How Buyers Buy in 2015: Psychology, Technology, and B2B, Oh My!
Ka#e Martell Co-‐Founder, CMO, Cintell
@Ka%eMartell
Hi, I’m Katie Martell • Co-Founder, CMO at Cintell • Career B2B marketer • Not a psychologist
[email protected] @KatieMartell linkedin.com/in/katiemartell
Understand your buyers. Be customer-centric. Now in private beta: www.cintell.net
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The next 45 minutes of your day: Agenda
What Makes Buyers Buy?
5 Psychological Shifts in Today’s Buyer
Marketing to Today’s B2B Buyer
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Today’s Buyer
Technological Changes
Social Changes
Emo%onal Changes
5 “People buy... to elevate their emo#onal state, whether by removing a nega%ve, sa%sfying aspira%ons, or gaining a posi%ve. They are solving and improving both prac%cal and emo%onal problems and situa%ons. And even purely prac%cal purchases are strongly influenced by an emo#onal overlay of things like self-‐iden%ty, belonging, obliga%on, or boredom.”
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The pervasivenessof technology:
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The Average American household has internet connected devices. 6
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More thanof marriages between 2005-2012began online
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Pew Research Center
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videos are viewed every day.
4,000,000,000
YouTube
In 2004, Youtube didn’t exist. Now
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of Americans own a smartphone
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Pew Research Center
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“The hunt for happiness has evolved.”
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Innovation optimismCompanies that win today excite consumers and satisfy their craving for new
Psychological Shift #1
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Brands that incorporate technology and innovation are viewed as smarter, cooler, and more consumer-centric.
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Heritage can be baggage“Tried and true” is simply tired and old to today’s consumers
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Psychological Shift #2
Consumer empowermentConsumers know the influence they have with brands, and it’s permanently affected their expectations with businesses.
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1,000,000,000,000conversations going on about brands in the US annually
-Keller Fay Group
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Consumer empowermentConsumers know the influence they have with brands, and it’s permanently affected their expectations with businesses.
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Psychological Shift #3
Faster Ways of Thinking“Our sense of time, ability to focus, and capacity for attention have shifted gears.”
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• SCAN rather than read • Bombarded by constant interruptions• Crave stimulation• Easily distracted• Less tolerance for ambiguity
Our Malleable Minds
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We’re more anxious about keeping trackof all this information, and an expectation that we will be available around the clock, robbing us of focus.
Continuous Partial Attention
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More than 68% of adults who own multiple devices use 2+ screens to “graze” unrelated content.
It takes an average of 64 seconds to recover your train of thought after an email interruption.-PsyBlog
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Memorization and precision are less essential – it’s easy to check facts and spelling. We are trained to scan and process mountains of information quickly.
Mountains of information
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Psychological Shift #4
Symbol powerConsumers do not make decisions logically and consciously
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The power of symbolsToday, our interruption-driven, overstimulated, distracted consumers have less ability to focus and let conscious brain space make decisions.
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• Red = excitement• White + Pink = Sincerity• Brown = competence and ruggedness• Purple = sophistication
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Outperformed green by 21%
-Hubspot
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23% more $$$
“Organic”
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Our brains simplify numbersWe subconsciously latch on to the first number in a price tag.$299 = $200
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Fusiform face areaHow the brain processes images of faces, tied closely to emotion.
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Psychological Shift #5
New ways of connectingBuyers are more guarded, but seek connection.
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High-tech, low-touchConsumers seek a sense of connection and belonging – something they increasingly find online and through brands.
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Part 2: Marke#ng to Today’s B2B Buyer
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The average B2B buyer has completed 57% of the purchase process before engaging a vendor’s sales team.
- CEB/Google
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“The nature of marketing has exploded from an ancillary communications function to the Grand Central Station of customer experience.”
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By 2020 the B2B ecommerce market will be twice as large as the B2C market — $6.7 trillion vs. $3.2 trillion.
- Frost & Sullivan
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• Petroleum and petroleum products• Pharmaceuticals and druggist
sundries• Durable goods• Motor vehicles, parts and supplies• Electrical and electronic goods• Machinery, equipment and supplies
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73% of B2B buyers prefer a website to a salesperson.
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Content marketing:Everybody’s doing it.
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Consumers are 5x more dependent on content than they were 5 years ago.
- Nielsen
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75% of B2B buyers rely more on content to research and make B2B purchasing decisions than a year ago
- DemandGen Report
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Consumers engage with 11.4 pieces of content prior to making a B2B purchase.
- Forrester
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Brands that simplify consumer decision making and the purchase process have customers who are are 86% more likely to purchase and are 115% more likely to recommend them. -CEB
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Stop making buyers jump over hurdles.
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“No one will ever complain that you’ve made things too simple to understand.” -Ann Handley
48 The Full Buying Committee
Influencer Decision-‐maker End-‐user
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SiriusDecisions
Buying Scenarios
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Today, consumers are more likely than ever to be swayed by emotion rather than logic.
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Selling to stressed out buyers:• Prone to inertia• Rely more heavily
on trusted experts• Highly sensitive to
complexity
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Emotion influences the B2B buy even more than logic and reason.
- CEB
Part 3: What Makes Buyers Buy?
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PAIN FEAR GAIN
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Buyers are 3X more likely to move away from pain than move towards potential gain. - Tim Riesterer
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Gain is a leap of faith
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What’s In It For Me?
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125% Increase
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A B236% Increase
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Suspicion + Doubt
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“Thought leadership is all about having the answers to the biggest questions on the minds of your buyers, and providing your unique perspective on these hot topics.”
- Michael Brenner
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Basic Human Needs:
#1 To grow.#2 To contribute beyond ourselves.
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Reciprocal altruism
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Business = the antithesis of humanity?
Fewer than 3 in 10 Americans say that corporate America’s reputation is positive.
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Be Transparent
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
- Simon Sinek
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Deep down, buyers want to be able to relax their guard and buy and love products without vigilance.
Thank you! [email protected] @KatieMartell linkedin.com/in/katiemartell
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