Search Optimization | Digital Commerce 360

How to acquire more B2B customers in 2024

Andrea Duffy-Cabana — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 23:02:46 +0000

The uncertain economy has made it harder for B2B buyers to make purchases. The purchase cycle is longer, with more scrutiny on every dollar spent. When every sale is harder, B2B marketers turn their attention to increasing new customer acquisition to have more prospects in the pipeline. And that’s exactly what they did in 2023, with 57% focused on creating new demand in the market.

Finding new leads has proven to be a challenge, with low lead volume identified as a primary pain point. There are a lot of different factors that could be contributing to the new-lead drought that goes beyond tightened budgets. B2B marketers are contending with a new world of buyers who are much more digitally focused than even a few years ago. They act more like B2C consumers and want content and experiences that engage them.

It’s a tough situation for marketers to address with limited resources. Yet, despite a constrained budget, B2B marketers have opportunities in 2024 to adjust their approach and improve acquisition rates.

Rethink Top of Funnel Tactics

If B2B buyers are starting to act more like B2C consumers, then B2B marketers need to follow suit, which means trying new early funnel tactics. Everything from YouTube to Instagram should be on the table for testing in 2024. I often hear from B2B marketers that social media other than LinkedIn isn’t a good fit for their brand, but that’s often not proven out in an actual test. B2B buyers are people, and they definitely go to social media!

These social channels will become more prominent in the B2B buyer journey as younger generations get buying power at work. GenZ adults like YouTube the best and watch ads on the platform. They use the platform to look for information and to learn, not just to be entertained.

While making special creative for different social platforms used to be timely and costly,

the industry no longer has an excuse. Generative AI like Midjourney can repurpose creative that already exists into formats that fit each platform’s specifications in mere minutes. These platforms are also built to help advertisers with a library of templates, tips, and reports to help with testing.

Simplify Non-Brand Search

What better way to find new customers than for them to find you? Non-branded search can be a valuable way to drive self-guided buyers to content on the site without hard selling. And there are a lot of buyers who are doing more research online than ever before.

With Google’s push to more automated campaign types like Performance Max, I’ve seen less investment in pure non-brand search. Performance Max and automated campaigns like it go after the lowest-hanging fruit. People searching for a specific brand or product name might have already converted anyway, while non-branded search represents an audience that might be net-new.

If this isn’t in the cards, B2B marketers can at least move budget to non-branded search to see how it affects the new-acquisition funnel. Chances are it will make a noticeable, positive difference.

Make It Easier to Convert

There are many unnoticed hurdles in every B2B purchase process. The website might be confusing, there might not be the right product information to download, or there could be a lack of all-important peer reviews. A B2B marketer’s job in 2024 is to remove as many hurdles as possible from the purchase process.

Marketers should put themselves in the shoes of a new customer and scrutinize their website. The goal is to make sure that the site makes it easy to research and purchase, with as few steps as possible along the way.

For example, the more concise a form is, the more leads a marketer will generate. Similarly, if site search doesn’t display the right information, prospects will leave and look for the information elsewhere. Now that more buyers are self-service, the checkout experience makes a difference. According to Shopify, changing from a multipage to a single-page checkout increases conversion rate by 22%.

Forrester Research notes that recommendations from peers are also an important part of the journey. If there are no case studies, customer stories or access to peers, it could turn prospects off.

Some B2B marketers are getting creative with the peer aspect of the buying cycle, creating communities and forums where prospects can ask questions and hear more about different use cases. This interactive strategy not only helps them with their understanding of a B2B company’s solution, but it also creates a positive connection to the brand!

Time to Start the Detective Work

Simply spending more to get more leads is not an option for most marketers in the current economic landscape, but it is still important to test new initiatives. Before starting any of these new tactics, it’s a good idea for B2B marketers to look at 2023 data and see where their best new acquisitions came from and what they did. Then, look at where there was the biggest drop-off in different parts of the journey. This data will highlight opportunities to find more good leads and to address issues that might have turned prospects away.

Marketers will get the best uplift if they can dive deep into the data as they test new tactics. Knowing not just the topline volume but also the type of leads and their value will help determine where to focus efforts.

About the author:

Andrea Duffy-Cabana is the Senior Director of Paid Media at Anteriad, where she helps B2B marketers maximize the value of their paid media strategies.

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Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn and be the first to know when we publish Digital Commerce 360 B2B News content.

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How generative AI is reshaping SEO strategies for businesses

Eugene Levin — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 22:39:45 +0000

Eugene Levin

Company leaders face a frenzy of interest about how generative AI will impact their businesses on many levels. The same can be said for online visibility because generative AI adds another dimension to the complex and competitive online landscape where businesses are constantly fighting for the attention of their target audiences. So, if companies adopt generative AI, will it replace search and the processes that they rely on to be successful?

The short answer is no. Prioritizing SEO is still extremely important for businesses, and generative AI is another tool in the toolbox that professionals can leverage to stay ahead of the curve, even as the technology evolves. Here’s how.

Experiment with generative AI tools to enhance your SEO strategy but lean into your human expertise.

At this point, business leaders cannot afford to not experiment with generative AI tools. Start by using tools that can make an immediate impact on important SEO tactics, including idea generation and content creation. However, do not simply rely on generative AI results. Generative AI is a tool, not a replacement for the critical thinking and creativity that humans are capable of.

Don’t get lazy and default to trusting these budding tools that are known to cite sources unreliably. Since the recent popularization of generative AI, we are seeing an increase in the creation of poor content that is polluting search engines, making it even harder for users to find quality content for what they are searching.

Quickly and accurately identifying high-quality, trustworthy content has long been a concern in the search space. Most of Google’s major algorithm updates are geared toward exactly that. Generative AI will require search engines to adapt to embrace AI-enhanced features while also vetting content trustworthiness, whether the content was developed by AI or humans.

Stay alert to changes with both emerging search engines and the industry leaders.

Even with the genesis of generative AI, no one is truly challenging Google — yet. But that’s going to change.

Data shows that Google searches for “Bing” are up 29% year-over-year, suggesting users may be curious about its new AI functionality. And as more search engines begin to leverage AI, more competitors will claim market share in the years to come. This competition will be great for businesses because they will be able to show up in and compete for more places online.

However, business leaders must continue the SEO strategies working for them on Google because search likely won’t drastically change as quickly as one might expect. The “traditional SERP” (search engine results page) has been gone for a while, and AI has already become part of search as we know it. There are instant answers, Featured Snippets, and other SERP features that are designed to immediately provide helpful information to users. The use of generative AI in search is a continuation of that trend.

To be aware of the constant changes in search engine algorithms and what Google, Bing and others are doing, trust your SEO team to monitor these changes and constantly come up with ways to adjust their strategies accordingly.

Use generative AI beyond basic search. Take it one step further to improve user experience.

Once your business begins leveraging generative AI for its search strategies, take things to the next level by using it to engage your customer base via automation and personalization. It’s easier than ever to do this, and it will add value to your audience and lead to growth in revenue.

Generative AI can enhance interactions between business owners and customers on several levels. The technology can create responses to business or product reviews in seconds, ultimately reducing reply time and unanswered reviews to nearly zero. This drives better customer engagement, better review scores, increased brand loyalty and incremental sales.

It can also analyze thousands of customer reviews and feedback inputs across multiple channels, like surveys and social media posts, to unveil themes, strengths, challenges, and areas to improve. The insights can then be applied to engage your audience with updates you’ll know they’ll appreciate. Business leaders should also use these tools to personalize targeted ads and product recommendations based on a customer’s behaviors and preferences even easier than before.

Though we’re watching generative AI technology evolve in real time, business leaders can stay on top of search to stay relevant and visible in the increasingly competitive online space, while also strategically experimenting as a business and improving customer engagement.

It’s imperative to experiment now to find what works for your business and be ready to pivot in the future as additional changes and advancements are made and search inevitably becomes more competitive.

About the author:

Eugene Levin is the president of Semrush, an online visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform.

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Strategy Insights: 9th Annual Marketing Survey & Digital Marketing Strategies

Digital Commerce 360 Staff — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:49:00 +0000

Marketers use a range of digital marketing tactics that vary in effectiveness. While marketers rank the staple digital marketing tactics — paid search and email marketing — as top revenue drivers, the other channels can be hit or miss.

Digital Commerce 360’s ninth annual marketing survey shows insights into what is happening with digital marketing budgets, what approaches are effective, and the adoption of growing tactics like AI and values-based marketing.

Download our July Strategy Insights Report to learn more about the retail marketing world, with including these articles written by Digital Commerce 360 editors:

“Why wacky ads work on TikTok, while sober is better for Facebook” investigates how marketers cater to different age groups on the various social media channels, and when they say it’s OK to repurpose content across platforms.
“9^th annual digital marketing survey: Retailers increase digital marketing spend” showcases results from the survey including which marketing tactics retailers use and which ones they rank as the most effective. Plus, insights into top digital marketing challenges and marketers using artificial intelligence, influencers and cause-based marketing.
“Retail media networks promise high returns for brands that can handle the workload” dives into the complexity of retail media networks and how that can make it difficult for smaller brands and retailers to compete with the big players.

Compliments of: Partnerize, melissa

The post Strategy Insights: 9th Annual Marketing Survey & Digital Marketing Strategies appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Take the Power of Search Into Your Own Hands

Winnie Lee — Mon, 15 May 2023 16:23:36 +0000

In the webinar “Take the Power of Search into Your Own Hands,” Kendra Guersoy, Sr. Solutions Consultant at Bloomreach, and Emily Snyder, Sr. Director of Merchandise Planning at Mejuri, will discuss strategies and techniques for businesses to maximize the potential of their search engine. They will share top tips and tricks on utilizing search to build customer loyalty and drive revenue growth, covering topics such as search engine algorithms, recommendation optimization, and curating exceptional customer experiences. Attendees can gain valuable insights to take control of their search strategies and propel their brands to success.