The business to business marketplace is infinitely more complex, and
therefore, more challenging, than most of the business to consumer
verticals. This reality extends into search marketing as well. Take the
fact that B2B usually means complex sales (especially when it involves
search as a potential lead generation channel) and then layer on the
realities that sales that are driven by organizations rather than
individuals, one sale can involve multiple roles, including stakeholders
with different needs, and most B2B sales can take months, or even years.
It can be a daunting task, which is why there are not many search
marketing providers that have hung their shingles in the B2B
marketplace.
We’ve learned first hand some of the realities of marketing in the B2B
arena through research and working with clients, and in the interest of
making the path a little less bloody, I’ll share the Top 10 things we’ve
learned. The first 5 are this week, and I’ll follow up with the final 5
next week.
1. Know Who is the Buyer and Who’s the Influencer
The biggest challenge with B2B transactions are that you’re not talking
to one buyer. You’re usually talking to a committee, and to complicate
matters, they have different levels of influence, they take part at
different times, and they all have different perspectives and needs.
Research (Matbuy, 1981) has shown that there are as many as 6 different
roles, including the User, Initiator, Influencer, Gatekeeper, Decider
and Buyer, in most B2B purchase decisions. To make matters worse, these
roles may not be filled by a single person, but a group of individuals,
or, heaven forbid, a committee (tangential comment: how do you calculate
the average IQ of a committee? Take the lowest IQ in the group and
divide it by the number of people in the committee!)
Usually, the buyer and decider are pretty far removed in the
organization from the user, and the larger the organization, the bigger
the gap. That means that the people making contact with the vendor have
at least 3 degrees of separation (user:initiator:influencer:gatekeeper:decider)
from the person who will actually be using the product or service. In
search, it becomes vital to know who the person is who will be using the
search engine.
2. Realize What the Intent of the Researcher IsIn our original study
into the use of search in B2B buying decisions (a follow up is being
planned as we speak) we found that those most apt to use a search engine
are the influencers, followed by the initiator, the user and then the
decider. An actual buyer is very unlikely to turn to a search engine.
Search is most often used to research the purchase alternatives, set the
criteria and possibly dig up facts on potential vendors. The sweet spot
is the person who’s assigned the task of researching and short listing
the potential alternatives. Remember, they’re going to be looking for
column A, B and C vendors to give the selection committee the
alternatives they need to match their buying process. This means that
even if there is a pre-existing vendor relationship, this diligent
individual will be using a search engine to dig up “column fodder”,
another name for those other candidates that can be used to grind the
preferred vendor (the column fodder tag is courtesy Michael Bosworth,
Solution Selling). More about how to combat this next week.
The important point here is to realize the intent of the person most
likely to be using a search engine. It’s not to make vendor contact.
Remember, the actual decision of which vendor the organization will be
going with will rest with someone else. It’s the influencer’s job to
gather the data, compile it and pass it on. That’s their intent, and
it’s the path you have to provide them when they land on your site.
3. Understand Complex Buying Cycles and the Possible Touch points with
Search
Complex buying cycles that are common in B2B means there’s a lot of
back and forth between a prospect and a vendor with multiple touch
points as the cycle progresses. That has a host of implications for the
vendor, but there are some that are specific to search. We already
talked about the likelihood of the influencer/designated researcher
turning to a search engine. But there are other touch points where
search could be used. At the user level, when awareness of the need
first dawns, there might be use of a search engine to see if a solution
exists. If this is the case, the terminology might be significantly
different than the common industry terms (more about this next week).
Another place search might be used is at the decision level, where the
decider is double checking on details on a particular criteria, i.e.
terms of service agreements, other clients, payment terms, etc. These
searchers will be very specific and navigational in nature.
4. Be Prepared to Build Relationships with Search Leads
In the case of a complex B2B sale, a lead generated through a search
referral is just the beginning. The ideal scenario is to qualify the
lead as quickly as possible and transition it seamlessly into a rich
relationship development pipeline. Depending on the nature of the sale,
it might be appropriate to get it in the hands of a customer
representative for follow up, or you might want to continue to build the
lead through less resource intensive means (i.e. targeted email follow
ups and communication) and nurture it before the initial point of
contact. Whatever your follow up process, make sure it matches the needs
of the individual at the prospect end, their own role in the buying
process and their goals and needs.
5. Don’t Ask for Too Much Too Soon
One of the biggest mistakes made by marketers is too push for too
much information too soon. Remember the nature of those that will be
coming to your site to research. They’re browsing online because they’re
not ready to initiate contact with a vendor. In many cases, they haven’t
even assembled their short list, so they are still several steps away
from wanting to talk to a sales rep, even if they were the right person
(which they usually aren’t).
Don’t force them to pick up the phone to learn more about your solution
and don’t force them to fill out a 25 field form. Give them the path of
least resistance to accomplish their objective, which is to gather
information to help them qualify their buying decision in a clear and
easily transferable format. As tempting as it is to capture the lead and
turn your sales people loose, in most cases if you jump too soon you’ll
be spinning your wheels with the wrong contact and possibly scaring them
off.
Coming Next Week, Rules 6 through 10
6. Understand the Complexity of the Keyword Universe
7. Know the Roles of General and Vertical Search Portals
8. Realize that Education is a Necessary Evil
9. Be Prepared to Lose Control
10. Understand the Buying Process of Your Prospect, but Don’t Surrender
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