Does Word of Mouth Work For B2B?
While consumer brands have no problem seeing the benefits of word-of-mouth marketing, B2B companies struggle with quantifying the ROI. Perhaps that’s because of the marked differences between the two. In a B2C setting, marketers are selling to a consumer who will make a purchasing decision based, in some part, on lifestyle. In B2B situations, the picture changes. Buyers are purchasing on behalf of an entire company. For them, it’s business. It’s about their livelihood and people’s jobs may be at stake. Equally important is the length of the sales cycle. With multi-step B2B buying processes, the cycle of converting a new prospect into a buying customer can take months, sometimes years and it involves many more stakeholders. As a result, many organizations that are in the B2B sector overlook the opportunities and value that a word-of-marketing strategy can deliver.
Word of mouth is one of the most credible forms of advertising, because people who stand to gain nothing, put their personal reputations on the line every time they make a recommendation. And, those recommendations wield a great deal of power. In a study undertaken by Nielsen in 2012, it reported - Ninety-two percent of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising—an increase of 18 percent since 2007. Online consumer reviews are the second most trusted form of advertising, with 70 percent of global consumers surveyed online indicating they trust this platform - an increase of 15 percent in four years. While the statistics above reflect attitudes of consumers, word of mouth can be a strong influence when used to advantage on the B2B stage. A Forrester Research survey revealed that few B2B customers ever buy anything without first asking around about experiences with the vendor and/or product. In fact, 84% of respondents said Word of Mouth recommendations influence their purchase decisions. Ranked second, at 60% was the salesperson, followed closely by the web site at 59% and print publications at 58%. Other sources for pre-purchase research were: in-person events (45%), analysts (43%), social media (43%), e-mail (41%), web events (40%), interactive media (30%) and blogs at 24%.
Building word of mouth into your marketing strategy means adopting a customer-centric mindset. As well as the face-to-face conversations that will inevitably be part of the equation, a series of messages and information need to be part of the mix that will take your prospective customer from the discovery phase, through consideration and on to decision. Key factors will be value, relevance, excellent customer service, content and how you can relate a good story to your prospect.
Remember, effective word-of-mouth strategies will stretch across multiple channels. And, they will…
Use recommendations - especially those with an influential voice on a specific topic.
Tell your story in a creative way - not only to increase brand awareness, but to build an understanding of your company and its people.
Provide relevant stories for your customers, prospects and influencer advocates to talk about. They’ll be interesting, relevant and authentic. Relevant stories positioned properly can play a pivotal role in increasing your chance of being considered in the next sales cycle.
Involve people and their social media circles. If you think social media has no effect on B2B, think again. Forrester recently surveyed B2B buyers to learn about their usage of social media. The results were eye-opening to say the least. B2B buyers are nearly 20% more active creators of social media and twice as active consumers of social content. Based on the survey results, Forrester told B2B marketers: If you’re not using word-of-mouth/social media as part of your marketing mix, you’re late to the party.
Content: It's Still King
Once you've attracted interest with an image or attractive design, what is it that will hold your audience's attention? It's Content!
Many business owners don't seem to realize that their communications need quality content. They understand they have to allocate budget for graphic design, printing, or buying space online, but when it comes to content, they think they can do it themselves. That's not to say that no business owner is incapable of writing compelling copy, but in most instances, the content that's created by the sales department, or the executive suite just doesn't meet the mark when its measured against the real objective - creating genuine interest and a call to action.
Whether it's something as simple as a promotional post card or as involved as a web site, ad campaign or entire marketing strategy, getting the message right is paramount to making those inroads to success. And too often, for business owners, not recognizing the right message is a bit like not seeing the forest for the trees.
We tell our clients they have to "think like the customer". Often, that means what the sales department thinks is a selling point may indeed be a feature, not a benefit. Customers want benefits. They want solutions. They want you to meet and satisfy their needs. It also means that when creating corporate communications, they should impart the organization's vision, its goals, culture, etc., and present them in way that a prospective customer or investor will want to get onboard.
Good copywriting is an essential element of successful marketing. It's a highly skilled art that delivers words in such a way that they elicit a positive response and get people to act. Professional, effective copywriting grabs the reader's attention, holds it with a promise, builds on that promise with laser precision and demonstrates how the promise has been fulfilled.
When you're building a budget for the next marketing initiative, be it a simple flyer or an entire campaign,build in money for a copywriter. It will be the best money you've ever spent.
InfoLust. It's All Around Us
Every day, in our business, we are apt to mutter "people just don't read." Is that really true? Or, is it that people only read what interests them? Consider how often each day we google. Think about the number of times we end up online looking for what we want: Information. It's knowledge, it's power and it seems we're ravenous in our quest for it. In a word, it's infolust.
To quote of Reiner Evers, Founder of Trendwatching, who seems to have coined the term - "Show us one experienced, switched-on consumer in a mature consumer society who does NOT google once a day. Or even once an hour. One consumer who has NOT researched the cheapest available fare, price, charge before buying a big ticket item. Who has NOT invested some time reading reviews, recommendations and suggestions from experts and fellow consumers on anything from hotels in Paris and designer vacuum cleaners to which specific seat to request on flight SQ220 from Sydney to Singapore. One who hasn't relished the feeling of being better informed about everything from 18th century gardening to alternative medicine to the real reasons for high oil prices, than his/her peers or, even better, his/her superiors".
Web savvy consumers are lusting after detailed information. They want the best, the cheapest, the coolest, the fastest and the first. The desire is insatiable, but it's also demanding. They want it immediately. Instant gratification is king. QR Codes, Apps, Mash Ups - they're all the fast way to more information. It has nothing to do with information overload, it has everything to do with a new know-right-now mentality. This is your first blog entry. What are you waiting for? Replace this text with some of your own and start blogging!
