Customer Engagement

• To better support buyer and customer lifecycles, B2B marketers have recognized customer advocacy as an important contributor
• Advocate sourcing processes, investment in advocacy programs, and buyer’s journey mapping activities are often severely lacking
• SiriusDecisions’ research has shown that only 10 percent of marketing program budget, on average, is dedicated to advocacy

• Customer experience has become the critical differentiator in B2B buying decisions
• In 2016 SiriusDecisions conducted the B2B Customer Experience Study of 650 B2B customers in the U.S. and Europe
• In that study, we found that 81 percent of a buyer’s vendor selection decision is based on customer experience

• Publication, industry analyst or other third-party content can add objectivity and depth to your content arsenal, but you need to make sure you’re getting what you pay for
• Visualize your preferred end product, and make sure it’s something the third party will support
• In addition, ensure you’re getting the best possible resource who knows the industry and market

Think back just a few years — social, mobile, cloud, and big data ruled the emerging technology landscape. Business and technology management executives wondered what big data meant, when the cloud would disrupt their companies, and how to engage effectively on social channels. In 2016, Hadoop turned 10, the cloud has been around even longer, […]

• Customer lifetime value is coming back into vogue with B2B companies – and this is a positive step
• A strategic view of LTV helps marketing, sales and other functions make smart investments both pre- and post-sale
• Account-based and customer marketers should use LTV to help direct efforts where they’ll have the best impact

Customers’ perception of a company depends on their experiences with the organization at every point of contact. Companies can try to change how customers view a brand in a number of ways, such as a new mobile app or an improved complaint-handling process. However, to really improve customer perception, every interaction at every touchpoint must […]

• The SiriusDecisions customer experience study shows where B2B organizations are missing the mark for executives and users
• For the first phase of the customer lifecycle it’s important to understand how the roles of executives and users change as prospects become customers
• Documenting and validating customer roles is key to bridging the gap in post-sale customer experience

• When organizations understand where advocacy impacts demand creation, they can better justify advocacy investments
• First, assess where customer advocacy can support key demand creation processes
• Use the results of demand creation performance to make the business case for improving advocacy

• Customer advisory boards (CABs) have long existed in B2B but are now getting a fresh look
• Successful CABs have clear ownership and a common mission/agenda – and leverage technology to main continuity
• Executive commitment is the driving force of successful (and lasting) CABs

• Derivative content creation is a great way to get the most from your anchor content assets
• Base derivative content on your target audience channel and asset type preferences, in the context of the buyer journey
• Focus on quality of results rather than content volume

• Before customers will engage in your online community, you need to gain their trust in you and your social collaboration platform
• Alignment between community goals and corporate objectives is critical for success
• Don’t be eager to throw money at technology unless you are 100 percent sure it works with your environment

• Using a customer- centric approach enables organizations to grow and retain customers
• Build trust with your customers and reward them for their continued engagement
• Marketing content and interactions should be designed to move customers from satisfied to loyal to advocacy

• Embracing a modern engagement strategy requires a focus on the post-sale customer lifecycle
• A customer-centric approach in the post-sale environment enables marketing teams to support customer usage and generate advocacy
• A strong engagement strategy helps move a satisfied customer from loyal to advocate more quickly

• A positive customer experience is a crucial component of any B2B company’s success
• A SiriusDecisions study found 80 percent of customers say customer experience is the most significant reason to work with a provider
• Megan Heuer indicated that a majority of the attendees will increase their investment in customer experience in the next 12 months

• Consumer and B2B marketers share some common goals, challenges and opportunities
• A review of corresponding consumer and B2B marketing examples is useful in understanding buyer behavior
• Examples covered include marketing approaches for personalization, segmentation and timeliness

• Most B2B organizations have no idea how much content they have, how high-quality it is, where it lives or how it supports business objectives
• A content audit and inventory is the first step to successfully improving content strategy and operations
• A content audit is a laborious yet critical quantitative and qualitative exercise that requires dedicated resources, executive championship and cross-functional support

• Customer advocacy has become increasingly important to support buying and customer lifecycle needs
• Advocacy functions often struggle to gain internal support for their efforts
• Forming a customer advocacy council helps secure cross-functional support and visibility for advocacy initiatives

• Content marketing isn’t free – it represents a shift in investments and resources
• B2B organizations seeking to earn a wider audience than what they’ve paid for must acknowledge that the core difference between paid and earned isn’t just cost
• Earned attention for your brand can sometimes be more resource-intensive than paid attention!

• Content overload is a common problem in financial advisor channel communications
• Measurement of advisor channel communications should expand beyond activity metrics to include output and impact metrics
• Streamline communications and content delivery by developing advisor personas and mapping content to the stages of the buyers’ journey