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In 7 steps to a B2B eCommerce target audience strategy
27-06-2023
In the world of B2B eCommerce, it is crucial to develop a strategy that closely matches your webshop's target audience. McKinsey research suggests that putting your customer first is one of the best strategies for success. Get a deep understanding of your business customers' needs, challenges and expectations in order to implement an effective strategy that results in a successful customer experience. In this blog, we will discuss 7 steps to develop a strategy that seamlessly matches your B2B webshop's target audience.
In the first step to a strong B2B audience strategy, you analyze which industries and business sectors your target audience operates in. You identify what roles your customers have within their organizations and try to better understand needs and challenges. As a next step, you examine the specific criteria by which business customers select and evaluate a supplier. For example, do they value more insight into accurate product availability or self-service features such as viewing quotes, invoices and order status?
The second step is to develop detailed buyer personas that represent the various influencers and decision makers of your potential B2B customer. This involves the question: which people play an important role in choosing your organization? In B2B eCommerce, these are often the IT Manager, Purchasing Manager, Facility Manager and Office Manager. You define the function, responsibilities and goals for each persona.
Then you identify the needs, pain points and goals of each persona in relation to the products or services your organization offers. In addition, you want to examine what the persona's customer journey looks like. What sources does the search start with, what channels is the persona on for business and what media does the persona use in his or her free time? You can use useful tools like Xtensio, MakeMyPersona and Crystal to further develop your buyer personas.
What content is on the webshop, and what content is missing? You identify the gaps and fill them with content that addresses the needs and/or pain points of the target group. For example, IT managers need efficient processes that allow for accurate work. Features like self-service, personalized pricing and delivery dates and content by segments contribute to that efficiency and avoid a frustrating search experience. On the other hand, the purchasing manager needs visibility into budget. For this persona, a budget management feature is indispensable. By adapting your webshop to the different needs of your buyer personas, you ultimately ensure a better customer experience.
Personalizing your offerings and marketing is the fourth step towards a strong B2B target group strategy. This involves tailoring your product offerings to the specific needs and requirements of your B2B target audience. It is also important to develop personalized marketing campaigns and post content that is relevant to each buyer persona. In our blog on effective personalization, we give you a roadmap to effectively personalize your marketing campaigns and increase the success of your webshop.
mplementing an ERP integration is crucial to automate order processing and promote efficiency and accuracy. Also, always provide reliable insight into customer-specific costs, delivery time and order status. This is because this will promote customer confidence in your organization. Complement this with excellent customer service and support, including quick responses to questions via a chat feature and other channels.
If you want to grow your B2B webshop, it is essential to build strong business relationships for the long term. Therefore, invest in the relationship with your B2B customers by regularly surprising them in a positive way, for example. You do this by organizing events, webinars or workshops and offering white papers. This way, you share knowledge, promote interaction and position your organization as a true specialist in your field.
If you set measurable goals and track the performance of your B2B eCommerce strategy, you will have a better grip on the effect of your strategy and thus your target audience. Consider which KPIs are important to your organization, such as:
By following this roadmap, you guarantee an optimal web shop experience for your customers. This results in higher customer satisfaction, contributes to the reputation of your organization and helps your business to be successful.
How a great shopping experience is changing B2B commerce.
