B2B Marketing's New Normal: How to Adapt to an Omnichannel World

Omnichannel marketing is a customer-centric approach to B2B digital marketing whose time has come. If you are unfamiliar with the omnichannel approach, we recommend reading this primer to get up to speed.

Recent studies show omnichannel is rapidly becoming the new standard for B2B. If your business has not already addressed this yet, the data clearly shows that you really have to.

Omnichannel B2B Sales: Everything, Everywhere, Every Time

B2B customers have been clamouring for omnichannel sales for years. They want the same flexible shopping experience they enjoy in B2C, where they can hop between marketing channels on a self-paced journey. Where brands are immediately available via social media and sales reps respond to calls or emails within a couple of hours. Where they can start with a virtual demo and later meet product or service specialists on-site to discuss tailored solutions for their situation.

Most of all, B2B buyers are tired of having to repeat themselves constantly. They want channels integrated into a seamless experience with intuitive interfaces and warm transitions.

Historically, B2B sales and marketing have been slow to respond to customers’ omnichannel demands. Yes, the industry was gradually—sometimes begrudgingly—undergoing a digital transformation and shifting to multichannel marketing. However, there was a firmly entrenched belief in the superiority of the traditional (i.e. in-person) sales model.

The emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 threw everything into question. With lockdowns preventing in-person customer engagements, it forced B2B sales teams to digitise more quickly and pivot to remote and self-service channels.

In the pandemic's wake, some organisations went all in on e-commerce. Others reverted to prioritising field sales. However, a majority of B2B businesses have seen the light of providing a flexible experience over a ‘one-channel-to-rule-them-all’ model. They finally understand the value of what customers have wanted all along: a balanced approach across many channels.

Four Reasons Why Your B2B Sales & Marketing Strategy Needs to Be Omnichannel

1. Omnichannel Is More Effective Than Traditional B2B Sales Models

As more companies adopt an omnichannel approach, satisfaction with the sales model has grown exponentially. In their 2022 B2B Global Pulse report, McKinsey found companies were nearly unanimous. Their current omnichannel sales model was more effective than their traditional, pre-pandemic model. In a 2022 Forrester survey of omnichannel marketing in Europe, 70% of respondents expected omnichannel would ‘help them establish either a significant or market-leading competitive advantage.’

For businesses, an omnichannel approach makes their work easier and enables greater sales growth. It streamlines operations, creates a 360° audience profile, and helps suppliers fulfil orders and provide great customer service. From the buyer’s perspective, they enjoy a seamless experience with no clumsy handovers from marketing to sales to customer service.

2. B2B Customers Are Using More Channels Than Ever Before

B2B buyers increasingly prefer to do business across multiple channels. Only a few years ago, offering four or five marketing channels was pushing the limits of the B2B multichannel experience. According to McKinsey, buyers now expect to operate seamlessly across ten or more channels throughout their purchase journey. And they have rewarded B2B brands meeting their demands with faster market share gains.

B2B buyers have also settled into using a pretty evenly divided mix of traditional (e.g., in-person), remote (emails, phone, and video), and self-service interactions. However, this new ‘rule of thirds’ can still vary, depending on the stage or type of purchase. For example, McKinsey found B2B buyers are more likely to prefer in-person interactions for first-time, high-value, or complex sales. Meanwhile, self-serve appears to be the more attractive option for lower-value or less complicated sales.

3. Changing Expectations Are Eroding Customer Loyalty

B2B buyers have embraced omnichannel interactions and are very clear about what they want from vendors. And they are no longer willing to settle for suppliers who provide a lackluster experience—no matter how long-standing the relationship is.

Instead of perks like free shipping, virtual product demos, or loyalty programs, the new top five ‘must haves’ for modern B2B buyers are:

• Performance guarantee (i.e. full refund),

• Product availability shown online,

• Ability to purchase from any channel,

• Real-time/always-on customer service,

• Consistent experience across channels.

These options provide decision-makers with more flexibility, and they are now very willing to switch suppliers to gain access to them. Buyers' increasing brand agnosticism certainly presents a challenge. However, it is also a growth opportunity for B2B brands that can deliver exceptional omnichannel experiences. By committing to innovation and user satisfaction, companies can reduce churn rates and entice new buyers away from competitors.

4. B2B Buyers Are Willing to Spend More Remotely.

Because of the pandemic, B2B buyers have grown more accustomed to making high-value purchases via digital self-service and remote channels. According to McKinsey, 33% of B2B decision-makers are now willing to spend between $50,000 and $500,000 online. Another 20% are comfortable spending between $500,000 and $5 million on a single interaction on remote or self-service channels.

Comfort with large digital purchases is robust in China, India, and the United States. In those markets, roughly 20% of decision-makers are open to spending $1 million+ on remote or digital transactions.

How B2B Marketers Can Get Omnichannel Marketing Right

The Forrester study uncovered a significant gap between respondents’ self-perceived proficiency versus their actual capacity to deliver omnichannel experiences. To win in the new omnichannel world, B2B brands must put customers and their needs at the centre of their experience.

Orchestrate Your Customer Journey

An orchestra conductor develops, balances, and enhances a piece of music to create an exquisite listening experience. So, too, should sales and marketing teams act as ‘journey orchestrators’ and optimize different channels to create exceptional customer experiences.

Mapping your customer journey and conducting extensive research about your target audience is vital to success. For example, using CRM tools that provide visibility into customer preferences at each touchpoint throughout the decision journey. Or reviewing customer service logs to uncover pain points you can resolve proactively. And using techniques like stakeholder analysis and influence mapping to understand internal power dynamics.

This attention to detail will help you effectively discern what content and interactions are most helpful for different stakeholders across the buyers' journey.

Also, use resource modeling and planning tools to update accounts and have a more agile approach towards resource allocation. Rather than waiting to realign resources once a year (as is typical), consider doing so on a quarterly, or even monthly, basis.

Enable Cross-functional Integration

Many businesses struggle with implementing omnichannel marketing campaigns because they treat channels as individual tools rather than interconnected pieces of an engine. To create seamless end-to-end omnichannel experiences, B2B brands must enable agile cross-functional collaboration across marketing, sales, and customer service.

You build true omnichannel experiences on a strong digital foundation. B2B brands must invest in the right technology, such as advanced analytics, and integrated sales & marketing automation platforms. You want a scalable system that is effective across the customer lifecycle and provides a consistent, high-quality, engaging customer experience.

Building this digital infrastructure requires a close relationship between IT, marketing, sales, and operations, as well as direct connections to customers. Bringing together disparate data will help you build the digital capabilities for creating a seamless experience that resonates with customers.

Re-imagine Your Sale Roles

Beyond investing in your technological integration, you will need to ramp up the hiring, training, and capability-building of team members.

The emergence of omnichannel has caused traditional sales roles (like field sales and inside sales) to evolve into a hybrid role. Returning to our previous point about the ‘rule of thirds’, hybrid sellers employ in-person, remote, and digital self-serve interactions to help close deals.

They also adopt a more ‘value-creation’ mindset. For example, partnering with customers to design tailored value propositions and constructing unique pricing arrangements. Doing so makes them better equipped to meet B2B buyers’ growing demands for a seamless, omnichannel experience with a humanised twist.

Personalise Everything

Providing personalised outreach, with speed and expertise across all channels, needs to become the de facto way of engaging with buyers.

However, creating a personalised, omnichannel experience depends on effective data collection and management. To be sustainable and effective in today’s privacy-first world, brands must put the customer relationship at the core of how they approach data. Companies need to build transparent, permission-based relationships with users that offer true value exchange.

Getting this new data relationship right could provide a significant, long-term competitive advantage as data regulations and technologies continue to evolve.

Build Your Own Platform

Market-share leaders are transforming their branded websites into fully fledged platforms. Instead of serving as just another marketing channel, the website becomes a hub for buyers, sellers, vendors, and other stakeholders.

In particular, leading brands are embracing the idea of online B2B marketplaces. According to McKinsey, 72% of companies that built their own marketplace experienced market-share growth over the past two years. In comparison, only 42% of companies that did not build a marketplace saw share growth—a difference of 1.7x.

When done correctly, platformisation creates an engagement engine that reduces friction for your customer and speeds up the B2B buying cycle. For instance, a marketplace offers B2B buyers one-stop shopping, where they can easily compare vendors and enjoy faster and cheaper delivery.

How to Assess the Maturity of Your Omnichannel Experience

While many B2B companies are taking the omnichannel message on board, they are still adapting more slowly than their clients are. And that means they are in danger of being left behind or disappointing expectations. However, you don’t have to make the same mistake!

To take action and effectively drive an omnichannel transformation at your organisation, start by assessing your current marketing and sales situation. What tools and systems do you currently have in place and what capabilities do you still need to develop? Doing so will help you effectively direct resources as you transform your marketing and sales strategy into an omnichannel experience.

Level 1. You have multiple channels in place, but they largely operate in isolation rather than as part of an integrated customer experience. To build an omnichannel model, your focus should be on:

• Reimagining your sales and B2B marketing strategies with customer experience at the centre. For example, using strategies like journey-based advertising and account-based marketing.

• Working to overcome ‘silo mindsets’ in your organisation and implement an end-to-end purchase journey.

• Updating role descriptions for key functions (such as sales reps and customer care) and helping existing team members develop hybrid capabilities.

• Putting mechanisms in place to manage channel conflicts (e.g., cross-channel incentives and audience segmentation).

Level 2. You have a basic omnichannel model in place and are looking to refine your approach. At this stage, seek to:

• Build up your first-party data infrastructure using consent-based collection methods.

• Leverage data-driven insights across channels to generate leads and capture growth (for example, to optimise territory planning).

• Integrate marketing and sales automation as standard parts of the customer journey (for instance, using AI-powered chatbots).

• Implement more advanced website personalisation and fully integrate it into your customer journey.

Level 3. Your company has a well-established omnichannel marketing strategy. Now you are seeking additional ways to speed up growth. Some ways forward include:

• Expanding your website’s capabilities as a platform, integrating tools and features your existing customers use.

• Building your own commerce portal or partnering with an e-commerce marketplace.

• Incorporating mobile apps, offline experiences, and emerging channels into your CX design.

• Ensuring that you are providing the five top-tier experiences (performance guaranteed, real-time customer service, etc.) B2B buyers want.

A Holistic Approach to B2B Sales and Marketing

Getting omnichannel marketing strategy right will take imagination, planning, and resources, but it is worth the effort. Rather than continually catching up to customers’ demands, your business can take the lead in delivering a new level of performance. By leaning into omnichannel, it will better equip you to forge mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with next-generation B2B buyers.

Contact 1827 Marketing to learn how our expert strategists and automation solutions can help you build next-level, omnichannel campaigns that drive greater ROI.