(Emotional) Industrial Marketing for Today’s Economy

Industrial websites face plenty of challenges when it comes to the complex B2B buying cycle, especially when the purchases are costly. A whitepaper from GlobalSpec points out that the number of decision makers in a purchase is rarely made by one person; in fact only 7% make purchase decisions on their own. And the greater the cost, the more decision makers are involved in the process.

Because multiple people with varying roles are involved, your website needs to have multiple formats and multiple types of information to address their questions. Each one has unique concerns that need to be addressed, and none of them want to look or feel stupid.

Additionally, with today’s sluggish economy, many of the people involved in the purchase cycle are stretching beyond their normal work duties. With companies trying to do more with less, some decision makers are covering the workload of 2 or 3 people. And, with the lack of job security, the fear of costing the company money or losing one’s job over a poor purchase decision just adds to the challenge of gaining new business.

So how can you make sure to address both the informational and emotional needs of all these different players? Here are a few ideas that you can use to create trust and make it a “no brainer” for customers to choose you:

Decision Making Tools – Do your customers even know what questions to ask to ensure they get the best product for their application? If they don’t, try product configurators with guided questions that help them decide. You can also provide tools like RFP templates or checklists to help them ask the right questions when talking with sales reps.

Printable Information – Make it easy for customers to share information with the other buyers in the purchase process. Give access to printable data sheets, product specs and any other information they can use to help sell your product or service to the other members of their team.

Online Videos – Use short, informative videos to explain complex ideas or showcase product features. Make it clear why your product or service is a better solution to their problem.

Product Comparisons – If you have multiple products that have slightly different features or can be used for multiple applications, provide comparison charts that clearly spell out those differences.

Guarantees – Do you guarantee that your product will perform a certain way, arrive within short timelines or hold up under tough conditions? Tell potential customers about it. Let them know that doing business with you is not a high-risk situation.

Case Studies and Whitepapers – Show off the knowledge and expertise contained within your walls with whitepapers, research or real life case studies. This kind of complementary information can help position you as the thought leader or industry expert and give you instant credibility.

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