otherwise not know, which, in turn, can help inform your product development strategy, say, or reveal potentially lucrative areas for expansion. So, how best to segment?
The rule of four (and more) T ere are four widely known and accepted forms of segmentation -demographic, geographic, psych- ographic and behavioural. In B2B of course, we have the added
complication that buying and decision-making units can sometimes comprise up to seven people, so to market eff ectively you need to understand the group as well as the company as a whole – this is known as fi rmographic segmentation. At bcm we know how complex B2B marketing
can be. Not only do we need to align multiple members of a decision-making unit on their buying journey by tailoring our messages to the individuals, but the actual buying timeline is ordinarily much longer than in business to consumer (B2C) marketing too. And unlike B2C, impulse purchases are much less likely. It is perhaps this that has led traditional
marketers to believe that B2B buyers are more rational and less emotional than B2C buyers. T is is where bcm thinks very diff erently. Rationale and emotion in B2B marketing are
juxtaposed. We believe B2B marketing is, in many ways, B2C x 7 – on average, seven individuals in a unit, all with varying emotional triggers and buying
behaviours like anyone else. And therefore, whilst firmographics will tell you about the
company and demographics may give you some profiling information, such as gender, age and geography, we believe that psychographic and behavioural segmentation are also key to understanding the B2B prospect and customer – and, indeed, understand them on a more granular level than ever before. Psychographics pertain to beliefs, values and reasons for
being and the psychological aspects that influence consumer purchase behaviour such as lifestyle, social status, opinions and activities. Behavioural segmentation is how someone interacts with
your business and combining these two approaches ultimately enables you to map a prospect on a buying timeline and to understand how purchase-ready they are as you take them from unaware to aware, through to becoming a customer and then, hopefully, an advocate for your brand.
Simpler, quicker, cheaper Sounds complex and costly and time-consuming? It can be. T is is why many companies choose to work with a specialist B2B marketing agency to get this segmentation right and then distil the insight into relevant, timely and engaging communication, benefi ting at the same time from the agency’s access to and knowledge of marketing technology that makes the process simpler, more cost- eff ective, and quicker. Doing B2B marketing properly means knowing your customer
better than your competition does. Get that right and there can be no doubt that you will reap the rewards.
Find out more at
www.bcmagency.co.uk or email
hello@bcmagency.co.uk
ALL THINGS BUSINESS
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