Recently I was perusing some reports during our 2018 planning process and I came across a number of interesting statistics that have a significant impact on B2B marketing in 2018. There were a couple of surprises. Let’s take a closer look.
Source: Demand Gen Report's 7th Annual B2B Buyer's Survey
- 59% of respondents say they now have formal buying groups or buying committees in place to review purchases
- 52% say the number of buying group members increased significantly
Implication: This means there will be more people involved in the decision making process than ever before. Buying groups are made up of cross-functional teams, each having their own point-of-view and agenda. Marketers will need to review the buyer’s journey and personas to ensure that your content reflects the needs of each persona in the buying group.
- 89% stated that winning vendors “provided content that made it easier to show ROI and/or build a business case for the purchase
Implication: Middle of the funnel content is critical to building the business case. Put more resources on case studies, ROI calculators, and white papers that outline a solid business case for your offering.
- 78% of buyers agreed that they spend more time researching purchases
- 75% agreed that they use more sources to research and evaluate purchases
Implication: No surprise here. B2B is following in consumer footsteps. Consumers have moved to online purchasing with lightning speed. Because of this, it is imperative that your website be current, customer-centric and sales-ready.
What is new is that buyers are using more sources to research and evaluate purchases. This means that you story needs to be in all of the channels that your buyers are reading. Integrating your tactics into a unified program will help you speak with a clear brand voice.
Source: Hubspot’s State of Inbound 2017
The survey results illustrated that C-level executives strongly rely on personal recommendations and tend to be more attuned to media coverage. The survey respondents are using Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter for both personal and professional use.
Implication: Having a strong media relations program that is integrated with your social media channels, specifically LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter is imperative if you are selling into the C-Suite. Earned media still reigns as one of the most respected channels in the C-Suite.
If you don’t have a strong Facebook channel, begin ramping it up because it is neck-in-neck with LinkedIn. The lines between personal and professional use on Facebook are beginning to blur.
Email still rules as a strong touch point during the journey. Your target audience is more likely to hear your story on email versus any other medium.
