New research published in the Harvard Business Review points to the importance of your brand being first to mind even in complex, long-lead B2B purchases as 90% of the time buyers will simply choose a brand they know prior to beginning the search process.
As a result, the article argues, brands tend to place way too much emphasis on channels aimed at converting demand rather than building it, adding to a growing body of evidence about the importance of brand-building (or creating future demand among potential buyers) to the B2B space.
Why it matters
Some brands continue to rely too heavily on short-term digital advertising that is often product-led and rationally aimed at in-market buyers.
This limits their growth potential. While some surveys suggest the importance of brand is growing among business-focussed brands, and academic researchers have established ways to model the kind of memory creation the Bain researchers identify, it is not yet mainstream thinking.
What’s going on
Based on a survey of 1,208 workers at US companies tasked with buying software, cloud hosting, hardware, telecommunications, logistics, marketing, or industrial equipment, and an additional 10 in-depth interviews to flesh out the themes.
- 90% of buyers ultimately choose a vendor they had in mind before they began researching the purchase.
- Word of mouth is very important, with recommendations from colleagues a vital aspect of the purchase decision. This implies that memory creation beyond the individual buyer.
- Previous experience with a vendor is critical, and helps brands to be bought even as buyers move jobs.
- Digital experiences and demonstration experiences are both often underdone. Discoverability and online presence means that digital experience must live beyond the company website.
Understand buying tiers
B2B buying is usually done by committee, with personal motivations often making decisions more about not getting the task wrong rather than buying the very best.
Bain identifies three tiers:
- Ultimate approvers
- Core committee (researchers – typically the most important tier)
- Internal influencers (often the users).
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