How to Reach Seemingly Unreachable Customers
Consider what the following environmental factors have in common:
Greater distrust of the press, social media, online reviews, influencers and advertising
The rise in untraceable online conversations (often termed Dark Social)
The rising popularity of live events, private communities and partnership sales
These are just some of the indicators that we are in an environment where consumers, including B2B buyers, rely more heavily on Word-of-Mouth for their purchase decisions.
Consider that over the last 15 years, B2B Marketing has been synonymous with Growth Hacker, Revenue Marketing. Over that period, you were seen as a leader if you knew your tech stack and analytics and were well-versed in Marketing Automation, Pay-per-Click Advertising, Search Engine Optimization, Cold Outreach, Social Media Advertising, Influencer Marketing, Account-Based Marketing and Conversion Rate Optimization.
Those days are gone.
A recent Gallop survey reports that "Just 8% of American adults rate the honesty and ethical standards of advertising practitioners (A.K.A marketers) as 'very high' (1%) or 'high' (7%)."
A March 2024 Price-Waterhouse Cooper survey reported that "just 30% of consumers trusted the companies they interfaced with, and 4 out of 10 customers reported they no longer purchased from a company due to lack of trust."
Signs of the Times
In recent years, B2B companies have had to adapt to a changing marketplace with high inflation leading to increased budget scrutiny and an emphasis on Return On Investment (ROI). The rise of AI has further caused businesses to rethink their toolsets, teams and strategies. The speed of change, deficits in consumer trust, and reduced predictability have also led to a greater emphasis on efficient growth via trusted relationships.
According to GTM Partners 2024 Go-to-Marketing Benchmark Report, companies today are looking for efficient growth that comes from smarter spending, consolidation of tools and leveraging existing partners and ecosystems. GTM Partners suggests that B2B companies shift to inbound strategies including partner-led and event-led GTM motions.
At the same time, brands have moved to building private communities in order to increase customer loyalty and engagement. Recent statistics show a significant rise in monthly active users for community platforms like Slack and Discord. Another recent study, which examined 33.5 million reviews of bestselling products on Amazon, found that almost 43% were fake. Consumers know they're being manipulated and so they are seeking unbiased answers from their communities instead.
What's Old is New Again
"The secret to marketing success is no secret at all: Word of mouth is all that matters." ~ Seth Godin
We marketers are notorious for expending inordinate amounts of time, money and reputation trying to break through barriers to influence busy executives. While it has always been the case that executives at large companies were more difficult to reach, the increase in professionals working from home, along with the faster pace and added noise of everyday life, have driven executives to cordon themselves off even more to protect their time and attention.
As a marketer, I understand what it's like to face the challenge of reaching unreachable decision-makers who are less influenced by digital content and advertising. For the last 18 years, I've worked for technology startups where it was my job was to market to hard-to-reach executives at major retail, hospitality, automotive and healthcare brands. Decision-makers in companies like Ford, Coca-Cola, Under Armour, Delta, and Marriott are responsible for large, sophisticated operations and have little patience for emerging solutions unless they offer exceptional value, are proven to work at scale, and can be well-integrated into their existing ecosystems.
In light of that experience and the realities of the market today, I want to offer some specific recommendations for what B2B companies can do to increase Word-of-Mouth opportunities.
How to facilitate Word-of-Mouth in B2B
Just recently, I got to listen to a presentation from Ed Keller, the father of modern Word-of-Mouth Marketing. According to research by Ed Keller and Engagement Labs, "80-90% of Word-of-Mouth happens offline, and it is the number one driver of consumer behavior." This means the most impactful moment in any purchase is when one person speaks to another about their experiences.
Listen to this unequivocable quote from Greg Liebman, former Head of Research at Home Team Sports, a division of Fox Sports Media Group:
"I think today word of mouth is more important than ever, as consumers have become increasingly wary of "fake news" and product reviews. As Engagement Labs proves daily, the overwhelming majority of brand conversations do not occur online. Word of mouth is still driven by face-to-face (or Zoom) conversations between friends and family. Word of mouth continues to be the number one influencer on purchase decisions...NUMBER ONE!!!"
With today's executives innundated with noise and under pressure to perform with less time and limited resources, how can you penetrate the influential community surrounding them? The answer: You've got to get people talking, and that starts at the solution level.
For marketers to even get their messages in front of brand executives, the solutions they sell must be so remarkable that they naturally facilitate Word-of-Mouth. Our solutions have to have such an impact that they get people to take notice and move them to tell someone else about them.
The way I see it, this can be achieved in the following ways:
1. Provide exceptional, memorable experiences. (Zappos, Disney, Apple)
2. Leverage remarkable, showstopping creativity. (Dove, Pixar)
3. Be a unique source of valuable, relevant insights. (Hubspot, SparkToro)
4. Have a reputation for solving difficult problems. (IBM, SpaceX, Analyst Firms)
5. Offer innovative, game-changing, new capabilities. (Uber, Airbnb)
Once your solution is characterized by one or more of the above, you are ready to fully leverage Word-of-Mouth Marketing to circumvent the gatekeepers and get your business talked about inside the circles that matter.
"If you build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of Mouth is very powerful." ~ Jeff Bezos
The Marketing Tactics That Matter Now
So, which marketing approaches can we marketers use to reinforce the spread of our ideas and get our messages to resonate? These are the ones that have worked well for me:
1. Thought Leadership - Take a stand, demonstrate your expertise and facilitate aha! moments by authoring research-based content, speaking to groups, appearing on podcasts and being interviewed by publishers and the press.
2. Proprietary Research - Consider the report I shared (above) from GTM Partners. Executives leverage new research and insights to support decision-making.
3. Private Events - No one does this better than my friend, Retail Insider Cathy Hotka. At one of her events I attended, a team from our small technology startup sat in a room with 50 executive decision-makers from brands like Walmart, Tractor Supply and DSW as they shared their greatest challenges and best practices. Educational lunch-and-learns, dinners and socials are great ways to be a part of the conversation.
4. Partnerships - Partners have access and have built trust with accounts you may be looking to penetrate. Alliances allow buyers to consolidate and save time trying to find reputable complimentary solutions that integrate well with their existing investments.
5. Analysts & Consultants - Like partners, analysts and consultants are often already inside the circle of trust. Companies rely on them to ensure they remain a step ahead. Getting a recommendation from a trusted consultant or analyst can instantly boost your visibility and credibility with buyers.
6. Communities & Networking - As mentioned earlier, we rely on community members to act as sense-makers and suggest solutions that are trusted and well-suited for us. Bringing people together to support one another conveys something positive about the brand, facilitates connections, and places the brand at the center of Word-of-Mouth conversations.
Inbound, Word-of-Mouth Marketing is imperative at a time when consumers are distrusting and disaffected by advertising, social media, email marketing and influencers. I hope the perspectives and strategies I offered in this article will help you break through the noise, generate more Word-of-Mouth impressions and build momentum in the marketplace.