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Smartphones have revolutionised B2B purchases, and businesses need to learn these trends

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Verification is vital for B2B lead generation, for which mobile’s instant outreach, constant connection, and email initiatives have given ways to the marketers to re-engage their e-mail contacts

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Be it the primary aspect of customer habits or the way the things are perceived and acted upon, B2B sales have evolved tremendously in the past few years. With millennials becoming a vital part of the market, most of the business activities have shifted from desktop to online. Now, more than 42% of the buyers indulge in mobile research during the buying process.

The customer of today isn’t ready to settle down for what the salesmen preach; he is comparing prices, learning about the product, contacting retailers, evaluating feedbacks, and analogizing features on the go to find the best. Not just that, Businesses are using smartphones to increase their business outreach and streamline promotional activities.

Below, we have examined similar few changes to gauge by what extent the influx of smartphones has changed the façade of B2B business and how your business can get on it.

Changing Customer Behavior

Since the beginning, the key has remained to study your target audience and approach customers in a way they like. The increase in number of millennials and the growing acceptance of mobile culture have brought along a series of changes in the behavior of the customers.

“Over half of the millennials use smartphones to make a purchase and they expect apps to load within 3 seconds or less than that.”

“Around 57% of the customers refrain from recommending a business if its website is poorly designed for mobile, while 30% abandon a website if it is not optimized for mobile.”

To win over the situation and widen their chances of finding customers, marketers are leveraging upon the lead’s buying history, mobile search behavior, and transaction history effectively.

B2B customers are using mobiles throughout their path

There were times when the mobile search guided the buying path only at the initial stages. With the growing preference of mobile over the desktop, the usage of smartphones has intensified and now the buyers use mobiles throughout their purchase. In the past two years, there has been observed 91% growth in the usage of the mobile phone through the complete buying process. The marketers are witnessing 3 times growth in the mobile queries, which is gradually shifting the focus at offering rich mobile experience to ensure hassle-free checkout.

Also read: 19 simple ways to generate more sales online, get more B2B sales with this epic list of resources

Mobile has improved the process of lead verification

Smartphones have provided a remedy for one of the industry’s biggest concerns. Verification is vital for the B2B lead generation, for which mobile’s instant outreach, constant connection, and email initiatives have given ways to the marketers to re-engage their e-mail contacts.

“Some industries have the e-mail contact decay rate of less than 6.5% /month, which indicates about a half of the company’s CRM contacts could decay by the end of every year.”

Mobile verification offers a quick and convenient way to re-engage your leads effectively.

Short texts have taken over

Short texts have taken over the long calls (for reaching out the prospects periodically). Sending a short message after the telephonic conversation is observed to be very beneficial. It holds the capability to enhance conversions by 112.6%. By sending short code texts via automatic SMS senders, businesses can grow, foster, and maintain B2B relations for a protracted period of time.

Trade hows have been mobilized

Trade shows have become one of the most effective ways to bag leads. The shows organized give mobile users an opportunity to be a part of real-time events, enter contests, check augmented reality inventions, and examine purchases on mobile videos. Also, text alerts are sent by the marketers reminding others of the event. Today, lead generation and promotion go hand in hand, for which Smartphones have mobilized the path of the marketers.

Mobile applications: the must have

How could I have missed it! From QR code scanners to GPS, audio recognition, etc. All the things collectively increase the ease of the customers and engage them better. Today, over 50% of American buyers make a purchase using an app linked discount coupon. Not just that, mobile applications have become such an integral part of a business that by the end of 2017, half of the small businesses will have their own mobile application in swing.

To be honest, the need to effectively market to the changing behavior of the audience brought along this change. Most of the B2B marketers are likely to be young and winning them would require intensifying your mobile, search, and video efforts. For now, delivering quality content and video experiences on mobile remain crucial if marketers seek to move leads through the path to purchase.

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