5 Forgotten B2B Customer Journey Touchpoints Every Marketer Needs

You hear a lot about improving the buyer experience these days, but are you covering all the important B2B customer journey touchpoints?

Research shows that most B2Bs could stand to improve their customer experience.

While most consumer brands tend to receive satisfaction ratings between 65% and 85%, B2Bs fall short with approval ratings below 50%.

In other words, less than half of your audience is happy with the experience you provide.

The unpleasant news doesn’t end there.

80% of B2B buyers expect real-time interactions from businesses – compared to just 64% of consumers. That aligns with the statistic that says 80% of buyers claim they’ve switched vendors within the first 24 months citing a business’s failure to meet expectations.

Source: Convince and Convert

Mapping the B2B Customer Journey Touchpoints

B2B buyer experience touchpoints are increasingly digital and complex.

For many marketers, it feels like they’re losing their grasp on the buyer experience entirely.

In reality, the dynamic is just shifting and putting buyers in control – which is a good thing!

The exact figure is up for debate, but buyers complete between 57% and 90% of the sales process on their own before they ever speak to anyone at your company.

It’s true that the line is blurring between B2C and B2B with buyers expecting more of a personalized and on-demand experience. However, the buyer experience still differs in a few key ways.

For one thing, between six and seven people are involved in the buying process on average. These different people with unique job roles get involved at different stages of the cycle, so identifying B2B customer journey touchpoints through data is key.

Of course, the buying process is much longer and comprehensive than that in B2C – there’s no impulsivity involved. Marketers need to do everything they can to analyze data, learn about their target audience, identify firmographics, and personalize the buyer experience.

5 Overlooked B2B Customer Journey Touchpoints Every Marketer Should Plan For

They always say it’s the little things that matter, right? Well, the same logic holds true for B2B customer journey touchpoints.

Gain a deeper understanding of your audience, how they research online, and where you can optimize different pieces of the puzzle.

1. Influencers and Advocates on the Right Platforms

Word of mouth advertising is more important in B2B buying than most people give it credit for.

According to a Nielsen study, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family more than advertising. Of course, why wouldn’t they? Recommendations are based on first-hand unincentivized experience.

Considering that the B2B sales process involves much higher risk, why wouldn’t peer recommendations play an important role?

Start by identifying some possible influencers or advocates. Who are your most loyal customers? Who has a large following on LinkedIn? Who does your audience trust?

No, you can’t control what influencers or advocates say about your brand – but that’s the whole point. You want raw honesty at key buyer experience touchpoints.

2. Strategic Guest Blogs and Appearances

This is an easy one if you have the right intel.

First, identify some B2B customer journey touchpoints – think of blogs your target audience reads, pages they follow, podcasts they listen to, YouTube channels they watch.

Okay, that’s the easy part. Nailing down touchpoints is only half of the equation. Now, you’ll want to figure out what types of content to produce and which stage of the sales cycle your leads are at when they consume content on these platforms.

Intent data can help but, in many cases, you’ll have to make an educated guess. Regardless of intent, focus on supplying value to your target audience – answering their burning questions or scratching that hard-to-reach itch.

The goal is to make a solid impression through nuance and value.

3. Nurturing Current Customers

You shouldn’t stop optimizing B2B customer journey touchpoints after your leads convert.

It’s no secret that it’s much more profitable to prevent customer churn than it is to generate new leads – so why don’t more B2Bs focus on keeping their customers happy?

With 80% of B2B customers churning within the first two years, it’s clear that there’s plenty of room for improvement.

First, figure out why customers are leaving. Could you improve your tutorials or resources? What about customer service? Live chat could help.

Next, look at other touchpoints to improve. What’s your payment system like? Could you promote upgrades? Send better industry news or educational resources through email?

4. Personalized Content for Improved Buyer Experience

You can also optimize B2B customer journey touchpoints by providing a personalized buying experience to everyone who visits your website.

“Everyone??” Yes. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds.

With adaptive content hubs, AI takes over. It organizes all of your best content, analyzes every website visitor’s behavior, and uses an algorithm to provide the most relevant content to each visitor – just like Netflix or Facebook.

Here’s what an adaptive content hub looks like in action.

5. Mobile Buyer Experience from Start to Finish

Buyers also expect a seamless mobile experience. 70% of B2B searches happen on mobile devices and buyers spend up to three hours each day researching from their smartphones.

There’s nothing mobile visitors want to see less than a lead magnet form when they try to access your best blog posts.

Put yourself in the shoes of your mobile audience and focus on creating a seamless experience for them. Instead of exit intent popup forms, give them more personalized content. Let your leads provide an email address when they’re ready without jamming forms down their throat.

Create a Seamless Buyer Experience Today

Personalized B2B customer journey touchpoints are critical at every stage of the sales process. Your leads and visitors expect seamless content across your website, email campaigns, and social media.

Hushly’s AI engine and personalization technology can help you create the experience your leads crave. Our self-nurturing landing pages provide a unique experience for every visitor – just like Spotify or Amazon – and are mobile-friendly with no forms.

See how Hushly works in action now!

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