Change the web mindset
Many B2B companies view their website as digital fronts for their promotional material and so, they create sites which contain their product information and do not bother with anything else beyond that. That’ s a huge mistake. More and more B2B buyers are spending time online to research product information. by online, I mean spending time on search engine results and not social media. Why not make product information available to B2B buyers in a format that would encourage more time spent on your site than having them go elsewhere?
Many companies have their websites developed by their IT department with little involvement by Marketing. If that’s the case with your company, immediately extract your best online selling tool from the hands of bureaucratic IT departments and hand over the site to Marketing who should plan and drive the website going forward.
Be open
Most product information is available publicly these days. A B2B seller should ensure that his firm’s value proposition is prominent throughout the website. The website should speak to visiting prospects effectively with the right calls to action present at the right places (phone number located on the top right hand corner, a short form for requesting information right below it, social media icons – if relevant, a cleverly placed email capture box etc).
Don’t clutter the website specifically the homepage. Spend time on viewing what other B2B firms have done with their websites and if you can’t find a suitable model, then just go with one that as uncluttered as possible. Or call me.
Optimize the site continuously
Have a B2B buyer internet marketing plan in place and execute it with a vengeance. Your keyword research will indicate who’s looking for your products and by having a content strategy centered around the same, you can increase your prospect list dramatically. A B2B website should also have dynamic content in the form of news or blog section and care should be taken to keep the content as current as possible. It goes without saying that relevancy is of prime importance. Having a blog or news section with updates or research or news about your industry keeps your site interesting in the eyes of your prospects as well as the search engines.
Promote the website
B2B sellers have most of their interaction with prospects at trade shows, local business forums, business conferences or other meet-and-greet social forums. These interactions are a great opportunity to get market information as well as understand how they’re performing relative to the competition. It wouldn’t hurt to promote the website at these venues and build some buzz around the site. While I’m not a big fan of social media for most B2B firms, there are some advantages to using these platforms. The idea is to use the website to increase the offline pull through to the site.
Add value
Don’t just have your product’s information on your website. Provide an interested user with information that he requires to take the next step. Provide him with product comparison statistics verified by an independent source, of course. Obtain testimonials from present customers and highlight them on the site. Have graphical depictions of how your product compares with the others. Help the prospect in his initial stages of product discovery and while that may not influence his buying decision, he will look upon you as a trusted and neutral source of information which in turn could lead to better things.
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