The Buyer has Changed; Marketers will Change Too

Posted by Ambal Balakrishnan September 1st 10

Buyers do the vast majority of their research online and consume content in a fragmented way. How should marketers change their approach to address these new world buyers? We asked Craig Rosenberg "What are key marketing trends and predictions for 2010? What actions should marketers take in 2010?". Craig Rosenberg is Vice President, Products and Services at Focus. He is the author of the very popular sales and marketing blog, the Funnelholic and can be followed on Twitter at @funnelholic.

Craig Rosenberg

Blog Funnelholic Twitter funnelholic

"The buyer has changed forever— marketers that succeed will adjust accordingly (and drastically)."

Craig Rosenberg's Marketing Prediction for 2010

2010 will see marketers change the way they market to and interact with buyers. We have seen fundamental changes in the buyer that once understood, will push marketers away from antiquated marketing techniques. The main changes in the buyer:

Buyers do the vast majority of their research online
Consume content in a fragmented way
Suffer from “attention scarcity and information overload
Trust their peers more than anything else
Prefer third party, unbiased information versus information provided by the vendor

Craig Rosenberg's Marketing Action for 2010

There are five actions every marketer MUST take in 2010:

Map and understand how your buyers make decisions -- what you will discover can be shocking and will help you decide on the right marketing moves at the right time in the buying cycle
“Always be helping” replaces “always be closing” – Buyers have a choice in content and will avoid being sold until they absolutely have to.
Develop remarkable content because that’s what buyers demand
Distribute your content where the buyers are – all over the internet
Nurture buyers over time, the decision doesn’t happen tomorrow

Recommended Resources

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1 Comment

Jeff Ogden said:

Could not agree more with Craig's recommendations. Everything starts with deep research. Skip that step, you're dead.

Create remarkable content. Always be helping instead of always be selling. Gently nurture until trust is solid.

Congratulations on being named a top B2B marketing blog. That’s quite an honor. I’m pleased to share the news that Fearless Competitor was also named to that great list.