54% use one to one communication in B2B

This is the eighteenth of 20 daily ‘thoughts’ examining the trends in marketing in 2018 and beyond.The importance of personalisation and customisation in marketing has been addressed in previous thoughts in this series. This thought specifically addresses the importance of personalisation and customisation in B2B marketing.

A US study found that 71% of B2B customers expect marketing in the B2B environment to be more personalised and customised than B2C marketing. This serves to highlight the importance of personalisation and customisation.

A recent US study found that 54% of B2B marketing managers surveyed work with their account managers to ‘fully customise’ marketing strategies, delivering one to one communication to all members of their primary target market.

This same survey found that 51% of B2B marketing managers are working with sales teams to address customers and potential customers on a ‘small group’ basis – falling short of full individual customisation.
Finally, this survey found that 43% of B2B marketers are using technology (largely AI) to target individuals within client organisations. There is evidence to suggest that the use of AI technology to enable the personalisation and customisation of B2B marketing is growing.

Tools used, include:

Where hard data is not available, research suggests that qualitative information gathered on a formal basis from account service and sales staff is invaluable in facilitating personalisation and customisation.
This personalised approach to B2B marketing is often called ‘Account Based Marketing’ and it is almost certainly the future of B2B marketing.Personalisation and customisation are growing in all sectors of industry, in B2C and B2B. Technology is playing an increasing role in providing the data that facilitates this personalisation and customisation. Data enabling personalisation includes information that enhances the understanding of:

The fact is, one size rarely fits all and personalising and customising marketing in the B2B environment can decrease costs, increase conversion rates, increase the average purchase and increase repeat business rates.

INSIGHT

Personalise and customise all B2B marketing.

Leverage both hard data and intelligence gathered from staff to develop build the foundations to personalise and customise all communication.

B2B customers expect a more personalised and customised approach to marketing and need to be addressed on this basis.

SOURCES OF CORE DATA

Smart Insights, The Drum, Social Media Week, CSR matters, Louder Milk, Forbes, Quicksprout, Wider Funnel, Trends and Insights, Core DNA, Digital Current