As businesses increasingly navigate a crowded digital space, B2B marketing has evolved far beyond the traditional tactics of cold emails and broad messaging. In 2024, it's no longer just about getting your product in front of potential buyers, it's about creating personalised experiences that address specific pain points and add value from the first interaction.
Why Personalisation Matters in B2B
We often think of personalisation as a B2C tool, but the B2B landscape is equally ripe for tailored experiences. The more personalised the interaction, the higher the likelihood of meaningful engagement.
According to research by ActiveCampaign (Giving B2B Buyers the B2C Experience They Want), at least 80% of B2B buyers expect the same level of personalisation and care they receive in B2C interactions, so B2B marketersneed to shift their focus and provide a more customer-centric experience. This demand for personalisation includes offering customised content, recommendations, and experiences across the buying journey to help buyers feel understood and valued. B2C and B2B are merging.
An Adobe study (B2B Commerce Growth Strategies) reveals biggest B2B priorities and challenges for 2023)also highlights that B2B sellers are increasingly focusing on personalising their ecommerce strategies, with tactics such as currated search results, product recommendations, and targeted promotions playing a key role in driving conversions.
This growing expectation for personalisation reflects the shift in B2B towards more consumer-like experiences. It’s becoming more and more important for marketers to understand and use marketing automation tools to meet these demands.
The New Frontier: Scale
However, the challenge for many marketers lies in achieving personalisation at scale. It’s one thing to tailor content for a handful of clients, but how do you personalise for hundreds—or even thousands—without losing the human touch? The key lies in blending cutting-edge technology with the most important factor, creative storytelling.
AI and Predictive Analytics: AI tools can now analyse vast amounts of data to predict what content will resonate with specific buyer personas. This helps in delivering the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
Dynamic Content and Automation: Leveraging dynamic content and marketing automation tools allows us to serve personalised messages based on user behavior, demographics, and engagement history. This can transform a generic outreach into a conversation that feels one-on-one.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM): ABM continues to grow as a vital strategy in B2B, and when combined with data-driven personalisation, it can create a tailored experience for entire accounts, not just individuals. It’s about meeting your customers where they are and addressing their specific business needs.
A Shift from Product-Centric to Solution-Oriented Messaging
Many B2B marketers are still guilty of product-first messaging. In today’s environment, it’s time to pivot to solution-oriented marketing, what problems do we solve?. Buyers don’t want to hear about your product features—they want to know how your product solves their unique problems. Building narratives around case studies, real-life applications, and ROI-driven content will make a world of difference.
Humanise the Data
Despite all the technological advances, B2B marketing should never lose its human element. Data can tell us the ‘what’ and ‘when,’ but it’s the human insight that informs the ‘why’ and ‘how.’ The future of personalisation lies in marrying data with empathy, creating content that doesn’t just speak to prospects, but resonates with them on a deeper level. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, anyone can do the quant analysis, but in marketing its always the qualitative elements that will make the difference.
What are your thoughts on personalisation in B2B marketing? How are you using technology to create more meaningful customer experiences?
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