As the pandemic set in, B2B marketers and sales teams relaunched themselves to make changes in their processes and strategies. The B2B landscape has transformed a lot and 7 in 10 salespeople report that they are now handling most of their lead cycles virtually. The rapid changes and evolutions have also paved the way for many misconceptions that need to be busted to address the problems that arise. Dig in!
10 Common B2B Myths Explained and Exposed
There’s a big misconception throughout the marketing and sales community that the ROI of social media s difficult to measure. However, the reality is that it no longer is. If follows and likes can’t lead to any conversions, then they are meaningless. This was just one of the many misconceptions that hover around the B2B sector. Let’s walk you through many others and unmask the truth behind them.
1. Creativity has no use in B2B Marketing and sales
B2B marketing and B2B sales involves encountering customers in a work environment, thus, they feel that content must be crafted in a boring and formal manner. While providing valuable details about your product, you can incorporate some fun and creativity and evoke more favourable responses from the customers.
2. The B2B market is solely about reaching businesses
B2B, this term directly makes a reference to a scenario where businesses sell to businesses. Nonetheless, marketers and sales teams must keep in mind that within every business, it is people that seek business and make decisions to shop from you. While trying to reach the business employees, it is also crucial to reach their potential customers. That’s because some firms will be compelled to deploy your product or service only for the reason that their customers are demanding or requesting it.
3. B2B marketing/sales and B2C marketing/sales are poles apart
The truth is that both B2B marketing and B2C marketing and sales have similar objectives and target people, thus, many times similar tactics go well together. The tactics like evoking an emotional response in a customer and gaining their attention are crucial for B2C as well as B2B marketing equally. The primary goal of marketing in any business is to build loyalty, improve sales, and create awareness.
4. Old B2B marketing and sales tactics are useless now
Outmoded B2B tactics when used in tandem with new-school marketing and sales strategies help a business stand out from its competition. With the prevalence of mobile and social media developments and digital marketing, many individuals have started to neglect the tried-and-tested approaches. The best practice is to deploy pre-existing marketing regimes, update them according to the need of the times, and render them useful to the target audience.
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5. B2B businesses don’t require an active social media presence
If you are still ignoring social media to grow your business, then, you are missing out on a lot. Social media is a great lever that can help companies gain compelling insights for business and build reliable relationships. B2B marketers must keep in mind that social media isn’t just about Twitter and Facebook. Businesses can rely on LinkedIn and Google’s G+ Network to connect with other businesses in the industry.
6. B2B marketing is done as soon as the sale is made
Creating loyal customers who promote and advocate the brand is the ultimate goal of marketing while making a sale is only a piece of a puzzle. And that’s what you fail to do when acting fast after the sale has been made and confirmed and moving to the next client. Even after closing the initial deal and bagging a client for sales in the future, it is crucial and recommended to continue offering great customer service and valuable content.
7. Fans on social media are qualified leads
Instead of considering social media fans and following to measure the conversions, one must rely on loyalty metrics and monitor conversions to gain a better insight into your business’s performance. A new fan or follower never means that they have purchased your product or have the intention to do so in the near future. More credible metrics are loyalty and conversions which can be effectively tracked with proper tools.
8. Most B2B firms prefer one-on-one interactions
This is not the case. About two-thirds of corporate clients reach for remote in-person or digital engagement when provided a choice. In addition to this, they prefer the same at every phase of the shopping journey. e-Commerce has effectively surpassed face-to-face interactions as the most effectual mode.
9. B2B buyers do buy into emotion
Modern B2B customers expect sellers to offer quality educational information online before they proceed to sign the order contract. A piece of poor information can sour a relationship between you and your customer. Remember, B2B businesses sell to people, thus, the emotional component of the interaction is highly crucial.
10. A robust brand overcomes an ineffective sales process
A strong B2B brand is of high importance as it can easily help you get on the shortlist. However, not reacting to new sales opportunities fast can even depress the response your familiar logo triggers. Many B2B companies like Paychex and LinkedIn have proved that B2B firms can pop out of the blue and gain the lion’s share of the market with little advertising.
Countless B2B sales continue to take the above-mentioned myths as ultimate truths and thus, make strategies accordingly. Here, one must know that businesses that have recognized the hollowness of these falsehoods are gaining share and making customer-centric sales. They have better clues about what their customer expect and need and they can respond to them in a faster and more efficient way.
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