When I write posts for The Editorial Engine, I’m always mindful that we don’t live in a world where one size fits all. However, neither one of us has the time to focus on the wee details or look at a situation from 86 different angles. That forces me to over simplify or generalize, which tends to make things around here messy sometimes.
Most topics can be tailored to each audience–whether it’s a business person, Web designer, copywriter or other role. I can’t write to each group specifically, but I should try to do it more often.
That was what I was thinking earlier today when I decided to write a post about the difference between writing for business people and writing for consumers. For now, I’m going to focus only on the needs and buying motivations of business people. I’ll cover the consumer angle not too far down the road.
The idea here is that if you understand what motivates your audience, you’ll be able to shape your message more precisely and use the right tools to hit the bulls eye.
What makes B2Bs different than consumers and what do they really want?
1. The smart ones want to solve problems over the long-term. Business people, let’s call them B2Bs, for the sake of brevity, are often motivated to buy a product or service to solve a business problem. It might be so they can be more competitive, operate more efficiently or increase profitably. That’s a strategic decision and it’s usually takes a long sales cycle and repeated message to get through to them.
2. They often buy expensive items. The kinds of purchases B2Bs generally make are high-ticket, so they’re willing to read more copy and do more research than consumers. They’re willing to read just about everything you have to say, not only on your Web site, but also in your direct mail, email, e-newsletters and every other media (including Webinars). Reaching B2Bs requires all your tools–it’s can take three-four-five-six prong attack to succeed.
3. They often know what they want better than you do. B2Bs tend to be sophisticated about what they’re buying and they know how, usually even better than you do, to solve their problems. They’re not looking for generalizations or simple answers. They want details, often backed with testimonials, case studies, white papers and live demonstrations. Every B2B is from Missouri. You have to show them.
4. The products and services they buy often have lots of moving parts. B2B product and services generally tend to be complex and may require you to explain or educate quite a bit to get the point across. Again, case studies, how-to guides and white papers often make compelling reading for these folks.
5. They do not buy impulsively. Not only is the product or service more likely to be complex, more people are involved in the purchase decision. That requires shaping your message to different audiences and to each of their needs within the organization. The IT guy wants the widget because it saves time; the marketing woman wants it because the widget makes the company more competitive; the board of directors wants the widget because it will increase profits. Everyone wants the same thing but for different reasons.
6. Some want to solve a short-term problem. That is, they need need to buy a product or service to solve a tactical (instead of strategic) problem. Less-sophisticated B2Bs won’t buy anything in anticipation that something will go wrong; they wait until it breaks before they do something about it.
I used to write about computer security quite a bit and companies typically didn’t buy security products until an employee stole their data, a hurricane trashed their offices or a hacker took down their Web site.
It’s always been that way when it comes to what I call “mañana products, ” meaning, “I need it, but I’ll wait until tomorrow to get it.”
7. The dumb ones buy to satisfy a burning desire. They not only buy only when there’s a fire, they needed to put it out yesterday. Keep that in mind when you craft the benefits of buying your product or using your service. Push how you can get things done quickly and efficiently and how that helps cuts losses in time and money. You may be asked to write and distribute a press release for crisis management or you might have to redesign a Web site because the owner suddenly decides the reason he’s nearing bankruptcy is that his Web site needs to sprucing up. It’s always that way with some B2Bs.
About a month ago, a hacker defaced the Web site of the little online company where my wife works. The company’s IT guy, who should have known about his site’s insecurity, was stumped. After close to a week of being offline the company called in a pack of consultants who were able to lock down their server. When the fumes cleared, my wife’s company was out $20K, which they could hardly afford. That doesn’t count the amount of business lost while the site was offline.
Comments on this entry are closed.