I just read Ardath Albee’s book, eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale and it’s a good one. She takes the common-sense approach that “[b]uyers learn about things they need to know at the time they need to know them.” And it’s the job of marketers to provide content that pulls buyers forward.
She points to an IDG Market Fusion study that showed that about 80 percent of companies say they “found” their vendors rather than their vendors finding them. She wisely points out that the chances are high that their initial discovery was somewhere other than your corporate website.
Albee says a great way to accomplish these goals is to use a B2B company blog to “write commentary and share expertise about the impact your company has on helping customers solve problems.”
I particularly liked her talk of “Step Backs.” These are the occurrences that cause a prospect to – as the name implies – take a step back in the buying process. Are you ready for them?
Overall, the book is a good, quick read that provides useful ideas about the ever-changing world of B2B marketing.
Her final section takes a stab at measuring the value of social media in complex B2B sales. She’s right, it’s probably too early to know, but she does offer some pretty good ideas.
You can grab it here.
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Hi Jeb,
Thanks very much for the kind words about the book! I’m glad to know it was useful. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Ardath