B2B companies, like many firms adapting to how the Internet has changed the way products are researched and purchased, have experimented with cracking the code that generates sales. Most have failed.
Previously, the sales funnel or purchase cycle was fairly linear. A prospect had limited sources of information to research a product or service. To get more information, by necessity, the buyer would have to contact the seller early in the purchase cycle. Thereafter, the seller was able to exert some control over the purchase.
Now, buyers are influenced by a non-linear variety of information sources outside the seller's control: search, social referrals and recommendations, online reviews, etc.
B2B companies that understand this evolution are beginning to move digital interactivity toward the center of their marketing strategies.
Digital is now the primary driver of revenue in almost all business categories, and will only become more so as buyers increase their digital "purchasing behavior."
McKinsey & Company published an assessment of business digital marketing, noting as their primary finding that
"...the most successful digital marketers focus on managing four core sources of value as they increase the percentage of marketing and channel spending directed to digital activities."
Here's my summary of the four ways B2B Marketers can increase the value of their digital marketing:
Click here to read McKinsey's "Four Ways to Get More Value from Digital Marketing."