Different Types of B2B Audiences and Buying Journeys

B2B relationships span a range of target audiences and buying journeys, from the number of people involved to the time it takes them to reach a decision. As a B2B marketer, it’s critical for you to understand your buyer audiences.

Here are a few examples.

Sole proprietors, contractors, business networks. A company that manufactures building materials, like roofing systems or HVAC components, markets its products to professional contractors, from sole proprietors to larger construction firms. To drive demand, the company also markets to end users like homeowners who ask contractors for the company’s products. The manufacturer markets and sells its products directly to dealers and distributors. Each target audience needs content relevant to its role. A buying decision can come quickly or take longer, depending on business conditions.
Small-to-medium businesses. Business banking is a highly competitive sector within financial services. A bank that wants to serve small businesses in its geographical markets may choose to target specific industry verticals, such as marketing firms, landscaping companies or interior design boutiques. Each type of small business will have specific roles that make decisions about banking services. Those roles can include the CEO and the heads of accounting, HR, and IT. Each one needs helpful B2B content related to their area of responsibility to help inform a decision.
Large enterprises. Big companies have more complex procurement processes, including buying committees. According to Gartner, the average enterprise B2B buying group has five to 11 stakeholders who represent an average of five different business functions. Buying committees can include the department making the purchasing request and other areas, like finance, IT, compliance/legal, and marketing, that must review and sign off. Each of those areas needs clear, relevant content that demonstrates you meet their business requirements and helps clear the way for approval.

Building a B2B Content Strategy That Maps to Your Audiences and Business Objectives

Once we have a deep understanding of your B2B audiences, we develop an overall audience structure. We work with you to prioritize based on your business goals, then build audience deliverables based on what’s needed for your marketing plan.

Audience Profiles/Personas — In some cases, such as activating just a few marketing channels (organic social, programmatic advertising), we develop a straightforward audience profile. For integrated marketing plans, we develop full personas with names, photos, and backstories, to support a broad plan that may include creative assets, content development, campaign targeting by channel, and performance measurement. We bring these audiences to life, including the topics, issues and experiences that resonate with them on an emotional level.

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