Once overlooked, today, customer experience (CX) has become a central point of focus for B2B marketers.
Key Takeaways of the 2020 Data-driven Marketing & Advertising Outlook
The 5th edition of the Dun & Bradstreet report published by Adweek Branded for Dun & Bradstreet reveals crucial insights into building better CX for B2B businesses. Here are a few key points from the report:
- Nearly 90% of B2B leaders admit that they have to step up their customer experience game to match that of B2C marketers.
- 38% of B2B marketers believe that they deliver better customer experiences compared to their competitors.
- 1 in 4 B2B marketers agreed that they lag when it comes to offering seamless CX.
- 84% surveyed marketers reported that their teams would be focusing more on data in the coming year.
- B2B marketers use ABM (Account-based Marketing) techniques to gain a competitive advantage over their peers.
- 70% of respondents stated that analytics and measurement is their top priority in creating a winning customer experience.
255 B2B marketers who hold a job title of manager or above took part in the survey.
Challenges faced by B2B Marketers in Delivering a Top-notch Customer Experience
According to the survey mentioned above, 1 in 3 B2B marketers stated that their biggest CX challenge is making use of the tools and data they already have, to gather customer intelligence. Other difficulties faced included a lack of insight into the B2B customer journey, as well as identifying relevant customer touchpoints.
Why does this matter to B2B Marketers?
The key takeaway from this report is that while B2B marketers increasingly agree that CX is a crucial strategy, a vast majority have difficulties in pulling it off. All B2B marketers who are committed to delivering superior customer experiences have to start by establishing a sound data governance strategy for their business.
Some of the data analysis challenges for B2B marketers include dealing with incomplete data, siloed data, data incompatibility and more. According to the study mentioned above, both B2B and B2C marketers will make use of emerging technologies like DMPs (Data Management Platforms) and CDPs (Customer Data Platforms) in the upcoming year, to deal with the challenges of data handling.
Summing up the key takeaway of the study, “B2B marketers do not have to focus on generating more data. Rather, they have to focus on the right technologies to make better sense of the data; they have in hand.”
The Core of B2B Customer Experience
Delivering excellent customer experiences in B2B involves building a personalized, omnichannel customer experience while focusing on lasting relationships with clients. It’s also about providing customers with convenient, digital solutions.
For B2B marketers to offer excellent customer experiences, they have to focus on training employees. Engaged employees are likely to provide customers with a superior experience. Studies reveal that B2B companies that invest in training employees and the overall employee experience are 4.2x times more profitable than others.
B2B marketers need to focus on centralizing the various aspects of customer data so that they can take a holistic approach to handle customers. They have to gather data at both the individual level and account level to deliver a personalized and superior customer experience to each client.
Simply put, by focusing on delivering personalized, omnichannel CX, B2B brands can enjoy an increase in sales, stronger customer loyalty, and build long-term relationships with customers.
