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INTERVIEW WITH

Payal Mathur

Director of Marketing, Jade Global

B2B Customer Acquisition: The role of human engagement in a world of digital-first enterprise marketing

To survive in the digital age, businesses must adapt their marketing strategies to entertain customers who are bombarded with digital noise. Millennials are particularly adept at ignoring digital ads, so creative campaigns are essential to catch their attention.

How is B2B marketing changing as buyers become younger, for instance? Are their preferences and values very different?

Millennials prefer control and self-exploration; they establish trust through evidence; and they value references from trusted sources. Unlike Generation Z, millennials still believe in brands and do not alter their preferences frequently.

To survive in the digital age, businesses must adapt their marketing strategies to entertain customers who are bombarded with digital noise. Millennials are particularly adept at ignoring digital ads, so creative campaigns are essential to catch their attention.

Businesses need to use emotions such as humor, fear, and love to connect with customers on a human level, rather than treating them like machines. Infographics and shorter, digestible content are more effective than lengthy white paper reports. Story formats work well, and video formats can be successful if used appropriately. However, businesses should be cautious about using trendy channels like TikTok that may not lead to genuine engagement.

My focus is on account-based branding, where the emphasis is on a 360-degree experience for all decision committee members. What’s important here is a synchronized, account-based strategy and patience in the B2B sales cycles, ultimately waiting for customers to be ready before ‘pushing’ for a sale.

Effective virtual engagement requires sufficient research, qualifying of accounts, and the creation of custom presentations…Sales people should be prepared with questions to qualify prospects further – a bit like finding a spouse for a long-term relationship.

What impact has the shift to virtual selling had, and how challenging is that in your field?

The social distancing seen during the peak of the pandemic has turned into corporate distancing, making it difficult for sales people to meet buyers still today. Virtual selling has its pros and cons. On the one hand, sales teams are able to reach out to a larger audience. However, it can be harder to determine the seriousness of the prospects.

Effective virtual engagement requires sufficient research, qualifying of accounts, and the creation of custom presentations. Video calls can be engaging and help build a human connection through body language, but sales people should be prepared with questions to qualify prospects further – a bit like finding a spouse for a long-term relationship. The sales person needs to show up and be educated and informed about what each prospective customer requires and why.

Once you’ve established a connection, you can follow up with [customers] more intelligently - but not in a pushy or intrusive manner. Approaches we favor include creating CIO podcasts and forums…joint case studies and ebooks…[and] having an active social media page with ready-to-digest material and submitting case studies for technology platform awards.

PAYAL MATHUR

Director of Marketing

JADE GLOBAL

How do you find your customers now, with so many options for them to engage with the market and with brands?

If you cannot be where they are, try to be where they are going. Many spend time with their own communities, especially CIOs and VPs. These individuals are often lonely people in their companies and prefer to engage in their communities and attend industry events. Building a connection with them takes time and effort, so it's important to be patient and not try to sell them something immediately.

Mirror their behavior and engage with them in a social setting, such as golf tournaments or charity events. It's essential to remember that they are humans, not machines. Once you’ve established a connection, you can follow up with them more intelligently - but not in a pushy or intrusive manner.

Approaches we favor include creating CIO podcasts and forums, featuring clients as experts, to showcase their intelligence and expertise. Secondly, joint case studies and ebooks can help clients to demonstrate their success and innovation in digital transformation projects. Additionally, having an active social media page with ready-to-digest material and submitting case studies for technology platform awards can further boost clients' visibility and reputation.