B2B Web Strategy Blog - eMagine

You don’t generate demand anymore… you simply help it find you

October 2nd, 2008 Posted by: Bill Gadless

Got to thinking the other day about how strange it is that marketers still talk in terms of generating demand (as though they actually have some control over it).  In fact, many of them will tell you that that task is very high on their priority list.

And for most of history, they were right:  B2B marketing was pretty much a one-way flow.  Sellers had all the information, and they released it when and as they saw fit… in the form of targeted “messages” about specs, features, prices, motivation to buy.

What changed all that, of course, was the Internet (including search engines), which shifted the balance irrevocably toward the buyer.  To be competitive, sellers now have to put all that information up on their websites, where buyers can poke around in it, 24/7;  and the buyers now control when and how much information they accept.

Of course, the good side of all this upheaval is that sellers can now find buyers they never knew existed, or never could sell to efficiently.  But it has required a major shift in the conduct of marketing.

So it was good to come across much the same thinking in Karen Breen Vogel’s piece for B2Bonline, “Focus on facilitating demand, not generating it”.  Even better, Karen discusses several specific strategies that marketers must adopt in order to succeed in this changed environment:

Educating, not selling.  Telling buyers they need to “act now” is a losing proposition these days;  you really need to bring them along and help them see the validity of your world-view [which, oh-by-the-way, leads naturally to a fit for your widget].  And don’t be surprised if they prefer to remain anonymous during much of the process.

Facilitating, not generating.  For most B2Bs, inundating your target audience with messages just doesn’t work.  What does work is to make your website perform more like a consultative sales call, making it easy for buyers to find the information they need and drive themselves through their decision process.

Attracting, not broadcasting.  Your site needs to be “sticky” for the right kind of visitor… not so much via glitz (although visual interest can certainly help) as via solid, relevant content that’s easy to find and organized to support your sales cycle’s stages.  Your Web analytics will help you see which parts of your website move buyers along properly and which are barriers.  But sending out mass communications in hopes that you’ll hit one of your desired audience members – at a time when they’re interested – just makes no sense anymore.

Creating relationships, not seeking the quick hit.  Web 2.0 has introduced one more “P”-word into the marketer’s mix:  Peer.  Through mechanisms such as user reviews, blogs, wikis, forums, and dozens of other outlets, your prospects and customers are telling each other exactly what they think of your company and its products/services.  This is scary to marketers who fear what their customers will say;  but if you have your act together, it shouldn’t be.  In fact, it can facilitate demand via the “network effect,” which is larger and more effective than any other method.  But you need to build relationships through all of your interactions, so prospects come to feel that yours is the type of organization with which they would like to do business.

As Karen says, forget demand generation;  it’s so 1995.  Instead, focus your efforts on demand facilitation.  Your Web marketing consultants can no doubt help you make sure your marketing will work in the new millenium.

Entry Filed under: B2B Web Strategy, Internet Marketing, Lead generation