We’re big advocates of the B2B ecommerce market here, and we understand that B2B product marketers have a tough job. They are required to explain complex solutions in a manner that appeals to users and buyers across a number of different departments, and they have to make sure that their explanations persuade those buyers to convert. Not only is it difficult to create and deliver that message, but the sales cycle is long and can take up to several months or years.
That time and effort is surely worth it for B2B businesses. Just consider the difference in size of the online markets:
- The B2C ecommerce market in the U.S. reached $304.9 billion in 2014.
- The B2B ecommerce marketing in the U.S. reached $692 billion in 2014.
Where to Start?
According to this infographic, which is based on reports from Regalix and Kapost, communicating your value to prospects starts with understanding the needs of your customers. This understanding ties into the B2B product marketer’s difficulty in having to explain complex solutions to a variety of different types of peoples: end users, CFOs, CTOs, etc.
To effectively market your complex solution to buyers, you need to understand their needs and then create marketing collateral that address those needs.
So how do you get your message out there? For B2B product marketers, the priorities are:
- Creating content
- Enabling sales
- Defining your position
- Creating a marketing plan
- Planning the product launch
Meanwhile, the top channels for executing your plan and delivering your content are your:
- Website
- Emails
- Webinars
- Social networks
- Organic search results
Measuring Success
The big question is: How do you measure success?
If you think about it, measuring whether your prospects agree that your business understands their pain points and that your solution solves those problems is an almost insurmountable task. That is why most B2B product marketers measure success in terms of customer acquisition and revenue. Still, it is strange that B2B marketers don’t also see customer engagement or retention as a KPI. And while many product marketers see market research as an important component of their efforts, a surprisingly smaller amount of them see product feedback and product satisfaction as things worth measuring.
What are your top strategies for B2B product marketing, and how do you measure success?
Share your story in the comment section below!
Source: Kapost
