Three trends that suppliers need to consider to attract attention and gain the trust of modern B2B buyers:
- Relevant content is the key: 75% of B2B buyers say it is very important that the provider’s website has relevant content that speaks directly to your company; 66% said it is very important that the site meets the needs of their industry.
- Buyers expect personalized content relevant to their needs, regardless of whether the supplier has access to their personal information: 71% of buyers expect an experience that matches their individual interests and needs, even when conducting an anonymous survey.
- Buyers are becoming more risk-averse: they are more focused on mitigating risk, especially as the number of stakeholders involved in purchasing decisions increases, along with the duration and complexity of purchases.
1. Buyer’s personas: customization key
B2B suppliers that use personalized content in their marketing and sales processes benefit greatly from this. According to a study by Seismic and Demand Metric, more than 60% of B2B companies that use a content personalization strategy consider it to be more effective than non-personalized content.
Seismic and demand statistics define five types of adaptation strategies:
- Segment specific: adjusted based on industry or segment criteria
- Specific for each person: tailored to specific types of buyers
- Specific phase: adapted to a phase of the purchase process
- Specific account: adapted for a specific potential organization
- Specific lead: adjusted for an individual lead
- Personalize the digital experience for each visitor
2. It seems impossible to customize the content of the website for each visitor if you don’t have relevant information about your buyers.
However, interactive selection solutions can help you provide buyers with relevant content, products, or solutions, even if they are browsing your site anonymously. These solutions often ask questions directed at your buyer, like these:
- What is your sector or vertical?
- How big is your company?
- What are the main problems that you face?
- What are your business goals?
After the visitor answers the questions, they are presented with the content or solution that is most relevant to the buyer’s personality and business needs.
3. Reassure your buyers with a Freemium version of your product
As buyers become more risk-averse, offering a freemium version of their solution can help reduce perceived risk. “Freemium” refers to a system by which companies can offer basic products or services free of charge, giving customers the option to upgrade to a paid premium version. (Freemium apps represent about 98% of Google Play’s global revenue.)
As with most pricing strategies, there are pros and cons to a freemium strategy, but there are also benefits to lead generation:
- The ability to provide customers with a preview of your product. There is a subtle balance to be managed when creating a freemium product: you need to make sure that the product you are creating is attractive enough to capture the public’s interest and make them want more, without exaggeration.
- Removing barriers for buyers in the bidding process. Positive ROI is a major concern for B2B buyers. They are concerned with investing in their solution without giving any value in return. If they do not have to pay anything to try your product, the concern will be dispelled.
- Make the user-dependent. If your potential customer gets used to trusting your product, even just in the free version, you have created a level of loyalty and can convince them to become a customer at a later stage. The concept is simple: involve people for free, get used to your product and then upgrade to the premium model.