For any given B2B sale, 7 to 20 people are involved in the buying process.
This statistic comes from KnowledgeTree, who also highlight a challenge that I’m sure will come as no surprise: as the number of stakeholders involved in a purchase increases, the likelihood that the deal will close decreases.
On top of that, another challenge has emerged in the world of B2B marketing and sales: B2B buyers don’t contact vendors until 57% of the purchase process is complete (Corporate Executive Board).
[Tweet “B2B buyers don’t contact sales until 57% of the purchase process is complete, via @CEB_news”]
Instead of reaching out to suppliers, they’re spending more time doing research online and asking for recommendations from friends and colleagues.
So the question is: how can B2B companies effectively market and sell to large buying committees who want to make decisions on their own terms?
The Solution is Account-Based Marketing
I recently created an e-book called Account-Based Marketing 101 with my friend Jay Baer, who you probably know as a brilliant marketing thought leader, best-selling author, and keynote speaker. Jay and I agree that ABM is the key to more relevant marketing.
[Tweet “”#ABM lets marketers act more like great salespeople.” – @jaybaer #B2Bmarketing”]
As Jay says, “ABM lets marketers act more like great salespeople, increasing conversion rates and reducing wasted spend.” That’s because account-based marketing recognizes that successful B2B marketing is about speaking to a collective business or department — not to isolated individuals or leads. Instead, ABM requires a close collaboration between sales and marketing teams to create highly engaging, personalized interactions that today’s decision-makers have come to expect.
[Tweet “What is account-based marketing? @jaybaer & @sangramvajre explain in this e-book. #ABM”]
See ABM in Action
In a recent episode of Marketing Marvels, my colleague Alex Latraverse and I chatted with Jay Baer about how to target your best-fit B2B customers — and just as importantly, turn those customers into brand advocates — using ABM and Terminus. We packed a lot of information into less than 30 minutes, including:
- Achieving marketing and sales alignment
- Targeting accounts by stage in the customer journey
- How data powers ABM
- Resources for getting started with account-based marketing
Take a look:
Learn More in Account-Based Marketing 101
So, what do you think: could your team benefit from using ABM to sell to B2B buyers on their own terms?
Grab a copy of Account-Based Marketing 101 to learn more. In the e-book, Jay and I break down the problems with lead-based marketing, the benefits of account-based marketing, and the six foundational pillars of ABM. Click the banner below to download the e-book now.
