Social selling and the B2B decision maker

If you are familiar with Google ZMOT or just generally observant, you will know that the path to purchase for a consumer has dramatically changed with the influence of social and mobile technology.  However, consumers are people, people work in businesses, so of course there is a natural knock on effect as to the way a B2B decision maker goes about his daily tasks.

A recent report from the Marketing Leadership Council in partnership with Google states that the average B2B decision maker completes 57% of the sales cycle without engaging a sales representative.  Essentially, they are doing their own research, and potentially making up their mind long before they make contact with the supplier.

Content marketing and the switch to inbound are vital yes, but what about the sales professionals? At the end of the day people buy from people and taking the stats above, it is these people who have to do the hard yards and nurture their prospect through the remaining 40% of the sales cycle. But, whilst the principles of using social media as part of developing business relationships come naturally to some, it doesn’t to others, and this is a significant shift that will need to be made in the B2B space.

Here are 3 Tweetable stats from the infographic above (courtesy of Gerry Moran and Marketing Think) which help to paint the picture about how a B2B decision maker navigates to a purchase decision:

81% of #B2B decision makers use communities & blogs to help with a purchase decision #socialselling

74% of #B2B decision makers use #LinkedIn to help with a purchase decision #socialselling

42% of #B2B decision makers use #Twitter to help with a purchase decision #socialselling

Share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below!

Latest Posts

Social search is now the front door to discovery. Recent DataReportal figures show nearly half of product journeys start inside TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest. Google gets the hand-me-downs. If your search plan still stops at blue links, you’re bleeding attention and margin to faster-moving rivals. Below, you’ll find…
Read More
When should I post on the business page? How often? How many a week? How different should the assets be? It’s time for a reality check on what organic B2B social is delivering organically for you and your followers. Is it worth the time and effort you’re putting in? Another…
Read More
I recently came across an article on LinkedIn that really got me thinking. It explored a simple question: “What would need to be true for B2B buyers to feel confident enough to buy?” Here’s what stood out to me: 1. Buyers want defensible decisions, not just good…
Read More