In the realm of advertising, particularly in the B2B landscape, understanding and defining your audience is a critical first step. B2B marketing presents unique challenges, as it requires targeting a specific and discerning audience that can greatly impact the success of your product or service.
By gaining a deep understanding of this audience, you can map out their customer journey and tailor your approach accordingly. In this article, we will explore the significance of B2B user personas and journey definitions within the context of programmatic advertising.
We will unravel the stages of the ideal customer’s journey, from problem identification to purchase decision, highlighting the importance of each step along the way. By working through the user journey you’ll be unlocking the potential for enhanced engagement and conversions in your programmatic advertising campaigns.
Step 1) Who Is Your Audience?
Define Your Ideal Customer Profile
- What industries or verticals are you currently serving or intending to target?
- What are the key characteristics of your ideal customers, such as company size, revenue, and location?
- What specific roles or job titles within organizations are most relevant to your product or service?
- Are there specific market segments within those industries that exhibit unique needs or characteristics?
- What are the growth prospects and competitive landscape of each industry?
- Are there any specific factors like technology adoption, purchasing power, or regulatory requirements that impact your target industries?
- How does your product or service address those pain points and fulfill their needs?
- Are there any specific goals or objectives that companies in your target industries strive to achieve?
Step 2) Outline Your Customer Purchase Journey
B2B decision-making involves careful consideration, extensive research, and multiple stakeholders. Understanding this extended journey is crucial for B2B marketers to craft effective advertising campaigns.
The journey typically unfolds through several stages, including awareness, consideration, intent, and conversion. At each stage, B2B buyers go through distinct thought processes and engage in different activities to move closer to making a purchasing decision.
It is essential to note that every step in this journey holds significance, as skipping one can disrupt the overall decision-making process. In this article, we will explore the various stages of the B2B purchase journey and shed light on the importance of considering each stage in programmatic advertising campaigns.
- AWARENESS: Problem Identification – “We need to do something”
- CONSIDERATION: Solution Exploration & Requirements Building – “What’s out there to solve our problem?” “What do we need to purchase to do so?”
- INTENT: Supplier Selection – “Does this do what we want it to do?”
- CONVERSION: Purchase Decision – “We found the product we need!”
What’s important to note throughout this journey, is that every step matters – you can’t skip one to get to another.
CONNECTING TO THE B2B BUYING JOURNEY
You want to be getting in front of your target audience throughout every step of the customer journey. With programmatic advertising, you’re able to do that by making sure you’re serving the right digital ads to the right B2B audiences to influence the complex buying journey.
- Problem Identification: “We need to do something.”
- Branding and Awareness
- Blog content (ungated), Videos, Infographics
- Solution Exploration: “What’s out there to solve our problem?”
- Whitepaper download
- Broad keyword search
- Exploring supplier sites
- Target users showing intent
- Requirements Building: “What do we need to purchase to do so?”
- Webinars
- Specific keyword intent
- Suppliers’ buying guide download
- Supplier Selection: “Does this do what we want it to do?”
- Retargeting ads
- Competitor comparison
- Analyst reports
- Case studies
- Purchase Decision: “We found the product we need!”
- CRM data logged
- CRM retargeting
- Dialogue with sales
Looking at each step of this journey and making sure that you have content and collateral that speaks to the needs of the customers along the way is extremely important.
In conclusion, identifying the B2B ideal customer persona and understanding the stages of the buyer’s journey are fundamental steps in developing successful programmatic advertising campaigns.
By meticulously defining your ideal customer profile and conducting thorough research on industry verticals, you can create industry-specific profiles that encompass the unique demographics, firmographics, pain points, and needs of your target audience. Furthermore, recognizing the multi-stage nature of the buyer’s journey enables you to craft tailored messaging and strategies for each stage, from problem identification to purchase decision.
Programmatic advertising, with its ability to leverage various ad formats including display, native, video, audio, and connected TV, offers a layered approach to connect with, educate, and convert your audience at every step of the journey. Embracing the power of programmatic advertising across ad formats empowers B2B marketers to drive engagement, build relationships, and ultimately achieve their business goals.
So, take the leap and leverage the full potential of programmatic advertising to forge meaningful connections and thrive in the B2B landscape.
