B2B Monday Myth: Working With Influencers Is Irrelevant for B2B
by MGB2B
The Myth: Only B2C Brands Can Benefit From Working With Influencers.
The Truth: Influencers May Play a Different Role, But Can Be Equally Valuable for B2B Brands.
When someone says “influencer,” perhaps you the imagine a Kardashian promoting weight-loss tea on Instagram. This type of strategy surely can’t work for your B2B brand, can it? As it turns out, there are a number of strategies to help your business identify proper influencers (even if they aren’t Kardashians) and have them play a beneficial role in advocating for your company. Here’s a quick guide:
What Are Influencers for B2B Brands? And Why Work With Them?
Let’s start out with a definition we can all agree on. An influencer is, simply put, a person who has the power to influence many people via social or traditional media. This comprises everything from bloggers, vloggers, and Instagrammers, to industry analysts, thought leaders, and writers for trade publications.
The relationship between influencer and brand is symbiotic. It’s easy to see why you’d want to work with one: you have a product or service you want to market; influencers have a built-in audience. But influencers have their own brand they need to uphold – themselves. A large part of this image relies upon fresh, relevant content that keeps their followers interested and informed. From simple product mentions to expert interviews, with the right strategy, your brand could be a source of reliable, non-advertorial content that influencers value. Or they may produce it themselves based on what they learn from you. It varies from influencer to influencer.
Keep Your Niche In Mind.
Consider working with micro-influencers, who may not be the most popular, but hold the most knowledge, expertise, and influence within an industry or particular vertical. These are individuals who have probably gained their influence organically over time. They value their audiences enough that they want to provide them with good information. And because of that, they are seen as trustworthy. Your company can work with thought leaders, industry analysts, bloggers, or writers for trade publications. It’s important to note that these micro-influencers are authentic advocates. And while their audience may not be huge, you can bet it’s very interested in the niche. So you’re getting quality over quantity.
What Your Influencer Wants.
Not everyone is motivated by the same incentive. Some will operate for as little as $50 and a gift card. Others get paid in the millions. And everything in between. This person has valuable industry insights. No matter what you offer to pay them, they will not promote a product or service they don’t believe in. After all, they have a reputation and industry cred that they’ve built up over the years. The key is to let them know how you’ll contribute to that credibility and reputation in a positive way. What’s even more important is that you do your due diligence before partnering with someone.
Think Long Term.
Remember that working with an influencer is about building a relationship, which takes time. This is not a one-time transaction. B2B brands usually work with much more complex products, so your influencer needs to have a full understanding of your industry and your products before they begin advocating for you. Before you enter into a partnership, get to know the influencer as well as you can. Invest some time – it will be worth it. And above all, makes sure you communicate openly and authentically, every step of the way.
There are a multitude of ways you can work with an influencer, whether you have them share or collaborate on content, speak at your event, or blog about your product. When you work with micro-influencers within your niche and approach them with a long-term relationship in mind, you set your company up for success.
Continue ReadingB2B Monday Myth: Once the Lead Is Generated, My Job Is Done
by MGB2B
Myth: Once a Lead Is Generated, My Job Is Done.
The Truth: Lead Nurturing Is Necessary to Drive Prospects Towards a Purchase Decision.
Your B2B sales funnel has multiple steps: Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action. As marketers, we spend a lot of time trying to generate leads and get prospects into the top of the sales funnel by promoting awareness. Once we have the lead, it’s time to pass the contact onto Sales, where they can try to work their magic on convincing the prospect to make a purchase, right? Not quite.
Before the prospect is ready to make a decision, they spend some time in the Interest portion of the funnel. This is the opportunity to nurture the relationship, and move the buyer along in the decision-making process. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Develop the Right Media Mix
The different steps of the sales funnel require different strategies in terms of media mix. So if you are targeting those who have shown some interest, attempt to settle their skepticism with targeted, informational media. This could include paid social media posts on topics in the industry, webinars with trade publications, sponsored e-blasts, or paid search. Take this step to foster interest. As a result, prospects will be engaged and ready to make a move toward decision-making.
Know How the Lead Was Generated
The way you nurture a lead will depend a lot on how you garnered the prospect’s awareness in the first place. They took some palpable step to give you their information, whether it was filling out a form on your website or giving you their business card at a trade show. How you go about nurturing one lead will differ from the others. The channels you use and the content you share will depend on many factors. For instance, if a prospect watched one of your webinars, send an email thanking them and asking for feedback. Then invite them to the next one. Automated B2B lead nurturing can help you get the right messages out to prospects based on their behavior. And it can raise conversion rates significantly.
Segment Your Prospects Into Personas
Creating a fictional character who represents a buyer in one of your audience segments will more easily allow you to share relevant content that the prospect actually cares about. Your target segments have different needs, preferences, motivators, challenges, media preferences, and belong to different verticals. Don’t ignore the power of personalization. Start here by checking out our guide to persona creation.
Be Authentic
Nothing will turn a prospect off more than trying to pitch to them every time you’re in contact. Your purpose for lead nurturing is to maintain relationships with your prospects, and convince them of you authority in the industry. This can be done without sending out weekly promotional product emails. Distributing relevant content will position you as a trustworthy company with integrity. And talking to your prospects like they are actual human beings can only benefit you. While promotions should be tastefully added, content should be your primary focus.
Marketing and sales teams should work together to master the lead process. Resist the urge to pass your contact along for a sales pitch without first increasing their interest. And remember — it often takes 7-10 touchpoints to have a qualified, interested lead for the sales team to close. If you beef up your lead nurturing program, you’ll enable your business to do a lot more closing. And the marketing team, the sales team, and the CEO will all be very, very happy.
Continue ReadingB2B Monday Myth: Business Value Plays The Biggest Role In Influencing B2B Buyers
by MGB2B
The Myth: B2C companies need to worry about conveying personal value, while B2B customers only care about business value.
The Reality: Emotions play a bigger role in B2B buying decisions than you may think.
There is a major misconception about the influences on B2B buying. Google teamed up with CEB’s Marketing Leadership Council and marketing research firm Motista to survey 3,000 purchasers of B2B brands across various industries, and the results were surprising. They discovered that “B2B customers are significantly more emotionally connected to their vendors and service providers than consumers.”
Why is this? There is usually much more risk in B2B buying decisions than in B2C ones. Think about it: the buyer is spending a lot of money to make a major purchase, and needs to justify the decision to many people. More than 5 people are involved in the average B2B purchasing decision today. Not only is there a financial risk, but interpersonal and emotional forces are also prevalent in the workplace. Compare this to when a consumer goes to make a purchase; products that don’t meet expectations can be simply returned, and a disappointed spouse is more easily convinced than an unhappy supervisor.
The stakes are high for the B2B buyer, as their credibility is on the line. So, how do you successfully market your product or service? While logic and reason are an important key, you must also communicate personal value. Whether you are emphasizing opportunity for career advancement, respect in your workplace, or confidence in the product, follow these tips for success:
Homepage
It turns out that buyers don’t act in a linear fashion like we often assume. The decision-making process is actually very complex. We can be rather certain, however, that almost every buyer will at one point view the homepage on your website. This is the place to pull them in. Your homepage should have content that discusses both the business value and personal value of your product. Try using a call to action with some type of emotional appeal.
Make Personal Value Your Competitive Advantage
In above-mentioned study, Google also surveyed purchasers on their perceptions of different brands. It turns out, when it comes to business value, buyers don’t really see a difference between one brand to the next. What really differentiates a company is personal value. Emphasize the emotional outcomes of working with your company, and you’ll stand out amongst a sea of product characteristics.
Remember, You’re Talking to People
While it is easy to think of a corporation as a single entity, there are real human beings behind it. And that’s who makes the decisions. To keep this in mind, try creating B2B personas when investigating what type of content is relevant to your different segments. Remember, you are trying to gain attention from another person, just like you.
Utilize LinkedIn
While it may not be at the forefront of your mind when considering the buying process, 50% of B2B buyers use LinkedIn when making purchasing decisions. LinkedIn is the absolute preferred platform for creating a professional and authoritative brand. With LinkedIn, you can connect with your prospects and maintain current relationships. You’ve also got access to tools like Sales Navigator, to help target different audiences and generate leads. And by joining LinkedIn groups, you can monitor different preferences or issues with B2B buyers, and share relevant content to provide solutions.
B2C companies aren’t the only ones who need to convey personal value to their markets. While logic and reason are important, buyers emotions count just as much when trying to make sales. It’s time to get personal.
Continue Reading