Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond: Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve Your Results

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

Buyer Behavior in 2017 & Beyond

Research, Trends & Best Practices to Improve Your Results

Matt Heinz

President, Heinz Marketing Inc

@heinzmarketing

matt@heinzmarketing.com

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

First a little housekeeping…

• A copy of this presentation

• Other freebies:

– Copies of today’s featured research

– Our persona/buying journey templates

– “If it looks like a spreadsheet…”

– My NEW smoked chicken teriyaki recipe (or bacon)

• Send me an email at matt@heinzmarketing.com (or

bring me a biz card) noting what you want

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

Source: Heinz Marketing, July 2017

“Only 30% of B2B marketers think their content marketing is effective” via @heinzmarketing

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Source: Heinz Marketing, July 2017

“Only 27% of B2B marketers think their content is relevant to prospects” via @heinzmarketing

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Source: Heinz Marketing, July 2017

“Only 23% of B2B marketers think their content is reaching their target audience” via @heinzmarketing

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

Source: Heinz Marketing, July 2017

“Half of B2B marketers lack confidence in their ability to measure impact of content marketing efforts” via @heinzmarketing

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

Importance of content marketing elements

Source: Heinz Marketing, Nov 2016

Over 76% of B2B marketers cited “engaging” as the most important content element via @heinzmarketing

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Important vs performance gap analysis

Source: Heinz Marketing, Nov 2016

Marketers see major performance gaps in their ability to deliver engaging, actionable, customized content @heinzmarketing

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@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

Generational detail & differences

13% of millennials are decision-makers, 28% influence purchase decisions via @heinzmarketing

Source: SnapApp & Heinz Marketing, Sept 2017

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Source: SnapApp & Heinz Marketing, Sept 2017

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

Source: SnapApp & Heinz Marketing, Sept 2017

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

Source: SnapApp & Heinz Marketing, Sept 2017

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

Where to focus now

• Better persona precision

• Buying committee & journey definition

• Content audit & management

• Internal process management

• Track & reporting discipline

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Establish the Foundation - Personas

• Develop “Pathological Empathy” – get out of the company-centric world!

• Who are your primary personas – prioritize to focus content development

• Companies are made of people – consider group dynamics

• Multiple people will likely influence, decide on, and ultimately use or be impacted by your solution.

• Decision makers, stake holders, influencers, end users

• Attributes, motivators and concerns

Department Head Primary Business UserDecision Maker

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Persona FrameworkDecision Maker

How I Buy Concerns Decision

Factors

Questions Desired

Outcomes

How they research,

evaluate, lead

Identify motivators

based on

performance,

reputation, success

What matters the

most? What areas

are negotiable

tradeoffs?

What’s the long

term value and

impact? Will we be

successful? Can

we trust the

vendors?

The vision for

success

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Motivational Framework

Workbook – pg9

Customer

Journey Stage

Not In Market Stimulated

Inquiry

Problem

Identified

Research

Solutions

Evaluation Decision

Journey Stage

Mindset

Status quo works

Needs evolving

Status quo pains

Opportunities

emerge

Desire to define

problem

Active vendor

research

Focus on desired

outcomes

Anticipating positive

change and

achieving vision

Journey Stage

Actions &

Behaviors

Irregular market

research

Peer networking

Informal info

gathering and

research

Push internal fixes

for status quo to

work better

Internal

assessment or

audit

Consensus building

to change

Desire to define

requirements &

needed capabilities

Extensive internal

assessment

Review internal dev

or third party

solution

Pricing inquiry

Ask for referrals

Research reviews

Trial evaluations

and bake-off

Vendor matrix

mapping to internal

requirements

Committee reviews

RFP options

Negotiate purchase

terms

Internal mobilization

for next steps

Next Stage Catalyst Status quo problem

emerges

Lost business, cost

increases

Who can help fix

the problem?

Share requirements

& RFP with vendors

Confirmation that

final vendors

support desired

outcomes

Content Topic

Suggestions

• Industry trends

• Surveys

• Case Studies

• Interviews

• Innovation

guides

• Self-assessment

tools

• Analyst reports

• Step by step

business impact

analysis

• Thought

leadership

• Evaluation

guides

• ROI tools

• Customer

reviews &

success stories

• RFP tools

• Sales content

• Proof of concept

• Customer

stories

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Buying Committee Mapping

• Marketing usage: general committee model for market segments

• Long standing approaching to strategic account planning

• A starting point for Account Based Marketing

• Create models for your market segments• Industry• Company size• Solution

• Book Resources:• Full Funnel Marketing – Heinz Marketing• The New Strategic Selling – Robert Miller

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Benchmarking your current state

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Creative Brief

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Content Influence & ROI Tracking

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Housekeeping reminders..

• A copy of this presentation

• Other freebies:

– Copies of today’s featured research

– Our persona/buying journey templates

– “If it looks like a spreadsheet…”

– My NEW smoked chicken teriyaki recipe (or bacon)

• Send me an email at matt@heinzmarketing.com (or

bring me a biz card) noting what you want

@heinzmarketing #CMWorld

THANK YOU!

Matt Heinz

@heinzmarketing

matt@heinzmarketing.com