B2B Marketing and The Myth of “No Search”

Businesses that are looking to generate more leads online need to prioritize turning their website into a go-to destination for information. After that, they need to use search engines and social media to attract more visitors.

Why? People use search engines and social media channels to research products and services before purchasing. Now, you might be thinking that you only sell to businesses, and businesses wouldn’t use search to research my company’s products or services.

Well, here’s where the myth of “no search” and B2B marketing falls apart: Studies show 94 percent of B2B buyers research online before purchasing.

Traditionally, the B2B sales process is extensive, with different elements moving the customer from awareness to decision. Before, B2B companies nurtured leads and walked decision-makers through the process with an assigned salesperson. Websites functioned as little more than a touchpoint.

Today, B2B customers contact sales reps only after they’ve independently completed 60% of purchasing decision making. That means the way customers interact with you sales reps has fundamentally changed.

High-level executives and managers with decision-making power are no longer relying on sales people to inform them on the information they need to make their decision. They are using search engines to educate themselves and then have more informed conversations with sales reps when they are ready to have those conversations.

That’s why it’s so important to craft your website as an information resource for customers. And even more important to actively implementing an SEO strategy that will improve your ranking in search engines. When you solve problems, you help buyers identify their needs. When the time is right, you align your company’s services as the solution.

Businesses that aren’t ready with answers to prospects’ questions – by not consistently creating quality content and not having an up-to-date website – will fall off the digital radar. And companies that anticipate questions and provide value (useful resources) will win visitors, conversions and, eventually, customers.