6 B2B payment trends in 2022

6 B2B payment trends in 2022

March 8th, 2022 Rick Fletcher Leave a comment

CFOs face a daunting list of challenges in 2022: Managing cash flow and controlling overhead. Getting access to capital. Protecting the organization against fraud. Supply chain chaos. The Great Resignation and the talent shortage. Digital transformation.

How a business makes its payments touches on all of them.

The new imperatives of work from home drove more change in the long overlooked area of B2B payments than we’ve seen in decades. But there’s more room for improvement. This is a huge market–$22 trillion domestically–where banks still have 90% market share. The bank to fintech share shift movie we’ve seen in consumer payments over the past decade is really just beginning to play out in B2B. Here are some of the things I think we’ll see unfold in the year ahead:

Check use declines

Just a few years ago, over 50% of US B2B payments were made by check. Now we’re closer to 40%. That’s still a lot of checks, but the percentage will keep dropping. In Europe and LATAM, they don’t use checks, period. They have to transmit data to the government to report and remit VAT. They have to be able to transmit data across borders and banking systems. Imagine trying to do all that using paper.

Checks have persisted in US businesses because they are the only payment method that enjoys near universal acceptance. But as the whole world becomes more digital, maintaining manual check processes will become an increasingly unacceptable burden.

Greater focus on efficient processes

According to the 2022 AFP Payments Cost Benchmark Survey, efficiency–rather than cost savings–is now the top reason for moving to electronic payments. But just shifting to electronic payment types doesn’t create efficiency.

What does payment process efficiency look like? Technology that gives you a single workflow for any type of payment; centralization of digitized information in the cloud; support services such as error resolution, and outsourced vendor enrollment and data management.

Fintechs gain market share

There are a lot of companies in the check elimination business, but not all approaches are equally effective. Banks mainly offer check replacements such as cards or ACH. They’re not offering the combination of technology and services that companies need to become fully digital.

For example, enrolling vendors for electronic payments, and managing and securing their data has historically been a big obstacle to digitization. It can be cost prohibitive to do in-house. Fintech providers use both technology and services to offer a complete solution.

Cards see wider adoption

The percentage of card payments will rise because credit cards simply offer too many benefits to ignore.

On the customer side, you get an electronic process that reduces costs and makes expense tracking and reconciliation easier. Cards free up working capital, and generate rebates. They fight fraud–it’s easier to cancel payment, and to control spend through limits and category blocks.

On the vendor side, payments are received and cleared faster, and they don’t bounce, all of which means improved cash flow. You get better remittance data than you do with an ACH or even with a check. Perhaps more subtly, it enhances the image of your business when you’re big enough to accept credit cards.

Fighting fraud at scale

Criminals always follow the money. When money moved by stagecoach, they robbed stagecoaches. When it moved by train, we had train robbers. As money moves digitally and more people become computer literate, hackers are the new robbers.

Unfortunately today’s robbers enjoy all the same advantages of scale that legitimate businesses do. As it gets harder and harder for individual companies to keep up with fraud at scale, they’ll turn to payment service providers that take on the risk for them.

Blockchain yes, crypto not yet

Cryptocurrencies and NFTs made headlines in 2021. But, it’s still too early to fully understand how cryptocurrencies and blockchain/distributed ledgers will impact business payments.

Blockchain has made banks a tad bit uncomfortable with promises of being able to offer close to real-time transactions while reducing operational costs. In fact, FLEETCOR already partners with RippleNet in our global payments business. Their distributed ledger technology lets our clients pay their beneficiaries in hours instead of the days it would take using the SWIFT settlement network. For customers that are on RippleNet, all the KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) information is vetted and there are bank accounts–not crypto accounts–on either side.

Cryptocurrencies still don’t have those required regulatory frameworks in place. Their untraceable nature, volatility, and lack of widespread acceptance are big challenges that must be overcome before we see mainstream business adoption.

In a nutshell

The digitization of B2B payments is happening. It will take a lot longer than it has with consumer payments, because change happens slower and the market is so big. There’s also more complexity. It’s not enough just to move the money electronically. You have to make all the surrounding processes electronic too.

In 2022, we’ll continue to see companies replace checks with electronic payments. But we’ll also see a growing realization that this isn’t true digital transformation.

Even if you’re making 100% of your payments via ACH and credit card, you still have people doing manual work that could be done much more efficiently through a full service payments provider. That reduces your costs, frees up people and capital, generates rebates, and makes your vendors happier because it’s more efficient for them too.

Rick Fletcher, Group President of Corpay Payables, entered the world of payables through leadership roles at Deloitte Consulting, GE Capital, and Comdata. His passion lies in helping customers operate better through making better decisions and gaining payment efficiency. Rick holds a degree in management from Northwestern University.

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B2B Customer Behavior is Changing. What Should Marketers Do?

January 2nd, 2022 Adriana Lynch Leave a comment

If there’s anything the last decade has taught us—and that the COVID-19 pandemic punctuated in grand fashion—it’s that businesses must get digital, or they may become invisible. Branding—once an exercise that involved plastic signs, billboards, and newspaper print ads—has now firmly taken up residence in the world of bits, bites, smartphones, wearables, and, occasionally, a desktop computer.

The digital transformation—already fully ensconced when we dropped the ball in 2020—picked up considerable steam in the last year or so. Today, forward momentum in the digital strata is not just required—but mandatory—to assure business growth, especially in the B2B arena.

Customer behavior is changing

About 15 years ago, the one-two punch of social media and email campaigns entered the picture – and established a new method of showcasing your expertise as a means of getting people to look in your direction. Post Covid-19, a McKinsey study on B2B buyer preference showed how much of each phase of the buyer’s journey is being done online in a self-service way. The punch line: there has been a dramatic change in consumer behavior over the past 3 years.

In the research/education phase, there has been an 85% increase in the preference for B2B buyers to conduct their research online. In the evaluation stage, the results are even more dramatic: a whopping 238% increase in buyer preference for self-serve looking for information on the companies’ website.

The implications for a B2B marketer are huge. Now they must literally compete online, providing the information for which buyers are looking, and they need a comprehensive content strategy to win.

Learn how customers want to interact online

What the past decade taught us—and what COVID reiterated in the past couple years—is that the conversation around digital goes far beyond just plain awareness. In fact, the businesses that are the best at digital branding have constructed a lead generation machine around these capabilities. They’ve taken the knowledge of clients’ needs and wants and translated it into an incubation device that effectively appeals to this group.

So, what are some of the ways that you can change the thinking within your business to improve the success of your digital branding efforts? Here are four critical elements every marketer should master:

#1 Know The Decision Makers

In B2B in particular, you’ll often find multiple decision-makers involved in the buying process. That’s OK. This simply means we have to appeal to each of their “decision journeys.” We have to understand their challenges and obstacles, whether they are a CFO or an engineer, etc. Invariably, they will have different selection criteria, success metrics, and the like.

#2 The “Amazon” Effect

With so much buying activity across the digital space during COVID, a remarkable thing has happened. Now, even B2B buyers want the same type of information and transparency in their professional lives as they get when they make personal purchases from Amazon. These buyers give a thumbs-up to live chat and clear, concise information; and a thumbs-down to having to dig for information, deal with technical issues, and to overly complex websites.

#3 Big M, Little m

It’s time to draw a solid, unbroken, line in the sand. Marketing today—with a capital M—relates to what we’ve mentioned here: real insights and strategies that will drive new business and grow your company. No longer is it satisfactory to lean on “little m” tactics, like pretty pictures that look gorgeous but say nothing.

#4 Marketers: The Business Development Rep’s Best Friend

No longer should marketers consider themselves an ancillary resource to more sales-oriented folk; they should take hands-on responsibility to ensure that their activities drive as many qualified leads to business development as possible. As important is to be in close coordination with business development so the leads that come in get the attention they deserve! Research shows that up to half of sales go to the partner or vendor that responds first. In the past, we’ve done a great job, as marketers, of saying we are experts, but then throwing the ball over the fence to business development. That’s an old way of doing things; now, we should be aligned and attached at the hip as we jointly journey further and further into the funnel. This includes being aligned on the funnel metrics that are used to measure efficacy and success.

Bottom Line

Time is of the absolute essence in today’s marketplace, and you must find that extra gear to operate your digital branding machine. When you decide to turn on your digital machine, you need to know exactly what you’re looking for and to be ready to respond.

So, how is your company’s digital brand presence? Are you relevant or invisible? If you want to know, a digital audit—to see how your company stacks versus the competition—is a great place to start, and we are ready to help you.

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Adriana Lynch is a Partner and CMO with Chief Outsiders, the nation’s fastest-growing executive-as-a-service company.

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Did Your Customers Disappear? How To Get Them Back In 2022.

November 24th, 2021 Phil Kelley Jr. Leave a comment

Perhaps orders are down, in-store traffic has hardly rebounded, revenues are frustratingly slow to return and employee spirits are in the tank as well.

When customers go away and don’t come back, business owners and CEOs are left to scratch their heads as they try to figure out why. A probable culprit is that the business failed to maintain authentic customer and employee connections while implementing the latest communication technologies that have pushed relational interactions outside of the reality of their consumer’s experience, says Phil Kelley Jr. (www.philkelleyjr.com), author of Presence and Profitability: Understanding the Value of Authentic Communications in the Age of Hyper-Connectivity.

“Technology is rapidly changing the way people exchange information and ideas leading to tremendous efficiency opportunities, but no matter how much technology changes things, people have the same psychological need for positive human interactions,” says Kelley, who is president and CEO of Salem One, a company that specializes in direct marketing, packaging, printing and logistics.

If customers feel that they are not getting that interaction, he says, they are going to move to another business in search of it.

As businesses move into 2022, Kelley has advice for how they can bring back customers they have lost because of both external and internal communication misfires:

Customers want to talk with people, not machines. Kelley is wary of technology that cuts costs but fails to take the customer experience into account. ”Anyone at my company will tell you that I have a passion for answering phones as quickly as possible,” he says. “I absolutely refuse to use an automated call-response application. I know that if a client is calling us, they need something and want to talk to a person, not a machine.”

Relationships are built on true relational moments. Racking up “likes” on Facebook or Twitter, or sending and receiving canned sales pitches on LinkedIn, are not examples of really connecting with others, Kelley says. “Relationships don’t get built automatically, and leadership does not get conveyed by the number of keystrokes you make,” he says. “Success is based on the value you bring to the table, and comes only after investments of time and effort. A connection in and of itself is not a relationship, and for most people connections are missed opportunities.”

Brand communication should meet customers on their terms. Businesses often fail to get the most out of their advertising because the connection to the customer is off in some way, Kelley says. He gives as an example how online advertisements often work. If someone searches for a product, they soon see advertisements for that product on nearly every website they visit, even if the website isn’t appropriate for the brand. That can become annoying. “You need to know where your brand is showing up, and what kind of customers and potential customers your brand is in front of at all times,” Kelley says. “You also need to know who those customers are, what their tastes and preferences are, and how they do and don’t like to experience things.”

Connect in a way that turns customers into repeat customers. Long-term success depends on repeat customers, but too many businesses treat their relationship with customers as simply transactional, Kelley says. That doesn’t make for a satisfying relationship. “The highest-value communications are person-to-person, but that certainly doesn’t mean that your company can’t make a connection without those face-to-face communications,” he says. “Amazon is masterful at forging relationships with its customers just via their website. They do it by making it easy to find, order, and have delivered things that people really need or want. They make it easy to find more information on the products and make it easy to return something the customer isn’t satisfied with.”

Know that a great corporate culture results in satisfied customers. It’s well-established that an organizational culture where people feel engaged, connected and purposeful helps achieve financial success, Kelley says. “This is because the attitudes of the people in an organization ultimately reach and affect customers,” he says. “To put it simply, satisfied employees tend to foster satisfied customers. So, the time and energy you devote to creating a positive corporate culture is not an add-on to getting the job done. It’s an essential part of getting the job done – or at least, getting it done well.”

“Relationships are so important to people,” Kelley says, “that any company that makes a real connection with a customer can win that customer’s loyalty for life.”

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Phil Kelley Jr. (www.philkelleyjr.com) is the author of Presence and Profitability: Understanding the Value of Authentic Communications in the Age of Hyper-Connectivity. He also is president and CEO of Salem One, which specializes in direct marketing, packaging, printing and logistics. Kelley holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Tech as well as an MBA from Clemson University. He has served on the boards of directors of multiple nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Kelley has been an active voice in the print industry, refocusing industry success definitions within the rapidly developing world of corporate communications.

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What B2B Marketing Trends Can We Expect to See in 2022?

October 12th, 2021 Dylan Berger Leave a comment

Major shifts in the global market are impacting how B2B companies approach marketing. After 18 chaotic months, innovation is accelerating at a rapid pace. The digital transformation of the economy and the rise of e-commerce are likely to spark significant change in 2022.

Current data suggests these trends are likely to define B2B marketing in the coming year, so businesses would be wise to embrace them.

1. Spending Shifts to Mobile-First Strategy

In 2022, mobile and digital advertising will continue to become central to B2B marketing efforts. At the same time, marketers are also adjusting to a work-from-home reality. Around 70% of B2B buyers and decision-makers prefer remote or digital interactions with vendors.

Gartner predicts this number will tick up by an additional 10 percentage points by 2025. These buyers will likely respond better to more digital marketing strategies, as well.

Many marketers will likely shift to a digital-first marketing approach that prioritizes mobile advertising and content over offline and more traditional strategies. This will probably come with growing ad spend — though growth is on track to be slower next year than it has been in the past, partly due to the lingering effects of COVID-19.

As the amount of millennials in decision-making roles has grown, so has the number of buyers who want a seller-free experience. Less personal and direct approaches to marketing may become more popular among B2B marketers as a result.

2. Changing Lead Generation Channels

Generating quality leads remains a top goal of B2B marketers. How they are developed is likely to change significantly in 2022 and through the rest of the decade.

COVID-19 impacted how events are hosted. While some businesses pivoted to online events and others chose to delay or cancel, all marketers had to adapt quickly to the reality that in-person events were no longer always available to generate leads.

Jurgen Desmedt, head of marketing at Europe-based CDP vendor NGDATA, told CMSWire that social media is emerging as a major lead-generation channel.

B2B marketers are more often taking to social advertisements to generate leads that previously came from events. Uncertainty in B2B marketing may also be driving the pivot to social media. Marketers unwilling to commit fully to in-person interactions may instead look toward other methods requiring less commitment.

The most popular style of social media marketing is also changing. Many marketers are now more interested in highly targeted and personalized strategies. Many platforms offer targeting tools with extremely fine levels of detail so they can deliver niche content to specific audiences.

Scheduling apps may help smaller businesses and solo entrepreneurs manage an increasingly complex strategy that delivers niche content to various audiences.

3. Growing Focus on Customer Psychology

The “neuromarketing” strategy allows B2B marketers to spend more time than ever focused on the individual psychology of key buyers and decision-makers. In practice, this may look like a shift from topic-driven to persona-driven marketing in B2B. Marketers will focus on honing in on their target audience’s particular needs, desires, and interests to generate more effective ads, content, and events.

Client personas will become a more important marketing consideration as a result. There’s also likely to be a greater focus on matching searcher intent and developing deeper content calendars.

4. Innovation to Engage B2B Customers

Cutting-edge technology will help marketers create campaigns that more effectively engage potential buyers in 2022. Optimizing for new types of search — like image and audio — may be essential to capture traffic. AI and marketing chatbots could help marketers reach more customers and reduce the amount of time potential buyers spend waiting.

In some cases, new technology and the focus on psychology may also mean the growing use of high-tech advertisements that generate interest and secure potential buyers’ attention.

Interactivity in emails can increase conversions and improve ROI — helping businesses get more out of their email campaigns. AMP emails, which enable marketers to provide app-like functionality inside a message, are one common method for delivering this interactivity.

Similar uses of personalization and interactivity in other forms of marketing may also provide results like these.

5. Original Research and Top-Quality Content

Online resource centers, blogs, content hubs and more have become a valuable tool for B2B marketers. In 2022, original research is likely to become even more important for marketing efforts.

According to data from the 2020 Demand Gen Report, B2B buyers increasingly look to a business’s original content when making purchasing decisions. This has become a significant trust marker, signaling to buyers that the company puts stock in its organizational knowledge and experience. Research also provides some early value to a potential buyer,

Because content has become a trust marker, simply writing posts to generate traffic and leads will no longer be enough. Information needs to be top-quality to encourage buyers to investigate the brand further or get in touch with the business’s sales team.

Various content strategies will likely be necessary to deliver high-quality information relevant to B2B buyers’ interests.

Customer psychology will likely be important to content teams. Effective use and reuse of posts will allow marketers to take full advantage of what they develop. Breaking things up to enable the tracking of micro-conversions could provide marketers with additional insights into reader behavior and interests.

Certain content types will also probably be more valuable than others. A business’s niche, original research, white papers and other forms of highly valuable and in-depth content may provide the most value to readers — building trust and generating interest.

Video content remains one of the top content types, overtaking blog posts and infographics in popularity. However, the high cost of producing video content may be a barrier to its use by some businesses.

How B2B Marketing Is Likely to Change in 2022

Uncertainty and digital transformation will likely have a significant impact on B2B marketing next year. Marketers are beginning to leverage mobile-first approaches, invest more in social media and adopt cutting-edge technology, like chatbots and interactive emails. This will be vital to effectively reach people and boost sales moving forward.

These new strategies and tools may help companies adapt to a market where buyers are more interested in digital channels and personalized content. Marketers must be prepared to embrace the upcoming changes to effectively reach their target audiences in 2022.

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E-COMMERCE VS. MANUFACTURING CYBERSECURITY: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

September 8th, 2021 Haylle Sok Leave a comment

In the digital world, most of us are constantly immersed in protecting data while ensuring smooth operations that have become increasingly complex in recent years, particularly in the age of COVID-19 for manufacturers and e-commerce leaders. With concerns of maximizing cybersecurity compliance increasing almost as quickly as consumer demand, we decided to take a deeper look at how data protection ties into e-commerce and manufacturing and what companies can do to remain competitive, compliant and trustworthy in the eyes of their customers.

To gain a better understanding, we looked to Bindu Sundaresan, director at AT&T Cybersecurity Consulting. With the firm for the past 12 years, Sundaresan and her organization offer planning and professional services to help customers in retail, healthcare, manufacturing, finance and more reduce cyber risks.

“You name the emerging technology irrespective of customer security maturity, we are there,” Sundaresan says. “We are starting to see some implications of rushed transformation efforts, putting companies at larger risk. They have to take stock of their altered risk profile as the threat surface grows and with the adoption of digital technologies in pursuit of new business models and enhanced customer experiences such as e-commerce in manufacturing.”

She adds that in the modern age, e-commerce is no longer just in sight for retailers or e-tailers. In fact, e-commerce has transformed the way major industries are conducting business from manufacturing, B2B and even shippers.

“It’s a whole function, end-to-end in terms of when the ordering is placed to checking on what stocks are available, to shipping,” Sundaresan says. “This is all happening through front-end e-commerce websites. E-commerce in general is an attractive target for the malicious actor, because that’s where the money is.”

Data protection in the digital space requires a strategic and tedious process–two words some would never think to put in the same sentence when talking technology. For businesses to successfully secure consumer data, company data and overall cybersecurity, all moving parts must be considered, starting with the basics. Sundaresan emphasizes that just because digital applications have been simplified, it does not ensure a successful launch of data-secured applications.

“Follow the data, think about every connection, think about the data flow, think about every connection you are making for every asset within your organization. Web application security must be taken seriously. Application Security 101 is how you should secure your third-party and open-source code because approximately 96 percent of apps today use borrowed code. Sure, it is a great way of standing an application up, making it run fast, and saving development time and resources. But at the same time, it will introduce vulnerabilities into your infrastructure.”

From its inception, web applications present competitive advantages—and significant vulnerabilities if not properly deployed. One must carefully consider the limitations and vulnerabilities of the selected tools over protected information to effectively secure and operate it.

“It’s not just about fraud protection or credit card data behind these applications,” Sundaresan notes. “It is about the denial-of-service attacks that can happen, making your website unavailable. It is not somebody stealing, it is somebody getting availability. It is about using your website and your brand to craft another webpage that looks exactly like your brand, and then do SQL injection on it. E-commerce websites now have sophisticated tools with shielding applications and technologies available. These are all affordable and easily consumable, eliminating the need to go in and actually change the code.”

Whether we realize it or not, almost all of us are using some type of e-commerce platform, IoT device or another form of digital technology enabling connectivity between us and the outside world of products and goods.

“Everyone cares about privacy, and this is a common thread across industry verticals,” Sundaresan explains. “We all use internally built applications, APIs and take payment information. Anyone that takes credit card information needs to comply with the PCI standard. It covers a lot of web applications and e-commerce security controls that are a must. Compliance is not the end goal, but it’s a great starting point for your framework.”

Looking at manufacturing, we see a different story unfold. Data protection measures are approached from a different angle that does not consider coverage for sensitive consumer payment information or personal identification. After all, many manufacturers are not dealing directly with the consumer but still have a need for securing digital transformation in the sector.

“As a manufacturer, you have to think about what the attack surface looks like and what the protection surface looks like,” Sundaresan warns. “It is critical for manufacturers to think of each new connection as a potential vulnerability to their attack surface. Gone are the days where manufacturers are going to look at just safety and well-being as the only priorities–security is now top of mind, and it should be.”

Along with basically every other industry sector across the globe, COVID-19 impacted and changed manufacturing. Sundaresan highlights the changes sparked by the pandemic and how manufacturers are now prioritizing data security.

“COVID propelled smart manufacturing, showing us that security is more about risk and resilience rather than just providing a technological element to operations. We have enough tools out there, and it’s time to initiate the joining of forces and look at how data can be exploited because of unpatched systems in manufacturing.”

Over the past 12 years, Sundaresan and her team at AT&T Cybersecurity Consulting have learned the adage, “you’re only as strong as your weakest link” was more than relevant during the pandemic for the supply chain, challenging the notion that just because a company is not focused on B2C operations does not eliminate risk for data breaches and threatened security.

“In the 20 years I have been working in the industry, there is not one thing that we don’t do at AT&T Cybersecurity. Some assume we might only do large projects or cater to those if they are connected to our network. That is not the case. In relation to the industry as a whole, an important takeaway is to remember that what manufacturing and healthcare are going through now, retail and finance went through this same thing about two, three years ago.”

To learn more about AT&T Cybersecurity and its diverse solutions portfolio, visit: https://cybersecurity.att.com/

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Bindu’s experience, which spans more than 20 years, has been shaped by the opportunity to work with some of the world’s most innovative companies. She has worked with industry frameworks, including NIST/ISO/HITRUST, regulatory requirements including PCI, NERC, and HIPAA. Bindu has led dozens of cyber-risk engagements for Fortune 500 clients from strategy to technology implementation to breach response. She was tapped to lead a complex PCI and HIPAA compliance assessment for a leading global retailer, spearheaded a $1M security assessment, and worked on securing Criminal Justice Information Sharing Networks in NYC. Before AT&T, Bindu was a Senior Manager with Verisign. Before joining Verisign, she was a Senior Consultant with KPMG and a Senior Network engineer. Her love for teaching and mentoring started with her role as an Adjunct Faculty with the State University of New York (SUNY).

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Digital Marketing for B2B Companies in 2021—What Changes?

January 22nd, 2021 SlideHunter Leave a comment

The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving, especially for B2B businesses. Tactics that worked a few years ago have been phased out.

As we move into 2021, we can expect more exciting marketing trends that’ll dominate for years to come. Here are some of them:

Growing LinkedIn Use

No other social media platform can rival LinkedIn when it comes to B2B marketing. And here are a few reasons why:

-Senior Level workers account for almost 61 million users, and a whopping 40 million are decision-makers in their firms, according to this study.

-LinkedIn helps B2B brands generate over 80% of their leads — a shocking 7 times more than other channels.

-65% of B2B businesses have gained a customer through the LinkedIn platform.

There’s no doubt that LinkedIn is a B2B goldmine. C-level executives spend their social media time there. They’re looking for valuable posts to read.

Unlike with Facebook or Twitter, you already have an active audience that’s hungry for your content. By doubling-down on your efforts, you can get your business in front of the right people at the right time.

The platform is friendly to even novice marketers. If you don’t know how to attract customers through the app, you can choose paid marketing strategies. They’ll help you narrow down your outreach to the most ideal audience — influencers, b2b clients, and other buyers.

From the evidence above, LinkedIn marketing will continue to be the staple strategy in B2B circles. Unsurprisingly, an estimated 92% of marketers include the medium in their campaigns today. We expect this figure to grow in 2021.

Chatbots

Outgrow estimates that, by 2021, 80% of brands will adopt some form of chatbot systems. These systems will help businesses avoid shelling out big bucks on customer service. The effective inbound lead generation they offer is expected to generate more profit for these brands.

Unsurprisingly, chatbots have taken over online marketing, becoming a major part of web designs. They give answers to consumers quickly. Your customers no longer have to wait for hours to get an answer and get tempted to start searching for other alternative options.

By offering instant answers, these AI tools make your brand appear more professional. This way, you can attract more potential clients and retain the available ones.

Another benefit of integrating bots into your website is that they give you valuable consumer insights by collecting data on your visitor’s preferences. You can then use the data collected to revise your marketing tactics.

Your customers don’t have to spend minutes filling out long forms, either. So it’s a win-win for both of you.

Other perks you may get from bots include:

-Helps in recruitment — Potential hirees can communicate with the bots instead of submitting forms.

-Creating content — Some bots can help reduce your workload by publishing content on your behalf.

-Customer support — When your real agents aren’t available, the AI can take over conversations with visitors.

Higher Demand for Content Marketers

In a recent ContentWriters survey, 61% of marketers claimed that they’re publishing blog posts several times a week. To top it off, 89% of these respondents said they received higher-quality leads from content marketing compared to other strategies.

These studies show that content marketing as a lead-attracting tactic isn’t slowing down anytime soon. And using this strategy effectively has become much more difficult as the years have gone by.

The days of publishing 350-word posts and ranking in Google’s first pages are, unfortunately, fading into the past. Creating content is a much more complex discipline these days. It involves researching your marketing thoroughly, understanding your audience well, and carrying out comprehensive campaigns.

That’s why experienced content marketers will have a higher demand in 2021. Hiring interns to churn out articles can’t work any longer, so B2B businesses will be forced to get specialists.

Guest posting is a key part of content marketing. As this method is still a popular move for many websites, keep in mind that you’d have to create a dedicated team for this strategy. You’ll need people to reach out to other sites and talented writers for the content itself. There are also quality blogger outreach service companies that can help you reach out to sites and create great content.

Keys to Success for B2B Relationships

November 26th, 2019 Vincent Ney Leave a comment

In my 25-year career in business, I have serviced a wide range of industries, professionals, and businesses. I have operated in both business-to-consumer (B2C) and ‘business-to-business’ (B2B) spaces, and have learned much about how to engage with different types of clients and their various needs.

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking that being in a B2B industry is less complicated than a B2C, because your client intrinsically understands general business principles. However, I find B2B can often be more complicated than B2C, because each organization you serve has a highly variable set of needs, values, and processes.

Below are six questions you should ask when assessing a new B2B client that will help you understand how you can best serve them.

What are their core values and mission statement?

The core values and mission statement of an organization create their guiding principles; their ‘north star.’ It is as important to understand this information when you are making a B2B sale as it is when you enter a business relationship with any of your clientele. Understanding your clients’ core values and mission statement will allow you to relate your services to what is important to them; and it will help your client more easily see the value you bring to their organization.

How are they funded?

Are they self-funded? Do business decisions have to run through a private equity firm? Understanding how your client is funded will help you better understand their internal processes, and will also help you understand how to most effectively communicate with them. Understanding their source of funding can also reveal an abundance of information about the internal dynamics of the organization.

What regulatory pressures are they facing?

This may seem out of left field, but understanding the regulatory burdens of the company or industry you are working with will help you gain an understanding of the outside pressures and complications of running their business. It is also important to know how your client stays updated on any regulatory changes. Many companies subscribe to association or lobbying groups to address and/or advocate for positions and policies on the company or industry’s behalf.

What are the relationship dynamics between the company and its leadership?

This may seem like a sensitive area, but it will help you better serve your clientele in the long run. For companies with medium-to-large sized workforces, find out what the employees’ views of company leadership are. Has leadership been promoted from within, or hired from outside? For smaller companies, find out whether the business owner hired has friends and family. How invested are the employees in the success of the organization, and what drives that investment?

How many employees does my client have?

While this seems like a relatively simple question, this can tell you more about a client than you think. A large employer, for example, will likely have more infrastructure to support a B2B relationship than a company with only a few employees whose culture is more ‘all hands on deck.’

When considering this factor, you can also elaborate and understand better who you should be communicating with, who should receive important documents, and how their internal processes work.

How can my services or product help them grow?

It is of chief importance to learn the customer’s business or industry so you can clearly articulate your business’ value proposition and how your product or services can help them grow. Learning more about their business and the life cycle of when your product or services will best serve their needs and how they can articulate it to their team.

Overall, there are many questions you must ask when entering into a B2B business arrangement. Taking steps to enhance your own understanding of the complexities of B2B clientele relationships and asking the right questions at the right time can and will lead to a successful and mutually beneficial business relationship.

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Vincent Ney is the Founder and President of Expansion Capital Group, a business dedicated to serving American small businesses by providing access to capital and other resources, so they can grow and achieve their definition of success. Since its inception, ECG has connected over 12,000 small businesses nationwide to approximately $350 million in capital.

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How many employees does my client have?

How can my services or product help them grow?

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