Image by davidking via Flickr
In my previous article, Enhance the Buyer Experience with Intelligent Engagement, I referenced a trend I called Experiential Buying. Buyer behaviors in B2B marketplaces are shifting tremendously towards more holistic experiential expectations that defy the conventional straight re-buy, modified re-buy, and new buy behaviors of the past. Buyer expectations have increased with regards to the experiences they undergo as well as desire.
In simplistic generalities, we can take a view of two experience categories that B2B buyers may seek:
Self-Enabled Buying
In this situation, a buyer may want to experience a re-buy that reaffirms his or her decision to continue a relationship. Even in modified re-buy situations, the buyer may be looking for an experience where they can perform the modifications themselves. The difference in the modern social age is that buyer expectations have changed. If companies have not adapted their businesses to enhanced online and social capabilities, they may very well be placing artificial barriers in front of their buyers who are seeking an entirely different straight re-buy or modified re-buy experience than in the past. As consumer-like experiences become more desired in business marketplaces, companies will need to rethink many aspects of their sales and service... Read more
Tagged 'experience' 
4 steps to leverage online profiling
As online marketers we are eager to create the best online experiences. Because we love our visitors, but more than that, because we love boosting our conversion ratios. Fortunately, the two don’t have to exclude one another.
Online engagement is about just that. Creating the best online experiences for the visitors on your different channels. Experiences that clearly benefit both your visitor and your brand. Whether discounts, give-aways or promotions, win-win is still one of the best ways to win customers. So how can we create win-win experiences with our increasingly dispersed and heterogeneous audience? One way is to use profiling to get to know your audience. Here’s an introduction on how to make online profiling work for you and your online visitors in 4 steps.
1 Objectives go both ways
When designing an online experience, always start with an objective in mind. That’s a no-brainer. But do you also realize that every one of your goals should be linked to your visitor’s goals?
Think about it. If you were Ikea for instance, and wanted to sell more children’s furniture, your customer’s goal might be to buy a bed for their five-year-old child. More specifically perhaps, a bed that can last for at least... Read more
