Three B2C Approaches that B2B Marketers Can Adopt to Increase Brand Engagement and Customer Loyalty

B2B sales are being shaped by consumer buying habits and expectations, but B2B marketers aren’t keeping up. B2B customers are becoming accustomed to sophisticated marketing strategies in their everyday buying experiences and are beginning to anticipate the same levels of personalization and responsiveness in their B2B relationships.

The B2B world has been significantly impacted by the digital transformation that has occurred over the last year. Changes in the sales landscape necessitate a new approach to customer communication. The impending demise of the third-party cookie, combined with the rising need for data collection, personalization, and measurement, is exacerbating the need for a total transformation of the B2B purchasing experience.

B2B audiences and decision-makers have changed their attitude and behavior in recent years. Audience dynamics are shifting – customers now are increasingly millennial, tech-savvy, and digital-first. Digital engagement solutions are required by marketing, sales, commerce, and service stakeholders across the customer experience. This spectrum of audience needs will not be met by a funnel approach.

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Sales enablement activations that feed knowledge, appreciation, and happiness will offer B2B stakeholders with the tools to deliver business outcomes and build more profound loyalty with customers by encouraging them to continue on their journey, applying intangible and tangible incentives discretionarily to align with customer requirements, and utilizing data to boost content and communications to nurture consumers from one time to another.

Here are a few B2C marketing strategies that B2B marketers can use to expedite their marketing efforts and increase brand engagement and loyalty.

Key moments in the customer journey should be activated

Customer journeys assist B2C marketers to understand how customers evolve from awareness to advocacy through various touchpoints. This strategy is more flexible than the existing B2B marketing approach, which is built on a linear, stage-based sales funnel. It’s more comprehensive, allowing brands to pinpoint and respond to key points in the customer experience. Moments that engage, educate, elicit feedback, and develop a community are often missed, but they can drive sales growth by engaging, teaching, and rewarding B2B customers for their product adoption, engagement, and exploration.

Gamification can be used to increase engagement

Gamification has long been discussed as a way to engage consumers in the purchasing process. While this strategy is less common in B2B experiences, it can provide brands with new ways to connect with customers by igniting intrinsic motivation, utilizing difficult yet achievable tasks, and weaving a fascinating story. Beyond leaderboards and badges, a sophisticated gamification approach should include a system of mechanics to encourage customers to participate in the experience. Since customers are emotionally motivated, adopting gamification’s customer-centric principles will remove barriers to performing the desired action and reduce the need for concrete incentives.

Also Read: How Can B2B Brands Benefit from B2C Experiences?

Collect zero-party data to help determine the next best course of action

To transform the customer experience, businesses need to know their customers, meet them where they are, and surpass their expectations. Permission-based marketing, such as loyalty solutions and promotional activations, is used to acquire and activate first- and zero-party data. The first-party data gathered through lead generation is only the beginning. Zero-party data obtained through digital experiences—data deliberately and intentionally supplied by customers provides the preference, attitude, and sentiment data needed to achieve higher levels of satisfaction via more personalized “next greatest moments” in the buyer journey. This information can be utilized to improve audience targeting as well as media planning and purchasing.

Differentiated customer experiences, which create significant moments of connection and long-term customer relationships, can help B2B marketers shift funnel-based strategies. These long-term partnerships can shield businesses from industry-specific challenges and even worldwide pandemics.