Does your company sell products or services to other organizations? Do you rely solely on your sales team to reach out and build relationships with key decision makers on the buyer's team? If you answered yes and haven’t yet taken an online approach, you are missing out on generating business for your company. According to Gartner, when B2B buyers are considering a purchase, 27% of time is spent on researching online, and only 17% meeting with potential suppliers.
Just like you have a physical location, an office, where your customers visit you for meetings, your employees work, your website is your online location. It is where you showcase your brand, your products and services to your prospects, to your present and future employees, to your competitors and to the industry at large. In this day and age, being online is not an option, but mandatory for growing your business.
So what does a website do for you?
It establishes you online
Helps you build your brand
Helps new potential clients discover you
Helps you with business leads
Helps with other digital marketing initiatives
1.It establishes you online - With the shift in consumer behavior where more and more people are on their mobile phones searching for products and services, your prospective customers are online, looking for businesses like you. So being online is key to letting them know that you exist, what you bring to the marketplace in terms of your offerings and how you can solve their pain points.
2.It builds your brand - What does your brand stand for? How do your product offerings compare with those of your competitors? How does the customer experience your business and recognize you? Your website gives you an opportunity to introduce and showcase who you are and what you stand for. It gives you an opportunity to set your brand apart and allows your current and prospective customers a chance to engage and experience your organization.
3.New prospective customers - A well optimized , efficient website allows you to get in front of new potential customers before your sales team does. With the right keywords and SEO, your website can start appearing in the search results, and your prospects while searching for products like yours, can discover your company.
4.Business Leads - Once your prospect has discovered you through your website, they get a chance to review your company and your products and services. They can read case studies, white papers, customer reviews that instills confidence and credibility. Should they find it interesting, they can request product demos or meetings with your sales team.
5.Digital Marketing Initiatives - If you plan on leveraging social media marketing or PPC campaigns for creating awareness or growing your business, you will need an effective website or a landing page to direct traffic to. These would be your potential clients who are interested in your products and services .
In consulting with B2B Startups, I often find a lot of emphasis on direct sales but online presence still takes a back seat. The key is to realize the importance of it and get started now. Allow your website to complement your sales and marketing efforts and help the buyer move along their multi-channel purchase path.
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