Times are changing – there is now a new and younger generation of B2B professionals in the workplace. According to research conducted by Heinz Marketing, more than 40% of corporate influencers and buyers are younger than 40.
Furthermore, according to the same research paper, roughly 80% of procurement committees are now comprised of professionals in mid-career.
Needless to say, this generation plays by its own rules, which means that B2B marketers need to be ready to toss out their old playbooks and start using new tactics. If not, they may find themselves losing customers, money, and eventually, being left without a job.
How the B2B Market Changed
The first question on everyone’s mind is what is changed among consumers? For starters, young B2B consumers no longer react to the traditional marketing funnel. These are millennials after all, which means the tactics of yesterday won’t work on them.
Consider this: nearly three-quarters of baby boomer B2B consumers prefer physical stores, while a staggering 90% of millennial consumers favor digital services for their shopping. Therefore, before starting a marketing strategy, carefully assess the target demographic.
How to Use This Knowledge to Your Advantage
Luckily, there are some techniques marketers can use to attract millennial B2B shoppers. Here are a few things to improve B2B marketing strategy and increase the bottom line in the process.
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Be as Transparent as Possible
Having a clear mission statement is probably one of the most important aspects of any marketing campaign. However, if the company isn’t living by its mission statement, it’s all worthless, no matter how riveting the statement is. According to Forrester research, almost 75% of B2B shoppers believe that companies need to be honest in their actions and words.
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Try to Make The Company Look More “Human”
Nowadays, people resent doing business with cold-hearted organizations – they want a company that genuinely cares about human causes. Marketers who really want to captivate shoppers need to create more individualized shopping experiences, which talk to customers on an individual level. Although the “individualized approach” is mainly used in the B2C sector, a B2B company can also benefit from it.
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Create a Tailor-made Approach for Every Buyer
When considering the buyer’s journey, most marketers still only have one or two routes mapped out. As a matter of fact, according to a recent Corporate Visions report, less than 60% of marketers think they could make any adjustments along the way. But buyers today are not really interested in working with companies that claim they can do everything for everyone. So to create a loyal following, start creating more intimate marketing messages.
The Bottom Line on B2B Customers
Seeing just how much the B2B market has changed in the last few years, marketing and sales teams need to be willing to make changes to their strategies, to remain competitive. Only the teams that are willing learn more about new customers and adjust their tactics will be able to stay afloat. The rest will definitely fall off, sooner or later.
