The Power of Personalization

The Power of Personalization      

We all know that personalization has been a mantra within the B2C space for quite some time now. However, the idea of personalization within the B2B space has always been more of a challenge because of the number of variables and players within the B2B buyers journey.  Despite these challenges B2B personalization has become the “now normal” for B2B marketers.  An accelerator for this change has certainly been the current pandemic.

What organizations felt they knew about their customers/prospects has definitely changed as a result of COVID-19. It’s never been more critical to understand what matters NOW to your buyers and influencers and what changes have occurred throughout the buyer’s journey. To this point, two quick notes from a 2020 Gartner study:

• Organizations are preparing for budget cuts ahead. What this means is that they will need to be more discerning in how money is spent and, more importantly, with whom.
• The COVID crisis adds to organizational complexity. What impact does this have on the buying process? Do you know who’s involved, roles and responsibilities and how the process has changed?

B2B Personalization = B2B Personas
Many companies who are considering personas make the mistake of looking for information inside the company, an inside-out perspective, if you will vs. an outside-in perspective.  Executives and sales are typically the sources for this inside-out information. This information will be limited at best. Its typically driven by current customer references, with little relevance to prospects. It will also be limited to only a part of the customer’s buying journey, reflecting that portion of the process your sales people are exposed to.  To make matters worse, cost is typically over-emphasized in these inside-out profiles, minimizing or ignoring other key aspects of the buying decision.

B2C influences B2B

An added note here is that B2B buyers do not work on an island. They also have personal lives and experiences. A key part of that experience is being a B2C customer for companies like Amazon and retailers who have taken personalization to another level. These B2B buyers have and are taking their personalized experiences and expectations to their roles as buyers as well. Their expectations for personalization are heightened by their B2C experiences. The bar has therefore been raised and insights will need to be greater!

“Never before have we had so little time to do so much!”

Franklin D. Roosevelt said these words as the U.S. entered into WW II.  As companies begin to formulate their 2021 plans they will need to regain or capture true persona insights on their customers and prospects as a result of COVID-19. Time is indeed running out…and there is a lot to do!

We at B2P have been working on these types of issues for a long time, within multiple industries, from small businesses to enterprise-type companies.  As a result, we have experience and knowledge that we can share with you in helping you get the answers to the questions raised here. In fact, we’ve developed several solution packages to help you get off to the right start.  

Contact us – we’re ready to help get you up and running!