MARKET VIEW 24
Andrew Rolland
MARKETING DIRECTOR
B2B Customer Acquisition: The role of human engagement in a world of digital-first enterprise marketing
With millennials becoming key decision-makers, organisations need to have a robust tech stack that's going to stand up to increasing digital scrutiny. Organisations need to have a robust tech stack that will stand up to increasing digital scrutiny otherwise, they will fall short.
A recent study has purported that many millennials prefer a digital-first sales interaction. In light of this, should enterprise sales organisations make changes to the sales process?
The age-old ‘people buy from people’ still stands. However, with millennials becoming key decision-makers, some changes need to be made. Organisations need to have a robust tech stack that will stand up to increasing digital scrutiny otherwise, they will fall short.
Even in today’s digital-first environment, buyers still want to be organically nurtured. I would go as far as to say that not only do they want that but they expect it. They don't want to be cold-called or receive emails that are not relevant. However, they do expect this type of outreach if they’ve been on their own personal digital buyer journey.
We need to keep in mind that buyers nowadays aka millennials are quite digitally-savvy people who have a good understanding of targeted advertising, and they'll only really respond when they're ready.
.Having a robust tech stack in mind in that process will allow organisations to stand out in the web of digital expansion and decision-making.
It's important to understand that buyers are pretty time-poor and often have multiple projects on the go, so if they don’t get the answer they are looking for in the timeframe they expect, organisations will suffer.
Looking at a Deloitte report, showing that 29% of buyers and 50% of sellers prefer the in-person sales approach, we see a mismatch between the perception of the seller and the buyer. Should enterprise sales teams invest more in virtual-selling interactions, given this research?
Buyers expect real-time support and guidance on their buyer journey and that can't really happen non-virtually, especially with Software as a Service (SAAS) businesses since most things are done online. In order for organisations to meet this need, technologies such as Zoom and automated response emails need to be put in place. Again, this is what buyers today expect.
It's important to understand that buyers are pretty time-poor and often have multiple projects on the go, so if they don’t get the answer they are looking for in the timeframe they expect, organisations will suffer. So, the investment should be there to enable sales teams, especially in today’s market where the majority of things are done virtually. The key is to strike a balance that allows organisations to offer tailor-made solutions in both virtual and face-to-face interactions.
What marketing can do is support how you turn that social selling, your own brand or your own thought-leadership, into a personal brand that people are going to come to trust.
Building trust is pivotal. Salespeople tend to build trust through demonstrating marketing and industry knowledge and trends. What can marketing do to assist or encourage sales teams with procuring more market and industry knowledge?
Obviously, we have our own resources in our own databases which helps our salespeople. Not every organisation has that. The role of a marketing team is not just to not give real-time insights on buyers and the industry; it's more about providing training and support to salespeople in becoming their own brand and encouraging social selling.
You now have a social selling index on LinkedIn which is determined by your online behaviour and how many people you reach out to. You also use CRMs and various tools that measure your activity. What marketing can do is support how you turn that social selling, your own brand or your own thought-leadership, into a personal brand that people are going to come to trust.
Also, they need to keep things consistent. It's not just about one campaign, it's consistency and tailoring that needs to be delivered, and marketing can do that as well.
I think people would understand the push for entertainment value. However, they are also now conditioned to see past the shock and entertainment value, so the novelty has not worn off completely, but I think it will.
ANDREW ROLLAND
Marketing Director
GLOBALDATA MEDIA
Should sellers of enterprise technology and services adapt and develop their sales and marketing approach to address the generational shift towards entertainment-seeking buyers? If yes, how?
Some B2B organisations do leverage the “shock factor” in their advertising and marketing, and they do it quite well/ But I’m not sure how successful that would be within niche B2B sectors.
As a company, we work in very niche sectors that are still run by quite conservative, and probably not that entertainment-savvy or marketing-savvy people, so I would say they probably wouldn't adapt well to that.
However, within AI technology and digital marketing, I think people would understand the push for entertainment value. However, they are also now conditioned to see past the shock and entertainment value, so the novelty has not worn off completely, but I think it will. I don’t think enterprises should rush to jump on that bandwagon.
GlobalData is the trusted, gold standard intelligence provider to the world’s largest industries. With expertise spanning more than 80 markets globally and driven by 800+ award-winning journalists, researchers, and analysts, we connect you with the information that makes and breaks businesses every day. Combined with our award-winning targeting technology built into our network of websites, we offer a unique end-to-end marketing solution combining insight, creativity, and cutting-edge AI-technology.
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