Why The Next Big Thing In MarTech Is BuyingGroup Marketing
Dmitry Lissitzky is the co-founder and CEO of Influ2 , a personalization -powered advertising platform for B2B companies .
Sell more. Sell faster. Sell smarter. With advances in marketing strategy and technology, account-based marketing has become the cornerstone of B2B business marketing, focusing on the accounts that matter most to you. But if you're trying to sell faster and smarter, there's a new element in the marketing strategy box to consider: group marketing (BGM).
While BGM shares elements with ABM, it takes marketing strategy to a whole new level of precision. BGM specifically directs your energy and resources to the Key Account team, the people who work together to make buying decisions.
According to a recent Forrester study, 94% of B2B companies sell products to teams of three or more people. And since purchasing decisions are now in the hands of groups rather than individuals, you need to develop your ABM strategy to reflect this: implement OHM.
But what really sets BGM apart? Let's take a closer look.
The acquisition of Personal Group Maps is the strategic foundation of BGM.
As purchasing teams define the purchasing process in today's modern enterprise, it is important that every team member, whether from IT, marketing, legal, or other fields, has a complete understanding of the target individuals. By creating personas for each member of the buying team, you can develop a comprehensive marketing plan that matches the personality and takes into account the level of influence of each member of the buying team at every stage of the purchase journey. This strategic timeline allows you to demonstrate the involvement of team members in various functions that you understand.
The more difficult the sale, the wider the circle of buyers
As a rule, increasing the complexity of the sale means increasing the size of the group of buyers. The larger and more complex the transaction, the more players and the more sophisticated your BGM strategy needs to be.
According to Gartner, "a typical B2B complex solution procurement team consists of six to ten decision makers, each armed with four or five pieces of information they have collected independently and who need to resolve disputes with the group."
BGV has to reckon with all this. As a B2B marketer, your job as a B2B marketer is to provide the right content as part of your overall message in a way that meets the individual needs of the buyer group members and does not conflict with each other. Thus, the sum of the message parts supports the entire message.
Throw your neck in the middle of the direction
Achieving group marketing requires a shift in mindset, processes, and technology away from more traditional marketing strategies and away from the typical lead-driven approach.
Consider the following scenario: a lead responds and the contact information is passed as a sales lead. A second potential client from the same company also showed interest. This second lead is often ignored or disqualified as the sale is already being made through the first lead in the account. Obviously this is not an easy task as there are many decision makers in today's business world and you need to address all of them to maximize your chances of success.
B2B marketers often don't realize how inaccurate motion marketing is. While it's tempting to use account-based ads, reaching all employees of the target account doesn't guarantee success. You must attract the right employees.
Ask your sales team, "What are you working on right now?" More specifically, "Who do you work for?" The best place to start is by aligning with the accounts and buyer groups that care most about your sellers. Even when the promotional presentation has already started, marketing can be a huge help in accelerating sales through marketing awareness. This is all the more important when there are still items in the shopping groups on the wish list. Relationship building is the hardest part of selling, and marketing can be extremely rewarding. Your sales team will be delighted when sales opportunities arise through your collaboration. Aligning your strategy with how buying decisions are made is your WHM recipe for success.
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