Over the past decade, it’s easy to see that dramatic changes have taken shape in our buying behavior. Shopping in brick and mortar stores has given way to web purchases from mega sites like amazon.com. And even in the B2B (Business to Business) space, buyers are displaying significantly different behaviors than in the past. For example, more and more millennials are entering the B2B space as decision makers, with some 70% of millennials included in buying decisions for their companies. B2B researches also do an average of 12 searches online before deciding to engage with a website, and are seeking an online experience similar to one they would expect from a B2C (Business to Consumer) website.
In the Oil & Gas Industry, it’s clear that more and more millennials are entering the decision-making space, and the way they are used to communicating and receiving information may be different from the way that companies in the industry have traditionally communicated. Millennials increasingly are, and will be our customers, so it’s important to consider embracing a communication style that creates an experience that millennials, and all decision makers, will notice. The digital space offers endless opportunities to do just that.
Here are 3 ways to market your business more successfully in 2020:
Engage Prospects and Customers with Personalized Communication
The more you can tailor your communication to an individual buyer’s preferences, the more they are likely to pay attention. Buyers expect personalized communication that suits their needs and shows a level of attention to understanding and meeting their requirements. Buyers are likely to ignore communications that do not pertain to them, or worse, you may find your messages landing in their spam folder. Crafting and delivering targeted communications at scale can be a challenge, but there are a variety of marketing automation platforms available to help you segment your audience and communicate with carefully crafted content.
Re-Energize Your Email List
Email is the preferred method of communication for most business decision makers and unfortunately, many companies are not maximizing the value of their email lists! An email list is like gold – full of warm leads who representatives of your company already have a relationship with at some level. These leads are higher up the buying decision chain than new or cold leads, so why not re-engage with them? Some may even already be customers, who you’d like to encourage to buy again. When crafting your emails, think of the questions that your customers and prospects are most likely to ask, and answer them. You can also include recent and relevant news, upcoming events and company updates to keep your customers and prospects informed. Remember that the more you can target the communications to their needs, the more likely they will be to pay attention, bringing you more marketing success!
Invest in Your Social Media Strategy
Over 200 million Americans were on social media in 2019, including your customers. Many Oil & Gas B2B companies overlook social media marketing as a viable way of finding new customers due to the long sales cycles that they experience. It may not be as easy to track whether someone made a purchase because they engaged with you on LinkedIn, but every interaction helps to build your brand and educate your customer for marketing success. Social media marketing can help you to solidify a level of authority in your niche. It’s important to have a social media strategy and execute it with precision. Consider what you’d like to achieve with your social media – would you like to generate more targeted leads, build your brand awareness, or enhance your customer service? Then create a plan, so that you know who is responsible for content, when it will be due and when it will be posted. It’s important to maintain a level of consistency that will lead to engagement with your audience, and avoid a social media page where nothing has been posted in months, leaving your audience wondering if you’re still in business!
Behind every B2B brand is an audience who deserves authentic, timely and personalized communication. Invest in research about your target market and your audience, to learn more about what they value, so you know what information you can share that will be most relevant to them. The more you know your audience, the better the experience you can provide them, and the higher quality relationships you can grow both now and for the future.
Contact Zebra Marketing Solutions for more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation. We can help you design and implement an effective marketing strategy for 2020 to retain and attract more customers, grow revenues and gain market share for a year filled with marketing success!