The behavior of today’s B2B buyer means that marketing needs to go far beyond what it did in the past. Marketing must not only attract new prospects but also provide information and content for sales to convert them to customers.
The need for marketing to work with sales is more important than ever. Recent surveys show that as much as 57% of the buying decision is done before buyers contact sales (CEB Study of 1400 Customers). So marketing’s role is extended into the sales cycle with the need to provide intelligence about what potential customers need and relevant content when they need it.
In an article in Sales and Marketing Magazine, Tim Reisterer warns that if marketers merely focus on the buyer persona, they miss the information they need to assist in prospect conversion. Tim goes on to say that buyers make decisions on business situations that trigger a need, such as KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that aren’t achieved, slow or declining growth or changes in an industry. Now marketing and sales have to understand the business drivers behind decisions to buy their solution, monitor activity, determine where in the buying cycle a prospect is and deliver the right messages and content to build trust and credibility.
In B2B marketing there no longer can be a hand-off of leads from marketing to sales. A lot more is going on for a much longer time period. Sales and marketing must work together, analyze data and research the sales cycle, and master the art of providing the right materials and information at the right time.
Do you need help understanding your buyer and your buyer’s behaviors and creating marketing content that will sell? Contact New Incite today. We specialize in inbound marketing systems that attract and convert the right buyers for your business.
