#1 B2B Marketing Book to Read in 2024?

B2B marketing tips form the book "Tranforming the B2B Buyer Journey" by the CMO of PwC.
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Reputation is the #1 reason buyers choose one company over another
Overinvest in the middle of funnel? CMO Joe Pettifer: 60% consideration, 20% brand, 20% supporting sales
Allocate budget between brand and lead generation
“brand investment can have as much impact closing pipeline as driving future business
performance”
If a large % of revenue comes from a small # of clients, you can focus on ABM and increasing wallet share
Don’t think of a funnel so much as a framework with people at various stages needing information
Buyers can be in a # of phases simultaneously
People in buying decision
Senior people with a high-level view (ambiguous problems)
Functional buyers with clear problems (and often a shortlist of vendors)
Mitigate risk (internal reputation)
Implementation requires several departments
~7 ppl involve in buying decisions (100-500 employees)
Prospects going deeper into decision making without talking to sales (digital channels)
57% done before engaging sales
B2B brands compete with B2C brands for attention
Search and websites are critical to research (Jason Lemkin says your website should look better than your product)
Change service providers once every 5 years (20% in market during a year)
Budgets set annual but returns can be many years out
Precise targeting may be more lucrative (ABM)
Buyers of complex solutions only spend 17% of time interacting directly with sales…if they speak to 3 vendors, only 5-6% spent with your sales team!
Ascertain where people are before sending them to sales
Nudge them to the next stage in buying where buyer needs change
5 stages of the buyer journey
Horizon Scanner
Senior people looking for insights into a new problem/opportunity
Seeking opinions and insights about growth or competitive advantage
Data, points of view, expert opinions
How emerging trends affect strategy
Thought leadership, ideas NOT SOLUTIONS
Needs to be presented in third-party publications or events that you do not own
Peers, analysts
APPEAL TO JOURNALISTS BY HAVING AN ANGLE: new insight or data
Key objective: Position as expert to create or address unstated buyer needs
Explorer
Formulate problem at a high level
Define a POV relevant to the company for a new problem or opportunity
Opinions and ideas about what others are doing
High level business case
“the biggest competition you face is your customers deciding they can go it alone, that they can postpone the decision to a layer date or not act all”
Key objective: Create a market for what you sell and imperative to act
Hunter:
Know what product they need
May be switching
Maybe a specific need due to regulation
Clear idea of requirements
Want to know your track record in delivering and what differentiates you
Want technical expertise, opinions, and evidence you can help them
Detailed info and proof points
Key objective: Differentiate, be easy to buy
Active Buyer:
Shortlist of companies
How you are better than competition
Practical details
Timely responses
Pitches
Key objective: Accelerate decision-making & pipeline
Client:
Feedback
Referrals
Key objective: Loyalty, increase share of wallet
Note difference between strategic thought leadership and detailed functional info
Note difference in KPIs-1st stage may apply to a very small # of people so traffic measurements are almost useless
TAM likely to change through stages (smaller at the top!)
Your role in each stage
Horizon Scanner
address undefined buyer needs
influence peers, regulators, journalists, market observers
give fresh insights
focus on themes and issues that matter
Explorer
engage with your company
create a market for your solutions
key challenges are procrastination, inertia, believing they can do it themselves
convince them that they need a third party
POV on what is happening in the market
High level to specific
“Will capital solve climate change?” → “Retooling banks for sustainable lending”
Hunter
differentiate and demonstrate you can achieve outcomes
Active Buyer
features, benefits, technical specs
make it easy to buy from you
Client
make them know the full breadth of your offerings
3 types of metrics:
Input: # of blogs, events, pitch docs, demo vids
Output: pipeline, won revenue, NPS, brand equity
Indicator: likelihood of hitting target
Case studies, detailed product info
Horizon Scanner
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Prospect doesn’t know what they want or if they want anything!
macroeconomic trends (tech, demographics, supply chain bottlenecks)
info to inform strategy
position yourself as expert in your field or category leader in market
educate buyers
outreach to journalists, analysts, regulators, policy makers
articulate problems you solve
work with partners, industry associations