Fresh from a webinar yesterday run by B2B Marketing in partnership with Base One which revealed some findings based on the results of a survey of 500+ European business buyers who had signed off at least 20K of contracts with suppliers in the past 12 months.

A report is available aptly called the Buyersphere which publishes the full findings…

Here’s a snapshot … with some interpretations from us and some food for thought.

– Beyond the more likely ROI triggers for B2B buying, there is a lot of aspirational buying going, i.e emotion playing a key role in decision making. As PR people, we say don’t neglect the aspirational aspect when you communicate with your B2B customers. Your reputation and status count a lot and influence how customers perceive you/ your brand so you must work at these. If customers have heard of you before and like you, they are more likely to purchase from you.

– The clear belief in investment beyond the short term … we would add that short term sales blitzes are bad for businesses health and for staff morale.

– The printed word is key in supporting business decisions. Think compelling case studies which show business benefits and features and technical specs which are a pleasure for your prospects to download and peruse… think quality content across all of your marketing materials and website.

– B2C and B2B Social Media are two different beasts moving at different speeds… 🙂

– The value of drip drip news and content through regular communication with your customers .. leading to your customer getting to know you and wanting to form long term mutually valuable relationships with you. Who wants to be courted for a week and then forgotten about.

Speak soon, Olivia and the Team