As a B2B marketer in the technology sector, it would be easy to leave a two-day conference that featured B2C brands like Tesco, Honda, NSPCC, Livia’s Kitchen and Premier Foods and think it was a minor waste of time and budget. What good are marketing tactics like Instagram, loyalty schemes and product sampling when you’re trying to sell digital transformation?
The answer is elegant in its simplicity: marketing is about engaging with people. Regardless of the number of stakeholders in the decision-making process, each of them is a unique individual, with personal goals, motivations and challenges. A sales transaction, (no matter how big it is and how long it takes to deliver) is negotiated between people.
Here are some home truths heard at Festival of Marketing, delivered by seasoned marketers and entrepreneurs selling everything from gluten-free vegan snacks to bubble wrap, and some thoughts about how B2B tech marketers can embrace and learn from their insights.
1.“Our brains wired to keep information more when it’s wrapped up in stories and emotion.”
What impact will the technology you deliver have on the way people work, service their customers and innovate? Those are the stories that will bring the potential of your solution to life.
2. “Your customer wants to be informed and entertained.”
In B2B it’s less about entertaining and more about engaging but think about how you turn your message into compelling content that sparks a conversation. Talk – don’t tell.
3. “Customers expect you to appear where they are already going.”
FMCG goods need to be on the right shelf at the right time. Where does your customer go when they want to make a purchase and in what context can they find you?
4. “The customer journey mindset is no longer linear.”
With multiple touchpoints and ways to find information, you cannot plot out a nice neat nurture journey and expect your customer to follow it. Think more about the task or job that needs to be done at each stage in the buying process and cater to that – but don’t assume it will happen in the pre-defined order you would prefer
5. “Break down the silos.”
All the most impressive business result examples shared at Festival of Marketing came about when all marketing departments (in its broadest definition) worked together. Communications, paid media, events, social, customer experience – it should be one team with a coordinated approach.
6. “Start with the customer.”
You may not have vast data and smart analytics, but every organisation can listen to its customers and ask for feedback. User Groups, MeetUps, events and social media are ways to pay attention to what your customers are saying.
7. “Sampling!”
A panel of FMCG disruptors emphasised the simple logic that once a customer has had their first taste of a fantastic product for free, they will purchase it the next time. Perhaps not the easiest tactic to deliver in a B2B environment – but how can you give your customer a taste of what impact your solution will have on their business?
8. “Be brave – take a risk – get comfortable in the uncomfortable.”
Despite the incredible rate of change and innovation in products and applications, when last did you try a whole new approach to engaging with your customer? To be distinctive, you have to be a little different.
