The Secret to Successfully Marketing to the Technical B2B Buyer...Marketing to the B2B Technical...

Copyright © 2017 Earley Information Science, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Secret to Successfully

Marketing to the Technical

B2B Buyer

Copyright © 2017 Earley Information Science

Dino Eliopulos, Managing Director, Earley Information Science

Yvonne Brown, Partner/CMO, Chief Outsiders

Hayne Shumate, S.V.P. Internet Business, Mouser Electronics

Michelle Fields, Sr. Director of Marketing and eCommerce, Brock White


Today’s Agenda

Welcome & Housekeeping

• Dino Eliopulos, Managing Director, Earley Information Science

• Session format, questions & recording

• Take the polls & the survey!

Roundtable Discussion

• Yvonne Brown, Partner/CMO, Chief Outsiders

• Hayne Shumate, S.V.P. Internet Business, Mouser Electronics

• Michelle Fields, Sr. Director of Marketing and eCommerce, Brock White

Your Questions & Answers

Join the conversation: #earleyroundtable

2


DIFFERENTIATED EXPERIENCE

• Improved competitiveness

• Brand elevation

• Improved loyalty & reduced churn

• Increased personalization

STREAMLINED OPERATIONS

• Increased visibility

• Reduced risk

• Improved alignment to objectives

• Improved time-to-market

MAXIMIZED DIGITAL COMMERCE

• Improved “shopability”

• Increased share of market

• Brand control across channels

• Next right offer by journey & touchpoint

ACCELERATED INNOVATION

• New efficiencies

• New markets

• Increased collaboration

• New competitive advantages

About Earley Information Science

EIS.

We organize

data to drive

measurable

business

impact.

3


Marketing to the ”Unmarketable”

Working on developers.sun.com, I learned a special lesson about marketing and the technical buyer:

• Engineers, developers, solution architects and system administrators hate being marketed to.

All the user testing and interviews with their target market said the same thing:

• “Do not market to me, just give me what I need, and I will be a happy customer.”

Sounds easy, right? But what does that really mean?

developers.sun.com

4


Marketing to the B2B Technical Buyer

• B2B technical buyers area unique set of personas with

specialized needs.

• In order to get and keep these valuable customers on your site

you must speak directly to their needs.

• The needs of technical buyers need to be defined and translated

into an engaging experience.

• The B2B and B2C ecommerce experiences have many

similarities, however, the two markets also have important

differences, and the customer experience needs to reflect them.

5


Taking the deeper dive

• Technical buyer personas and customer journeys

• The role of content and functionality in engaging technical

buyers before, during, and after purchase

• The value of analytics, AI, and machine learning in supporting

the customer experience

• Some real-world examples from the market today where these

ideas are being put into practice

6

Copyright © 2017 Earley Information Science, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7

Today’s Panelists

YVONNE BROWN

Chief Outsiders

Partner/[email protected]

HAYNE SHUMATE

Mouser Electronics

S.V.P. Internet [email protected]

MICHELLE FIELDS

Brock White

Sr. Director of Marketing and eCommerce@myfields

DINO ELIOPULOS

Earley Information Science

Managing [email protected]


B2B technical

buyer personas

and customer

journeys

• What are the types of B2B buyers out

there?

• How many different kind of users are there

out there?

• What motivates them to make, or not make

purchases?

• What are they looking for when they come

to your site?

• In what ways are B2B personas similar /

different from B2C personas?

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Poll Question #1: How important is the B2B

technical buyer to your business?

A. Mission Critical, our business depends on it

B. Important, but only a portion of our business

C. Relevant, but not my biggest issue

D. Nice to know about, but not an issue

9


The role of

content and

functionality in

engaging B2B

buyers

• What content and assets are most

effective (and least effective)?

• What functionality is most valuable (and

least valuable)?

• Is there a role for merchandizing, cross-

sell and up-sell, etc.?

• Is there a role for personalization?

10


Poll Question #2: What is the mostimportant factor in engaging the B2B

technical buyer?

A. Product selection and price

B. Product findability

C. Rich, meaningful content and product information

D. High quality product recommendations

E. None of the above (please provide details)

11


The value of

analytics, AI, and

machine learning

in supporting the

customer

experience

• What works, what doesn't work?

• What data is most valuable in engaging

the technical buyer?

• What data do you wish you had?

• Can you recommend products (e.g.,

customer who bought this, also bought

this)?

• What is the role for emerging technology

(e.g., chatbots, machine learning, etc.)?

12


Poll Question #3: Do you see your business

using advanced analytics and AI to engage

your customers in the near future?

A. Definitely, and we are already doing it to great effect

B. We have plans to do so within the next 12 months

C. We are evaluating approaches and want to leverage

D. No plans / not interested

13


4

Today’s Panelists

YVONNE BROWN

Chief Outsiders

Partner/[email protected]

HAYNE SHUMATE

Mouser Electronics

S.V.P. Internet [email protected]

MICHELLE FIELDS

Brock White

Sr. Director of Marketing and eCommerce@myfields

DINO ELIOPULOS

Earley Information Science

Managing [email protected]


References and further reading• Product data and the Brand Promise:

http://www.earley.com/blog/product-data-and-brand-

promise

• Mouser Enhances Site Search Feature:

https://epsnews.com/2017/02/01/26462/

17

• “Retail Tactics for B2B eCommerce Success” :

https://contact.chiefoutsiders.com/b2b-

ecommerce?_ga=2.108988290.1008162957.150093

6087-1200401255.1474309295

• “5 Steps to Building a Winning Brand”:

https://contact.chiefoutsiders.com/5-steps-winning-

brand?_ga=2.184435238.1008162957.1500936087-

1200401255.1474309295

• It's Not About You: B2B Marketers Need To

Change How They Think About Branding:

https://www.forrester.com/report/Its+Not+About+

You+B2B+Marketers+Need+To+Change+How+

They+Think+About+Branding/-/E-RES136947

• Recognizing B2B Buying Triggers:

http://blogs.gartner.com/hank-

barnes/2017/01/03/recognizing-b2b-buying-

triggers/

http://www.earley.com/blog/product-data-and-brand-promise

https://epsnews.com/2017/02/01/26462/

https://contact.chiefoutsiders.com/b2b-ecommerce?_ga=2.108988290.1008162957.1500936087-1200401255.1474309295

https://contact.chiefoutsiders.com/5-steps-winning-brand?_ga=2.184435238.1008162957.1500936087-1200401255.1474309295

https://www.forrester.com/report/Its+Not+About+You+B2B+Marketers+Need+To+Change+How+They+Think+About+Branding/-/E-RES136947

http://blogs.gartner.com/hank-barnes/2017/01/03/recognizing-b2b-buying-triggers/

Copyright © 2017 Earley Information Science18

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for the Digital Age

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Headquarters – Boston, MA

www.earley.com

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