Senior Vice President, Digital Experience, Data and Artificial Intelligence, ITC Infotech .
Digital transformation has changed the B2B landscape. It is predicted that "by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will take place through digital channels," a trend that has seen a significant increase during the pandemic. The digital age has ushered in a new paradigm where B2B transactions based on traditional face-to-face interactions are now shifting to online interactions. These changes require organizations to rethink their digital strategies and optimize the online customer journey.
Using multichannel experience
The shift of the population to a more digitally native cohort has accelerated the demand for immersive experiences. About 73% of B2B buyers now plan to interact with brands across multiple channels during their purchase journey.
For example, a software solution provider may offer a combination of live webinars, interactive websites, mobile apps and AI-powered chatbots to connect with customers at various stages of the buying process. It allows shoppers to start from searching on the website, ask questions via chat, and then purchase via the app, creating a seamless and efficient experience. This multi-channel approach, where each channel is carefully optimized to deliver a consistent and comprehensive customer experience, is essential for businesses to adapt to the habits and preferences of modern shoppers.
Growth of e-commerce and self-service
The B2B e-commerce component is expanding rapidly. Today, the vast majority of B2B customers (86% to be exact) clearly prefer digital channels that offer self-service capabilities. This indicator highlights businesses' priority to develop user-friendly digital platforms where customers can easily manage product offerings, order and receive independent support.
Improving emerging trade
Recognizing the complexity of B2B workflows, compositional commerce is gaining attention as a strategic solution for creating more flexible and adaptive B2B experiences. This approach allows businesses to create a digital commerce platform tailored to their specific needs, prioritizing high-quality components over one-size-fits-all solutions. The flexibility and customization offered by Composition Trading allows businesses to meet their unique needs and workflows, which is critical in today's fast-paced market.
For example, a B2B company that specializes in the industrial segment may choose to operate a combination of commerce, a robust inventory management system from one supplier, a flexible e-commerce storefront from another, and a chat solution for customer service from a third. This allows the company to tailor its online shopping experience to the needs of specific industry buyers who require detailed specifications and bulk ordering capabilities that are not met by standard B2C platforms. By using integrated marketing, companies ensure that each element of the purchasing process best meets unique business needs and customer expectations.
Data-driven B2B marketing
The most effective companies use analytics to gain competitive advantage and understand new customer segments. This change is due to the fact that customers now often do their research online and get important information before direct sales begin. So companies are turning to data analytics to more accurately predict prospect profiles, understand their challenges and proactively engage.
Consider an example where a medical device manufacturer we work with is trying to launch a new product line. The company's management realized that the existing customer base, although loyal, would not be enough to ensure the success of the new launch. They used advanced data analytics combining various data sources such as health trends, historical purchase data and customer reviews. This extensive analysis identified 25 key characteristics of their ideal target market, resulting in 4,000 detailed buyer profiles.
This method of using deep internal data to predict buying patterns is increasingly popular among industry leaders. By adopting this strategy, medical device manufacturers have not only successfully introduced new product line, but we saw that the company saw a 10% increase in conversion rate and a 4% increase in total sales.
Strategic investment in marketing technology
Investments in B2B marketing technology in the US are on an upward trajectory, with forecasts calling for growth of $8.51 billion in the near future. Increasing attention is being paid to improving these technologies to increase their efficiency. Lately, I've noticed companies shifting budgets from brand awareness campaigns to search and performance-based channels that emphasize lead and customer acquisition. The B2B brand landscape is also evolving, as evidenced by a 41% increase in video usage and a 23% increase in live chat with sales reps, reflecting the importance of dynamic content and real-time communication in the digital marketplace.
Finally
The digital transformation of B2B marketing ushers in a dynamic, innovative and customer-centric era. As B2C and B2B shopping experiences converge, companies must be agile and progressive. They must be prepared to meet the complex needs of the modern B2B buyer through personalized experiences, seamless omni-channel experiences and data-driven decision-making. Moving forward, companies that thrive will not only be able to adapt to these changes, but they will predict and shape the future of B2B digital marketing.
The Forbes Technology Council is an invited community of world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology leaders. Am I correct?
