Can You Speak Your B2B Customer’s Language?

Understanding your customers' vertical markets can elevate you from being a commodity supplier to a trusted partner in the business-to-business marketplace. This is critical in today’s competitive marketplace, where personalized, relevant communications are crucial to success. In your next marketing communication, having a more profound understanding of your customer's vertical market can help you in three key ways:

• Reflecting your understanding of the latest trends and challenges in your customer's market.
• Speaking the same language as your customer.
• Crafting marketing messages that emphasize the benefits most important to your customer's business.

For example, let's consider the challenges faced in the healthcare industry. As a B2B company selling medical supplies to hospitals, say you have developed a solution that streamlines the supply chain, reduces costs, and ensures compliance with regulatory requirements.

Your marketing copy could emphasize the benefits of your solution, such as improved patient outcomes, reduced waste, and increased efficiency. But you want to speak your customers’ language, too. 

Here are three ways to do that:

1. Use industry-specific terminology that is familiar to healthcare professionals. Instead of using generic terms like "supplies" or "inventory," you might use terms like "medical consumables," "durable medical equipment," or "pharmaceuticals."

2. Address specific pain points or challenges that healthcare providers face daily. For example, you might highlight how your medical supplies help hospitals with their most pressing needs, such as reducing waste, improving patient outcomes, and complying with regulatory requirements.

3. Demonstrate your expertise. Don’t just say it — show it! Demonstrate your expertise in this vertical market by highlighting your experience working with hospitals, your knowledge of industry regulations and standards, or your partnerships with leading healthcare organizations.

These examples come from the healthcare industry, but the concepts apply to any industry. So take the time to understand your customers' vertical markets. This will help you build a stronger relationship with them, differentiate you from competitors, and create a more valuable and long-lasting relationship.

 

­What Differentiates the Fastest Growing Companies? Personalization!

Want to build your business faster? Personalize! According to McKinsey's “Next in Personalization” report, the fastest-growing companies drive 40% more revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts. Furthermore, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. Personalization isn’t just icing on the cake anymore. It’s a must.

Other benefits of personalization include:

• Greater brand loyalty.
• Greater likelihood of recommending the brand to others.
• Greater chance of engaging with the brand on social media.

What might consumers do if the content needs to be more relevant? Increasingly, consumers say they would stop paying attention to the brand’s messaging and would be less likely to purchase. Consumers also say they would be much less likely to recommend the brand to others and stay loyal; some might even stop using it.

But be careful not to overdo it. Studies also consistently show that when messaging is over-personalized, shoppers find it creepy. When personalized content is over the line, they are less likely to purchase.

Finding the line between the two can be delicate. Consumers want their communications to be relevant but don’t want to feel that their privacy is being violated. For example, if someone’s lease is about to expire on the family sedan, and you know from third-party data that they recently had a new baby, you might want to say, “Is it time for more legroom? Check out the great new features we offer on our 2023 minivans!” You don’t want to say, “Hey, it looks like your family is expanding! When your lease expires at the end of the month, why not upgrade to a bigger ride?”

Need help developing relevant communications that your customers and prospects want to hear? Let one of our brand development experts help.