B2B Customer Journey Re-Defined

B2B CUSTOMER JOURNEY
RE-DEFINED
How digital changes B2B marketing and sales practices.
by Chris Krakowski

mediaman // expect more from digital

Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved | www.mediaman.com.cn | b2b@mediaman.com.cn | Page 2

The digital impact on
Chinas B2B Market
According to a study of Google &
CEB, 57% of a B2Bdecision-making
process happens online, before
engaging with sales. For certain
industries, this number can go as
high as 70%. This means that the
digital customer journey has become
a decisive factor in todays B2B
marketing.
In this white paper, we are looking
on how B2B marketing in China is
currently being re-invented. How
relationships between companies
and customers are changing
through digital communication. We
show weak points and the influence
of digital marketing on the B2B
customer journey, and we finally give
examples on how these trends can
be leveraged on.
A new growth cycle in
Chinas B2B market
In the recent years, digital communication has
empowered customers to access information
more easily than ever before, and to:
Form opinions,
Detail requirements,
Find providers,
Compare solutions,
Narrow down options, with minimal
influence from the organizations.
As a consequence, more and more B2B
enterprises have started to utilize these digital
trends for their own marketing purposes, and
to expand their influence on their future
customers decisions.
From a micro perspective, there are several
reasons for this shift. One reason is the
maturing of B2B business models; another
reason is a new demand for very specific
services, which have become major digital
trends (for example: Big Data). Also, security
standards have been improved, giving the
market more confidence.
Further positive effects were contributed by
the government policies, financial support and

an increase in domestic trade. In its research,
EnfoDesk acknowledged the year 2013 as the
first year of a new growth cycle of Chinas B2B
market.

Re-inventing
through digital
communication
The Old is essential today.
A website presence is the most important
digital marketing tool owned by B2B
companies. It is a central hub for all digital
activities. The site has to be optimized for this
purpose, reflecting the companys qualities
visually, but also content-wise. Recognizing
this, and assessing your current situation
allows understanding what will be the next
step for your digital communication strategy.
The New is your new strategy.
Giving customers the information they need, in
a format they prefer, will shorten the sales
cycle.
Marketers need to understand their
customers behavior, recognize their presence
and predict the next step using channels that
in a traditional understanding may seem
unconventional or simply unknown. Examples
for new, innovative content formats are videos
or webinars, or a targeted social media
presence.
75% of B2B buyers seek
content on their smartphones
Source: 2013 IDG Enterprise Customer Engagement Research

Developing mobile-friendly content is a must in
todays B2C marketing, with B2B gradually
catching up. But an even more important
question is how social media can be used in a
meaningful way, in the B2B marketing mix:
With Weibos influence decreasing as a
communication channel, marketers are left

with one option shorter. And WeChats
effectiveness as a social lead generation tool in
industrial marketing is yet to be proven: Its
ability to automate one-to-one dialogues
between users and companies is a promising
feature, but can B2B organizations use it to
communicate to their target audience,
generate leads, provide support or simply
manage customer relationships?
Identify the
Customer Journey
The answer lies in the process and readiness
of B2B organizations. No matter if its a small
business facing sales issues or a multinational
enterprise challenged by localization to the
local market, the key to digital excellence is to
identify the buyers journey and to innovate it.
Once marketers understand the journey
through their online presence, they will be able
to eliminate digital roadblocks and thus using
digital more successful than ever before.

1. Pre-sales Marketing
It is a marketing task to influence
the purchasing decision of a
potential customer, before he will
get in touch with sales staff.
According to research, three
challenges are currently keeping
B2B marketers from succeeding in
digital pre-sales marketing.
Working towards
Digital Integration
For B2B companies, the official website is a
central hub for marketing operations.
However, many B2B marketers find
themselves in a conflict of interest with other
departments, such as IT, Customer Support,
Corporate Communications or Sales.

If central authority and clear processes are
missing, departments have to interact as
independent silos, defending their interests
against others. As a consequence, the
marketing output will become inconsistent,
confronting potential customers with different
messages.
It is important to establish policies that can
limit those conflicts of interest, especially for
large B2B enterprises with multiple platforms
and long rollout procedures.
Eventually, organizations must prioritize the
integration of their online business processes
in favor of a decent user experience, which
considers branding, information architecture,
content management and technology.
A successful customer journey is mostly
characterized by its precise integration of
various disciplines, from the moment of
landing onsite, until conversion.
More than ever,
Content is King
Every business has a story to tell, and
marketers need to find ways of telling this
story in the most convincing way. Good
content can do far more than just giving
information about the business, products or
solutions: It engages the target user to start

interacting with the organization, thus
identifying himself and his interest.
Although most B2B marketers would agree
that good content is essential to a successful
digital marketing strategy, the majority yet
considers it as one of their biggest stumbling
blocks; especially the challenge of maintaining
a high quality content output over a longer
time span.

In China, this problem appears even more
complex: A multi-lingual and culturally diverse
target group, a less mature media landscape
and a general lack of trust in corporate
communication are only a few examples of
many obstacles that marketers have to deal
with. Therefore, B2B organizations in China
require even more assistance and guidance in
developing their content strategies.
The Channel Mix
Challenge
With the ongoing growth of digital channels
and devices, companies are challenged with
consumerizing their content. Internet users
nowadays have greater choices on how to
consume content, forcing the content
providers to deliver accordingly.
But matching with new consumer devices or
entering the wide field of social media is still a
journey into the unknown for many B2B
marketers.
Still, the ability to influence customers
throughout multiple channels and formats is a
critical marketing component, and
organizations will have to learn, explore and
ultimately adjust their communication
channels in order to reach their target group.

Finally, each channel requires an individual
management strategy. Although a consistent
distribution of content across various
channels is a main goal of marketing
communication, each channel needs to be
activated separately.

2. Prospecting & Selling
Once a potential client unveils his
purchase interest to a seller, digital
marketing tools can support a
successful conversion process, for
example through automation or
customization. But in order to
realize such approach, commitment
is required from different
stakeholders within the company.
Eliminating the
'Silo Effect'
A consistent information flow is one of the key
factors in successful lead management. But
this consistency is hard to achieve if business
units manage leads independently, without
common guidelines. Yet, this silo-like
structure is the reality in many B2B
businesses today, where a new prospect is
approached by marketing, sales or
distributors independently, with different
messages, or even worse, with competing
offers.

A common example would be the launch of a
major marketing campaign, involving several
departments, marketing sub-units, plus
external agencies. While the groups and their
agencies work in isolation, using different
tactics to fulfill their parts of responsibility,
they often fail as a whole to support the
broader business objective.
In these situations, marketers need to
assume responsibility for internal
communication, in order to avoid silo issues.
Building the bridge between the campaign
stakeholders will not only increase the visibility
of a campaign but also provide a clear
ground for prospect qualification. Therefore,
identifying and eliminating these silos, and
building a clear lead management
mechanism, is one of the main responsibilities
of marketing nowadays.

Building prospect
profiles
A Lead-no-contact experience, where a
follow up ends nowhere, is a frustrating
experience for sales people. Reasons for the
poor quality of leads are often a lack in data
consolidation and unsolved silo situations.

Developing prospects with higher quality is a
long-term process that requires joint efforts in
consolidating leads throughout every existing
channel, including online inquiries or offline
events.
Prospect profiles can only be evaluated or
segmented, if the basics are logged: origin,
language, intention and contact details are
minimum information standards. Logging
additional touch points with the same person
will enrich the profile with sales-relevant
information.
While large organizations are investing into
Big Data and User Analyses to substantiate
their prospects, small businesses can utilize
existing CRM integration solutions to develop
quality profiles.
Automation is key
to a relationship
According to a research of InsideSales, only
0.9% of the audited B2B companies
attempted first contact during the first five
minutes after receiving an enquiry. It means, a
large amount of marketing budget might be
spent on generating leads without value,
because no one bothered to follow up.

Automated responses, although not a
replacement for personal interaction, can help
to smoothen the follow up process and to fill
out the communication gaps. Fast response
is a key influencing factor whether a
relationship can be established from the first
touch point onwards.

3. After-sales
Sales and marketing doesnt just
stop when a deal is closed. Efficient
after-sales service is an essential
part of the customer journey.
Implementing an after-sales
strategy enables B2B companies to
increase the loyalty of customers,
suppliers and employees.
Knowledge and
Consulting
Preparing and closing a Sale in B2B can be a
very complex procedure, with numerous
approval steps and authorizations from
different stakeholders needed. Three skills are
important for sales reps to succeed:
Understanding the customers situation
and objectives thoroughly
Having fundamental industry knowledge
Having the ability to manage a sales
process successfully towards closure

While many corporate training programs are
focusing on the sales process itself, there is
less educational support offered on
consulting skills and digital versatility. But
there is no doubt that a company, which is
providing its sales-force with the tools and
skills of managing an integrated digital sales
approach, will reach far better results than
companies going the manual way.

58% of surveyed B2B sales and marketing
professionals say they have not enough digital
knowledge.
Source: Corporate Visions Report
There are many reasons to implement digital
solutions into the sales process:
Distributing up-to-date information
equally
Access to any application example or
best practice in multiple media
formats
Combining digital and offline activities
through O2O sales platforms
Saving cost through paperless sales
materials
Keeping the
distributors
interested
A decisive element in B2B marketing and
sales is the management of distributors.
Unhappy marriages, meaning problematic
relationships between organizations and

distributors are not uncommon in industrial
marketing. Both sides benefit from their
agreement, but simultaneously lack of trust
into each other. Sharing contact information
and sales performance data, or applying
common sales tactics are key challenges in
todays distributor management. Digital
solutions can be used to establish mutual
trust, and strengthen the relationship.

Communicating With Chinese Companies
Source and image: B2B International
Keeping the distributor interested in the
cooperation is an essential responsibility on
the manufacturer side to make this
relationship work. Educational support, sales
incentives, prizes, newsletters and constant
support are examples of vitalizing the
relationship with distributors through digital
methods.

Communication Channels with Distributors
Loyalty Programs
made for people
While loyalty programs are considered to be
more cost-effective than marketing efforts to
acquire new customers, marketers tend to
forget that this give-and-take approach
works as good for customers as it does for
employees and distributors.
B2B businesses are made up of people, and
people need to feel recognized and
appreciated by their suppliers or employers.

Organizations can leverage on this fact to
influence loyalty towards brands or increase
the fundamental knowledge of their
employees through educational applications;
for example by implementing an internal
academy combined with a rewarding system.
But most importantly, loyalty programs are a
valuable marketing tool to stay in touch with
customers, educate them on solutions and
increase their satisfaction. Abandoning
customers after the moment of sale, means
giving away a return on investment that was
made during the pre-sale and selling phases.
Lastly, it is important to understand that
marketing efforts do not end when a sales is
closed, but continue to be an integrated
element in shaping the entire customer
journey.

Conclusion and
Key Takeaways
Digital transformation is already
changing the way marketing is done
throughout all B2B industries.
Organizations need to analyze the
journeys of their future customers,
and dare to explore, innovate, and
to create new ways of
communicating to them.
1. Define your customers journey including
all key touch points and stakeholders.
2. Develop marketing strategies for the pre-
sales phase in order to be able to
influence the decision-making process at
an early stage.
3. Develop a content strategy that ensures
relevance to target audiences.
4. Build bridges and platforms between
organizational silos to avoid inconsistent
responses and to improve the
information flow
5. Consider automation as a tool to improve
and quicken the sales response.
6. Provide prospects with the information
they need in a format they prefer in order
to shorten the sales cycle
7. Integrate online with offline marketing
(O2O) into the marketing mix
8. Provide your Sales Reps with useful
digital marketing tools and the necessary
knowledge to master them
9. Keep the distributors interested and
strengthen the trust by supporting them
to reach their goals.
10. Deliver value through loyalty programs in
order to extend customer lifecycles.

How to start
The first question asked after going
through this introduction of the
digital consumer journey is: How
can we get started? The best
answer to this is: Start simple.
No matter if you are a large
organization or a small business,
start your digital strategy by drafting
an initial roadmap for the future
digital ecosystem.
Our advice is to assess your current
digital presence, your immediate
and long-term objectives. Creating
or optimizing each digital element
can be done separately later on, as
long as there is an overview and a
long-term execution plan.
mediaman provides assistance in
conducting initial assessments of
user journeys, digital eco-systems
and strategic roadmaps, including
interviews with marketers and other
stakeholders. Contact us for an
appointment.
Services related
to this
whitepaper

Assessment

User Journeys

Digital Roadmaps

User Experience

Platform Development

E-Mail Marketing

Content Strategy

Digitalization of Events

CRM

Online-to-Offline Strategies
and Solutions

Social Media integration

Mobile Sales Applications

Distributor Management &
Loyalty Platforms

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Krakowski, Business Strategy Director
Chris is a Business Strategy Director at mediaman a digital
agency founded in 2006 in Shanghai.
Chris has 5 years of local and 14 years of global experience in
digital services, including project/product management supported
by PRINCE2 PM Certification, consulting and account
management. Before coming to China, he worked in Poland, UK
and Norway.
At mediaman, he develops digital strategies for B2B clients. He
currently focuses on mobile-based marketing, awareness-
generation through innovative technology, and strategic roadmaps
for digital marketing.

mediaman Shanghai
Suite 601, 68 Changping Lu,
+86 21 6299 4416,
www.mediaman.com.cn

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