Modern B2B marketers seem to fall into one of two camps.
The noisiest one seeks to use technology and online platforms to drive, or at least strongly influence, customers’ buying behaviour. Take a snapshot of your LinkedIn feed and you might think these are the only marketers left.
There’s no arguing that technology and online platforms have handed marketers a whole new armoury of weapons. But… have they changed the people we’re targeting?
Here’s the core, driving belief of the techno marketer: Through smart coordination of paid ads and social platforms you can corral prospects. You can capture every opportunity and convert them efficiently.
You can be their guide as they are herded from awareness to action.
Minimal wastage and complete visibility over effectiveness.
No more waste
The starting gun for this game is when prospects ‘signal’ that they’re ready to buy. So you’re not wasting time, effort and budget with prospects who have no intention of buying.
There seems to be a whole subset of the industry focused on defining what a reliable intent signal looks like and what you should do with it. Seems you now need the ability to interpret the ‘confluence of multiple signals,’ according to one company that – guess what – has a tech solution to clear the mist swirling in your crystal ball.
You may be getting the sense that I’m a little sceptical about over-reliance on technology. (And I haven’t even mentioned AI and what it might or might not do to for you).
My feelings aside, what about your prospects? Will they fit neatly into your nurturing sequence and do as they’re bidden?
The realistic marketer
A more realistic view (in my opinion) recognises that prospects’ lives are messy and distracted.
Realistic marketers believe that the odds of a prospect slotting neatly into any digital consideration and decision matrix you could design are tiny – even if you could reliably deliver the ‘right content at the right time’ and ensure the right prospects pay attention to it.
Moreover they also accept that ‘who we’ve heard of’ and ‘who people we know have heard of’ are the biggest factors in deciding whether you even have a chance of being considered.
There’s a huge weight of evidence from Gartner and others to suggest that, if you’re not already known to the prospect before they start seriously considering a purchase, your horse is blithely munching grass in the paddock while the real contenders are being loaded into the starting gate.
Who’s right? Maybe your own behaviour as a B2B buyer will provide a clue.