Market to People, Not Businesses
What do you really know about the individuals who buy your products and services? Today, it’s no longer enough to market to retailers and dealers as a whole. In fact, B2B marketing (the way we know it) is dead.
The presence of mobile devices has changed our lives—and our behavior. In fact, the average person checks their smartphone 150x/day. Our digital lifestyle is now bleeding into the workplace.
So in a world where 63.9% of the population is a smartphone user, it’s all about marketing directly to individuals—at the digital level. That means communicating directly to your technicians and retailers through their mobile devices, like smartphones and iPads.
In order to be relevant to customers’ “digital lives,” we need to focus on the individuals who are buying our products—not the companies who employ them. Some call this “B2P” marketing.
“B2P” Marketing
B2P marketing—or “business-to-person”marketing—is a highly personalized way of communicating directly to a single individual customer, at the moment they’re ready to buy.
A good example is Amazon.com, who does B2P marketing exceptionally well. Think of all the personalized offers you get based on your wishlist and buying history, every time you visit their website.
In fact, if you don’t influence your individual customers in their “mobile moments,” then you’re probably missing out on a sale. Savvy businesses are catching on, and U.S. companies will spend $10.9 billion on mobile engagement services in 2016.
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Leveraging “Mobile Moments”
Here are a few “mobile moments” that present a great opportunity for B2P marketing:
● 94% of smartphone users (ages 18-49) use their phone to get directions and recommendations for your business location
● 82% of smartphone users consult their phones while in a store, deciding what to buy
● 66% of smartphone users look up something they saw in a TV commercial on a smartphone
Successful B2P Marketing
So how do you leverage these “mobile moments”? By creating a B2P mobile engagement plan that markets directly to specific individuals in a personal, relevant way—at the moment they’re ready to buy.
1. Find—and track—a unique identifier for each individual customer who buys from you(not just the “Company X” they work for).
2. Gather data on each customer’s demographics, transactions, location, behavior. Use Facebook, Twitter, email, web purchases, wishlists.
3. Segment the data by how you will use it(such as frequency, recency, action).
4. Automate the marketing—with pre-set events, conditions, and actions. Use push messages, award points, thank-you emails, survey links.
5. Deliver a totally personalized marketing experience—with individually customized content, offers, ads, rewards.
Case Study: cfm Distributors, Inc.
Here’s how this worked for fellow HARDI member, cfm Distributors, who wanted to create an open, direct line of communication with the technicians of their dealers. cfm developed a brand new mobile loyalty program to connect with these technicians—by rewarding them to buy and use cfm products, with e-gift cards to their favorite restaurants and stores.
By creating a personalized mobile marketing program targeted to individual techs, based on their personal preferences and buying habits, they established a long-term relationship with the key purveyors of their parts and products. Now they have advocates in the field, discussing their brand with customers.
This is a huge shift. Previously, we marketed to a business; now, we’re marketing to a person. Today, we must sell to people—B2P marketing—and offer a personalized shopping experience that capitalizes on each unique individual’s “mobile moments.”