This article was originally published on ClickZ . Please continue reading at their website.
COVID-19 has drastically changed the B2B marketing landscape for 2020 and beyond. Overnight, you had to shift perspective, strategies, and business goals before moving forward. Like any sudden economical shift, those that adapt quickly and apply industry best practices will pull through the tough times. And those that lag in adoption, they will lag even further behind. One essential point has surfaced from COVID-19. Where before the conversation was only dabbled upon, it’s now clear that your marketing approach must be customer-focused and companies must become ‘more human’ in their marketing approach. A post-COVID-19 era will demand for empathetic marketing.
The B2B marketing mentality has been outdated. In complex industries, B2B marketing has taken the traditional marketing approach by supporting direct sales, collaborating on trade shows, and pushing out print media.
Where a few marketers might have incorporated digital marketing into their marketing mix, traditionally, marketers in the B2B across multiple industries relied on traditional methods to acquire customers.
COVID-19 was a shock to the traditional system. It brought on a forced digital transformation. Overnight, the best methods for acquiring new customers disappeared.
Tradeshow events went dark, and sales teams couldn’t schedule in-person meetings. Customer meetings and acquisition tactics went online. And this sudden swift was brutal for traditional B2B industries that had to adapt quickly.
And if the B2B buyer’s mentality wasn’t already complicated, the buyers in this field today are even more cautious in their purchases. The B2B sales process will now require further nurturing, convincing, and buyer cycles have become even longer.
You should be prepared to adapt your buyer’s journey accordingly to make sure that you’re accounting for more (and new) digital touchpoints.
This article was originally published on ClickZ . Please continue reading at their website.
CEO LinkedIn Lead Strategy Lead
Megan is the CEO of MTC | The Content Agency. As CEO, she’s in charge of making sure the team fulfills client project expectations and everything runs smoothly. As Lead Strategist, her strategy background is provided on all projects – LinkedIn Marketing, SEO, Content Strategy, and Content Writing. Based in Berlin, Megan enjoys long bike rides around the city.
