B2B marketers should not assume those buyers are pleased with the B2B prospect experience.
Buyers have the same expectations for their B2B buying journeys as they have in their B2C buying journeys. There’s a lot for B2B marketers to learn about the prospect experience to close the gap between those two types of buying journeys.
Marketing expert Doug Bell visited with host Benji Block on the B2B Growth Podcast, appearing in an episode entitled, “Prospect Experience as Competitive Advantage.” In the episode, Doug spoke to improving the prospect experience to the point of using it as a competitive advantage in the modern revenue orchestration engine.
Evolving the prospect experience
In the podcast episode, Doug and Benji speak to how B2B marketers have been slow to evolve their tactics. Part of the problem is that marketers are engulfed with an explosion of buyers’ signals in the marketplace.
Unfortunately, that explosion of signals has produced such volumes of data that most B2B revenue teams struggle to make it actionable. As a result, they’re slow to continuously improve and keep pace with buyers.
Then, obsessed with leads, leads and more leads, marketers tend to fall into a self-perpetuating cycle, well within their marketing qualified lead (MQL) to sales qualified lead (SQL) comfort zone. Along the way, they’ve lost their way.
We’ve all been there as buyers. We stare down a webform on a site, debating whether it’s worthwhile filling out knowing the process to which we will be subjected.
Thankfully, in the episode on B2B Growth, Doug explains there’s a better way.
The better way means to look to stand out from the crowded market by focusing on your prospect experience. Instead of obsessing on leads, obsess on the prospect experience.
First, start by deepening your prospect empathy. Know your ideal customer profile (ICP), understand the buying group in that ICP, and relate to their specific personas.
Your buyer looks for information to make a good decision. So, focus on helping them to make that best decision, even if it means it might not include your brand.
Next, put yourself in your buyers’ shoes. Then, curate the information and content needed to make the best decision.
Finally, create a wrap-around prospect experience as they go through the buying journey.
Listen to the “Prospect Experience as a Competitive Advantage” on the B2B Growth Podcast for more!
