Insights: Strategic priorities in modern B2B marketing
07.
Adapting to the changing B2B buyer journey
The B2B buyer journey is becoming more complex and digital-first. 6sense research shows buyers now have more than 4,000 digital and human interactions across their journeys and will not speak with sellers until they have already made a shortlist of vendors. A startling statistic? 70% the time buyers make the first move in any sales conversation. Nick Geurds from Lepaya observes, "We've moved beyond simply counting Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) to a more nuanced approach that prioritises the quality of interactions." This shift requires marketers to rethink their engagement strategies and measurement frameworks to better align with how modern B2B buyers research and make purchasing decisions.
The evolution towards a more comprehensive view of the buyer journey is highlighted by Emily Evans from Moneypenny: "While we still measure lead quantity, it's part of a much wider conversation that includes multi-touch attribution, engagement rates, and lifetime value."
Despite the changing landscape, certain traditional metrics retain their relevance. Jordy van Gent at Puzzel notes: "We're currently implementing a mix of one-to-few and one-to-many marketing programmes, as we're still in the early stages of our ABM strategy at Puzzel. Interestingly, Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) still play a crucial role, especially in the European market where GDPR constraints make lead generation more challenging."
We've moved beyond simply counting Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) to a more nuanced approach that prioritises the quality of interactions.
Nick Geurds
Chief Commercial Officer, Lepaya
The importance of early engagement in the buyer journey is emphasised by Ben Romberg from Gilroy: "In the ideal scenario, we identify accounts when they have recognised and are researching their problem, engaging them before the competition, and helping to educate them on the best solution. This happens far in advance of the MQL stage, at which point they'll have formed ideas on what the 'best' solution is, and will be engaging multiple vendors."
Proactive engagement based on buyer behaviour is becoming crucial, as John Hills from Crowdcube points out: "By monitoring interactions such as visits to a pitch page, we can predict investment intentions and tailor communications. This focused approach allows us to engage potential investors more effectively by providing them with relevant and appealing information at the right time."
As technology plays a bigger role in our strategies, it enables us to be more precise and proactive in how we approach potential customers. This integration of technology helps us meet our goals more effectively and ensures that our strategies are always aligned with current market needs.
Laura Watkins
Director of Media and Marketing, 11:FS
The role of technology in adapting to the changing buyer journey is highlighted by Laura Watkins from 11:FS: "As technology plays a bigger role in our strategies, it enables us to be more precise and proactive in how we approach potential customers. This integration of technology helps us meet our goals more effectively and ensures that our strategies are always aligned with current market needs."
Understanding the entire customer journey and fostering collaboration between marketing and sales is crucial, as Vivien Kilian from Materialise emphasises: "The key is to mitigate this by fostering open, constructive dialogue ensuring that marketing can refine lead quality based on direct feedback from sales. The alignment is crucial for the seamless transition of leads within the customer journey, ensuring that both marketing and sales work towards a unified goal."
As the B2B buyer journey becomes increasingly complex and digital-centric, marketers are adopting more sophisticated, technology-driven approaches to engage potential customers throughout their decision-making process. The focus has shifted from simple lead generation to a holistic view of the customer journey, emphasising early engagement, quality interactions, and seamless collaboration between marketing and sales teams to adapt to these evolving buyer behaviours.
About 6sense
6sense is on a mission to revolutionise the way B2B organisations create revenue by predicting customers most likely to buy and recommending the best course of action to engage anonymous buying teams. 6sense Revenue AI is the only sales and marketing platform to unlock the ability to create, manage and convert high-quality pipeline to revenue. Customers report 2X increases in average contract value, 4X increases in win rate and 20-40% reduction in time to close deals. Know everything, do anything, with 6sense.