How often have you asked that question of your customers? We’re in an era where the scarcity is time. The scarcity is attention. And we’re not able to make more of it. Buy more of it. Or recover it once used.
As a brand, you’re competing with everyone and everything else for attention. You’re not able to make the pie larger. You’re capturing it from someone else. How do you earn the right to that attention? And what will you do with it? Squander it? Use it wisely?
Have a glance at where all of our attention goes below.
Everyday we:
It doesn’t take long to realize you need to find a way to rise above this noise. And that your task is hard. It starts with not being everything to everyone. You need to know why you matter and to whom.
Do you know how many people you need to reach to achieve your growth goals?
You need to empathize with the pain your customers feel in a way that gets their attention. In short, you need to be remarkable to enough of the right people.
“But I’m B2B. These stats don’t exactly apply to me you say.”
But they do.
Your people are nestled snugly within these stats. You need to know where your customers hang out. And then you need to be there too.
According to Google, 46% of B2B research is done by millennial. 73% of millennial employees are involved in buying B2B products or play a role in the decision.
Half of all B2B search queries are done on mobile and by the time the average buyer gets to you they’re 57% of the way through the buying process. 62% of buyers make a decision by what they see online. This means your online presence makes or breaks the deal. Nearly half of buyers will leave your website because it’s not clear what you do.
Sales cycles are 22% longer than they were 5 years ago. Imagine how much easier it would be to sell when you’re website tells the right story in the right way to the right people. Imagine how much lower your cost of sales.
Especially when 9 out of 10 B2B buyers say online content has a moderate to major effect on purchasing decisions according to the CMO council.
Until you get your story straight online, any investment in advertising is wasteful.
Go to the source: your customers.
Your marketing dashboard tells one story and you can – and should – test your messages. But to find out how effective your content at telling your story, ask your customers. Invite them in and ask them if they understand what you’re saying. Listen well and you’ll know how they think and what’s important to them. Knowing that helps you know where to focus your content.
Make your customers see who you are and why you matter. Then move them to connecting and trusting you through consistently being damn good at what you do.