Inbound Marketing to the B2B Buying Cycle is a Process
When people find your business on the internet, they begin a process of discovery, trust building and risk assessment with your company.
And they use your content to work their way through this process. They read your blog, download your whitepapers, watch your videos and attend your webinars. As they do this, they move farther down the sales funnel toward establishing a business relationship with your company.
Effectively using Inbound Marketing to respond to a B2B Buying Cycle is not about hitting home runs. It’s about the daily grind of hitting singles and doubles. It’s a war of attrition.
This, in a nutshell, is how you can use inbound marketing along your prospect’s B2B buying cycle.
The Stages of a B2B Buyer
While every potential customer is different, we’ve identified seven stages that many prospects will go through if your inbound marketing efforts are successful:
- Visitors
- Followers
- Engaged
- Prospects
- Leads
- Opportunities
- Customers
As a marketer, it’s your responsibility to move them through these stages. Over time, you will create a nurtured relationship of trust that forms the foundation of a business relationship.
A New Series – Inbound Marketing to the B2B Buying Cycle
Over the next couple weeks, Spark will explore this topic in a new blog series entitled – The Inbound Marketing to the B2B Buying Cycle.
We’ll explain each stage in detail and go over what type of content you should publish in each stage and what kind of behavior you’d should encourage your prospects to exhibit.
And of course, we’d like to hear your comments and start a dialogue that gets into the details. Should be loads of fun! Come back early and often!
By the way, don’t forget to check out our latest inbound marketing infographic to find out why you should work with an inbound marketing agency.
While you’re at it, take a look at our latest latest whitepapers – The Essential Guide to Internet Marketing as well.
Posted by SparkMarketing on January 19, 2012 |
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Tags: B2B buying cycle, b2b lead generation, content marketing, customer personas, Inbound Marketing, social media marketing, target market personas
[...] Via Scoop.it – B2B Marketing, Strategy & Business When people find your business on the internet, they begin a process of discovery, trust building and risk assessment with your company. And they use your content to work their way through this process. They read your blog, download your whitepapers, watch your videos and attend your webinars. As they do this, they move farther down the sales funnel toward establishing a business relationship with your company. Read more: www.sparkinboundmarketing.com [...]