Β2Β trends are constantly changing, so we need to keep on top of things.
Here at Errand Pro we have isolated three B2B areas that will be crucial in 2020: how your website functions and caters to customers’ needs, how you expand and target your marketing efforts and how you manage your image with customers.
Today’s post explains how critical your customers’ web experience is.
The services you offer on a B2B basis are presented through your website. Although marketing, social media, and other promotional efforts are both valuable and necessary, the 2019 trend highlighting the need for a professional website is going strong. What is constantly changing is what classifies as a ‘professional’ website.
Informative texts and content marketing
We live in an era of short and colourful snaps of information. People are always in a hurry and want to be given the relevant information in snippets that can be easily understood. However, this challenges your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) efforts.
2019 showed us that Google prioritizes long, informative texts because it perceives them as useful and valuable. Investing in good texts with suitable information about your products or services will bring you dedicated customers and clients and improve your SEO standing.
Moreover, devoting some time to update your clients about news from your industry will also be appreciated. Potential customers who are interested in reading about news from your industry or interesting data regarding their business will also be more loyal and long-term buyers.
Setting up a blog with frequent posts with news, information, infographics and videos about your business and line of work will build up an audience.
Through the blog, people can make comments, offering you feedback on your content. You can also quiz or start interactions with interested buyers. This, in turn, can lead to potential sales. It’s always useful to learn more about what people really expect from your business and a blog is a good way to get some answers from the horse’s mouth.
Video, VR, augmented reality, interactive content
Speaking of videos, the new steady and formidable trend is for visitors to require new types of content, such as video, virtual reality, interactive content, and even augmented reality.
Studies have shown that B2B buyers prefer interactive content to classic, static one. Investing in videos that show your products or services in detail is a necessary step towards attracting new buyers.
Interestingly, different buyers like different types of videos.
Make short videos presenting a select few products.
Make longer ones about the production process or about how your company is run. Remember to take the time to mention human relations and the importance of your workforce. It is much easier for your buyers to understand how something you sell works if they see it on video.
Update your videos with news, events, talks and even everyday moments of your business’s life: this will give a human and personal touch to your business image.
Keep in mind that creating a video does not necessarily mean something complicated or expensive: you can repurpose material you already have such as photos, infographics, or short articles which you can turn into small videos.
Remember that you can also use your videos in all your marketing channels, especially social media; think of Facebook Stories or Instagram and how visual they are.
Mobile e-commerce
There has been a steady and solid rise in the percentage of B2B buyers checking through their mobile devices.
Websites should be mobile-friendly and their design ought to be responsive.
Google has given priority to the mobile version of a website, highlighting the importance it places on mobile searches. A single, properly designed website that is mobile optimized will deliver your information to all potential buyers.
Personalization
Business buyers and professionals want personalized information.
They want the offers they are given to respond to their needs and their relationship with your company. The more they purchase from you, the more they will expect a discount. They will prefer offers of services or goods that are relevant to their business rather than generic offers. The more they feel your communication is personal, the more committed they will be to your company.
In this context, artificial intelligence has made a huge impact. By its ability to analyze immense amounts of data, it can create algorithms that can interpret buyers’ behaviors, expectations, needs, and preferences.
Chatbots
People are used to having immediate interaction with businesses. They expect their requests to be answered promptly. They want to make purchases at any time of the day. They need answers to queries day and night. They expect advice on important issues constantly. We live in a time of constant interaction. How can anyone live up to such expectations on a limited budget?
An answer is offered by chatbots: automated responses driven by AI programs (“bots”) that can answer most customer queries. Chatbots can make your life easier by displaying your company’s willingness to be available 24/7 without needing to actually hire people to answer the phone or respond to chats. That way, potential buyers will feel their needs are attended to.
Crucially, chatbots can be ‘trained’ with the appropriate material to respond to any personalized communication from clients and customers.
Personalized chatbots can be guided to communicate and resolve buyers’ issues in a timely manner, showing dedication and saving your business immense amounts of time and money.
People are longing for immediate and appropriate answers to their queries. If your website’s chatbot can answer questions and help clients in their requests, you will have won more potential buyers without straining your budget.
In our next post, we will explore ways to expand and target your marketing efforts.