Effectieve en hedendaagse B2B marketing
onderzoek naar effectieve marketingstrategieën en marketingactiviteiten op de zakelijke marktEffectieve en hedendaagse B2B marketing
onderzoek naar effectieve marketingstrategieën en marketingactiviteiten op de zakelijke marktSamenvatting
Introduction
This thesis examines the effectiveness of marketing strategies and marketing activities, commissioned by Crossphase. Crossphase is active on a business-to-business (B2B) market and focuses on Fortune 500 companies. The use of cold-calling is a strenuous and often lenghty sales process which sparked an idea to the author’s research.
The scope of this research aims to ease the sales process by raising awareness to the marketing industry that the original method of cold-calling is not the way forward. The new process will extend the reach of potential customers and create awareness, granting essential benefits to a company in the modern and digital era.
Method of research
This research focuses on two areas: (1) information needs of the Decision Making Unit (DMU) and (2) modern and effective B2B marketing. The general information needs of the DMU are examined with the aid of a research that has already been conducted in year 2015. This initial research was aimed to uncover the behaviours that characterise the B2B buying process. Thereafter, all aspects of modern and effective B2B marketing are mapped out by conducting six expert interviews with B2B marketers.
Results
This research reveals that co-creation with customers is the key ingredient of a successful B2B marketing strategy. Generally B2B buyers go through two phases in the buying process: (1) cognitive development and (2) affective reactions. This research shows that B2B marketing can have a positive influence on the decision by: (1) transferring knowledge (phase 1) and (2) offering added value by acting on the emotional aspect (phase 2). The knowledge that is transferred has to connect to the information needs of the DMU. In this study the buyer’s journey emerges as a useful tool to decipher the exact information needs of the DMU in each phases of the buying process: awareness, consideration and decision. In order to map out the buyer’s journey interviews with prospects and customers are required. Based on the questions that customers have during the buyer’s journey, relevant content can be created resulting in co-creation.
Thereafter, this research reveals two effective marketing strategies to act on the behaviours of buyers. The first one is an inbound strategy, which means companies use relevant and informative content as an attraction to lure potential customers to their corporate website. The use of this strategy is effective, because at some point during the buying process Google will play a (major) role. The second strategy that was found effective is an account-based strategy. This includes 1-on-1 marketing and works best with big companies.
Recommendation
Crossphase is advised to make use of a two-track marketing strategy, both inbound and-account based. The inbound strategy includes activities on the areas of content marketing, search engine optimization and social media marketing; the account-based strategy includes customer-focused marketing campaigns to approach prospects or to nurture current customers. The account-based strategy requires a significant investment in personal contact.
Organisatie | Hogeschool Leiden |
Opleiding | Commerciële Economie |
Afdeling | Faculteit M&B |
Partner | Crossphase |
Datum | 2017-02-22 |
Type | Bachelor |
Taal | Nederlands |