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Ten Similarities Between B2B Digital Marketing And Dating

I started contemplating this after reading the article “After a First Date, Would Your B2B Website Get A Second?” by Laura Ramos, VP and Principal B2B Analyst at Forrester. As a companion blog piece to the recent Forrester report, “B2B Websites Still Fail Our Customer Engagement Test,” she highlights that buyers and B2B Websites are just not finding the right match. In her article, she leverages common analogies between “first date” tips and B2B marketing best practices. This led me to take the same approach by looking at Reddit to see if I could find some additional “first date” synergies that would round this out to a “top ten” best practices list. Here is a summary starting with Laura’s six first:

  1. Prepare for an engaging conversation. Too many B2B sites make buyers dig through pages of product offerings for the answers to their questions, instead of predicting their questions or needs.

  2. Get your mind right. To produce content that is attractive to your buyers, you brand needs to show that you understand your buyers and share their concerns and issues.

  3. Go from “be interested” to “be interesting.” Asking buyers and prospects who they are, keeping track of what they do, and inviting them to share feedback are easy ways to make sure your content is hitting the mark.

  4. Take a deeper look at how you present yourself. Market leaders stand out by offering informed perspectives on industry trends and challenges, making them an invaluable source of information to buyers.

  5. Understand what fuels desire. Why are prospects visiting your website? Top-scoring websites use content to demonstrate that marketers and sellers have a deep understanding of customers’ business challenges, desired outcomes, and competitive landscape.

  6. Learn from the past. Laura highlights similar results as Forrester’s 2017 evaluation, this year’s analysis showing that B2B firms have yet to take enough steps to improve content engagement or build buyer empathy.

    And now an additional four generated from Reddit’s “first date” best practices . . .

  7. Remember that you are both there BY CHOICE. The buyer or prospect wouldn't be on your site if they weren't at least a little curious about you. With that in mind, you need to entice them with thought leadership and content that keeps them curious and will get them to return again and again.

  8. Don't go for the kill on the first date, if you are intending to build a relationship. Laura highlighted in the initial first date point, that it is critical to predict buyer questions and needs. That said, it is important to get to know them first. Ask questions, but do not overwhelm them by getting details that could scare them away. Get some initial details upon the first visit, then follow-up to get additional details over time.For me, often times conversing via click-to-chat with the prospect is a good way to get this initial detail if performed subtly.

  9. When on the date always talk about things that you will do; not things you have done. Be careful not to focus too much on the great things that your brand has done, but be present and engage the prospect with content that they view as valuable and will get them to come back for more.

  10. Be willing to openly share your philosophies and passions. Do not be afraid to share your position on relevant topics that will resonate with the prospect but do this with an empathic ear. Look for feedback, ask relevant follow up questions and make sure to listen well.

So, brush your teeth, press your shirt, shine your shoes and put on a grin since prospects are looking for you to engage with them.  With XCentium’s expertise in B2B Digital Strategies, we would welcome the opportunity to be your valet and refine your image as you engage with your buyers and prospects.

For more information on how XCentium helps clients with their digital solutions, please click here.