
The B2B industry is people-centered
“We are noticing an increased number of B2B companies that are slowly dipping their toe into the B2C space, usually by offering one of their successful products directly to consumers.”
B2B is essentially doing business with people. It’s the whole reason a consumer journey is possible, and successful B2B companies operate in a similar fashion to or are influenced by B2C companies.
Dave McQuaid, Vice President of Creative and Digital at VantagePoint Marketing, shares, “We urge our B2B clients to speak to their customers as though they are regular consumers — because they are. Just because their customer is a B2B buyer doesn’t mean they are less swayed by emotion or any of the other typical B2C marketing tactics.”
Although the tactics to reach B2B audiences may differ and be more challenging, B2B can still be personable and successful. Adam Roe, the Managing Partner at FortyFour, shared the similarities and differences between reaching the two audiences. “B2B and B2C have a strong channel overlap in terms of tactics for generating demand. One of the main differences between them is the ability to target consumers vs businesses. First party data is generally focused on the consumer so getting in front of business requires different tactics leveraging account based marketing tools. That said, for small and midsize business (SMB) audiences we see a lot of overlap and the ability to directly target across consumer channels.”
B2B is being forced to adapt
While usually slower to leverage B2C marketing tactics due to a lack of budget and resources, Amanda Creger, Director of Strategy at Modo Modo Agency, noted that, “COVID-19 is forcing B2B brands to jump in on newer tactics a little faster than some are comfortable with.”
Most companies are shifting and re-prioritizing efforts. In our Covid Marketing Survey for August 2020, marketers shared that the pandemic has caused them to adapt digital initiatives and advance five years ahead of schedule. One of those adaptations is the shift to ecommerce for some companies.
“Several of our clients have begun using e-commerce sales to supplement channel sales, either as a defensive posture or as an additional revenue source.”
“The channel distribution models have been shifting for over a decade and, in recent times, things have accelerated given the global pandemic. The adoption of digital across industries from retail, services, restaurants and B2B has forced the rapid adoption given lack of alternatives,” Roe added.
Online retail is thriving, and businesses are leaning on ecommerce and social media digital efforts to boost their sales. Although an online alternative removes the human interaction from sales, Creger emphasized the importance of thinking about the digital consumer journey strategically in order to maintain the attentiveness and prime service. “Ecommerce isn’t just about the specific moment of purchase, but also how you support the buyer throughout their journey. B2B and B2C companies that have long since relied on a network of dealers, distributors and/or retailers to get their product to market are coming to the realization that they must also have a hand in creating a robust, slick digital experience that supports and engages the customer as they become aware of their problem, investigate solutions, and weigh their options. While the customer may still want personal interaction along the way, they have come to expect more self-service tools and information to aid their journey.”
B2B, which also heavily relies on in-person trade shows to promote products and network, is searching for alternatives to trade shows. “I think a lot of B2B brands are still trying to figure out best practices when it comes to virtual networking. Early on in the pandemic, there was a lot of optimism that our virtual stance would be a temporary one. Six months into things, companies are facing the reality that this may have a long-term impact on how people interact, even in a post-COVID world. While the notion of social selling is not new, I think there will be more attention placed on it moving forward,” Creger stated.
Even though the new normal is less than ideal, Creger provided some insight to make the best out of the situation. “To support this pivot,” she said, “sales teams may need to be educated on how to effectively leverage the channels and tools at their disposal, as well as best practices around establishing and growing relationships outside of the trade show environment.”
Visual/Video content resonates with audiences
“Digital video is a cost-effective way to tell that story.”
All of the B2B contributors responded that content channels utilized depend on the product being sold and overall strategy. “That said,” Roe shared, “digital video is a channel showing a lot of growth. B2B marketing generally has a much deeper story to tell and digital video is a cost-effective way to tell that story. Additionally, we are now seeing measurable results leveraging attribution models and offline conversion metrics.”
“We’ve also seen a strong growth in video,” chimed in McQuaid. “Animation of complex products or services [especially]. Infographics are another form of content that are very visual and get good engagement levels.”
That doesn't mean traditional marketing efforts are pointless.
Traditional B2B marketing tactics still work
Email marketing, white pages, case studies - all are successful traditional content marketing tactics to reach target audiences.
“Webinars are still popular, but with everyone launching them in our current all-virtual environment, B2B brands are looking for how to make them more engaging.”
“We see effectiveness with B2B campaigns focused on SMB's that produce meaningful results when run across more traditional B2C channels/tactics. Tactics such as retargeting website traffic and first-party email lists as well as Email marketing have historically been key drivers of performance for B2C marketing that have become pillars of B2B marketing as well,” Roe stated.
“While B2B brands are embracing newer content types and channels, there is also still a place for traditional content like case studies and white papers. It really depends on the persona of the buyer and what they are trying to do at each stage of their journey,” shared Creger.
She continued, “Case studies are still important in the later stages of decision-making, but B2B companies are also beginning to look at this as just one piece of ‘social proof,’ expanding on them via quotes or testimonials on their own sites, ratings on technology sites, or similar. Webinars are still popular, but with everyone launching them in our current all-virtual environment, B2B brands are looking for how to make them more engaging – changing the format to on-demand presentations with a scheduled live Q&A follow-up, enabling small-group breakouts for discussion, requesting real-world challenges/scenarios from the audience that the speaker then addresses, etc. We’re looking for ways to truly engage vs. the one-way ‘push’ communications we’ve relied on for so long.”
B2B tactics may be traditional, but they’re continuing to innovate and repurpose content to increasingly connect with target audiences.
At Setup, we live in the B2B space, which is human-centered and relationship-based. We’ve noticed that people are innovativing, or finding new ways to do business despite the challenges and changes. However, we have also noticed the decline in previously successful ventures due to the virus.
Roe noted that, “The loss of the tradeshow is definitely a hurdle B2B companies are struggling to overcome. There is no clear replacement at this point and attempts at virtual conferences leave a lot to be desired. But, we are seeing an increase in lead volume and a lower cost per acquisition across B2B clients. This could be attributed to the shift in sales channels given the lack of conferences.”
A question to B2B marketers...how are the alternative strategies working? We know there is nothing like looking someone in the eye and sharing a firm handshake in person, but are the virtual trade shows successful?
Is the loss a possible gain?
According to the 2023 Setup Marketing Relationship Survey, Word-of-mouth and Referrals consistently remain the most frequent methods Clients use to find new Agency Partners.
This has been the case for the last five years of the Marketing Relationship Survey.
What does this mean for Clients + Agencies? How can they optimize their efforts with this knowledge?