Last week, on October 28th to 29th, NetElixir sponsored and participated in B2B Online Virtual Event and Expo. NetElixir’s Founder and CEO, Udayan Bose, shared two exciting presentations filled with insights into strengthening your B2B search marketing strategies.
VIP Roundtable Discussion
At the first event, Bose discussed how marketers are using their consumer data to make their search marketing better. To Bose, average order value is not as crucial a marker of success, as not all consumers are equal buyers. There is a distinct difference between high-value customers and average customers. Understanding the unique paths to purchase between your high-value and average customers is crucial to an all-around engaging and effective search marketing strategy.
While new customers are important to acquire, engaging your brand’s high-value customers should also be a priority. The lifetime value, order frequency, favorite products, and more purchasing behaviors can vary widely between high-value and average customers, which is easily tracked through NetElixir’s proprietary customer analytics tool, LXRInsights. LXRInsights, as Bose explains, categorizes your customers into “finite, more measurable groups [to] help you run a more responsible marketing campaign.”
A quick way to test your customer base’s actions and evaluation process is an old-fashioned one: pick up the phone and call 100 customers to ask. While 100 may not be much to map out entire customer journeys and experiences, it will allow for a solid, basic understanding of where your customers stand. The personal touch of a phone call will also go a long way in creating engagement and displaying empathy – two important metrics in these difficult times.
As the future becomes more digital, there can be an issue of presenting digital options and changes in a positive light, as many consumers may be hesitant to shop exclusively online. Creating a mobile first and frictionless shopping experience can help ease consumers into the digital world.
“We are all trying to figure it out together,” Bose says.
In a survey on B2B global sentiment, McKinsey and Company found that at least 80% of respondents are more comfortable continuing with virtual models rather than in person meetings when making B2B purchasing decisions.
A digital presence is essential now more than ever. B2B searches often begin with generic product names in a Google search (with 42% of those searching beginning on mobile, according to Google) so be sure to strengthen your keyword profile and research how customers are finding your website.
The digital future cannot be ignored and the evolution relies on understanding your customer data.
Harnessing the Power of Customer Data to Make B2B ECommerce Search Marketing Work
Udayan Bose joined Cole Parmer’s VP of Marketing Andrew Carlson to present a Case Study: Harness the Power of Customer Data to Make B2B Search Marketing Work.
NetElixir managed paid search for Google and Microsoft in the United States, France, Germany, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany that drove a 20%+ improvement on ROAS and resulted in YoY growth in new customers acquired across all channels. NetElixir also managed Amazon Marketing that resulted in a 5X increase in orders and the SEO strategy for Cole Parmer for complete synergy across all channels.
NetElixir extended the lookback period for Cole Palmer to give products time to accrue revenue. Longer latency periods had impacted optimization techniques, so ad reports were often misleading. Orders with the highest value had the longest time from first visit to final purchase, so allowing for a longer lookback period captured the true customer journey that fully measured how well the product and ads performed.
Cross-channel synergy helped Cole Palmer see how well different products performed in Google and Amazon, as some performed better in one channel but not in the other. Building cross-channel analytics into measurement and optimization cycles creates an easy opportunity to move ad budgets to where products are performing well without scraping entire search marketing campaigns because one channel does not see a lot of success.
“Different customers use these different channels to buy different products,” Carlson explains.
To help Cole Palmer thrive on Amazon, NetElixir started with brand recognition and then refined further toward exact products and specializations. The formula is simple: continuously expand upon winners throughout the refinement process to build upon success.
Real-time customer analytics empowers more targeted, efficient, and effective cross-channel campaigns for greater success in the future.
Request your 2021 Digital Marketing Playbook to chime in the New Year.
Watch the full conversation here.
