Reaching the B2B Customer Base

This week, we wanted to share two pieces that look at important aspects of B2B marketing: optimization through marketing automation and the overall steps that a buyer takes before buying your product. Both are extremely relevant as they provide insights into how to reach your customer effectively.
“Effective nurturing strategies are built around the customer’s journey through the buying process”- Lori Wizdo, Forrester Research
Simply put, marketing optimization refers to software platforms and technologies that are designed for individuals in marketing to better circulate content across various channels. In a recent B2C article, Amanda Nelson, Director of Marketing at RingLead, wrote that in today’s marketing world companies are spending a significant amount of time and resources to curate content that is only being used for a short period of time. Nelson believes that “it’s time to change the cycle.” She provides marketers with three simple steps to get started: organizing your approach, having a verity of content and constantly optimizing. By taking these simple steps, content that marketers labor over can be used to effectively tell a company’s story and reach consumers. As Nelson says, “Together, content marketing can make marketing automation look damn good.”
Another great article comes from one of Madison Logic’s own Vin Turk. Vin recently posted an informative infographic on B2C depicting the B2B buyer’s journey from consideration to purchase. Vin first exposes the five key data points to consider:
1)    “50% of leads are qualified but not yet ready to buy”
2)    “Only 25% of leads are legitimate and should advance to sales”
3)    “Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales leads at 33% lower costs”
4)    “70% of marketing leads never convert to sales”
5)    “It takes 10 touches to go from initial contact to closed deal”
Once there is an understanding of the key data points, Vin points out the steps that a marketer should take to nurture their sale.

• Establish Project
• Review All Research
• Share With An Internal Team
• Share Research With Influencers
• Procurement / Bid Process
• Vendor Decision – Establish Start Dates
• Implement

For specific information about each step, reference the infographic here: https://cdn2.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/b2b-buyer-journey-5-points-to-consider-infographic-1-1024.jpg
Understanding your buyers and how to best reach them is the key to successful marketing.
Image via Robert Couse-Baker