Managing the threat and exploiting the opportunity.
If you think your buyers are getting younger, you’re right!
According to a 2015 Google report The Changing Face of the B2B Researcher there has been a dramatic shift in the B2B researcher demographic. “Back in 2012, there was a pretty even mix across age groups. In 2014, however, 18- to 34-year-olds account for almost half of all researchers, an increase of 70%.” This number is still growing. In fact some reports put the percent of millennials directly involved in the B2B buying process at around 70%.
So what does this mean to commercial/industrial B2B companies?
It means a lot! The millennial generation was born, not with a silver spoon in their mouth, but rather with an iPhone in their hand. It’s caused a fundamental change in the buying process. Not just for consumer products (think Amazon) but for all companies.
It’s a change that has been identified, studied and named. Forrester research calls it “The Age of the Customer.” Google calls it the “Zero Moment of Truth.” But whatever you call it, what it means is that the customer has taken control of the buying process, and whether you are part of that process or not depends largely on your ability to adapt.
Are you Agile enough to Adapt?
Two words are key – digital and information.
Millennial Buyers are using their iPhones and other digital devices to do the bulk of their research and buying. Even if you sell complex and expensive industrial products that don’t fit in a digital shopping cart, most of the pre-purchase research is still happening online. This means you need to be engaging with customers online. If you’re not they will move on to your competition.
Which brings us to information. In the digital marketing world we call it “content” and it is the stuff that the millennial buyers are looking for on their digital devices.
Have you ever walked by a coffee shop, seen a group of young people glued to their phones and devices and thought “what on earth are they doing on those things all the time?” Well, the answer might be “researching how to buy something you sell.”
Ok, stick with me because this is where it gets good.
The hungry millennial researcher is desperate for information and in their game the best source of information wins … or at least has a distinct competitive advantage. So, if you’re the one feeding them, the “industry expert”, the “go-to” source, you’re not just steps, you’re miles ahead of your competition.
But to win this internet game, you must play by the rules, and these are:
- The information you provide needs to be available on their terms - online, all the time.
- It must be primarily solution focused NOT product focused. The information they want is not specific to your product, it’s on the general industry.
- Lastly, it must be free and readily available. Obviously you are not going to be giving away all your secret recipes but you are going to need to give them a lot. The payoff is worth it.
Ignoring the Millennial buyer is a serious threat to your business. But there is good news. Many small- and medium-sized B2B companies have not yet formulated well conceived, diligently executed plans so the opportunity to get a huge head start on your competition is now.
Millennial buyers are just one peice of the puzzle.
If you want to better understand what a complete digital strategy looks like for legacy companies read this FREE ebook. Written for business people born before the interet.
