How B2Bs Can Embrace the Shift to Digital Buying

By Leslie Gillette

Gartner’s Future of Sales research report predicts that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur via digital channels, with 72% of marketing budget currently going to purely digital channels.

What does this mean? Your targets are spending more time online not only researching products but also converting to customers. As global marketing efforts continue to go purely digital, you need to make sure your marketing programs, assets, and channel partners are ready as well.

As you continue to adopt a digital-first approach, ask these questions.

Does our current digital marketing strategy align with our larger brand strategy?

Before investing time and effort into developing digital marketing assets, look at your overall brand and campaign strategies.

Are they still relevant?

Has our value proposition/messaging changed?

If you’re working with partners – are your campaigns aligned?

Before you begin, make sure your campaigns and messaging align with sales goals.Ensure your website, social channels, digital ads, and other marketing tools are cohesive, telling your story in a consistent way. Look at messaging, style, and tone of voice, as well as overall design. First impressions matter.

Is my digital presence aligned to my target audience?

Understanding your target markets and personas, including demographics, identifiers, challenges, and goals is key. That way you can align assets to address customers’ pain points and needs. The ability to focus on the needs of qualified prospects will show you are laser focused on solving their problems – and not taking a “spray and pray” marketing approach.

Do I have a content marketing strategy inline with the buyer’s journey?

Once you identify your target markets, you’ll be able to create content that’s right for each persona at each stage of their journey. People like engaging with different types of media, so switch things up (between images, videos, whitepapers, blogs, and email newsletters) to generate interest in the formats potential customers engage with most often.

What channels am I focusing on this year?

With the digital-first trend, companies should focus on expanding their presence on three channels this year: LinkedIn, YouTube, and review websites like Capterra, TrustRadius, or G2 Crowd. Third-party validation and user-generated content should be prioritized.

Are our digital marketing campaigns, assets, and programs helping to generate revenue?

Marketing is important, but in the end it’s all about sales, revenue, and growth. Get your sales teams’ input on digital marketing assets. They can provide valuable feedback on what sales tools are working, as well as what new content to create. For example, a new buyer’s guide or planned webinar can be used by a sales executive to accelerate pipeline; while inside sales teams will need a campaign brief with overview, timeline, metrics/goals, and talk tracks. The right sales enablement tools can help them close deals.

Feeling overwhelmed? Need some quick wins by the end of the month?
Get a personalized plan with recommendations so you can improve strategy, modernize processes, use the latest innovations, and help your sales force close more deals through Porter Consulting’s Revenue Workshop.