How to take a Business to Human (B2H) approach to outbound marketing
If you sell high-value solutions and approach your buyers as individual human beings, rather than ‘prospects’ or ‘targets’ on a list, you will convert more of them to customers.
Like me, you probably receive dozens of emails each day that you scan through and delete or archive. I ask myself, is this email sent by a machine to hundreds of others, or, has the sender genuinely taken the time to research and qualify me properly? Very few fall into the second category, in fact, I can't remember the last one which did.
Rather than taking the time to research each and every one of your buyers to determine their suitability for a relevant approach based on legitimate interest, targeting is often limited to pulling lists off LinkedIn or other databases, segmented by company size, industry and job function. As a result of poor targeting, many message recipients won’t be interested.
Increasingly today, the internet allows for high levels of personalisation in outbound messaging, yet sales and marketing teams have become lazy, relying on marketing technologies to automate the outbound process, typically only changing [Name] and [Company Name] fields in a generic ‘one size fits all’ template.
For those who could be interested, the generic format of the communication and lack of personalisation will, in most cases, mean the message will be overlooked.
But even if you have taken the time to share what you have read about the individual and their company, and why you think the approach might be interesting to them in particular, you still need to pique their interest with an offer of value.
Understanding human psychology is important. ‘Paying it forward’ or ‘leading with value’ is central to an intelligent and effective B2H account-based marketing (ABM) strategy.
When marketing to enterprise, the key often lies in helping the individual buyers first, rather than trying to demonstrate the benefits of your solution to their company. By giving them a positive initial experience you will ‘break the ice’ and establish credibility and trust. In return, your buyer may choose to champion your business proposition internally, quickly positioning you in front of a wider group of decision makers.
This strategy is central to Network Sunday’s ABM thought leadership marketing programmes supported by TechPros.io. Our blue chip clients sponsor intellectually stimulating interviews and virtual roundtables with carefully selected business and technology leaders who benefit from peer group insights, new connections and personal brand awareness.
Other successful value-led 'calls to action' involve a small investment of time to deepen buyers' understanding of a technology or process, develop new ideas, understand legislation, or acquire knowledge. This is central to the outbound marketing approach we take with Network Sunday’s Salespro solution, designed for SME clients targeting larger businesses.
So, if you are responsible for developing top of the funnel sales pipeline, first think about the human beings who will receive your messages and put yourself in their shoes. Ask yourself if you want to feel like contact record no. 924 on their database, or someone whose profile has clearly been properly researched and qualified for suitability? Then think about something unique you can offer of immediate value which won’t cost them anything other than their time.
Taking a B2H marketing approach will secure more sales opportunities from your account base each year whilst establishing positive relationships with buyers and a stronger brand.
Tim Bond
CEO & Founder
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