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Digital natives who grew up with the internet and smartphones have transformed the way business-to-business buyers perform research, qualify vendors and make purchases, changing the rules of the game for marketers and product managers.
This cohort identifies online search, vendors’ websites, peers and colleagues as the most important sources of information. The youngest have a particularly strong preference for social media. A 2017 Forrester Research study indicates that digital natives prefer short bursts of information, often in visual formats, and they think phone calls are tedious and disruptive. Digital natives have brought their consumer habits to the B2B world, and we are seeing older buyers adopt their methods, too. This shift in behavior has several implications for B2B value propositions.
For one thing, when a salesperson is eventually invited to the table, buyers will have already formed a strong opinion about many aspects of the value expected from a vendor. Vendors’ websites thus need to provide a wealth of information about that value, with details on where their products have been successful. Many B2B providers are lagging behind on these activities, choosing to invest more in their salesforces than in their online presences.
Second, given that digital natives have researched the functional and reputational aspects of vendors long before they meet with them, it’s essential for vendors to deliver on these elements of value in ways that younger buyers expect.
Finally, many higher-order elements touch on more subjective, inspirational types of value. A recent study finds that fully 80% of millennial B2B buyers today feel that companies’ environmental, social and philanthropic efforts are important when considering them as vendors.
First impressions matter as much as ever in B2B markets. Today, though, that first look comes through websites, user forums and quick case studies, not flesh-and-blood sales pitches. The key question for a vendor: Does your online footprint communicate your chosen elements of value?
