Chief Marketing Officers in the e-commerce space are no strangers to leveraging the latest data and technologies. And yet, despite all the exciting and innovative advancements happening in this arena, the core B2B marketing strategy remains the same: put the customer first.
This was a constant theme throughout the final panel, Tackling B2B Commerce with Big Commerce. Panelists spoke about some of the bigger trends they’re seeing, such as the importance of humanizing the buyer, delivering personalized experiences, and tapping into creativity as a growth lever. As one tech CMO put it, “We have to hold ourselves to the same standard that we would on a consumer site by looking at consumer behavior and applying it to B2B.”
To pull it off, marketers need to know their entire catalogue like the back of their hand and constantly be optimizing it. Doing so will not only help them create memorable product experiences but will also help get their data house in order because, as we know, good data leads to better insights.
Panelists also discussed which companies are leading the pack, noting their ability to capture first-party data and use it to better understand customer behavior. This is huge when it comes to creating exceptional customer experiences that are easy to navigate, visually stunning, and omnichannel.
Naturally, there have been some challenges that e-commerce leaders have had to overcome. Capturing data and delivering insights remains elusive. As one tech CMO put it, “It’s hard in B2B when we see customers that have their data and CRM in a notes app.” Certainly, consolidating data into one place to create a single source of truth is no easy feat.
That’s why CMOs need buy-in from the entire C-suite if they’re going to gain clarity around the customer and deliver better business outcomes. As one marketing vice president put it, “If you can carve out the use cases, you can get bigger, more frequent wins on the board and move things forward that are more high-fidelity.”
Looking ahead, the focus for marketers will be on finding innovative ways to use data and technology to better understand and serve the customer. So, while the landscape continues to evolve, customers can rest assured that e-commerce B2B marketing strategies still hold them in the highest regards.
