How to make the internet work for B2B businesses

by Margaret Manning, Brand Republic 18-Feb-05, 07:00

Much of the focus of the digital design industry is on business-to-consumer marketing but the business-to-business arena warrants greater attention, writes Margaret Manning, chief executive of Reading Room.

Maybe B2B marketing gets the cold shoulder because it is not perceived as sexy by many creative agencies. Well, more fool them! It is certainly a challenging area and, when tackled correctly, the return on investment can be faster.

Do digital strategies for B2B organisations really present different challenges than B2C? Aren't all websites the same?

There are some significant differences that revolve around the nature of the relationship with the customer. In general, in B2B the relationship is longer term and sales values are higher than for B2C. This presents a unique set of challenges because the focus shifts to lifetime customer support.

Digital spend also shifts from marketing towards capital spend. Within this sector the internet is less of another channel to market than a significant business channel; and the cost of customer support is as important as the cost of customer acquisition.

All these factors contribute to the key challenges faced when developing a digital strategy. Supporting customers over a long period of time needs information to be delivered to those customers at the right time and in the correct format.

It is unsurprising that B2B sites make more use of technology, not only in the form of content management systems but also eCRM systems and often integration into legacy and call centre systems.

Technology in these circumstances can often become the driver rather than the enabling layer. Where technology drives the project, the business focus is often lost. It is not unusual to receive an invitation to tender where all the focus is on which CMS to purchase and no thought has been given either to strategy or to measures of success.

This can create critical problems, particularly with the purchase of a content management system because the sector itself is in its infancy.

There have been very rapid changes in content management technology over the last three years. This is good news in the main because costs are being reduced and the technology is becoming more reliable and customer friendly.

It is not such good news for the many companies that have spent millions of pounds implementing the wrong product and are faced with repurchase within 12 months of operation.

Information delivery is vital because customer relationships tend to form the backbone of digital strategies in the B2B area. Supporting a long-term customer involves getting the correct information to that customer, at the right time and in the right digital format.

It involves extranets and customer-targeted content and tools; it also involves using email, WAP, SMS and PDA delivery. This content must be consistent and it must support offline contact, whether that contact is by sales staff or through call centres.

The information architecture required to support complex information systems is all too often forgotten, or given substantially less weight than either the technical or the design elements.

Getting it right involves assembling a multidisciplinary team with the ability to carry out significant planning without losing sight of the business objectives and overall strategy. It is a challenge, but more companies are rising to it and succeeding.

Reading Room is an Internet development company that has been helping professional firms use the internet successfully since 1996. Contact Margaret on 020 7025 1800 or by email.

Margaret will speak at the Institute of Direct Marketing's B2B Marketing Conference on Tuesday 22 Feburary.

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